How Bret Hart & Andre The Giant Almost Died Together In A Car Accident, Explained
Robert Clark
Published Mar 28, 2026
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Behind the scenes wrestling stories can be just as entertaining or even moreso than what is seen on television. When a wrestler tells a story, they just sound somewhat unbelievable. A lot of them just sound like they're straight out a sitcom. This is especially true of stories from back in the 80s and early 90s, because nowadays, everything gets revealed as soon as it happens. When a story from back in the day came out there was a lot of intrigue. When the name Andre the Giant is attached to a story, it's almost always a riveting experience.
RELATED: The Death & Legacy Of WWE Legend Andre The Giant, Explained
Andre The Giant Needed To Take A Plane To A Wrestling Event In Montana
The stories about Andre the Giant are almost too good to be true. It's a shame that his size and all the travel caused him to be in constant pain and agony up to his death because Andre was a huge draw for almost his entire career. That size was something that wasn't seen as much back then as it is today. Therefore, whenever Andre was scheduled for an appearance, he was counted on to be there, even if those appearances were extremely far apart in terms of distance, but extremely close together in terms of time.
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After a show in Calgary for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling, Andre was scheduled for an appearance in Montana. Unfortunately, Andre's flight had been canceled. According to Bret Hart, Andre didn't care that he was going to be stuck in Canada for a few more days. He was fine with it. However, one of Bret Hart's brothers, Smith Hart, found Andre a plane straight to Montana. The only issue was that the plane took off in 22 minutes and the airport was about 40 minutes away.
Smith Hart's Need For Speed Nearly Kills Bret Hart And Andre The Giant
Smith Hart picked up Andre in the car Stu Hart gave to Bret. Andre squeezed into the backseat as Bret was in the passenger seat. Andre told Smith that there was no way they were going to make it to airport in time to which Smith responded, "We can still give it a try." Every friend group has that "bad influence" friend, and that seems like the exact sentence they like to come up with when justifying a bad decision. Smith Hart certainly gave it a try.
As Bret Hart recalls, his brother was weaving in and out of 5 o'clock traffic at speeds over a hundred. The seven-foot giant was petrified in the back seat. For good reason too because when they reached the airport, Smith's car didn't stop. The car was flying and went up an elevated ramp on two wheels only for it to just barely stop at the top of the ramp with Andre's weight in the backseat being the only thing keeping them alive. The facial reactions alone would be worth seeing. Smith Hart, totally indifferent, rushed Andre into the airport to see if they made it in time as Bret stayed in the car to most likely check his pulse for a heartbeat and the front of his pants for an accident.
RELATED: 10 Backstage Stories About The Hart Family We Can't Believe
Bret Hart Almost Gets Arrested For The Incident
As Bret Hart stayed in the car contemplating his life, all he heard was, "Put your hands above your head, you crazy son of a b---h." Of course, Bret Hart, the innocent bystander, was the one that's getting a gun pointed at him. Bret simply explained what happened, and he wasn't sure if the officer believed him at all until he saw Smith Hart walk out of the airport with a seven-foot giant by his side. They didn't make the plane. Andre walked up to Bret and the officer and put his hands out to be arrested, probably a way of saying, "please get me away from this lunatic." The officer let them go, and Andre stared a hole through Smith and Bret. As Bret claims, Andre never talked to anyone from the Hart family again expect for Bret himself, and that took a lot of work to achieve.
The stories of Andre in the locker room or the tales of his alcohol consumption are legendary, but this one seems to fall under the radar a bit. That's crazy to think about because they really did almost die. Andre was, understandably, pissed because he was fine missing his original flight, and then all the fear he experienced on the way to the airport wasn't even worth it since he still missed that flight. Many people have stated that Andre never stood for nonsense and BS, and he wasn't the type of guy whose bad side anyone would want to be on, so Smith Hart had a lot of guts to do what he did that day in Calgary.
