Bret Hart Replaced ‘Hitman’ With A New Name In A Blackfoot Ceremony

Say goodbye to ‘Hitman.’ Say hello to, ‘Courageous Chief.’

WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart received a rare honor late last week when a Siksika elder at Mount Royal University gave the wrestling legend the name ‘Courageous Chief’ in a Blackfoot smudging and naming ceremony. The actual name is Iyiikitapinna, pronounced “ee-ee-ka-ta-bee-na.”

The ceremony happened at a private event in a teepee in Calgary.

Hart said there had been a plan to honour his father and other members of the large Hart family many years earlier, but it didn’t come to pass.”It was kind of a lost moment and I feel that I’m here today to kind of pick up that gauntlet and bring it back to life. And I can feel that both my mother and my father would be very proud of this moment,” he said.

Hart said he is honoured by his new Blackfoot name.

“I think it’s a great name. It might be too bold a name for me, but it tops ‘Hitman’ anyway,”

Here’s the CBC news clip on the ceremony, featuring the very endearing, very Canadian bonus story of a news anchor putting the Sharpshooter on all of his friends. Also, the note they wanted a name “as powerful as Iron Shield,” which is probably as close as Bret Hart is going to get to being repackaged with curly-toed boots and the camel clutch.

Congratulations to Courageous Chief. Let’s hope there’s a followup ceremony in New Jersey in April that puts the rest of the Hart Foundation into the WWE Hall of Fame.