There are 2 important Holidays in the History of Canadian / American Wrestling Relations: Canadian Thanksgiving, The Montreal Screwjob and Canada Day. These three two days are very important to WWE Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart. On October 12, 1992 – Canada’s Thanksgiving – Bret defeated Ric Flair in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada for the his first WWF Championship. And Canada Day, which fell on a Monday this year, also goes by another name: Bret Hart Eve. July 2 is the Hitman’s birthday and, as one of the best – if not THE best – technical wrestler in the history of the WWE, he has certainly earned any and all adulation, having innovative matches with everyone including Mr. Perfect, Roddy Piper, his brother-in-law The British Bulldog, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, his brother Owen, and Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was elevated to another status after their I Quit match at Wrestlemania 13.

Even though Bret is no longer part of the regular roster, he occasionally appears on WWE programming with a tendency to innovate. He inspired both CM Punk and Ricardo Rodriguez to don elements of the Hitman’s apparel. The WWE even held a Bret Hart Appreciation Night exclusively on the WWE App (Hey, it made me download the App). Bret even unintentionally created an Internet Meme through his “4 out of 10” comment. But it turns out Bret Hart has been far more forward than we realized.

Courtesy of  Imreallybadatthis

No, not that! but close. Back in 1999 (when America Online was still a thing), Bret hooked up with Canadian rap group – The Rascalz – and lent his vocals to a song, “Sharpshooter (Best of the Best).” Bret went beyond sampling and also appears in video. He may have had some creative license; with the aid of a future lens, there are some moments that are far too coincidental to be an accident.

Bret Hart is on RapGenius because of this song (and at least 10 others)! The video, though, has several nods to the professional wrestling that didn’t happen yet. One of the Rascalz’s MCs – either Red1 or Misfit – throws up a hand gesture that could easily be the beginnings of “You Can’t See Me.” You could image that a young rap enthusiast named John Cena being subliminally influenced by that moment while watching TV in West Newbury, MA. There are more coincidences later on, as well. Near the end, when Bret escapes the mad scientist’s laboratory and joins up with the Radicalz (seriously), he leads the crowd in “awkward fist pumping,” the same awkward fist pumping that the “Woo Woo Woo Kid” Zack Ryder does. Maybe when young Cena, taking a break from his Thuganomics doctorate, tuned in to Music Box, young Ryder was also watching the video at the same time. Also of note: this entire sequence, including a spot where Bret Hart bodyslams the evil doctor, takes place in a 6-sided ring, which later rose to notoriety through Total Nonstop Action.

We all expected Bret Hart’s influence in wrestling to be evident in his matches but it turns out that even Bret’s outside the ring projects made their way into the history of professional wrestling. As Bret Hart turns another year older, it turns out that there’s still much more to learn from his expertise. Happy Birthday, Bret!