Bret Hart superfan petitions for wax sculpture of the Hitman at Madame Tussauds museum
Calgary wrestler should be recognized for skills in the ring and charitable work, devotee says
It could end up being the best wax sculpture there is, the best wax sculpture there was, and the best wax sculpture there ever will be.
A lifelong fan of Bret (The Hitman) Hart is pushing for Madame Tussauds wax museum to add the iconic Calgary wrestler to its line up of wax statues.
Californian Angie Garcia says she's been a fan of The Hitman since the '80s and has started a petition to persuade the museum to immortalize the Calgarian.
"He tells like a story every time he gets to go in the ring," Garcia told the Calgary Eyeopener.
"Not only the look that he had, not only the persona that he had, but it's really just the person he was inside of the ring and outside of the ring as well."
Garcia said Hart deserves the statue because he set the bar for pro-wrestlers who came after him and to give the wrestler who retired in 2000 the "recognition that he never received"
'He's done a lot for his community"
A member of the Hart wrestling dynasty, The Hitman rose to fame as a member of The Hart Foundation tag-team alongside his brother-in-law, Jim Neidhart.
The duo twice won the World Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championship, now known as World Wrestling Entertainment, before the team was reformed as the New Hart Foundation, replacing The Hitman with his younger brother Owen Hart.
Garcia said Hart should be recognized not only for his skills in the ring but also for his charitable work, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation and March of Dimes.
Hart also helped raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer research, a disease Hart fought and won back in 2016.
"Well he's done a lot for his community. Not only his own community but other communities as well," Garcia said.
"What I really love about him is he really likes to interact with his fans. And he never says no to one autograph or a picture or anything like that. He's always loyal to them and he's always kind-hearted."
Calgary wrestling connections
If the petition is successful, Hart won't be the only Madame Tussauds wax sculpture of a pro-wrestler with a Calgary connection.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who had a brief stint as a Calgary Stampeder in 1995, has his own wax sculpture at the Madame Tussauds museum in Las Vegas.
There are more than 20 different Madame Tussauds museums on four continents, so it's possible the wax sculptures of the wrestlers could square off in a match if the petition is successful.
As of Thursday, Garcia had 588 signatures and said she will need thousands more fans to lend their names to the petition if she is going to sway the museum to make a sculpture of The Hitman.
"I started this last year and I need between 9,000 to 10,000, so I know I have a long road ahead of me."
Garcia hopes Calgarians will will help boost the petition numbers.
Click here to sign the petition.
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With files from the Calgary Eyeopner