RIP Stu Hart

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Sicc OG
Oct 4, 2002
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10/16/2003

Stewart Edward Hart, better known to Canadians and wrestling fans around the world as Stu Hart, passed away at at Rockyview General Hospital on Thursday from complications due to diabetes and pneumonia. He was 88 years old.



Hart had been admitted to the hospital on Oct. 3 for Staph Infection, which had developed on his elbow after falling.



Hart was a legend in Canada and the wrestling world, beginning his career as an amateur champion, and launching Stampede Wrestling, a Canadian institution for the sport in Western Canada. Hart was best known by a generation of wrestling fans as the patriarch of the legendary Hart family.



Related Info
Stu Hart 1915-2003

Together with his late wife Helen - who passed away in two years ago - the Harts had 12 children, almost all of who were involved in some way with the wrestling business.



Hart was born May 3, 1915 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He was an outstanding amateur wrestler and a standout center for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. With experience and skill in both sports, Stu eventually chose to pursue wrestling, and enjoyed a celebrated career as a pro wrestler for more than 40 years.



Hart enlisted in the Navy in World War II and entertained the troops by wrestling in exhibitions against the likes of Sandor Kovacs and Al Korman. After the war, Hart made his way to New York where he began his pro career, and met his future bride Helen.



Since he wasn't a top contender in the New York area, he started making his way out West, learning the behind-the-scenes business of promotion. In 1948, Hart founded Big Time Wrestling in Edmonton, which was renamed Wildcat Wrestling.



The Harts then moved to Calgary, where Stu managed to make additional money in real estate. In 1951, he bought into the local Stampede Promotion.



Stampede Wrestling, a longtime member of the National Wrestling Alliance, became a Canadian Broadcasting Tradition, with the late great Ed Whalen providing play-by-play and commentary for each show.



The league was often seen as a combination of traditional North American show style of wrestling, and the more realistic Japanese style.



The promotion was built around Stu's sons Bruce, Keith, and Bret, combined with stars such as The Dynamite Kid, Davey Boy Smith, Bad News Allen, "Lightning" Leo Burke, Herculese Ayala, Mr. Hito, Duke Meyers, The Great Gama Singh, and the Kiwis.



As well known as he was as a promoter, Stu was renowned for his legendary "Dungeon," where he would train promising wrestlers. Hart would bring in strongmen and football players to his own basement where he would stretch them, abuse them, and even make them cry. Those who managed to survive the rigors of "The Dungeon" would earn a badge of respect that no other form of training could give them. Performers who were taught in the Dungeon were branded as quality wrestlers.



It wasn’t long before promoters began sending their raw talents to Hart for training. He molded Montreal stars Rick Martel and Jacques Rougeau Jr., who were both in the Dungeon before they were 18. Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation came calling in 1984, and with it went many of the promotion's biggest stars. Dynamite, Davey, Jim Neidhart, and Bret all headed for the bright lights of the WWF, where they would find new stardom. Greg Valentine and Jake Roberts were also sent North by their fathers for seasoning, along with future stars such as Edge, Christian and Kurt Angle.



Stampede Wrestling faded into the sunset in the early 1990's, but it made a return with Stu's blessing a few years ago. The promotion has already brought a new generation star in Teddy Hart (who made his NWA-TNA debut a few months ago), and the future looks bright with the British Bulldog's son Harry set to make his debut in the next year or so.



Stu was named to the Order of Canada on May 31, 2001 for making an important contribution to the sport of wrestling for more than five decades. The Order of Canada officially lists Stu's accomplishments as follows:



"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."



In the years following Owen's tragic death in the WWF, the family had been bitterly divided, but it was always Stu and Helen who held the family together, serving as a powerful nucleus for what is arguably the most famous wrestling family in the world.



Stu Hart will be remembered for many things, a humanitarian who gave to many charities, a loving father and husband who helped sire a brood that would entertain generations of wrestling fans, a wrestler who in his day dazzled and entertained the crowds, a promoter who created in Stampede Wrestling a legendary promotion which lives on to this day, and a trainer who helped mold most of the superstars who entertain us today.



To us at TSN.ca, he will best be remembered as a Canadian legend who helped give Canada its pedigree as an amazing wrestling nation.