The Legacy of the Hart Foundation
In April, The Hart Foundation were officially inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2019. Not even a crazed fan could prevent the Hitman from concluding his heartfelt speech dedicated to his late tag-team part, the Anvil.
Few tag-teams were ever better of more influential than the Hart Foundation. With Jim’s brute strength and ability to cut promos coupled with Bret’s technical expertise, they complicated each other perfectly and wrote the blueprint for future duos.
Before we look at some of The Hart Foundation career highlights, I wanted to go over a few notes:
The Hart Foundation run together lasted from 1985–1991 (Often forgotten how long they lasted)
According to Bret, he was ready to quit the WWF following a failed cowboy gimmick. As a last-ditch effort, he pitched the Hart Foundation to the office since him, Jimmy and The Anvil all shared variations of the last name. Eventually, the office caved went with Bret’s idea. In March of 1985 in Brantford, Ontario, the Hart Foundation was officially born.
As a team, they made their PPV debut at "Wrestlemania II" on April 7, 1986, participating in the twenty man "Battle Royal" in the Chicago segment of the show. The last four men to remain were the Harts, Andre the Giant and William the Refrigerator Perry
They were two-time WWE Tag-Team Champions
In 2008, WWE named the Hart Foundation as the third greatest tag team in history.
Career Highlights
The matches that originally put them on the map were against the Killer Bees throughout 1986. A very under-appreciated tag-team that deserves to be hailed as one of the all-time greats.
In late 1986, the Hart Foundation started feuding with the British Bulldogs.
When each team comes to mind, I immediately picture their matches together. These teams were tailor-made for each other and each man frequently competed back in Stampede Wrestling.
On January 26, 1987, the Hart Foundation defeated the British Bulldogs to capture the Tag titles. Much of this was thanks to Danny Davis who later turned heel.
March 29, 1987, WrestleMania III: Danny Davis & The Hart Foundation defeated The British Bulldogs & Tito Santana
Saturday Night's Main Event on May 2nd, 1987, the Foundation defended their tag title against the British Bulldogs in a Two out of three falls match. Fantastic!
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
In 1987 and 1988, the Hart Foundation had a series of greatest matches against the team of Strikeforce consisted of Tito Santana and Rick Martel.
The Hart Foundation vs The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (If you recall, Jimmy Hart signed with the Rougeau’s and still maintained 25 percent payment from the Hart Foundation
Jim the Anvil: “That’s 25 percent harder, we’re gonna punch em! That’s 25 percent harder, we’re gonna slam em! That’s 25 percent harder, we’re gonna give the big elbows!”
The April 28, 1990 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event vs The Rockers (Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) - Demolition interfered
August 27, 1990, SummerSlam: Demolition vs. Hart Foundation—2 out of 3 falls. Hart Foundation to become the new WWF Tag-Team Champions.
November 22, 1990, Survivor Series: The Undertaker, Ted DiBiase, Honky Tonk Man & Greg Valentine beat Dusty Rhodes, The Hart Foundation, & Koko B. Ware
Their final televised match took place at Wrestlemania 7 on March 24, 1991. It was a losing effort against the Nasty Boys
Upon splitting up, Jim the Anvil went on to form the New Hart Foundation with Owen Hart while Bret eventually set his sights on the Intercontinental Championship capturing the prestigious title against Mr. Perfect at SummerSlam 1991.
The Foundation Returns
In 1997, Bret Hart recruited friends and family as his backup in the Hitman’s war against Stone Cold and the United States.
With brother Owen, brothers-in-law Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart and family friend Brian Pillman by his side, the Hart Foundation dominated WWE for six months.
In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede was really their most memorable moment as a stable. A ruckus Saddledome that was literally shaking due to the excitement and sheer volume of cheers from the Calgary faithful.
What do you consider to be the legacy of the Hart Foundation? Here are the main two takeaways for me
Arguably one of the best and most influential tag-teams in pro-wrestling history.
Most importantly, it was the launching pad to Bret Hart’s incredible singles career that lead him to become one of the biggest stars of the 1990s.
