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The Hart Foundation was a collective name used by various stables in the World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment). They are generally associated with the Hart wrestling family from Canada.
The Original Hart Foundation
According to Bret Hart (in a 2005 DVD release), the Hart Foundation originated after Bret turned down the "Cowboy" Bret Hart gimmick he was given, claiming that he didn't really take a liking to it. He then suggested to WWF management that he would much prefer to be tag-teamed with Jim Neidhart (who would later become Bret's brother-in-law), and managed by Jimmy Hart, to form a heel stable known as the Hart Foundation, which came from the fact that they all had Hart in their last names. (Long before coming to the WWF, Jimmy Hart had been using the name "Hart Foundation" to describe the stable of wrestlers that he managed.) Management first declined, claiming that Bret didn't have the heel look that was appropriate, but months later just as Bret was about to quit, he was given what he wanted: he was allowed to turn heel, and was partnered up with Neidhart and Jimmy to form the Hart Foundation.
The Hart Foundation were, (and still are to this day) regarded as one of the best, if not the best tag team there during wrestling's 1980s heyday. The Hart Foundation were involved in perhaps some of wrestling's greatest tag-team matches of all time, and they were constantly involved in feuds with various other teams including the British Bulldogs, the Killer Bees and the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers. What set the Harts apart from their contemporaries was their respective wrestling styles -- Jim Neidhart was more of a brawler/power wrestler, whereas Bret Hart on the other hand was a sound and polished technician who used ring psychology to his advantage. This characteristic and uniqueness in the Hart Foundation was not only rare yet successful, but also led to the Hart Foundation's first WWF World Tag Team Championship when they defeated the British Bulldogs during a WWF television taping in 1985.
During their first tenure as WWF Tag Team Champions, the Hart Foundation paired up with referee-turned-wrestler, "Dangerous" Danny Davis for a six-man contest against the British Bulldogs and Tito Santana at WrestleMania III. Though the Harts were successful that evening, their run as a three-man team ended when Jimmy Hart signed the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, and claimed 25 percent of Bret Hart's pay (this obviously was a storyline angle). Jimmy Hart's betrayal would slowly turn the Hart Foundation as faces.
The Hart Foundation
After Jimmy Hart's betrayal of the team, and the loss of their tag-team championships, the Hart Foundation were pushed as faces, and really got over with the fans. They began performing smart, and at times, hilarious interviews (although they were always regarded as a "serious" tag team) and continued to have intense and memorable tag team matches. By this time, the Hart Foundation were feuding with the Rockers, Demolition, the Legion of Doom and others, all with the intention of re-gaining the tag-team championships once more.
The Hart Foundation continue to hold a WrestleMania record, as they defeated The Bolsheiviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zukov) in 17 seconds during WrestleMania VI in 1990. It was during this time, the Hart Foundation challenged Demolition for the Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam 1990 to a unique two-out-of-three falls match which the Hart Foundation won successfully (in part because of the Legion Of Doom's interference when they dealt with the third member of Demolition, who hid under the ring during the match and served as a replacement for a tired member). Their second WWF Tag Team reign lasted till WrestleMania VII when they were defeated by the Nasty Boys, when Brian Knobbs nailed Neidhart over the head with Jimmy Hart's helmet (Jimmy Hart was the then manager of the Nasty Boys).
The Hart Foundation split after WrestleMania VII, without a dramatic storyline explanation (compared with other teams). This was because WWF management saw Bret's potential in becoming a singles superstar. Bret then focused on his solo career, winning the WWF Intercontinental Championship and the WWF Championship. Jim Neidhart, during this time, was teamed with Bret's younger brother Owen Hart and was named as The New Foundation as an attempt to not only capitalize on the popularity of the Bret/Neidhart team, but to also gain Owen Hart some big time exposure since he was still "new" to the WWF and wasn't getting any career pushes). The New Foundation was a face team, but they weren't successful compared with The Hart Foundation of Bret and Neidhart, leading their quick break up. Neidhart and Owen would later team during 1994's "Brother vs. Brother" storyline where Owen turned on Bret and wished to "step out of Bret's shadow". Neidhart turned heel when he supported Owen in his quest to dethrone his brother from the WWF Championship.
The New Hart Foundation
The re-formed Hart Foundation was a pro-Canadian stable that was born after the events of 1997's WrestleMania 13, where Bret Hart defeated his then-nemesis "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in their submission match, despite the fact that Austin passed out rather than submit. The fans, in the context of one match, turned on Bret and began supporting Steve Austin, who was the rebellious anti-hero whom "flipped the bird", swore on television and did whatever he wanted, when he wanted to. Because of their new-found love for Austin, the fans began to turn on Bret Hart, thus causing a "North American war". Bret Hart in response turned on the fans and reunited himself with Jim Neidhart and recruited Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith (aka the British Bulldog), and Brian Pillman to form the New Hart Foundation (although they were simply known as the "Hart Foundation").
This stable opposed the United States, and even degraded America and its values whereas they would speak highly of Canada and Europe (in which they were still beloved, regardless of what happened over in the States). The New Hart Foundation usually brought the Canadian and British flags out to their matches, and in their promos would talk in disgust about America and Americans in general, thus causing fan reactions and making the New Hart Foundation (and Bret Hart in particular) unpopular in the States. Despite the fact that this stable was highly successful (having garnered nearly every WWF Championship title they had to offer, including the WWF Championship, WWF Intercontinental Championship, WWF World Tag Team Championship and the WWF European Championship) the stable eventually disbanded during the aftermath of the 1997 Survivor Series when Bret was involved in the highly controversial "Montréal Screwjob". Neidhart and Smith left the WWF for WCW where they followed Bret, whereas Owen remained in the WWF, feeling that he may have been sued for breach of contract should he have left.
It was hinted that perhaps the Hart Foundation would reform in WCW, since Bret, Bulldog and Neidhart were all in WCW, but that was not to be. Bret was listed in the New World Order (nWo) and garnered great success, whereas the other two weren't used well in WCW and eventually left.
Many of the wrestlers involved in the various Hart Foundation groups came from Stu Hart's Calgary Stampede promotion and as such had a "behind-the-scenes" cohesiveness in the eyes of many smarks.
What was interesting about the New Hart Foundation was that, with the exception of Brian Pillman (who was trained by Stu Hart), every member of the stable were family members, with Bret and Owen being brothers, and Neidhart and Smith being their brothers-in-laws.
Coincidentally, Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart (the original Hart Foundation) are currently the only surviving members of the faction. Brian Pillman died in 1997, Owen Hart in 1999, and Davey Boy Smith in 2002.
Hart Foundation 2.0
In 2002, Teddy Hart formed "Hart Foundation 2.0" with his cousin Harry Smith, T.J. Wilson and Jack Evans in Calgary's Stampede Wrestling. Teddy is the son of Georgia Annis (Stu Hart's daughter) and Smith is the son of Davey Boy Smith.
Championships/Accomplishments
- 2-Time WWF World Tag Team Champions (B.Hart & Neidhart)
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) ranked Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart at # 37 of the 100 best tag teams during the "PWI Years" in 2003.
References
Bret Hart's 2005 DVD entitled "The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be: The Bret Hart Story".
External links
World Wrestling Entertainment teams and stables | Independent promotions teams and stables
"Hart Foundation"