Diana Hart is defending her late ex-husband against claims made by her brother, Bret Hart.
The youngest daughter of the Hart family posted a lengthy statement on Instagram, taking issue with Bret’s categorization of Davey Boy Smith’s state for their SummerSlam match in August 1992.
Initially, SummerSlam was penciled in for Washington, D.C., with Bret scheduled to drop the title to Shawn Michaels. Due to the company’s surging popularity in the U.K., when business was slow in the U.S., they booked Wembley Stadium for the August event. Bret stated in his 2007 autobiography that he pitched Davey Boy Smith as the opponent, holding off Michaels’ title win for later in the year.
Hart said that Smith was serving a six-week suspension before SummerSlam after failing a steroid test. Smith did not wrestle at all in May 1992 and returned on June 2. Then, Davey suffered a knee injury in July and didn’t wrestle for five weeks until the match in London.
Bret goes on to describe a conversation with Davey Boy in London before the match, where he confessed to being “terrified” about the match and had been smoking crack for weeks. During the match, Bret recalls his brother-in-law telling him, “Bret, I’m fooked. I can’t remember anything.” Bret has frequently called it his greatest match, taking credit for carrying Davey.
Hart has stated since the book came out that he doesn’t want to take all the credit and, despite Davey’s drug issues, “I thought Davey delivered in every way, and it was both of us (that made the match)”.
Diana is now pushing back against Bret’s account by stating Davey was dealing with “necrotizing fasciitis” and that Bret’s descriptions of Davey’s physical and mental state during the match were not true. She is also upset that Bret didn’t address the issues with Davey when he was alive, and that he cannot defend himself.
Bret does not present his statements as opinions; he states them as facts. That distinction matters, because many of his claims—specifically about Davey’s physical or mental state at SummerSlam’92 are simply not true. It is my opinion that Bret’s current misrepresentation of events at SS92 may be influenced by the stroke he suffered in the summer of 2002.
What cannot be ignored is the timing, that Davey died prior to that, in May 2002. There was a full decade (1992-2002) when Bret could have raised his claims directly with Davey, if they were legitimate. He never did. Not once. The absurd and hurtful accusations began after Davey was no longer alive to respond.
Instead, Bret now frames, over and over, despite my appeals to him with facts, proof/records and critical reasoning to please restrain and refrain his slander, but he refuses. Bret now cites this incredible match as great solely because of his own alleged brilliance, assigning himself all credit while diminishing Davey’s invaluable role. Bret’s narrative is not supported by history, by documentation, or by what audiences can plainly see when they watch the match itself, without Bret’s overlapping slandering words.
Davey’s performance shows no evidence of impairment. On the contrary, it reflects Davey’s professionalism, strength and focus-despite the FACT that he was recovering from necrotizing fasciitis, a serious and life-threatening flesh-eating infection (we have proof). Davey did not complain, seek sympathy,or disclose his condition to the public. He simply did the work. It is difficult to reconcile these FACTS with Bret’s retroactive claims, except to note a long-standing pattern of self-aggrandizement.
IMO, and I’m very clear that this is opinion, Bret’s tendency toward ego, bullying & exaggeration predates both his stroke and the match in question. I base that on my lived experience growing up with him as my older brother and on decades of observed behaviour towards family members and colleagues. What I will not accept is history being rewritten after the fact, especially when the person, (Davey)being totally discredited is no longer alive to defend himself. Davey was so good and loyal to Bret.
Davey Boy Smith held the Intercontinental title until October 1992, when he was released by the WWF.
Smith briefly wrestled for WCW in the interim and returned to the WWF in the summer of 1994.
In May 2002, he suffered a heart attack and died at 39.
