The Unsung Heroes of The Dungeon
The basement of the Hart Mansion, a former army hospital, was simply known as “The Dungeon” and provided a dedicated area for various athletes to train with the eventual focus being placed on professional wrestlers which helped create new talent for Stampede Wrestling. As Bret Hart has previously noted, activities would include weight lifting, catch-wrestling and stretching, which was often led by Stu himself.
The art of "stretching” consists of pushing an individual to their physical limits by utilizing a number of submission holds to immobilize them in an effort to force them to submit either vocally or by tapping out. While many would consider this as a means to humiliate new recruits, Stu would use this as a test of will and prepare students for the gruelling world of professional wrestling.
One of the first students to graduate from The Dungeon was Nikolai Volkoff. A little-known fact is that former AWA Champion, Gene Kiniski was also reportedly a graduate. “Superstar” Billy Graham was also completely trained from the ground up by Stu.
The reputation of The Dungeon proceeds itself as there were many wrestlers who entered that famed basement, but all of them were actually trained by Stu himself.
According to Bret, the final student that Stu completed training on a full-time basis was Jim Neidhart. Jim was also a world-ranked shot putter and training for the NFL.
Mr. Hito
Mr. Hito and Kazuo Sakurada are two names also linked to training many of the Stampede Wrestling talents, including Bret Hart.
Hito’s real name is Katsuji Adachi, but he was most famously known as Mr. Hito. While competing in Stampede Wrestling, he was widely considered to be one of the most trusted foremen and reliable workers for Stu and the promotion.
Hito became a staple of tag-team wrestling Calgary under the Stampede Wrestling Promotion as he captured the NWA International Tag Team Championship (Calgary version) on eight occasions with the likes of Great Saki, John Quinn, Gil Hayes, Higo Hamaguchi, Michel Martel, Mr. Sakurada and Jim Neidhart.
Bret Hart has noted learning all the basics, not so much from his father, but from Mr. Hito and Mr. Sakurada. Bret attributes a great deal of his success to both of them for all they did for him. The most important things they taught him were how to protect himself and how to protect his opponent. A little-known fact is that the two actually taught Bret in their spare time forcing him to take bumps for five months until he was deemed good enough to wrestle.
To take it one step further, during Bret Hart’s 2006 WWE DVD release, The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be, The Hitman touched on Mr. Hito’s prolific influence on his career:
“People often say to me, where would wrestling be without Bret Hart? But my answer to that is, where would Bret Hart be without Mr. Hito?”
Toyko Joe
Another individual who was an unsung hero of The Dungeon was Toyko Joe, an individual who became Stu Hart’s most trusted hands-on trainer.
Joe briefly worked in Stampede territory back in the early 1970s, but his in-ring was cut short when his car slid off the road during a horrible snowstorm. Tragically, this would cost Joe a leg from the knee down, but this did not prevent him from teaching future generations of performers how to properly ply their craft in Stampede Wrestling while also serving as a talent scout for NJPW.
Bret marvelled at the way Joe put his recruits through basic training with such patience, meticulous science and attention to detail. Joe would reportedly go to great lengths to teach everyone how to legitimately apply each and every submission, but perhaps most importantly, to apply them with authenticity.
In an interview back in 2015 with WWE.com, Bret noted that Toyko Joe was responsible for training Natalya, Tyson Kidd and Davey Boy Smith Jr:
Nattie, TJ and Harry [David Hart Smith] trained in The Dungeon with some of the other young Harts with a guy named Tokyo Joe. He was probably the best legitimate wrestling trainer in the world. He trained them for quite a long time, and on the same mat I trained on. They learned very serious grappling. There were no ropes, just walls around the mat. Tokyo Joe was a top-notch instructor, and Nattie, TJ and Harry were his pride and joy.
While Stu Hart receives justifiable credit for being a top-notch trainer, it’s Toyko Joe who Bret cites as the best teacher of pro wrestling in the world.
As a testament to Bret’s claim, when Toyko Joe (Yukihiro Sakaeda) passed away at age 75 in 2017, he was remembered fondly by his former students and peers.
Some heroes are famous around the world for their great acts while others are unsung, quietly working from the shadows to make their world a better place.
