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|caption=The Original Hart Foundation: Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart
|caption=The Original Hart Foundation: Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart
|members=[[Bret Hart]]<br>[[Jim Neidhart]]<br>[[Jimmy Hart]]<br>[[Dan Marsh|"Dangerous" Danny, Davis]]<ref name=bretbio/>
|members=[[Bret Hart]]<br>[[Jim Neidhart]]<br>[[Jimmy Hart]]<br>[[Dan Marsh|"Dangerous" Danny Davis]]<ref name=bretbio/>
|names=The Hart Foundation
|names=The Hart Foundation
|former_members=
|former_members=

Revision as of 17:22, 29 December 2009

This article is about the Hart Foundation in professional wrestling. For the charity organization, see British Heart Foundation or National Heart Foundation of Australia.

The Hart Foundation was a collective name used by various stables in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The members of the alliances are usually members or close friends of the Hart wrestling family from Canada. The original stable consisted of Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Bret "The Hitman" Hart, and their manager Jimmy Hart. They had two reigns as WWF Tag Team Champions. The same year the group disbanded, Neidhart teamed briefly with Bret's younger brother Owen Hart as The New Foundation. They also teamed in 1994.

Three years later, Bret and Neidhart teamed up once again, forming a pro-Canada/anti-American alliance with Owen, The British Bulldog, and Brian Pillman. Throughout their time together, the unit held all the available WWF championships: the WWF Championship, Intercontinental Championship, European Championship, and Tag Team Championship. In October 1997, Pillman died, and a month later, Bret left the WWF after the Montreal Screwjob. By November 1997, the only member remaining in the WWF was Owen.

In 2007, David Hart Smith, Tyson Kidd, and Natalya teamed together as The Next Generation Hart Foundation in WWE {formerly the WWF)'s developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling, where they won the Tag Team Championship. They were later moved to the WWE main roster and renamed the Hart Dynasty.

The Hart Foundation

The Hart Foundation
Stable
MembersBret Hart
Jim Neidhart
Jimmy Hart
"Dangerous" Danny Davis[1]
Name(s)The Hart Foundation
Debut1985
Disbanded1991

The Hart Foundation tag team began when Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, already managed by Jimmy Hart, joined up with Bret "The Hitman" Hart (whose sister he had already married)[2] to form a villainous tag team. The name Hart Foundation, already used by Jimmy Hart, derived from the fact that all three had Hart in their family names. According to Bret, the tag team originated after he turned down the "Cowboy" Bret Hart gimmick he was given, claiming that he did not really take a liking to it.[3] He then suggested to WWF management that he would much prefer to be teamed up with Jim Neidhart. Management first laughed at the idea, but months later just as Bret was about to quit, he was given what he wanted: he was allowed to become a villain and was partnered up with Neidhart and Jimmy to form the Hart Foundation.

The Hart Foundation made its pay-per-view debut at WrestleMania 2 in 1986 as participants of a 20-man battle royal which also included NFL stars.[1] The duo were the final two men whom André the Giant eliminated to win the battle royal.[4] The Harts gained their status as a mid-card team when feuding with The Killer Bees (Jim Brunzell and B. Brian Blair). At Saturday Night's Main Event, the Foundation faced Brunzell and Blair in a tag team match, which the Killer Bees won.[5] The Hart Foundation continued to feud with the Killer Bees for the better part of 1986.

The Hart Foundation began a feud with Tag Team Champions The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid) in early 1987 over the title.[1] On the February 7 edition of Superstars, in Tampa, Florida, the Harts defeated Bulldogs for their first WWF Tag Team Championship when the referee of the match, "Dangerous" Danny Davis helped the Harts to win the match.[1][6] On the March 14 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, the Harts made their first title defense against Tito Santana and Dan Spivey and retained the title after Danny Davis hit Santana with Jimmy Hart's megaphone.[7] Santana began to feud with Davis as a result of this action and at this point, he joined the British Bulldogs in their feud with the Hart Foundation. The rivalry culminated in a six-man tag team match at WrestleMania III where the Foundation teamed up with Davis against the British Bulldogs and Santana.[1] Davis hit Davey Boy Smith with Jimmy Hart's megaphone and pinned him to get the victory for the Hart Foundation.[8] On the May 2 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, the Foundation defended their tag title against the British Bulldogs in a Two out of three falls match. In the first fall, they got disqualified because of illegal double-teaming and in the second fall Neidhart was pinned by Smith. However, the Hart Foundation retained the title due to the disqualification result.[9]

On the October 27 edition of Superstars, the Hart Foundation dropped their title to Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana), ending their 10 month reign. The two teams faced each other at Survivor Series in a 10-team Survivor Series elimination match. Strike Force captained a team of fan favorites while the Hart Foundation captained a team of villains. Strike Force was eliminated by the Hart Foundation, but the Hart Foundation also got eliminated and in the end, the fan favorite team won the match.[10] The feud culminated in a match for the WWF Tag Team Championship on the February 5 edition of The Main Event, as the Hart Foundation challenged Strike Force for the title but lost the match.[11]

In late spring/early summer of 1988, Jimmy Hart signed the Hart Foundation's rivals The Rougeau Brothers and, the the storyline, claimed 25 percent of Bret Hart's and Jim Neidhart's payment. After Jimmy's betrayal of the team, and the loss of their tag team championship, the Hart Foundation were pushed as fan favorites. In the summer of 1988, the Hart Foundation began a feud with WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition for the title. At SummerSlam, they challenged Demolition for the WWF Tag Team Championship but ended up losing the match.[12] On the October 29 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, they faced Demolition in a rematch for the title but lost due to outside interference by The Rougeaus.[13] The Hart Foundation continued their feud with The Fabulous Rougeaus, and formed an alliance with Jim Duggan. At Royal Rumble in early 1989, Duggan and the Hart Foundation defeated Dino Bravo and the Rougeaus in a two out of three falls match to end the feud.[14]

In late 1989, the Hart Foundation split for a while and wrestled in other teams but reunited in early 1990. On the April 28 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, they faced The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) in a tag team match, which resulted in a double disqualification after WWF Tag Team Champions Demolition interfered.[15] As a result of the interference, Demolition feuded with both the Rockers and the Hart Foundation. At SummerSlam, the Hart Foundation faced Demolition in a two out of three falls match for the tag title which the Hart Foundation won. As a result, the Hart Foundation got their second WWF Tag Team Championship.[16][17] The Hart Foundation's second title reign lasted until WrestleMania VII when they were defeated by The Nasty Boys (Jerry Sags and Brian Knobbs), when Knobbs nailed Neidhart over the head with Jimmy Hart's helmet (Jimmy Hart managed the Nasty Boys at the time).[1][18] The Hart Foundation split after WrestleMania VII, and Bret then focused on his solo career.[1]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

The New Foundation

The New Foundation
Tag team
MembersOwen Hart
Jim Neidhart
Name(s)The New Foundation
Debut1991
Disbanded1994

After the Hart Foundation split, both members focused on their singles careers; Bret challenged for and won the Intercontinental title while Jim Neidhart faced a much tougher road as a singles competitor. In late 1991, Neidhart had a match against Ric Flair, which Neidhart lost via submission to the figure four leglock. The move incapacitated Neidhart so much that he had to be helped from the ring; as he exited the arena the Beverly Brothers made their entrance for a tag team match. The arrogant brothers took an opportunity and jumped Neidhart, further (kayfabe) aggravating his injury. When Neidhart returned about a month later, he was determined to get revenge and he even had back up. Bret's younger brother, Owen, had been signed with the company and he was revealed as Neidhart's back up. They then formed a team in the hopes of recreating the magic of the Hart Foundation and the duo was subsequently dubbed The New Foundation. Owen was soon nicknamed "The Rocket" and the duo became famous and instantly recognizable for their bizarre 'baggy pants' attire and bright jackets.[21][2]

Their first feud was naturally with the Beverly Brothers but they also had matches with The Nasty Boys[22] and The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) but with very little success. The team had their one and only pay-per-view match at the Royal Rumble, where they defeated The Orient Express (Tanaka and Kato).[21][2][23] Only weeks later, Owen Hart would be on his own as Neidhart left the federation.[21][2]

Owen and Jim reunited in 1994, this time as villains and without the New Foundation moniker. Owen had turned on his brother Bret in early 1994 and was deep in a feud with him. Jim Neidhart turned up at the King of the Ring tournament first to accompany Bret as he faced Diesel,[2] but then also made a surprise appearance at the end of the night to help Owen win the tournament, resulting in Owen dubbing himself the "King of Harts".[21][2] It was later confirmed that Neidhart was helping Owen.[21][2] The brothers in law teamed regularly throughout 1994, feuding with Bret and Davey Boy Smith. At SummerSlam, after Bret retained the WWF Championship against Owen in a steel cage match, Neidhart attacked Bret; when Smith tried to make the save for Bret, Neidhart attacked him as well.[21][2][24] On the November 7 edition of Raw, Bret and Smith defeated Owen and Neidhart in a tag team match.[21][2]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

The (New) Hart Foundation

The (New) Hart Foundation
Stable
MembersBret Hart
Jim Neidhart
Owen Hart
The British Bulldog
Brian Pillman
Name(s)The (New) Hart Foundation
Debut1997
DisbandedLate 1997

In 1997, the Hart Foundation re-formed as 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 a Submission match.[1] During the match, Austin became a fan favorite and Hart became a villain.[25] After the event, Hart reunited with Jim Neidhart and recruited Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, and Brian Pillman to form the new Hart Foundation.[1]

This stable opposed the United States, and even degraded the United States and its values whereas they would speak highly of Canada and the United Kingdom (where they were beloved). The New Hart Foundation usually brought the Canadian and British flags out to their matches, and in their promos would talk in disgust about the United States and its inhabitants in general, thus causing fan reactions and making the New Hart Foundation (and Bret Hart in particular) unpopular in the States but highly popular in Canada. Their main feud was with Stone Cold and Shawn Michaels, whom (as opposed to the Hart Foundation) were booed heavily in Canada and Europe, but cheered on wildly in the United States. At Canadian Stampede, the Hart Foundation took part in a historic 10-man tag team match where the entire Hart Foundation faced the team of Steve Austin, the Legion of Doom, Ken Shamrock, and Goldust. In the end, Owen Hart pinned Steve Austin. The entire Hart family came into the ring to celebrate afterward.

The stable was highly successful, garnering every championship available at the time (WWF Championship,[26] Intercontinental Championship,[27] European Championship,[28] and Tag Team Championship) in the WWF.[20]

The new Hart Foundation eventually disbanded in late 1997. Pillman was found dead of an undetected heart condition on October 5, the day of In Your House: Badd Blood.[29] At the following pay-per-view, Survivor Series, Bret (who was leaving the WWF to join World Championship Wrestling) lost the WWF Championship to Shawn Michaels in the infamous "Montreal Screwjob".[30] Both Neidhart and Smith left over the incident, but Owen remained feeling that he may have been sued for breach of contract if he left.

Championships and accomplishments

Miscellaneous versions

Jim Neidhart and The Blue Meanie teamed under the New Foundation name in Memphis Championship Wrestling in 2000 and were the promotion's first Tag Team Champions.[31]

In 2002, Teddy Hart formed a team with his cousin Harry Smith, TJ Wilson, Nattie Neidhart, and Jack Evans in Stampede Wrestling.

Hart and Evans also wrestled as the Hart Foundation 2003 in November 2003, participating in a Ring of Honor Scramble Cage match against The Backseat Boyz, The S.A.T., The Carnage Crew, and Special K.[32] Later, Hart, Evans, Smith, and Wilson reformed the group in Major League Wrestling.[32]

In 2005, the original duo of Hart and Evans worked for Jersey All Pro Wrestling, winning the JAPW Tag Team Championship from the Strong Styles Thugs (B-Boy and Homicide). They held the title for approximately four months before losing it to the Backseat Boyz. Evans and Hart began wrestling as the Hart Foundation 2.0 in Mexico's Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) on November 30, 2007. At Centro de Convenciones de Ciudad Madero for the annual Guerra de Titanes event, they participated in and lost a four-way extreme dance for the AAA World Tag Team Championship in a match against champions Crazy Boy and Joe Lider, Charly Manson and Chessman, and Extreme Tiger and Halloween.

Championships and accomplishments

The Hart Dynasty

The Hart Dynasty
Natalya (left), Smith (center), and Kidd (right)
Stable
MembersDavid Hart Smith
Tyson Kidd
Natalya
Name(s)Hart Dynasty[33]
Hart Trilogy[34]
New Hart Foundation
Next Generation Hart Foundation
Former
member(s)		Ted DiBiase, Jr.
Teddy Hart
Debut2002

In 2007, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) launched their new development territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). Harry Smith, Nattie Neidhart, and TJ Wilson were moved to the new farm territory, where they aligned themselves and formed the Next Generation Hart Foundation (also known as The New Generation Hart Foundation, or simply The New Hart Foundation) and were later joined by Teddy Hart and Ted DiBiase, Jr. On FCW's debut show on June 26, Smith won a 21-man battle royal to become the promotion's first Southern Heavyweight Champion. Plans to bring the stable to WWE's main roster were made but Teddy Hart was released from his development contract in October. Eventually, DiBiase, Neidhart, and Smith, after losing the Southern Heavyweight title, were all called up to the main roster albeit on separate shows, as DiBiase and Smith (using the name DH Smith) were sent to Raw and Neidhart to SmackDown, disbanding the Next Generation Hart Foundation. After being drafted to SmackDown, Smith, returned to FCW—without ever debuting on SmackDown—and reformed the stable with Wilson. With Neidhart's (renamed Natalya) help they became Florida Tag Team Champions. After losing the belts, they were once again split up when TJ Wilson (renamed Tyson Kidd) was called to ECW on Sci Fi with Natalya as his valet.

In the 2009 WWE Supplemental Draft, Natalya and Smith were officially drafted to the ECW brand, despite Smith never debuting for SmackDown. On the May 12 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Smith debuted on ECW under the name David Hart Smith, by interfering in Kidd's match against Finlay, signaling the reformation of the group, briefly under the name The Hart Trilogy,[34] before settling on The Hart Dynasty.[33] Smith made his debut with the group by defeating Finlay the following week.[35] The team had their first match together, alongside Jack Swagger, by defeating Christian and Tommy Dreamer[36] before finally appearing as just a tag team, defeating Christian and Swagger on June 9.[37] On June 29, the trio were traded to the SmackDown brand and debuted as a team for the brand on the July 3 episode of SmackDown, when Kidd and Smith lost to Cryme Tyme.[38] The Hart Dynasty made their pay-per-view debut at Bragging Rights in a traditional Survivor Series-style elimination match. They also had their first match for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship against D-Generation X, but lost.[39]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Bret Hart bio". SLAM! Wrestling. May 26, 2006. Retrieved 2009-12-24.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Jim Neidhart's Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
  3. ^ On the DVD Bret "Hit Man" Hart: The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be, released in 2005.
  4. ^ "WrestleMania 2 official results". WWE. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
  5. ^ "Saturday Night's Main Event results - November 29, 1986". WWE. 1986-11-29. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
  6. ^ "Hart Foundation's first World Tag Team Championship reign". WWE. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
  7. ^ "Saturday Night's Main Event results - March 14, 1987". WWE. 1987-03-14. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
  8. ^ "WrestleMania III official results". WWE. 1987-03-29. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
  9. ^ "Saturday Night's Main Event results - May 2, 1987". WWE. 1987-05-02. Retrieved 2008-04-07.
  10. ^ "Survivor Series 1987 official results". WWE. 1987-11-26. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
  11. ^ "The Main Event I results". Online World of Wrestling. 1987-11-26. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
  12. ^ "SummerSlam 1988 official results". WWE. 1988-08-29. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
  13. ^ "Saturday Night's Main Event results - October 29, 1988". WWE. 1988-10-29. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
  14. ^ "Royal Rumble 1989 official results". WWE. 1989-01-15. Retrieved 2008-04-08.
  15. ^ "Saturday Night's Main Event results - April 28, 1990". WWE. 1990-04-28. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
  16. ^ "SummerSlam 1990 official results". WWE. 1990-08-27. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  17. ^ "Hart Foundation's second World Tag Team Championship reign". WWE. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  18. ^ "WrestleMania VIII official results". WWE. 1990-03-24. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  19. ^ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Top 100 Tag Teams of the PWI Years". Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  20. ^ a b c "World Tag Team Championship official title history". WWE. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g "Owen Hart's Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  22. ^ "WWF Prime Time Wrestling Results (1985-1993)". thehistoryofwwe.com. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  23. ^ "Royal Rumble 1992 official results". WWE. 1992-01-19. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  24. ^ "Owen Hart vs. Bret "Hit Man" Hart - Steel Cage Match for the WWE Championship". WWE. 1994-08-29. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  25. ^ "WrestleMania 13 official results". WWE. 1997-03-23. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  26. ^ a b "WWE Championship official title history". WWE. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  27. ^ a b "WWE Intercontinental Championship official title history". WWE. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  28. ^ a b "WWE European Championship official title history". WWE. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  29. ^ "Brian Pillman's Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  30. ^ "WWE Championship Match: Shawn Michaels def. Bret "Hit Man" Hart to become new WWE Champion". WWE. 1997-11-09. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  31. ^ "Memphis Championship Wrestling Title Histories". Wrestling Information Archive. Retrieved 2008-04-11.
  32. ^ a b Clevett, Jason (December 11, 2003). "Jack Evans soars on indy scene". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
  33. ^ a b Bishop, Matt (2009-05-27). "ECW: Sorting out ECW Championship mess". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
  34. ^ a b Bishop, Matt (2009-05-20). "ECW: Hart Trilogy keeps Finlay guessing". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
  35. ^ Burdick, Michael (2009-05-19). "Extreme Hart". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  36. ^ Burdick, Michael (2009-05-26). "Extreme to the third power". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  37. ^ Medalis, Kara (2009-06-09). "Scandalous signing". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2009-07-20.
  38. ^ Waldman, Jon (2009-07-04). "Smackdown: Eye for an eye". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-07-04.
  39. ^ Waldman, Jon (December 26, 2009). "Smackdown: X-Mas tag team turmoil". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-12-27.
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