my childhood hero

my childhood hero

on my ipod: daughter by pearl jam

"in this world we live in, everybody needs a hero."
- aunt mae, spiderman 2

there was a time when i was about 7 years old, my grandmum allowed me to stay up late to watch t.v. with her. being an avid wrestling fan that she was, we ended up watching WWF Superstars. that's when i first saw my childhood hero.

he caught my attention at first not because he was such an extraordinary wrestler, because at that time i can't tell the difference from a good wrestler to a bad one—but because he was wearing pink and black tights—a colour that most men consider feminine. from that time on, i was hooked, i was hooked on wrestling, and i was hooked on a man that most people know as bret "the hitman" hart.

i soon learned that he was a really good technical wrestler. he didn't use brawn like most big guys during his time, and he didn’t use high-flying impressive moves. he relied on strategy and most of the time he psyched his opponents so bad most of the time they didn't know what hit them.

but the best thing that i liked most about bret is that he is a genuine, all around-good guy. he wasn’t preachy-preachy like hulk hogan with catchy taglines. he was just an ordinary man who was just vocal about his beliefs and values, simply because he has kids himself and he just wants to set a good example. simply put, he is "the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be," and encourages everyone to do the same. i guess you could say that he inspired me in so many ways and it was his influence why i tried so hard in school and was able to get a degree and got to where i am today. he is indeed the "excellence of execution."

i guess one thing that i regret was that i didn’t get to meet him personally when he went here for manila mania back in july of ’94. but i did get to watch him and i met his late brother, owen. at that time, that experience was enough for me.

on saturday, april 1st, my hero will take his rightful place in the wwe hall of fame. in his words, the induction will serve as a "closure for his controversial wwe career." for hitman fans like me, i’m just glad to see him one more time.