Bret Hart assaulted during WWE HOF speech, assailant reportedly charged
Image: WWE
WWE Hall of Famer and wrestling legend Bret Hart was assaulted during his Hall of Fame speech Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, but avoided serious injury.
Hart and his niece, Natalya, were accepting the honor for the Hart Foundation, the famous WWF era tag team with the late Jim Neidhart, Natalya’s father. Suddenly, they looked to their right as the fans noticed someone was approaching.
Then, a fan with a rastafarian hat and wig appeared to try to tackle the 61-year-old, but the feed went to black as he ran into Hart. LA Times’ reporter Arash Markazi caught the aftermath from his floor seat:
Someone from the crowd just ran into the ring and tackled Bret Hart during his WWE Hall of Fame speech. Here’s the aftermath. pic.twitter.com/oZXjnUj2kp
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) April 7, 2019
After a few minutes of chaos, Hart resumed his speech and even made an improv joke about it. WWE didn’t respond to a text regarding Hart’s health status, but it’s assumed he is ok given the situation.
WWE did release a brief statement to us: “An over-exuberant fan surpassed our security at ringside and made his way briefly into the ring. The individual has been turned over to the proper authorities.”
Markazi said he was told the attacker was charged with two counts of assault in the third degree and disorderly conduct. As of this writing, his name has yet to be released but the Associated Press reported he’s 26 years old.
Natalya tweeted following shortly after the incident, “I’m so proud of my uncle tonight during our HOF ceremony. Bret is a cancer survivor, a stroke survivor and one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. He didn’t deserve to be attacked or have his moment or my dad’s diminished. We got it back on track. Thank you, guys.”
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.