Mat Insiders: WWE HOF Legend Bret Hart Announces He Has Prostate Cancer

If you watched WWE (or WWF for that matter) anytime from about 1986 on, you know the name Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart. The WWE Hall of Famer has been a huge part of the company for the past three decades, even if he and Chairman Vince McMahon were at war after the famous ‘Montreal Screwjob’ back in 1997.

The pair made up and even had a rather awful match back at WrestleMania XXVI in Glendale, AZ in 2010.

Hart has been on good teams with the company for the most part, but today reveled devastating news about his health, telling his fans that he has prostate cancer.

Here’s he Instagram Post from Hart earlier today:

It is with great remorse that I feel compelled to speak truthfully to my friends, family and my millions of fans around the world. In the past few years, I've spent more than enough time paying the price for all those years trying to be the best there ever was as a professional wrestler. I executed excellently and my proudest claim was that I never seriously hurt or injured another wrestler in my 23 year career. I've paid a price for all that "fake" wrestling … Mark Helprin wrote: "We are all perfect clocks that Divinity has set to ticking when, even before birth, the heart explodes into a lifelong dance." I've had a great lifelong dance and I'm a survivor of many hard battles. I now face my toughest battle. With hesitation and fear, I openly declare myself in my fight against prostate cancer. In the next few days, I will undergo surgery with the hope of defeating this nemesis once and for all. My fans have always looked upon me as a hero and I've always done my best to live up to that in and out of the ring. I beat the odds when I suffered my stroke in 2002, but it is now yet again, that I … stand unafraid and face the tough road ahead of me, I will march toward this destiny with his spirit chanting in my ear. I make a solemn vow to all of those that once believed in me, the dead and the living, that I will wage my fearsome fight against cancer with one shield and one sword carrying my determination and my fury for life, emboldened by all the love that's kept me going this long already. Love is my weapon and I've got much of it around me all the time, for which I'm truly blessed and eternally grateful. My children, grandchildren, and my loving wife Steph have been and will constantly be at my side. I refuse to lose, I will never give in or give up, and I will win this battle or die trying. Most important of all, I hope can take the fight to prostate cancer. To be a leader in awareness and to set the example for men everywhere who find themselves in my very same shoes, that prostate cancer can be beaten. B x

A photo posted by Bret (@brethitmanhart) on Feb 1, 2016 at 8:28am PST

It’s tough to swallow news for WWE fans who have had to watch their favorites over the years pass, including two legends last year in Roddy Piper and Dusty Rhodes.

Here’s hoping and praying for a complete recovery for Bret.