The Last Match: The Hart Extended Family

This The Last Match post is a follow up to my one about the Hart Family.  In this post we take a look at the extended Hart family including In-Laws, kids, and grand children.

Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart
March 5, 2016 BCW Night of Legends, Williamsport, PA
with Frankie the Pizza Guy and Koko B. Ware defeated The Cash Masters: Clay Drasher & Shawn Andrews and Nikolai Volkoff.

Married to Ellie Hart they had three daughters including Nattie Neidhart who currently wrestles in the WWE.  This was his first match in three years best known for being tag team partners with Bret Hart as the two time WWF Tag Team Champions: The Hart Foundation.  Neidhart debuted in 1979 for Stu Hart in Calgary

Bradley Joseph "BJ" Annis
April 17, 1987 Stampede Wrestling Calgary, Alberta, Canada
defeated Mike Hammer

Was married to Georgia Hart together they had four children including current independent wrestler Teddy Hart.

Ben Bassarab
January 10, 1992 Stampede Wrestling, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
wrestled Phil LaFleur to a double disqualification

Was married to Alison Hart, they have two children together.  Their daughter Brooke is married to wrestler Peter Minnema who as the ring name "Pistol" Pete Wilson.

“British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith

May 11, 2002 TRCW: Top Rope Championship Wrestling Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Teamed with Harry Smith & Zack Mercury defeating Robby Royce, The Axe, & TJ Bratt

Was married to Diana Hart, they had two children together including current David Hart Smith who currently wrestles for New Japan Pro Wrestling and previously with the WWE a former Tag Team Champion with Tyson Kidd in the Hart Dynasty.

Died May 18, 2002 after suffering a heart attack possibly related to past anabolic steroid use, he was 39 years old.

The Dynamite Kid
October 10, 1996 Michinoki Pro 3rd Anniversary, Tokyo, Japan
teaming with Dos Caras & Kuniaki Kobayashi defeated Mil Mascaras, The Great Sasuke, & Tiger Mask

Tom Billington was married to Michelle Smadu who is the sister of Bret Hart's first wife Julie, also Billington is the cousin of Davey Boy Smith so he's definitely family.

Tom and Michelle had three children the eldest named Bronwyne valets her husband wrestler Dan Vander Griendt.  Together they are known as the Dynamite Duo: Dynamite Dan Myers & the Dynamite Doll.

A Still from Dynamite Kid's final match

Tyson Kidd
June 1, 2015 WWE San Antonio, Texas
was defeated by Samoa Joe

The husband of Natalya Niedhart he suffered an injury after taking the muscle buster from Samoa Joe.  It's unknown if he'll return to the ring but I for one hope that he does. 

"Pistol" Pete Wilson
November 30, 2013 Real Canadian Wrestling, Calagary, Alberta, Canada
with Dan Myers & Teddy Hart defeated 8-Bit Bastards: Evan Adams & Scott Crue and Bobby Sharp

His mother-in-law is Alison Hart, he married her daughter Brooke.  Debuted in 2001 wrestling primarily in Canada he was trained by Bruce, Ross, Teddy Hart, and Tyson Kidd. 

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The Last Match: The Hart Family

Time for another edition of The Last Match!  In this post I look at the famous Hart Family.  I already covered Bret "Hitman" Hart and Owen Hart in previous Last Match blog posts but I will be including them here as well.

Let's get to it!

Stu Hart
July 25, 1986 Stampede Wrestling Calgary, Alberta, Canada
with Keith Hart defeated Honky Tonk Wayne and JR Foley

The patriarch of the Hart family Stu began wrestling in 1946 for Toots Mondt in New York.  He first began promoting matches in 1948 with Klondike Wrestling in Edmonton.  After a couple name changes he settled with Stampede Wrestling in 1967 promoting until 1989.  Stu passed away October 16, 2003 at the age of 88.

Smith Hart
May 24, 2013 Pure Wrestling Association Lefroy, Ontario, Canada
defeated Mad Braddock

The first born Hart child Smith began wrestling in 1973 for his father's promotion.  Smith would travel around the world wrestling for promotions in Japan, England, Germany, and Puerto Rico through-out his career.  Smith had stopped wrestling regularly in the early 80's returning to the ring for a single match in 1986, 2011, and 2013.  He passed away July 2, 2017 at the age of 68.

Bruce Hart
May 12, 2012 Real Canadian Wrestling Bashaw, Alberta, Canada
with Heavy Metal & Tommy Lee Curtis was defeated by Andrew Hawks, Kid Kash, & Teddy Hart in a no disqualification match.

The second child of Helen and Stu Hart, Bruce was the first one to step into the ring in 1972 after beginning his training in 1971.  He too would travel around the world wrestling but returned to Calgary promoting Stampede Wrestling from 1985 - 1989 and again in 1999 - 2005.

Although he made several appearances in the WWE over the years his only official match in a WWE ring was on November 24, 1993 at the Survivor Series in Boston teaming with brothers Bret, Owen, & Keith against Shawn Michaels and his Knights.  Bruce had stopped wrestling regularly in 2003 returning for a single match in 2011 & 2012.

Keith Hart
July 9, 2000 Athletik Club Wrestling, Weinheim, Germany
with Eric Schwarz & Ulf Hermann was defeated by Chris The Bambikiller, Michael Kovac, & Mr. Natural Wonder

Keith debuted in mid 1973 for Stampede Wrestling.  He competed regularly until 1988 taking several years off from the ring before returning at the 1993 Survivor Series.  He competed semi regularly until his last match.

Wayne Hart
February 27, 1988 Stampede Wrestling Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
with Owen Hart, Brian Pillman, & Jason The Terrible lost to Akam Sigh, Gerry Morrow, Steve DiSalvo, & Makhan Singh in a Bunkhouse Tag Team Match

Wayne began wrestling in 1972 and was primarily a referee however he did wrestler.  I can't find much about Wayne on the internet.

Dean Hart
I read on line about Dean Wrestling and refereeing for a short time, however I cannot find any record of an actual match.  He debuted in 1973 for Stampede Wrestling also competing in the Amarillo Territory and in Hawaii for Peter Maivia.  He promoted music concerts at his father's beach in Clearwater.  He passed away November 21, 1990.

Bret "Hitman" Hart
January 10, 2000 WCW Nitro Buffalo, NY Marine Midland Arena
wrestled Kevin Nash to a no contest

September 12, 2011 WWE Monday Night Raw Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Scotiabank Place
with John Cena defeated Alberto Del Rio & Ricardo Rodriguez

Ross Hart
March 19, 2005 StampedeWrestling Cardson, Alberta, Canada
as Rory Hunter was defeated by Apocalypse

Debuting in 1985 for Stampede Wrestling he competed under the rings names of Ross Hart and Ross Lindsey.  He worked as enhancement talent for the WWE in 1990's and toured the United Kingdom in the 1980's and 1990's.  He also has promoted several shows under the Stampede banner into the 2000's.

Owen Hart

WWF House Show, Chicago, IL Rosemont Horizon May 22, 1999

Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett defeated Edge & Christian when Owen pinned Christian

Died May 23, 1999 from injuries suffered after falling from the catwalk at the Over the Edge PPV he was 34 years old

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WWE Network Additions

The WWE Network has made some fantastic additions finally giving us some classic wrestling shows!

It all started with NWA World Championship Wrestling, then Smoky Mountain Wrestling and Mid-South Wrestling, later the American Wrestling Association.  The next day they added Stampede Wrestling and Global Force Wrestling.  I’m going to break down each show. 

 JCP: NWA World Championship Wrestling
Currently 95 Episodes from 11/2/1985 to 09/26/1987

World Championship Wrestling aired on WTBS from 1982 – 1992 with matches being supplied from Georgia Championship Wrestling (1982 – 1984), World Wrestling Federation (July 1984 – March 1985) Jim Crockett Promotions (March 1985 – November 1988), and finally Turner owned World Championship Wrestling from November 5, 1988 to March 1992.  On April 4, 1992 the show became WCW Saturday Night airing it’s final show on August 19, 2000.  Before that from December 25, 1971 to 1982 it was simply called Georgia Championship Wrestling.  Ted Turner wanted to change to name to World Championship Wrestling to give it a less regional sounding name.

Hosted by Tony Shiavone and David Crockett these episodes were taped at the Atlanta WTBS studios and featured promos about upcoming house shows and supercards like Starrcade and squash matches with top stars versus jobbers.

I’ve watched a few episodes with each one running about 77 – 85 minutes featuring, Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard, Arn Anderson, Ole Anderson, Terry Taylor, “Cowboy” Ron Bass, Manny Fernandez, Jimmy Valiant, The Rock n’ Roll Express, James E. Cornette and the Midnight Express, George South and more.

I cannot stress enough how much love these shows!

 

Smoky Mountain Wrestling 

Currently 10 Episodes from 02/14/1994 to 08/5/1994

Hosted by the legendary Bob Caudle and Dutch Mantell matches were taped around their territory but primarily Tennessee.  Smoky Mountain is known for being the starting point for Chris Candido, Tammy Sytch, Kane, The Road Dog, Al Snow, New Jack, Bob Holly, and for bringing Chris Jericho and Lance Storm to the States.  

Smoky Mountain’s TV show featured interview segments, enhancement matches and matches featuring top stars vs each other.  SMW ran from October 1991 to December 1995.  

Mid-South Wrestling
Currently 10 Episodes from 10/30/1982 to 07/21/1986

Mid-South Wrestling was founded by “Cowboy” Bill Watts in 1979 after purchasing the NWA Tri-State territory from Leroy McGuirk.  The promotion ran shows in Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas.  Mid-South Television ran in syndication and in 1985 began airing on WTBS.  Mid-South changed the name of their promotion to the Universal Wrestling Federation in March 1986 in an attempt to become a national promotion.  The venture failed and resulting in Watts selling UWF to Jim Crockett April 9, 1987. 

Top stars during this time frame include a who’s who of wrestling, Ted Dibiase, Junkyard Dog, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, Sting, The Rock n’ Roll Express, the Midnight Express, and so many more. 

AWA: American Wrestling Association 

Currently 6 Episodes from 03/04/1986 to 04/10/1988

AWA was founded by Verne Gagne in 1960 based out of Minnesota and ran until 1991.  These episodes are pulled from three different AWA television shows;

AWA All Stars ran in syndication from 1960 – 1991
AWA Championship Wrestling was taped for ESPN from 1985 - 1990
AWA Superstars which I can’t find anything on but the episode I watched was hosted by Larry Nelson in a studio and featured matches of the top stars of the AWA against each other.  

Many of the legends of wrestling passed through the AWA; Nick Bockwinkel, Hulk Hogan, The Rockers, The Road Warriors, Vader, Scott Hall, Rick Martel, Curt Hennig, and the list goes on and on and on. If you haven’t watched the WWE documentary The Spectacular Legacy of the AWA you need to find it and give it a watch.  It’s one of their finest productions. 

GWF: Global Wrestling Federation / USWA: United States Wrestling Association

Currently 7 Episodes and 3 best of USWA Specials from 5/01/1990 to 6/28/1992

GWF was founded in Dallas, Texas in 1991 by Max Andrews and Joe Pedicino in an apparent attempt to pick up where World Class left off.  They even managed to get on ESPN after the AWA folded.  They featured young and up and coming talent like the 1-2-3 Kid, Marcus Bagwell, Cactus Jack, JBL, Jerry Lynn, Booker T and more.  They also featured Dallas mainstays in Kevin & Kerry Von Erich, Steve Austin, Chris Adams, Skandor Akbar and more. 

I actually recall watching their show when I was kid, the match that stuck out was Kevin Von Erich, I don’t recall against who.

I’m not sure how the USWA fits in to being part of GWF as the USWA was around longer that GWF.  I tried researching on the internet but wasn’t able to find anything. 

Stampede Wrestling
Currently 6 Episodes from 11/12/1978 to 07/27/1979
Stampede Wrestling was founded by Stu Hart of the famous Hart Family in 1948 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.   Stampede Wrestling still exists today in name only.  The Stampede Wrestling that is part of the WWE library is from 1948 – 1989.  

The show is hosted by the voice of Stampede Wrestling Ed Whalen from 1957 to 1989 and was filmed at the Victorian Pavilion.  Stampede wrestling gave us The Dynamite Kid, Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Bad New Brown, Brian Pillman, Don Leo Jonathan, and so many more top competitors. 

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Later Readers!!