Hart, aged approximately 18, with an amateur wrestling championship belt.[c] | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Stewart Edward Hart (1915-05-03)May 3, 1915[6] |
| Died | October 16, 2003(2003-10-16) (aged 88) Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Cause of death | Stroke |
Spouse | [ii][iii] |
| Children | 12, includingSmith,Bruce,Keith,Dean,Bret,Ross,Diana, andOwen |
| Relative(s) | Donald Stewart (grandfather) Harry Smith (father-in-law) |
| Family | Hart |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[i] |
| Billed weight | 230 lb (104 kg)[i] |
| Billed from | Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Trained by | Jack Taylor[a] Toots Mondt[b] |
| Debut | 1943[3] |
| Retired | 1986[4] |
| Military service | |
| Buried | Eden Brook Memorial Gardens |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | |
| Years of service | 1942–1946 |
| Battles / wars | World War II |
Stewart Edward HartOC (May 3, 1915 – October 16, 2003) was a Canadianamateur andprofessional wrestler, wrestlingbooker,promoter, andcoach. He is best known for founding and handlingStampede Wrestling, a professional wrestling promotion based inCalgary, Alberta, teaching many individuals at its associated wrestling school "The Dungeon" and establishing a professional wrestling dynasty consisting of his relatives and close trainees. As the patriarch of theHart wrestling family, Hart is the ancestor of many wrestlers, most notably being the father ofBret andOwen Hart as well as the grandfather ofNatalya Neidhart,Teddy Hart andHarry Smith.
Hart was born to an impoverishedSaskatchewan family but became a successful amateur wrestler during the 1930s and early 1940s, holding many national championships, as well as engaging in many other sports. He began wrestling for show in 1943 with theRoyal Canadian Navy while serving inWorld War II as he could not go to the1940 Summer Olympics due to the war. After leaving the service he travelled to America and debuted professionally for theNew York wrestlingterritory[d] in 1946. Hart was considered very handsome and a good in-ring performer, focusing on asubmission-like andtechnical style of wrestling, but despite this and being popular in general he was not given a major spotlight, and soon after marryingHelen Smith, whom he met in New York City, he created his own promotion inEdmonton, Alberta, which would be known as Stampede Wrestling[e] and took over the surrounding wrestling territory which covered most of western Canada and the US state ofMontana. The territory would go on to become known as the Stampede territory thenceforth. In 1949, Stu and Helen moved toGreat Falls, Montana. Hart's promotion featured a large variety of outside stars from the wrestling industry as well as homegrown talent for whom he booked storylines. Beginning from the 1950s Hart helped train a large number of people for his company and gained a reputation as one of the best teachers in the wrestling business. In October 1951, Stu and Helen moved to Calgary, Alberta, into what would become the famousHart House.
Hart remained an active full-time wrestler until the 1960s when he entered semi-in-ring retirement, thereafter he would focus mostly on promoting, booking and teaching, as well as raising his twelve children with Helen while still appearing in the ring sporadically until the 1980s. Throughout his career, Hart almost exclusively portrayed a heroic character, a so-called "babyface" role and only held one professional title, the NWA Northwest Tag Team Championship. After selling his territory toTitan Sports, Inc. in 1984, Hart would make several appearances onWWF television and Pay-Per-View with his wife, often involved in storylines surrounding his sons Bret and Owen and several of his sons-in-law who were signed to the company. He continued to teach wrestling at his home in Calgary until the 1990s when he suffered a severe leg injury and had to stop engaging excessively with students, leaving most of the work for his sonsBruce andKeith. He died at age 88 in October 2003 after suffering from multiple medical issues.
Hart is regarded by many, including major wrestling historian andsports journalistDave Meltzer, as one of the most influential and important figures in professional wrestling history and an icon of the artform. His greatest contribution to theart was as a promoter and trainer. Along with Bret and Owen, Hart's trainees included futureworld championsFritz Von Erich,Superstar Billy Graham,Chris Jericho,Edge,Christian,Mark Henry,Chris Benoit, andJushin Thunder Liger. Hart was a member of theinauguralWrestling Observer NewsletterHall of Fame class in 1996 and was inducted into theWWE Hall of Fame in2010 by his son Bret. Hart was also well known for his involvement in over thirty charities, for which he was named a Member of theOrder of Canada,[Quote 2] the second highest honour for merit which can be given in Canada and the highest civilian honour.

Hart was born in Saskatoon in 1915[i] to Edward and Elizabeth Stewart Hart. He was mainly ofUlster Scot descent on his father's side and hadScottish andEnglish ancestry from his mother's side of the family.[9][10]
His childhood was impoverished; as a boy, Stu Hart lived in a tent with his family on the prairie in Alberta, living off the land, milking cows[11] and wild game that Stu took down with hisslingshot.[12] As a child Hart and his sisters were often mistreated at school by both fellow students and teachers since it was well known that they were from such a poor family. Hart was also berated and treated with disdainfor being lefthanded, something seen as deviant at the time. Like most lefthanded children at the time, he was forced to work with his right, and as a result he becameambidextrous.[13] In 1928, his father was arrested for failure to pay back taxes, while the Salvation Army sent Stu, his mother, and two sisters, Sylvester and Edrie to live in Edmonton.[iv] Due to his destitute childhood and youth Hart did not experience a dramatic shift in life quality or mentality during theGreat Depression which affected most others around him in Edmonton.[14]
Hart was trained incatch wrestling in his youth by other boys. Speaking of it, Stu said that his "head would be blue by the time they let go of him". Stu taught this 'shoot style' to all who trained under him in the 1980s and 1990s with the thought that teaching his students real submission moves would make their professional wrestling style sharper. During his time in Edmonton with his mother and sisters Hart began finding an interest in sports with wrestling and football being his favourites.[v] He started weightlifting and training for wrestling when he was fourteen years old and quickly built a strong neck and impressive arms.[15] He began attending amateur wrestling classes when he joined theYMCA in Edmonton in 1929 and soon became a talentedgrappler. By the age of fifteen Hart won the Edmonton City Championship in the middleweight class and the Alberta Provincial championship later that same year. Hart continued to train and improve his abilities and by 1937 he was the Dominion welterweight champion, also in 1937 he won a gold medal in the welterweight class from theAmateur Athletic Union of Canada. Hart qualified for the 1938British Empire Games in Australia but was unable to go due to economic reasons,[16] mainly the lack of funding from the Canadian government, a leftover from the depression.[15] During the mid-1930s Hart also coached wrestling at theUniversity of Alberta.[vi][17][vii]
His amateur career peaked in May 1940 when Hart won the Dominion Amateur Wrestling Championship in the light heavyweight category.[18] Hart qualified and would have competed at theSummer Olympics in Helsinki in 1940 but could not due to it being cancelled because of the outbreak of World War II, which was a terrible blow to Hart personally, as it had been his dream to compete at the Olympics from a very young age.[16]
While Hart was mainly a lover of submission wrestling he was also an outstanding all-around athlete[viii] who played virtually every sport available,[11] excelling at football, baseball and fastball notably. Hart played professionally for theEdmonton Eskimos from 1937 to 1939 as a center and was considered a standout performer at the time.[16] Hart had initially been slated for the 1941 season as well but had to decline due to other commitments which prevented him from joining at that time.[ix][x] He coached a women's fastball team in Edmonton during the late 1930s as well as being the captain of a popular baseball team called Hart's All Stars.[19] The players of Hart's All Stars consisted of sheet-metal workers from Edmonton whom he trained.
On Christmas Eve 1941 Hart was almost killed in a bicycle accident which broke both his elbows and thumbs and hurt his back severely. The injuries risked ending Hart's athletic career. The accident happened while he was on the way to be with his father Edward to celebrate Christmas with the family when a fire truck drove behind him and forced Hart to swerve to the side where he was hit by another car which propelled him thirty feet forward on the road and scraped off a large portion of his skin in the process. He spent several months at theRoyal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton recovering. In the spring, still hospitalized, Hart was visited byAl Oeming, a young neighbour who had been drafted into theRoyal Canadian Navy for World War II and after being released from the hospital Hart decided to enlist. Hart enlisted in the Navy and was appointed to the position ofDirector of Athletics.[17] In early 1943, Hart was put in for a transfer from the Nonsuch in Edmonton to regular service in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia. Physically, he had fully recovered from his injuries and had hoped to see genuine sea duty afterward, but the Navy appeared to be more interested in him as an athletic director than as a regular enlisted seaman. By later 1943 the Navy had him wrestling mostly to amuse the other servicemen, instead of purely competitively. He performed regularly before thousands of other enlisted men in drill halls.[3] Several of the men he worked with would end up being employed by Hart when he became a promoter later in life.[3]
Hart spent much of his free time duringWorld War II performing and organizing different sports events to raise funds to the war effort.[xi] As an active sailor and director of athletics Hart was the leader of all the sports teams available and a member of them as well, most notably the fastball team and the wrestling team. Hart originally wanted to leave the Navy when the war was over but the organization considered him to be a great asset both as a trainer as well as a showpiece, persuading him to stay. He would attempt to ask to be let go several times later but was told to stay again. Eventually, Hart was given his discharge from the Navy in early 1946.[20]
It was during his time in the Navy that Stu was introduced toprofessional wrestling.[xi] Around this time Hart andAl Oeming, a future wrestler, nature conservationist, and fellow sailor, became closer as friends. Oeming later would help him handle his own promotion.[xii]
After recovering from a car accident, Stu competed in various exhibition matches to entertain the troops. In 1946, while receiving training fromToots Mondt, Hart debuted inNew York City. Early on, Hart experienced harsh treatment from his fellow wrestlers in the ring and during training, being considered a "pretty boy" at first by his peers and older wrestlers; described as "tall, dark and handsome, with a build that would put movie idols to shame" he was immediately a favourite with the female fans.[21][20] Hart would often be swarmed by women and covered with kisses as he made his way to the ring.[20][21] The roughing up of younger performers by veteran workers was common at the time in the industry but Hart adapted to it rather quickly and would retaliate with the same treatment, utilizing his catch wrestling experience to his advantage.[20] While never given the opportunity to be champion Hart did partake in several high-profile matches with the likes ofLou Thesz andFrank Sexton. He also developed a reputation as a legitimate athlete and "tough-guy" in the business.[i] Hart was a frequent tag team wrestler together withLord James Blears.[xiii][xiv] Blears and Hart lived together for six months with another wrestler namedSandor Kovacs whom Hart already knew from the Navy.[22] They used to frequent the beaches at Long Beach in New York on their free time and it was on the beach that Hart first met his wife Helen Smith and her family.[xi] Hart had quickly become a rising star in the area but chose to leave together with his newly engaged fiancée only about a year and a half after debuting.[2][23][21]

By 1947, Hart was working for Jerry Meeker andLarry Tillman in Montana as both a wrestler and a booker.[24][25] In late 1947 he travelled to wrestle inSan Antonio briefly.[xv] In September 1948, Hart establishedKlondike Wrestling[26] in Edmonton, the promotion joined the NWA in 1948.[Quote 1] In 1949, Hart was involved in a storyline with the "heel" Lord Albert Mills, they were scheduled to have a two out of three main event match at the Billings Sports arena on Monday December 19, the match was a followup to another one the previous week when Mills had gotten the win through nefarious means. Hart was portrayed as having been caught off guard the Monday before when it happened.[xvi] Hart was a perpetual "face" during his in-ring career, including during his time with the NWA,[xvii] and was a noted draw for women in the areas he wrestled.[xviii][xix] In 1950, Hart wrestled for the NWA associatedAlex Turk Promotions in Winnipeg. The first match was againstVerne Gagne on June 29 at the Civic Auditorium, the match resulted in a draw. He also wrestled in a match against Matt Murphy in the Civic Auditorium on November 9, which he was booked to win. In 1951, Hart purchased a mansion in Patterson Heights, Calgary,The Hart House which is now considered a heritage site. Its basement, later known as the Dungeon, provided training grounds for his wrestling pupils.[27] Later that year Hart headlined an event in Wisconsin, again together with Verne Gagne.[xx] Hart was still favoured by women at this time even against a bigger star like Gagne.[xxi]
In 1952, Hart bought up Tillman's territory in Alberta and merged his own promotion with it intoBig Time Wrestling.[8] The promotion would later change name toWildcat Wrestling and lastly morph intoStampede Wrestling many years later.[Quote 1] The televised version of Hart's wrestling shows were one of Canada's longest-running television programs, lasting over 30 years and remained one of Calgary's most popular sports programs, eventually airing in over 50 countries worldwide.[xxii]
Hart'sStampede Wrestling was responsible for developing many wrestlers who would later become very successful in other promotions and territories, mainly in the WWF.[28][4][29] Hart would generally close the promotion down during summers and open it up again during the winter when the other territories were closed.[30][31] Hart had on occasionswrestled animals such astigers andgrizzly bears as part of promotional efforts for the company as well as charity.[xxiii][xxiv][xxv] Later in life Hart would often let his sonsBruce andKeith handle the booking of the promotion.[32]
On July 25, 1986, he wrestled his last match in a tag team match with his son,Keith defeatingHonky Tonk Wayne and J.R. Foley at a Stampede Wrestling event in Calgary.[xxvi]
Hart made several appearances on WWE television in the 1990s and early 2000s. The majority of those appearances involved his sons, Bret and Owen Hart. A recurring staple of these appearances in the 1990s was that Stu and Helen would be verbally attacked by several of the commentators, mostly byBobby Heenan andJerry Lawler, the latter of whom was in a long-running feud with Bret during this point in time.[33][34][35] At the 1993 Pay-Per-View eventSurvivor Series, Stu had a planned physical interaction outside of the ring withShawn Michaels. Michaels was involved in a match with Stu's sons, Bruce, Keith, Bret and Owen Hart. Michaels played the part of the antagonist, and when failing to succeed in winning the match, Michaels' character then attacked Stu who responded by pretending to knock him out with an elbow smash.[citation needed] Michaels later stated that he was happy to take the hit as he considered it an honour.[36]
Hart also appeared inWCW at theSlamboree 1993: A Legends' Reunion event.[xxvii][xxviii]
Hart trained the vast majority of his trainees in the basement of the Hart mansion, known as The Dungeon. Hart used the location from the time that he bought it in October 1951 until the late 1990s. All eight of his sons and many others such asJunkyard Dog,Jushin Liger,[xxix]Superstar Billy Graham andThe British Bulldog were educated there.[xxx][27]
Hart's training technique, called "stretching" consisted of Hart putting his trainees in painful submission holds and holding on for a substantial time to improve their pain endurance to prepare them for the life of professional wrestling.[6][xxxi][37] Hart's technique was well known and he would let anyone who wished to let him apply one of his holds do so if they came to his home. Hart's son Bret once spoke about a well-known case where he stretched a priest, stating that his father wasn't prejudiced, since "he stretched a rabbi once too."[38] Some of Hart's former students, including his son Bret, have mentioned that his stretching would sometimes result in broken blood vessels in the eyes,[39][40][6][41] something which others have attempted to learn from his father.[42]
Hart was said to have had a special liking for training football players and bodybuilders since he enjoyed testing their strength.[43] Some have described his training as torture[44] and have accused Hart of being asadist who enjoyed inflicting pain on people and was more interested in doing so than teach them professional wrestling.[43][45][46][47][48][xxxii][49][50][51][52] Many who were close to Hart in his life have denied these claims.[xxxii][53][xxxiii] Stu's seventh sonRoss has said that his father was always generous and compassionate with his children and others in person but added that he was different when training people, believing that there was no easy way to teach wrestling.[6] His daughter-in-lawMartha has expressed in her book that she felt sure that Hart was well aware of his students' limits and never meant to actually harm any of them, stating that he was always careful not to apply too much pressure on any of his holds and intended more to scare them than maim them. Although she recalled several times when she thought she would pass out from the pain of the holds he had put on her, which he had meant as a playful gesture.[11] She added that it was fair to say that he had never seriously hurt anyone physically, albeit he may have inadvertently done so mentally.[54] Despite this, she also disclosed that her husbandOwen had long been scared of his father during childhood due to his fearsome reputation and hearing his brothers as well as other trainees' screams from the family's basement where Hart's training hall was located. This fear lingered into Owen's adolescence but ceased when he became an adult.[44] Owen himself revealed in the 1998 documentaryHitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows that he was often intimidated by his father but respected him and that that kept him from misbehaving. In the same documentary his third sonKeith explained that many may have believed his father to be a psychopath at first glance but that you had to know him intimately to understand that he wasn't anything like that beneath the surface. Wrestling managerJim Cornette has theorized that his cruel upbringing and tough early development may have played a part in the seemingly contradictory behaviour from Hart, as both a dedicated family man and apparently sadistic tormentor of his students.[xxxiv]
Hart was close friends with fellow wrestler Luther Jacob Goodall, better known by the nameLuther Lindsay. Goodall was one of the few men who bested him in the infamous "Dungeon" and Hart reportedly carried a picture of him in his wallet until his passing in 2003. Goodall's death in 1972 affected Hart tremendously. Hart's son Keith described them as being as close as brothers.[65] Hart was also a good friend of wrestling promoterJack Pfefer, whom he asked to be the godfather of his sonRoss,[66] as well asCalgary MayorRod Sykes[15] andice hockey playerBrian Conacher.[67] All of the wrestling belts that Hart used for his promotions were handmade by himself. Making championship belts was one of Hart's many domestic skills.[5]
Hart allegedly wrote the foreword to the controversial bookUnder the Mat[68] which was written by his youngest daughter,Diana Hart. His son Bret has questioned the legitimacy of it, and has stated that if Hart did write the foreword, his daughter probably did not let him read the book beforehand.[69][xlvi]
Hart married a New Yorker, Helen Smith (born February 16, 1924 – died November 4, 2001), the daughter of Olympic marathon runnerHarry Smith on December 31, 1947.[xlvii] They were introduced through each other byPaul Boesch.[xlviii] Stu and Helen were married for over 53 years until Helen's death at the age of 77.
Stu and Helen raised their twelve children in theHart mansion,Smith,Bruce,Keith,Wayne,Dean, Ellie, Georgia,Bret, Alison,Ross,Diana andOwen. Hart was anon-denominational Christian, however, he had all his children baptized by a local Catholic priest.[35] The couple have around thirty-six biological grandchildren and several great-grandchildren, three of whom, his oldest grandsonTeddy Annis's son Bradley and his oldest granddaughter Tobi McIvor's two oldest daughters Amanda and Jessica, were born during Hart's lifetime.Tom and Michelle Billington's three children, Bronwyne, Marek and Amaris are also often included in the list of his grandchildren, therefore Bronwyne's daughter Miami is also often referred to as one of his great-grandchildren.[70] Many of his grandchildren went on to become wrestlers or were otherwise involved in wrestling.[71]
In 1949, Hart and his wife Helen who was pregnant with their second child,Bruce were in a car accident on their way home from a wrestling match, Hart was unscathed, although he did break the car's steering wheel on impact, however his wife Helen suffered several injuries and had to be held in a hospital for a long time, leading them to leaving their oldest child,Smith, with Helen's parents Elizabeth andHarry Smith for two years.[72][73][xlix]
According to his son Ross, Hart was severely affected and badly aged by being bereaved of his youngest son Owen in 1999 and by becoming a widower in 2001.[74]
Because of his extensive work as a coach and mentor to many young athletes as well as over thirty years of charitable work in his hometown, Stu Hart was appointed a Member of theOrder of Canada on November 15, 2000.[75] He was honoured with an investiture on May 31, 2001, in Ottawa.[76][viii][l][li][Quote 2]
In May 2003, Hart had a life-threatening bout ofpneumonia, which saw him hospitalized atRockyview General Hospital, although Hart recovered later that month and returned to his residence at theHart House.[77] On October 3, 2003, Hart was readmitted to Rockyview General Hospital as a result of an elbow infection at which point he then developedpneumonia again.[lii][liii][liv][lv] He also suffered from ailments associated withdiabetes andarthritis. After a brief improvement in his health for a few days from October 11, he suffered a stroke on October 15, and died the following day. He was 88 years old.[78]
Hart's funeral service was attended by approximately 1,000 people. He was cremated and his ashes were later interred at Eden Brook Memorial Gardens in a plot with his wife Helen, who had died almost two years earlier in November 2001.[lvi][lvii]
Hart is regarded by many as one of the most important and respected[79] people in thehistory of professional wrestling,[67][xli][80][lviii][lix][81][lx] and an icon of the art.[lxi]
Sports journalist and wrestling historianDave Meltzer described Hart's importance to the art of professional wrestling as indispensable[74] since his booking decisions and training of several key individuals affected the industry in significant ways. Meltzer describes people likeHulk Hogan andJesse Ventura as people who were spawned by Harts actions and cites theDynamite Kid,Junkyard Dog andBilly Robinson as some who would probably not have had the careers they did if not for Hart. He also mentionsChris Benoit andBrian Pillman as individuals who would most certainly never even have become wrestlers were it not for Hart.[82] Meltzer characterized Hart as the biggest territorial star in wrestling history to never win a major championship.[83] Former wrestlingpromoter and owner of theSt. Louis Wrestling ClubLarry Matysik described Hart as a Canadian icon.[84]
Hart had a noticeable accent which included a very raspy voice[15] and unique way of speaking which he was well known for. According to theWrestling Observer Newsletter, Hart is the most imitated man in professional wrestling,[85] with practically everyone in the industry having tried a Stu Hart impersonation.[1][lxii][lxiii]
WWE chairmanVince McMahon has lauded Hart as a trailblazer for the wrestling industry.[lxiv] On March 27, 2010, Hart was posthumously inducted into theWWE Hall of Fame.[lxv]
In theHart Legacy Wrestling promotion, controlled by Hart's relatives and their associates, there is a Stu Hart Heritage Title.[lxvi][lxvii]
There is an annual juvenile amateur wrestling tournament named after Hart called theStu Hart Tournament of Champions held in Canada.[lxviii][lxix][lxx][lxxi][lxxii][lxxiii][lxxiv][lxxv][lxxvi][lxxvii]
InSaskatoon'sBlairmore Urban Centre there is a road named Hart Road, in Stu Hart's honour.[lxxviii]
In 2005 a documentary directed by Blake Norton,Surviving the Dungeon: The Legacy of Stu Hart, was released.[lxxix][lxxx][lxxxi][lxxxii][lxxxiii][lxxxiv][lxxxv][lxxxvi]
As of 2005 Hart is part of a permanent exhibit at theGlenbow Museum.[lxxxvii] Ascissored armbar wrestling hold is sometimes referred as a "Stu-Lock" in Hart's honour.[lxxxviii]
| Winner (wager) | Loser (wager) | Location | Event | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stu Hart (hair) | Towering Inferno (mask) | Calgary, Alberta | Stampede show | February 6, 1976 | [civ] |

| Ribbon | Description | Notes |
| Order of Canada (CM) |
That same year [1948], the legendary Stu Hart founded Klondike Wrestling which he operated out of Edmonton. In 1952, through a series deals with [Larry] Tillman and [Jerry] Meeker, Hart acquired control of the Calgary promotion and thus became the promoter for the entire territory, which now operated under the name Big Time Wrestling (later Wildcat Wrestling and Stampede Wrestling).
As patriarch of Canada's first family of professional wrestling, he has made an important contribution to the sport for more than five decades. Founder of Stampede Wrestling and an icon of the golden era of wrestling, he has been coach and mentor to countless young athletes, imparting the highest standards of athleticism and personal conduct. A generous supporter of community life in Calgary, he is a loyal benefactor to more than thirty charitable and civic organizations including the Shriners' Hospital for Crippled Children and the Alberta Firefighters Toy Fund.[cv]
He will be remembered as generous friend, tough trainer, loving husband and dad
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