The Hart Foundation

The Hart Foundation is the name of several different tag teams and stables in what was then the World Wrestling Federation . Most of the members were part of the legendary Canadian wrestling Hart family or were trained by members of the family.

history

The Hart Foundation (Tag Team)

Originally, the name Hart Foundation was used in the 1980s exclusively for the tag team consisting of Bret Hart and his brother-in-law Jim Neidhart in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). At that time Jimmy Hart was assigned to them as manager . The idea and the associated establishment of the Hart Foundation was specifically a request from Bret Hart, who was dissatisfied with his cowboy gimmick and hoped for more encouragement and recognition. After initially rejecting the proposal, it was approved a few months later, as Hart was on the verge of leaving the WWF in frustration.

The team is still considered to be one of the best, most innovative and formative tag teams during the heyday of North American wrestling in the 1980s. They represented a mixture of opposing wrestling styles, which was rather rare at the time: While Bret Hart was a technically and ring-psychological wrestler, Neidhart represented the part of the team who specialized in power actions.

During its existence, the original Hart Foundation received WWF World Tag Team Championships twice : in 1987 from the British Bulldogs and in 1990 from Demolition . After losing the title at Wrestlemania VII against the Nasty Boys , the two separated because Bret Hart was promised a single career. For Jim Neidhart , those six years in the team with Bret were the most successful of his career.

The New Foundation (Tag Team)

After the original Hart Foundation split , Jim Neidhart and Bret Hart's younger brother Owen formed the tag team The New Foundation . This new team was considered by the officials and board members of the World Wrestling Federation to be “economically necessary” in order to be able to capitalize on the once successful tag team during Bret's individual career. In addition, this represented the first, larger appearances of Owen Hart in the WWF and also served as a springboard to his later career. Owen had previously appeared masked as a blue blazer . The New Foundation's career was far less successful than that of the original pairing and they separated again pretty quickly because of this.

From 1994 Owen and Neidhart reunited to form a team during the brotherly feud between Bret and Owen Hart, but they were no longer referred to as The New Foundation .

The Hart Foundation (Stable)

After WrestleMania XIII, a grouping of Bret and Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart, Davey Boy Smith and Brian Pillman was formed , which was also called the Hart Foundation . The group was allowed to represent Canada and Europe with an anti-US attitude. In fact, all members except Smith were US citizens (Bret, Owen and Neidhart have / had dual citizenship). In Canada and Europe they were always cheered, while in the USA they were among the most hated wrestlers.

The new Hart Foundation was very successful. For a time, its members held almost all the titles that were then awarded in the WWF. At the end of 1997 the stable was dissolved. One reason was Pillman's death in October. Another is the real fraud (the so-called Montreal Screwjob ) at the Survivor Series on Bret Hart. In response to this incident, all members of the Foundation left the league except for Owen, who would have had to face heavy fines for breach of contract. Since Bret's move to WCW had already been determined, the group would have been dissolved without the screw job . Today, with Bret Hart, only the most popular member of the Hart Foundation is still alive.

Hart Foundation 2.0

The Stable Hart Foundation 2.0 was formed at Stampede Wrestling in 2002 . It consisted of Theodore Annis (Teddy Hart), Harry Smith , TJ Wilson and Jack Evans. Teddy Hart is the son of Georgia Annis (a sister of Bret and Owen); Harry Smith is the son of Davey Boy Smith (British Bulldog) and Diana Hart. Wilson and Evans are not related to the Hart family, although both (as well as Brian Pillman) trained in the Harts' training cellar, the Dungeon , and Wilson is now in love with Jim Neidhart's daughter, Natalya Neidhart , who is also wrestling .

Web links

History of the Hart Foundation on WrestlingFever.de
Tag Team Profile on Genickbruch.com
Stable profile on Genickbruch.com