One of the most iconic names in wrestling, the Hart family, is known to fans via legends like Bret “The Hitman” Hart and Owen Hart, but the reputation is kept up via newer generations represented by performers like Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Natalya Neidhart. The prestige and accomplishments of this major wrestling dynasty all begins with the patriarch of the Hart family: Stu Hart.
With an in-ring career that lasted from 1943 to 1986, Stu Hart is a crucial figure in wrestling history, a popular and talented figure in his own right who’s responsible for training and inspiring countless stars, including many known to fans today. But it’s likely that modern fans don’t know much about him, so let’s go over what fans should know about Stu Hart.
10 Amateur Wrestling And Would-Be Olympian
As a boy, Stu Hart actually learned catch wrestling from boys in his neighborhood, and would pursue similar sports as he got older. Attending the local YMCA, Hart trained in amateur wrestling and began winning championships as a teenager and beyond. As an adult, Hart would actually qualified for the 1940 Olympics, but sadly the games would be canceled due to World World II happening. More than just a talented wrestler, Hart pursued other athletic endeavors, too, playing football for the Edmonton Eskimos for a couple of years.
9 Served In The Royal Canadian Navy
In the early 1940s, a friend named Al Oeming — who’d later have an influence on his wrestling career — was drafted into the Royal Canadian Navy, serving in World War II, which prompted Stu Hart to enlist as well, as many future stars would later do. Hoping to actually serve on the seas, the Navy decided that Hart would best function in athletics, working as an athletic director as well as competing in various sports, including fastball and wrestling. Apparently the Navy saw great value in Hart’s athletic abilities, convincing him to stay on multiple occasions until they finally discharged him in 1946.
8 Trained By Toots Mondt
Following his discharge from the Navy, Stu Hart made his way to New York City, where he was trained by legend Toots Mondt. Fans may not know it today, but Mondt was a crucial figure in the development and popularization of pro wrestling in the 1920s, introducing high-impact maneuvers and faster paces to the previously methodical sport, not to mention co-founding WWE with Vince McMahon Sr. in 1953.
This New York period would have a great effect on Stu Hart’s future, as the rough treatment from veterans likely influenced his own training style. He’d also meet his wife Helen Smith in New York, with whom he’d have 12 children.
7 The Dungeon
Stu Hart proved a success in the United States with his good looks making him popular with female fans and his legitimate skills earning the respect of his peers. In 1951, Hart was able to buy a mansion in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and converted the basement into a training facility for aspiring wrestlers. This basement would become dubbed "The Dungeon," but was hardly anything fancy, characterized by a low ceiling and a wrestling mat on the floor along with some weight lifting equipment.
6 Trained Countless Legends
From its conception in 1951 all the way to the late 1990s, the Hart Dungeon trained countless wrestlers as well as other athletes like football players. Over the years, Stu Hart had a hand in training a staggering number of future legends, including not only his own sons, but also Canadian legends like Chris Jericho, Edge, Roddy Piper, and Lance Storm, and some surprising non-Canadians like Jushin Thunder Liger, and Superstar Billy Graham. Some of the last graduates of the Dungeon include current performers like Davey Boy Smith Jr., Natalya Neidhart, and retired wrestler turned backstage WWE producer Tyson Kidd.
5 His Training Style
More than just its alumni, the Hart Dungeon is infamous for its grueling training style. Referred to as “stretching,” Stu Hart would apply painful submissions to his students for real in order to improve their pain tolerance given the physically demanding life of a pro wrestler — including his own family. Some have described this method as torturous and sadistic, but many maintain that Stu Hart’s method wasn’t out of malice or pleasure, but rather simply what he considered the best way to train pro wrestlers. Still, the legitimate screams emanating from the basement proved to be a source of concern and even fear for some Hart family members.
4 Stampede Wrestling
In 1948, Stu Hart and his old friend Al Oeming co-founded what was at the time known as Klondike Wrestling, but would undergo a number of names over the years including Big Time Wrestling, Wildcat Wrestling, and most famously Stampede Wrestling. With an initial run lasting until 1989 — and a year off after being briefly owned by WWE — Stampede proved to be a popular promotion in Canada, airing on television for decades and introducing a number of future stars who’d make their way to WWE.
Stampede would also be the site of Stu Hart’s retirement match, teaming with son Keith Hart against Honky Tonk Wayne (a.k.a. Honky Tonk Man) and his manager, British wrestling veteran JR Foley.
3 Whole Family Was Involved In The Business
As mentioned above, all of Stu Hart’s sons trained with him in the Dungeon and subsequently entered the wrestling business, with Bret and Owen Hart being the biggest stars in the family and the others working as bookers and referees, if not wrestlers themselves. Other stars like Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart married into the family, with some of their children entering wrestling as well, notably the aforementioned Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Natalya Neidhart, who teamed with Tyson Kidd in WWE as The Hart Dynasty.
2 WWE Appearances
With Bret and Owen Hart becoming big stars in WWE, the Hart family were no strangers to appearing on WWE television. Stu Hart and his wife Helen would often appear in relation to their sons, including an actual physical interaction with Bret’s opponent Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series 1993, who attacked Stu Hart only to get knocked out for his efforts. Hart would sadly die from a stroke in 2003, but would be posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010, inducted by his son Bret.
1 The Opera Cup
The influence of Stu Hart continued into the 2010s not just thanks to his grandchildren competing, but also via the Opera Cup, a forgotten piece of wrestling history with a newfound relevance. Originally known as the Opera House Cup in the first half of the 1900s, the trophy was awarded to the winner of a multi-day pro wrestling tournament, who’d then become #1 Contender to the World Title. Stu Hart would win the tournament in 1948 but would prove the final recipient of the trophy, which would remain in his house for decades. His grandson, indie wrestler Teddy Hart, gave the cup to the promotion Major League Wrestling, who revived the now Opera Cup for an annual tournament in 2019.