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.
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.
[Screengrab via @cyberstryke1120]