Boys and girls Travis Browne hit that ring almost before the attacker even did and was throwing down some ground and pound on this dude. USADA TEST THIS MAN. (from cyberstryke1120 on IG) pic.twitter.com/j1s9WYwDw1
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) April 7, 2019
A man tackled WWE legend Bret Hart during a Hall of Fame induction ceremony Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Pro-wrestling is full of scripted events meant to look real, but this wasn’t one of them.
Video of the incident is circulating on social media. It shows a white man in a rasta hat running into the ring, and tacking Hart. A bunch of wrestlers and bystanders intervened.
Someone just stormed the ring to attack Bret Hart. Legit. Security swarmed the ring and pulled him out. Xavier Woods, Heath Slater, Travis Browne, Corino, Axel, Kidd and others in the ring.
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) April 7, 2019
The timing was inappropriate on several levels. Hart and his late brother-in-law Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart were getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame for their work as The Hart Foundation tag team. Neidhart passed away in 2018 at the age of 63. His daughter, the pro-wrestler Natalya, joined Hart for the ceremony.
An NYPD law enforcement source identified the tackler as 26-year-old Zachary Madsen. He has been charged with two counts of third-degree assault, criminal trespass, and violation of local law. The defendant hurt a security guard during the incident, police told Law&Crime.
It’s unclear if Madsen has an attorney at this time.
Best I can tell, dude hopped the fence at the bottom of my section and bolted to the ring and jumped Bret Hart before anyone noticed. #WWEHOF pic.twitter.com/bqq9oWwucu
— Steve Kaufmann (@Stevekaufmann) April 7, 2019
[Screengrab via @cyberstryke1120]