He is a Canadian former professional wrestler, and part of the famous Hart wrestling family.

In the course of his career, he was known by several monikers: Bret "Hit Man" Hart, (adopted from boxer Thomas Hearns), "The Excellence of Execution" (originally dubbed as such by Gorilla Monsoon) and perhaps the most resounding, "The best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be" (derived from the 1984 film The Natural, which starred Robert Redford).

Brett Hart justifies his claim to the latter title by citing the fact that he never seriously injured an opponent through any fault of his own. He also claims that, in the course of his career with the World Wrestling Federation, he only ever missed two shows, both as a result of traffic and flight difficulties.

Hart rose to fame in the WWF in the late-1980s, winning the WWF World Tag Team Championship twice as one half of the Hart Foundation. Hart's technical style created an intriguing contrast with his partner Jim Neidhart's strength and brawling skills. The duo were originally a heel team managed by "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart and actually wore blue and black, as opposed to the more recognizable pink and black color scheme which they later adopted. Eventually, they turned face, adopting the nickname "The Pink and Black Attack." Their most notable feuds were with the British Bulldogs and Demolition.

Following a loss to The Nasty Boys at WrestleMania VII, the Foundation split and Hart went on to pursue a singles career. He won his first of two WWF Intercontinental Championship reigns by defeating Mr. Perfect with the Sharpshooter at SummerSlam 1991. When Hart lost the WWF Intercontinental Championship to The Mountie, he was supposedly suffering from a fever; however, this was a work to protect his character when he lost the title. In reality, Hart was booked to lose the title because his current contract was expiring. Following the loss, Roddy Piper (who is a friend of Bret himself) defeated Mountie with a sleeperhold at the 1992 Royal Rumble, and Bret would later pin "The Rowdy One" for the Intercontinental Championship in one of the greatest Intercontinental Championship matches at WrestleMania VIII later that same year.

In July 1992, Hart defeated Shawn Michaels in what is believed to be the first ever ladder match in the World Wrestling Federation. While many remember Michaels as the main innovator of the ladder match due to his later success in those matches, it was actually Hart who initially suggested the match, having been involved in several during his Stampede days.

After dropping the Intercontinental Championship to his brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith in a classic match at SummerSlam 1992 held before over 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, Hart was elevated to main-event status. He won the WWF World Heavyweight Championship from Ric Flair at Saskatchewan Place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (the hometown of his father, Stu Hart) in October of that year (on an episode of Prime Time Wrestling). An interesting note is that Bret actually dislocated one of the fingers in his right hand during the match (as he talks about on his DVD) and popped it back in himself so it wouldn't affect the rest of the match. Later that year, Hart wrestled Flair in the first Iron Man match held in the WWF.

Hart lost the title to Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX after interference from Mr. Fuji, only to have Yokozuna immediately challenge Hulk Hogan and lose. Shortly after, however, Hart won the original televised King of the Ring tournament in 1993, defeating Razor Ramon, Mr. Perfect and Bam Bam Bigelow. After being crowned as the King of the Ring, Hart was attacked by announcer Jerry "The King" Lawler. Lawler claimed he was the rightful King and began a barrage against Hart and his family. The feud culminated in a match between the two at SummerSlam 1993, where Hart originally won the match by submission, via the Sharpshooter. Hart, however, would not let go of the hold and the decision was reversed to a Lawler victory by disqualification.

It is widely recognized that the original intentions of Summerslam were to place World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan against Bret Hart in a colossal passing of the torch. However, given the booking power of Hogan's contract, he refuse to put Hart over citing bad taste in a face-versus-face match. Some critics believe, however, that Hogan simply didn't want to drop the title to the new flagship of the company. Hogan favored a loss to Yokozuna before his departure from the WWF, leaving Hart to reclaim the World title under a different light.

Hart was named the co-winner of the 1994 Royal Rumble when he and Lex Luger were eliminated simultaneously. As a result, both men received title shots at WrestleMania X. Bret pinned Yokozuna to reclaim the World title at WrestleMania X.

Hart dropped the title to Bob Backlund at the 1994 Survivor Series, thanks in large part to interference from his brother Owen. Continuing his feverish feud with Bob Backlund, Hart wrestled in an "I Quit" match at WrestleMania XI. Hart commented that this was his least favorite WrestleMania match, regarding it as poorly executed. In 1995, he feuded with various WWF undercarders such as Hakushi, Jean-Pierre LaFitte, and Isaac Yankem, DDS. He finally reclaimed the World title with a victory over Diesel at the 1995 Survivor Series. He held the title until dropping it to Shawn Michaels in a 60-minute Iron Man match at WrestleMania XII. The match was not without controversy. Michaels was victorious in a sudden death overtime finish. In most wrestling organizations, if a title match is decided to continue after the time limit expires, the title would normally no longer be in contest and would remain with the title holder, no matter the outcome of the match. This match, however, saw WWF President Gorilla Monsoon declare a sudden death overtime period, in which Michaels won the title following two superkicks. At the match's conclusion, Michaels supposedly instructed Hart to "get the f---k out of my ring," a comment over which Hart apparently still harbors bitter feelings. Michaels denies this and believes Hart was bitter about being defeated and didn't engage in the tradition of shaking hands after the match. Hart and Michaels were never the best of friends, and Hart's opinion of Michaels was damaged to a new degree after this match. This would mark the beginning of a seven-month hiatus from the WWF for Bret. He entertained a lucrative offer from World Championship Wrestling, but eventually signed a 20-year contract with the WWF - the plan being that an initial period of this would be spent on wrestling while the rest would be in a backstage role.