Horrible news out of the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony as a fan rushed the ring/stage and attacked Bret Hart during his speech. The fan tackled Bret before a number of wrestlers jumped up to help The Hitman. Edge, New Day, Travis Browne, Ronda Rousey, Steve Corino, Heath Slater, Tyson Kidd, and more were among those that pounced on the fan and helped Hart.
WWE immediately cut the live feed of the show to black and shots of the crowd. After things settled down, Drake Maverick told the crowd to ignore the incident before Bret and Natalya continued on with their speech. Hart was being inducted as a member of The Hart Foundation along with Jim Neidhart.
A FAN JUMPS ON BRET HART! #WWEHOF pic.twitter.com/uqGQwWqcYw
— Brian The Guppie (@briantheguppie) April 7, 2019
Literally on the verge of tears. Some horrible bastard fan just rushed the the ring and rugby tackled poor Bret Hart. #WWEHOF pic.twitter.com/DPGUVrmmpK
— Gorilla Position (@WWEGP) April 7, 2019
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
— Brian The Guppie (@briantheguppie) April 7, 2019
Someone just went on stage and tackled Bret Hart during his #WWEHOF speech ------ pic.twitter.com/34sGGfAd4E
— Louis Pulice (@louie3020) April 7, 2019
Brooklyn can’t have nice things. #WWEHOF #WWE #BRETHART pic.twitter.com/WF2YjduH3p
— Jon Sosis (@FunnyJS) April 7, 2019
A fan jumped into the ring during the Hart Foundation speech and tackled Bret Hart. This is the aftermath #WWEHOF pic.twitter.com/yEfgb7oXiW
— Mamba (@mambalouis) April 7, 2019
Dash fucked his shit up pic.twitter.com/C2onjiMMK5
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) April 7, 2019
Dash Wilder cracked the attacker with a punch that dropped him, shortly after the man was pulled away from Davey Boy Smith Jr, Bret's nephew. Members of the New Day rushed over to Natalya during the attack to protect her, pull her from the fray and help her to her feet.
Shortly after 9 PM EST, WWE issued Fightful.com the following statement.
"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."
LA Times journalist Arash Markazi reports that Bret's attacker, identified as Zachary Madsen, has been charged with 2 counts of assault in the 3rd degree and disorderly conduct. He currently being held at the 78th Precinct in Brooklyn, NY.
Fightful Select has confirmed that Bret Hart's attacker, Zach Madsen, is actually an amateur MMA fighter with a 2-1 record. He last competed last March at DCS 40, in a losing effort. Madsen is listed at 6'2" and competed in the welterweight division. He wore a Jack Swagger shirt to the cage for his first fight.
Natalya has commented on the incident.
I’m so proud of my uncle @BretHart 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--
— Nattie (@NatbyNature) April 7, 2019
Fightful is working to provide more details.
