Bret Hart opened up about his personal experiences with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Bret Hart spoke warmly of their interactions backstage at WrestleMania IV and WrestleMania V in 1988 and 1989 in a 2017 interview with Forbes. Hart recalled that during WrestleMania IV’s battle royal, he took a hard bump off the front turnbuckle, and Trump, who was sitting near the ring, appeared genuinely impressed by the impact. Hart said Trump’s reaction was that of astonishment, eyes wide, head shaking, clearly impressed that Hart was able to execute such a move without becoming seriously injured.
“I do remember meeting ‘The Donald.’ He seemed to really enjoy the WrestleMania 4 battle royal. He watched me take a very hard front turnbuckle bump and it seemed to stun him that I wasn’t seriously hurt.”
Backstage after the match, Trump greeted Hart with a warm handshake and a smile. Hart asked if they could take a photo with his father, himself and tag-team partner Jim Neidhart. Trump agreed without hesitation and allowed them to take several shots.
“Backstage, Trump gave me a big smile and a handshake. A few minutes later, I asked him if he could pose with my dad, myself and the Anvil for a photo. He was very nice about it, even allowing us to take several shots. I liked him.”
When the pair met again at WrestleMania V, Trump remembered the first photo and asked how it turned out, then offered to take another picture on the spot. Hart said he was struck by Trump’s memory and graciousness, and admitted he “held him in high regard.”
“The next year, when I met him again backstage, he asked how the photo from the year before had turned out. He offered to do another and so, yet again, we took a nice photo together. He was always nice and had a long memory. I held him in high regard.”
When Did Bret Hart Retire?
Bret Hart formally retired from in-ring competition in 2000, following a series of injuries, most notably the concussion he suffered in late 1999 in a match with Goldberg during his run in WCW. Although he made occasional on-screen appearances in the years that followed, he did not return to active wrestling after that point.
Hart briefly stepped back into the ring for a No Holds Barred Match with Vince McMahon at WrestleMania XXVI in 2010, and he would go on to have a string of matches throughout 2010, even capturing the WWE United States Championship from The Miz on the May 17, 2010, episode of Raw, He mostly competed in tag team matches throughout this short run, usually having very little involvement in the matches.
His last match was on the September 12, 2011, episode of Raw, where he teamed with John Cena to defeat the team of Alberto Del Rio and Ricardo Rodriguez.
