Mid 20th Century
187-480: Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Bret Sergeant Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler . A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling background at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College . A major international draw within professional wrestling, he
374-495: A Canadian Interuniversity Sport national champion, winning "Outstanding Wrestler of the Year 1980–1981" – en route to the championship. He described his display of the medal to Stu as a "powerful moment", and said his relationship with his father "took a different direction from that point on". Hart considered the medals to be one of his most prized possessions. By 1977, Hart was collegiate champion at Mount Royal College , where he
561-438: A kayfabe knee injury during the match. After the match, Owen berated his brother for costing him a title opportunity and attacked the injured knee, setting the feud between the two. Later on, Hart managed to participate and win the 1994 Royal Rumble match amid controversy. Hart and Lex Luger were the final two participants and the two were eliminated over the top rope at the same time. Therefore, both men were named co-winners of
748-508: A no disqualification match at Survivor Series to commence his third reign. In a rematch from their SummerSlam 1992 encounter, Hart successfully defended his title against the now heel Davey Boy Smith at In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings . He lost to The Undertaker by disqualification at the 1996 Royal Rumble when Diesel interfered, ultimately retaining the WWF Championship, and defeated The Undertaker by disqualification in
935-563: A two-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion . He went the most combined days as WWF Champion during the 1990s (654) and was the first WCW World Heavyweight Champion born outside the United States. He is the second WWF Triple Crown Champion and fifth (with Goldberg ) WCW Triple Crown Champion , and the first man to win both the WWF and WCW Triple Crown Championships. He is also the 1994 Royal Rumble match winner (with Lex Luger ), and
1122-446: A " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to the platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of
1309-522: A "Kiss My Foot" match at King of the Ring , and defeated Lawler's kayfabe dentist, Isaac Yankem , by disqualification at SummerSlam 1995 . Their King of the Ring match ended with Hart shoving his foot into Lawler's mouth, then forcing Lawler to kiss his own foot. Although Hart was victorious in their in-ring feud, Lawler remained strongly opposed to Hart as a commentator, and would routinely encourage Hart's opponents during matches; it would not be until Over
1496-831: A "clean slate", McMahon was still concerned and paranoid; this led to him breaking his word in what eventually came to be known as the Montreal Screwjob . Even though Hart did not submit to the Sharpshooter, referee Earl Hebner called for the bell as if he had, on McMahon's orders. This resulted in Hart "losing" the WWF Championship to Michaels. The night ended with an irate Hart spitting in McMahon's face, destroying television equipment, and punching McMahon backstage in front of Gerald Brisco , Pat Patterson , and McMahon's son Shane . Hart also confronted Michaels backstage about
1683-456: A December 1999 concussion , he officially retired in October 2000, shortly after his departure from the company. He returned to sporadic in-ring competition from 2010 to 2011 with WWE, where he won his final championship, headlined the 2010 SummerSlam event, and served as the general manager of Raw . Throughout his career, He headlined WrestleMania IX , X , and XII , and participated in
1870-501: A Hallway [ sic ] of Fame. It doesn't exist. There's nothing. It's a fake entity. There's nothing real or tangible. It's just an event they have to make money. They put it on TV and have a celebration, and it's just so ridiculous. I would never even entertain it. It's garbage." Sabu also criticized the Hall of Fame, saying "I'd only do it because I need the money... I don't consider it a real Hall of Fame". Others have offered praise for
2057-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
SECTION 10
#17327913386562244-469: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
2431-519: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
2618-585: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
2805-415: A class. They really need to make more new stars to ensure that they can keep filling arenas for the ceremony". 411Mania's Ryan Byers said WWE standards are "weird" since several inductees have Hall of Fame careers, but others "made it in for political reasons, longstanding loyalty to the promotion". Owen Hart's widow, Martha Hart , responded to calls for him to be inducted by stating: "They don't even have
2992-487: A contract, hopefully one similar to their original offer. This was despite Hart's reluctance to leave the WWF and willingness to re-negotiate. Hart subsequently signed a three-year contract with WCW. His final match with the WWF would be a title match against his real-life rival Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series in Montreal. Hart did not want to end his WWF career with a loss to Michaels in his home country particularly with
3179-511: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE . Originally known as
3366-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
3553-471: A few days later, President Jack Tunney reversed the decision and the win was never acknowledged on television. The Hart Foundation's reign lasted until WrestleMania VII , where they lost to The Nasty Boys , after which the team split. Hart won his first WWF Intercontinental Championship by defeating Mr. Perfect with the Sharpshooter at SummerSlam in 1991, and subsequently won the 1991 King of
3740-607: A figure-four leglock applied around the ring post. He faced Austin again in the main event of In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker , to determine who would challenge the WWF Champion Undertaker in a title match at the following month's In Your House 15: A Cold Day in Hell . Austin had Hart locked in his own finishing move, the Sharpshooter , in the middle of the ring when The British Bulldog interfered on Hart's behalf, resulting in disqualification and giving Austin
3927-414: A genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has a more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for
SECTION 20
#17327913386564114-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
4301-586: A losing effort. He began 1988 with a decisive victory over Paul Roma of The Young Stallions (who had scored an upset victory over The Hart Foundation the previous year) on the January 11 episode of Prime Time Wrestling , and, at the Royal Rumble in January 1988, was the first entrant in the inaugural Royal Rumble match . He lasted 25 minutes and 42 seconds before being eliminated by Don Muraco . Entered into another battle royal at WrestleMania IV , Hart
4488-744: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
4675-583: A member of a group, Sean Waltman ( D-Generation X and The New World Order ) and Barry Windham ( The Four Horsemen and The U.S. Express ). Sixty-four members have been inducted posthumously. The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) established the WWF Hall of Fame in 1993. It was first announced on the March 22, 1993, episode of Monday Night Raw where André the Giant , who had died nearly two months prior,
4862-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
5049-489: A nine-year-old. At Ernest Manning High School , Hart became a standout student in the amateur wrestling division. Hart has stated that he joined the wrestling team "for the sole reason that my dad expected me to... no-one asked me to". He won significant championships in tournaments throughout Alberta , including the 1974 city championships in Calgary. He scored a victory over competitor Bob Eklund – who would go on to become
5236-476: A no-contest on the October 27 episode of Raw Is War ; while the referee was knocked out, Shamrock put Hart in an ankle lock; members of the Hart Foundation then attacked Shamrock until Shawn Michaels made the save for Shamrock and attacked Hart. Around this time, Hart's on-air rivalry with Vince McMahon also escalated. A heated ringside altercation between the two led many fans to dislike McMahon, who at
5423-569: A referee and made his in-ring debut in 1978. He gained championship success during the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE ), where he helmed The Hart Foundation stable . He left for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) following the controversial " Montreal Screwjob " in November 1997, where he remained until October 2000. Having been inactive from in-ring competition since January 2000, owing to
5610-488: A rematch on the February 5 episode of Raw , again due to Diesel's interference. Hart retained his title once again against Diesel in a steel cage match at In Your House 6 , and defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley , who was undefeated on Raw , on the March 4 episode of the show. WWF Commissioner Rowdy Roddy Piper ruled that Hart would face Shawn Michaels, who had earned a WWF Championship match at WrestleMania XII by winning
5797-506: A replacement. Before long, he became a regular contender, eventually partnering with brother Keith to win the Stampede International Tag Team Championship four times. Hart gained some of his most prominent experience with Japanese combatants and real-life trainers Mr. Hito and Mr. Sakurada . Hart also had high-impact matches against Tom Billington, who was better known by his in-ring name as
Bret Hart - Misplaced Pages Continue
5984-519: A ring within a warehouse), action figure for Slammers Series 1 and the WWF War Zone video game. Professional wrestler 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling
6171-533: A special category called the "Jimmy Miranda Award" for WWE's behind-the-scenes employees. Miranda, who died in 2002, was part of the WWE merchandise department for more than 20 years. Former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts expressed disappointment at how WWE used portions of Warrior's Hall of Fame speech to promote the award but left out Warrior's intentions of honoring WWE's off-screen employees. WWE responded, "It
6358-744: A successful defence of their belts against the Harts at SummerSlam in August 1988, before enlisting old enemies The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, who had recently turned heel, to resume their feud with the Harts. At the Royal Rumble in January 1989, The Hart Foundation teamed with Jim Duggan to defeat the Rougeaus and Dino Bravo. They also defeated Greg Valentine and The Honky Tonk Man , who were also managed by Jimmy Hart, at WrestleMania V . At an event in Milan on April 8, 1989, broadcast live on Tele+2 , André
6545-473: A title match. Concurrently, The Undertaker, who had a scheduled title match with Sid at WrestleMania, attempted to help Sid win. Sid ultimately retained, leading to a pure grudge match for Hart and Austin. Following his loss to Sid, Hart shoved Vince McMahon to the ground when he attempted to conduct a post-match interview, and engaged in a worked shoot , expletive -laden rant against McMahon and WWF management. This incident has been cited as one which helped lay
6732-503: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
6919-511: A very young child let the bear lick ice cream off his toes since he thought it was a good way to keep them clean. His introduction to professional wrestling came at an early age. As a child, he witnessed his father training future wrestlers like Superstar Billy Graham in the Dungeon , his household basement which served as a training room. Before school, Hart's father, also a wrestling promoter, had him hand out fliers to local wrestling shows. In
7106-586: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
7293-407: A video package at the ceremonies. The Legacy wing also has some criticism around it, specifically regarding the abbreviated way of the inductions. Journalist Dave Meltzer said "this is the category they (WWE) use to honor people who, for whatever reason, they don't feel are marketable names to the modern audience to put in their actual Hall of Fame". Promoter and manager Jim Cornette criticized
7480-595: A warehouse for years, with all items categorized and dated in case a facility is created. Ric Flair stated in 2020 that WWE was in the process of creating a building for the Hall of Fame and that it would be in Florida in the Orlando area, but plans had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The current WWE president has expressed interest about creating a hall of fame building in 2021. The "celebrity wing" of
7667-464: A weakness throughout his early career. In 1986, Hart began his first singles program with Ricky Steamboat , and in a singles match originally planned for WrestleMania 2 , he lost to Steamboat at the Boston Garden on March 8, 1986, which would be included on Hart's 2005 DVD as one of his all-time favourite matches. At WrestleMania 2, Hart instead participated in a 20-man battle royal which
Bret Hart - Misplaced Pages Continue
7854-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
8041-509: Is credited with changing the perception of mainstream North American professional wrestling in the early 1990s by bringing technical wrestling to the fore. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time; Sky Sports noted that his legacy is that of "one of, if not the greatest, to have ever graced the squared circle". For the majority of his career, he used the nickname " The Hitman ". Hart joined his father Stu Hart 's promotion Stampede Wrestling in 1976 as
8228-428: Is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain
8415-403: Is offensive to suggest that WWE and its executives had anything, but altruistic intentions in honoring Connor and his legacy with The Warrior Award", adding that "moving forward the award will be given annually to acknowledge other unsung heroes among WWE's employees and fans". Since 2019 all recipients have been either current or former WWE employees. Traditionally, Dana Warrior, the widow of
8602-482: The 1992 Survivor Series , and defeated Razor Ramon at the 1993 Royal Rumble . He would also defend the title against contenders such as Papa Shango and former champion Ric Flair before losing the title to Yokozuna in his first WrestleMania main event at WrestleMania IX , after interference from Mr. Fuji . Fuji then challenged Hulk Hogan , who had come out to help Hart, to compete for the title; Hogan then won his fifth WWF Championship from Yokozuna. In June, Hart won
8789-584: The Calgary Hitmen and has written two biographies along with a weekly column for the Calgary Sun for over a decade. After his retirement, he spent much of his time on charitable efforts concerning stroke recovery and cancer awareness, due to his experiences with the two. The eighth child of wrestling patriarch Stu Hart and his wife Helen, Bret Hart was born in Calgary, Alberta , Canada into
8976-461: The Dynamite Kid . In the midst of wrestling alongside his family, Hart made a point not to ride on the shoulders of his elders . Hart faithfully jobbed as requested of him, taking pride in the believability of his performances. As he said himself, "No one could take a shit-kicking like Bret Hart". Although he dreaded partaking in interviews and speaking in front of a crowd, Hart went on to win
9163-516: The Hart wrestling family . He is of Greek descent through his maternal grandmother and of Irish descent through his maternal grandfather. His father was of Scottish , Irish and English ancestry. Hart is a dual citizen of Canada and the United States since his mother Helen was born in New York. Hart has stated that he considers himself to be North American and that he is equally proud of his U.S. and Canadian nationality. His maternal grandfather
9350-477: The January 6 United States Capitol attack , Mick Foley asked Vince McMahon to remove Donald Trump, who was then President of the United States , from the Hall of Fame, though it ultimately did not occur. Dave Scherer of PWInsider has questioned how WWE can sustain the 2004–present Hall of Fame model, due to legends being rapidly inducted. He wrote: "There are only so many people that they can have headline
9537-530: The London Arena and broadcast on Sky Television (Hart was in fact booked to win the match, but incurred a broken sternum , causing an unplanned countout loss). At SummerSlam in August 1989, The Hart Foundation lost a non-title match against then WWF Tag Team Champions The Brain Busters . In the first televised contest of a rivalry that would span Hart's WWF and WCW careers, he lost to Mr. Perfect on
SECTION 50
#17327913386569724-624: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
9911-616: The Survivor Series event in 1997, which culminated in the Montreal Screwjob . The Hart Foundation lost the WWF Tag Team Championship titles to Strike Force on the October 27 episode of Superstars of Wrestling . Hart subsequently competed in his most high-profile singles contest to date on the November 28, 1987, episode of Saturday Night's Main Event XIII , when he faced "Macho Man" Randy Savage in
10098-776: The United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including a distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by
10285-513: The United States Wrestling Association (USWA), with Lawler notably defeating Owen for Owen's USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship . Hart's feud with Lawler was named " Feud of the Year " by Wrestling Observer Newsletter , and voted " Feud of the Year " by readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated . After months of dealing with Lawler, Hart received a WrestleMania IX rematch with WWF Champion Yokozuna on
10472-473: The WWE Hall of Fame (2022) ceremony. Jeff Hardy declined the offer because he was offended, felt like it wasn't time yet and he wanted Matt Hardy to be inducted alongside him. Ric Flair has stated there are several wrestlers in the Hall of Fame that didn't deserve it, but he didn't name names. Koko B. Ware, who worked as an undercard wrestler in WWF, is often billed as a controversial inductee since he
10659-552: The "Match of the Year", and WWE named the match as the greatest in the history of SummerSlam. Upon induction into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2006 , Hart cited the contest as his favourite match of his career. Hart won the WWF Championship from Ric Flair at a Superstars taping at Saskatchewan Place in Saskatoon , Saskatchewan on October 12 of that year, in a match not originally broadcast on WWF television –
10846-445: The "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously inducted with a video package as the sole inductee that year. The 1994 and 1995 ceremonies were held in conjunction with the annual King of the Ring pay-per-view events and the 1996 ceremony was held with the Survivor Series event. Since 2004, the promotion has held the ceremonies in conjunction with WrestleMania ever since. Since 2005, portions of
11033-584: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
11220-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
11407-460: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
SECTION 60
#173279133865611594-453: The 1994 Royal Rumble match and received title shots at WrestleMania X . Luger won the chance to face Yokozuna first, with Hart having to wrestle his brother Owen, before receiving his title shot. Hart lost his match against Owen but went on to defeat Yokozuna for his second WWF Championship. Hart continued to feud with his brother Owen while he also started feuding with Diesel . Hart's friend and former tag team partner Jim Neidhart returned to
11781-798: The 1994 commentary. WWF Hall of Fame (1994) was the event that featured the introduction of the second class to the WWE Hall of Fame. The event was produced by the WWF on June 9, 1994, from the Omni Inner Harbor International Hotel in Baltimore , Maryland. In March 2015 a condensed version of the ceremony was added to the WWE Network . Due to the original ceremony only being partially recorded and not originally intended to air, Gene Okerlund and Renee Young host
11968-462: The 1998 documentary Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows , Hart reflected on his father's discipline, describing how Stu uttered morbid words while inflicting excruciating submission holds that left broken blood vessels in Bret's eyes. Hart claimed his father had an otherwise pleasant demeanour. Hart's first work in wrestling involved pulling out lucky numbers out of a metal box during intermission at
12155-411: The 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance the spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from
12342-402: The 2004 ceremony to coincide with WrestleMania, establishing the traditional date for all following ceremonies. Highlights of the 2004 ceremony were shown at WrestleMania XX , followed by the inductees appearing on the entrance stage in a condensed ceremony, which would become a Hall of Fame tradition from that point forward. The full version was released on DVD on June 1, 2004. Beginning with
12529-455: The 2005 ceremony, an edited version of the Hall of Fame was broadcast on Spike TV (2005) and on the USA Network (2006 –present ); these were aired on tape delay . Since 2005, the entire Hall of Fame ceremony has been packaged as part of the annual WrestleMania DVD release, and from 2014, has been broadcast live on the WWE Network streaming service. The 2021 ceremony was pretaped on March 30 and April 1 and aired on April 6. In addition to
12716-418: The 2021 ceremony. In 2012, The Post and Courier columnist Mike Mooneyham noted that the Hall has garnered criticism due to the inductions of questionable performers, and the omissions of major names within the industry. Bob Backlund declined induction multiple times, and The Ultimate Warrior wrote that he refused the honor in 2010; they were eventually inducted in 2013 and 2014, respectively. Randy Savage
12903-653: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
13090-594: The Christmas holidays to reunite the family and to settle their rivalry. Bret was voted "WWF Superstar of the Year" 1993 by fans, as well as the greatest wrestler of the year by Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers. At the Royal Rumble in January, Bret and Owen took on The Quebecers ( Jacques and Pierre ) for the WWF Tag Team Championship. Referee Tim White stopped the match after he considered Bret unable to continue after he sustained
13277-401: The Giant requested to work a singles match with Hart, who lost the match, which was later released on his 2013 DVD set, The Dungeon Collection , but considered André's praise and encouragement after the match to be of key importance in his singles career. He wrestled his first pay-per-view singles match on October 10, losing to Dino Bravo in the first British WWF pay-per-view, which was held at
13464-474: The Hall of Fame is dedicated to celebrities that have made memorable appearances on WWE programming, and/or have had longtime associations with WWE (or professional wrestling in general), who have been very successful in other fields. In 2015, WWE introduced the Warrior Award for those who have "exhibited unwavering strength and perseverance, and who live life with the courage and compassion that embodies
13651-551: The Hall of Fame. World Wrestling Council promoter and 26-time WWC Universal Heavyweight Champion Carlos Colón Sr. said that his 2014 induction was a "realization of a dream". Arn Anderson, who was inducted in 2012 as part of The Four Horsemen, said that the induction was the "pinnacle of [his] wrestling life". 2015 Hall of Fame headliner Kevin Nash stated that two things in the professional wrestling business are real: "When you win your first championship and when you get inducted into
13838-592: The July 21 episode of Raw Is War in Halifax, Nova Scotia , where Bret, Owen, and Davey Boy Smith, representing Canada and the Hart Foundation, defeated the team of Dude Love , Austin, and The Undertaker, representing the U.S., in a Flag match . The Hart Foundation's feud with Austin was named " Feud of the Year " by Wrestling Observer Newsletter and voted " Feud of the Year " by readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated . Hart vowed that if he could not defeat The Undertaker for
14025-457: The Limit , sixteen years later, that both men would finally bury the hatchet. After disposing of Lawler, Hart engaged in a three-month feud with Jean-Pierre Lafitte , who would be stealing the mirrored sunglasses from fans at ringside and his trademark leather jacket. At In Your House 3 , Hart defeated Lafitte, to end the feud. Hart shifted his focus back to the WWF Championship, defeating Diesel in
14212-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
14399-408: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
14586-479: The November 20 episode of WWF Superstars . When Bret appeared to have the match won, with Yokozuna locked in the sharpshooter, Owen came to ringside to congratulate his brother. The referee began questioning Owen's motives, which allowed Fuji to assault Bret. Owen then involved himself in the match, resulting in a victory for Yokozuna via disqualification. On the non-televised but now- canon November 22 episode of Monday Night Raw , Hart again challenged Yokozuna for
14773-531: The November 6, 1989, episode of Prime Time Wrestling , when Perfect pulled Hart's tights during a roll-up. In their first ever singles meeting, Shawn Michaels and Hart wrestled to a double countout on the February 11, 1990, episode of the Wrestling Challenge . After participating at the Royal Rumble in January 1990, The Hart Foundation defeated The Bolsheviks in 19 seconds at WrestleMania VI and began feuding with Demolition , who had just won
14960-706: The Ring tournament on September 7, 1991, at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island . Hart's first pay-per-view title defense occurred at This Tuesday in Texas , where he beat the undefeated Skinner . In January 1992, Hart was placed in a feud with Jacques Rougeau, who by now was wrestling as "The Mountie" and using the gimmick of a power-hungry, corrupt member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. This feud,
15147-471: The Royal Rumble, in a 60-minute Iron Man match at the event. The wrestler with the most decisions during the 60 minutes would win the match and the WWF Championship. At WrestleMania, with less than a minute left on the clock and the score still 0–0, Michaels jumped from the middle rope; his legs were caught by Hart, and Hart locked in his Sharpshooter. Michaels did not submit in the last 30 seconds, so
15334-486: The September 29 episode of Superstars of Wrestling . In 1985, after acquiring the nickname of "Hit Man", he requested to join Jimmy Hart 's heel stable , The Hart Foundation , which included brother-in-law Jim Neidhart . Bret began to increasingly team with Neidhart, in order to build the promotion's tag team division. The "Hart Foundation" name then became exclusive to Bret, Neidhart and manager Jimmy Hart, due to
15521-476: The Stampede Wrestling shows when he was four years old. When he got slightly older, he would sell programs to the shows, something all Hart's seven brothers would do. He would often compete for customers with his little brother Ross since the fans would often want to buy from the youngest Hart child. Like his father, Hart was an excellent amateur wrestler since an early age, having begun training as
15708-475: The U.S., in a Flag match. Erstwhile, in a rematch from SummerSlam, The Undertaker challenged Hart for the WWF Championship at One Night Only ; after reversing a Tombstone Piledriver attempt from Hart, The Undertaker dumped Hart on the apron when he would not let go of the ropes. As a result, Hart's neck was caught in the ropes, and The Undertaker was disqualified. Hart later cited this as his favourite of all his matches with The Undertaker, and his last great match in
15895-516: The Ultimate Warrior, presents the award. The 2024 Hall of Fame did not have a Warrior award entry. In 2016, WWE introduced a new category for the Hall of Fame called the "Legacy" wing. Inductees in this category are from several eras of wrestling history, going back to the early 20th century. All but two inductees, Hisashi Shinma and MSG Network creator Joseph Cohen, have been inducted posthumously. Legacy inductees are recognized with
16082-403: The United States if he did not remain impartial as referee, had no option but to count the pinfall, giving his rival Hart the victory. After SummerSlam, Michaels was pushed as the top heel in the company and negative fan reactions toward Hart in the United States softened somewhat, as he declared: "I'm not so much anti-American as I am just very, very pro-Canadian." In real life, Hart did not like
16269-561: The WWE Network in international markets, the event also aired on Peacock in the United States after the American version of the WWE Network had merged under Peacock in March that year. Although a building has never been built to represent the Hall of Fame, WWE has looked into constructing a facility. In 2008, Shane McMahon , then-Executive Vice President of Global Media of WWE, stated that WWE had been storing wrestling memorabilia in
16456-466: The WWF Championship at SummerSlam , he would never wrestle in the United States again. The Undertaker agreed to the match, and Hart won his fifth and last WWF Championship after spitting in guest referee Shawn Michaels' face; Michaels swung a steel chair in retaliation, which accidentally struck the Undertaker. Michaels, who, as part of another pre-match stipulation, would be banned from wrestling in
16643-415: The WWF Championship, and again failed to regain the championship due to similar involvement from Owen. The brothers' disagreements set the wheels in motion for a family feud that would span the entirety of 1994. At Survivor Series , the Harts (Bret, Owen, Bruce , and Keith ) took on Shawn Michaels (a substitution for Lawler, who was facing legal troubles) and his knights. The Harts won the match, with all of
16830-519: The WWF Championship; Hart insulted Undertaker and told Shawn Michaels (who was a guest commentator for the match) not to interfere. Undertaker won the match, which ended with Hart hot shotting Sid on the ropes, therefore costing him the title. Hart challenged Rocky Maivia for the Intercontinental Championship in the main event of the March 31 episode of Raw . Rocky Maivia won by disqualification when Hart refused to release
17017-427: The WWF Tag Team Championship against The Colossal Connection at WrestleMania VI. At SummerSlam in 1990, The Hart Foundation began their second, and final, WWF Tag Team Championship reign by defeating Demolition members Crush and Smash in a two out of three falls match with some help from Legion of Doom . On October 30, the Hart Foundation lost the title to The Rockers ( Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels), but
17204-445: The WWF and reunited with Hart. At King of the Ring , Hart defended the WWF Championship against Diesel. When Hart was winning the match, Shawn Michaels interfered on Diesel's behalf; Diesel appeared close to victory after he delivered a Jackknife Powerbomb yet before he could pin Hart, Neidhart interfered, therefore Diesel won by disqualification, but Hart retained his title. Neidhart left when Diesel and Michaels attacked Hart following
17391-701: The WWF. In September 1997, Hart faced Terry Funk at Terry Funk's WrestleFest in what was billed as Funk's retirement match. During the Hart Foundation's feud with the Shawn Michaels-led D-Generation X (DX), DX framed the Hart Foundation in vandalizing the locker room of the African American stable, Nation of Domination with racist motifs. In retaliation, during a promo with DX, Hart called members Triple H (previously billed as "Hunter Hearst Helmsley") and Shawn Michaels " homos ". Hart later apologized for his participation in
17578-582: The World Wrestling Federation responded with an unprecedented 20-year contract. Finishing up his original WWF deal, Hart returned to action on a tour of South Africa on September 8, 1996, defeating Davey Boy Smith in Durban. On October 21, Hart elected to re-sign with the World Wrestling Federation. He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame Class of 1996 . Over the summer, Stone Cold Steve Austin , who
17765-517: The Year " by readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated . Hart eventually lost his WWF Championship at Survivor Series in a submission match against Bob Backlund where the manager of either competitor (Davey Boy Smith for Hart, Owen for Backlund) would have to "throw in the towel" for the wrestler they were representing. When Hart was in Backlund's crossface chickenwing and Davey Boy was kayfabe knocked out, Owen persuaded his mother Helen to throw in
17952-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
18139-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
18326-561: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
18513-530: The belt, though, the match officially became for the WWF Championship. Hart defeated Austin, Vader, and The Undertaker in the Fatal Four-Way. Austin ensured Hart's fourth reign was short-lived, costing him a title match against Sid the next night on Raw . Hart challenged for Sid's WWF Championship in a steel cage match shortly before WrestleMania 13 , which saw Austin actually attempt to help Hart win, in order to make their scheduled match at WrestleMania 13
18700-422: The best there was, and the best there ever will be" (derived from the 1984 film The Natural ), which he would later justify through three claims: he never injured an opponent through any fault of his own; through the entire course of his career, he missed only one show (as a result of flight difficulties); and that he only once refused to lose a match – his final WWF match with long-time adversary Shawn Michaels at
18887-414: The blood loss and pain. Ken Shamrock , the special guest referee, awarded Hart the match, after which he continued to assault Austin, thus turning heel for the first time since 1988. It was named " Match of the Year " by Wrestling Observer Newsletter and voted " Match of the Year " by Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers. Later that night, Hart confronted Sycho Sid and The Undertaker prior to their match for
19074-412: The broader public. In the United States, wrestling is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as
19261-409: The brothers surviving except for Owen, the only Hart family member eliminated when he was rolled up by Michaels after inadvertently knocking Bret off the apron. Bitter about his elimination, Owen blamed Bret for this and in the weeks ahead, blamed Bret for holding him back. Owen demanded a one-on-one match with Bret, which Bret refused to accept. In the storyline, Bret, along with his parents, worked over
19448-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
19635-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
19822-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
20009-512: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
20196-468: The competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on the independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in
20383-522: The context of their nationality-fueled feud; and offered to lose, forfeit or otherwise give over the belt to Michaels in any other way that McMahon wanted. McMahon agreed to Hart's idea of forfeiting the championship the next night on Raw Is War or losing it a few weeks later. Although Hart stated to McMahon he would not take the WWF Championship with him to WCW television and despite insistence from then-WCW President Eric Bischoff that Hart would join WCW with
20570-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
20757-583: The effort. Bret said he believed that even if he became an exceptionally successful amateur wrestler, it would not have led to a career that interested him, rather one as a wrestling coach or high school gym teacher. Hart felt the only way to give up amateur wrestling without disappointing his father was to become a professional wrestler. His college grades became poorer as his interest in filmmaking waned; he dedicated himself to professional wrestling and began training with his father's Stampede Wrestling promotion. Hart has spoken of how helpful his amateur background
20944-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
21131-603: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
21318-436: The fact that recognizable names like Jim Londos or El Santo were part of a video package. Legacy inductees are not announced before the ceremonies and families of posthumous inductees are not notified of their inductions. This practice has been criticized by family members of Legacy inductees Bruiser Brody and Ethel Johnson . The Legacy wing was retired in 2021 and has not inducted anyone since. WWF Hall of Fame (1993)
21505-445: The first pay-per-view King of the Ring tournament, defeating Razor Ramon, Mr. Perfect, and Bam Bam Bigelow , thus becoming the only two-time King of the Ring. According to Hart, he was scheduled to regain the WWF Championship from Hulk Hogan at SummerSlam , but Hogan chose to drop the title to Yokozuna instead at King of the Ring. Hart instead entered a feud with Jerry "The King" Lawler , who interrupted Hart's coronation, claimed he
21692-565: The first for Hart and Rougeau as singles competitors, came about when the Mountie's manager, Jimmy Hart, threw water on Hart, and The Mountie proceeded to shock Hart with a cattle prod . On January 17, 1992, Hart dropped the Intercontinental Championship to The Mountie. Following the loss, Roddy Piper defeated Mountie with a sleeper hold two days later at the 1992 Royal Rumble , and Bret later pinned Piper for his second Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania VIII later that year, making him
21879-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
22066-611: The first wrestler in the WWF – and one of few wrestlers ever – to pin Piper's shoulders to the mat. At a Wrestling Challenge taping on July 21, 1992, Hart defeated Shawn Michaels , with the Intercontinental Championship belt suspended above the ring, in the WWF's first ever ladder match . Hart dropped the Intercontinental Championship to his brother-in-law, Davey Boy Smith , in Hart's first WWF pay-per-view main event at SummerSlam in August 1992, held before over 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium . Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers voted it
22253-416: The foundations of the WWF's Attitude Era , as well as the starting point of McMahon's on-air character, the tyrannical WWF owner "Mr. McMahon". At WrestleMania 13, Hart and Austin had their rematch in a submission match that would later get a 5-star rating from Dave Meltzer . In the end, Hart locked the Sharpshooter on a bloody Austin, who refused to give up. In fact, Austin never quit, but passed out from
22440-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
22627-460: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
22814-543: The hall and demanded that WWE remove him from it, due to the 2011 induction of Abdullah the Butcher. Graham wrote: "It is a shameless organization to induct a bloodthirsty animal such as Abdullah the Butcher into their worthless and embarrassing Hall of Fame and I want the name of Superstar Billy Graham to be no part of it". In 2018, Bret Hart, who headlined the 2006 ceremony, criticized the omissions of several wrestlers, primarily Dynamite Kid and his brother Owen , as well as
23001-526: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
23188-492: The individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in a professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
23375-443: The indomitable spirit of the Ultimate Warrior ". While WWE promotes Warrior Award recipients as Hall of Fame inductees, they are not included in the Hall of Fame section at WWE.com and an image gallery which shows "every WWE Hall of Famer ever" does not contain any recipient. The award was created following the Ultimate Warrior's death. During his April 2014 Hall of Fame speech shortly before his death, he proposed that there be
23562-678: The induction ceremonies have aired on television and since 2014, the entire ceremonies have aired on the WWE Network , which was extended to Peacock in 2021 after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock that year. As of 2024, there have been 245 inductees, with 131 wrestlers inducted individually, 46 Legacy inductees, 19 group inductions (consisting of 52 wrestlers within those groups), 14 celebrities, and 9 Warrior Award recipients. Seven wrestlers have been inducted twice in two categories: Ric Flair , Shawn Michaels , Booker T , Bret Hart , Hulk Hogan , Scott Hall , and Kevin Nash , while two two-time inductees were inducted twice as
23749-502: The inductions of the likes of The Rock 'n' Roll Express and The Fabulous Freebirds, who experienced little success in WWE. Hart said he would not go to another ceremony until WWE inducts "proper, deserving candidates". Hart attended the 2019 ceremony to be inducted for a second time as part of The Hart Foundation. Hart also asked WWE to remove Goldberg from the Hall of Fame, stating that "he got in there for hurting everybody he worked with" (which included himself in 1999). In 2021, after
23936-480: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
24123-496: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
24310-411: The longest-reigning WWWF World Heavyweight Champion, was once critical of the Hall of Fame. Sammartino disapproved of celebrity inductees such as Pete Rose and William Perry, and said of the ceremony: "What's the point to a Hall of Fame? Is it a building I can actually go to? No. Give me a break". Sammartino declined previous induction offers, before accepting in 2013. Paul Levesque (Triple H) said that it
24497-486: The main event of Starrcade 1997 and 1999 – as a special enforcer and referee in the former. He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame upon its inception in 1996, while still an active performer. Hart held championship titles in five decades from the 1970s to the 2010s, 32 throughout his career and 17 between the WWF/WWE and WCW. Among other accolades, he is a five-time WWF Champion and
24684-591: The match ended in a tie. WWF President Gorilla Monsoon ruled that the match would continue in sudden death overtime. Michaels hit a superkick to win the championship. Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers voted it the "Match of the Year"; in 2004, WWE fans voted the match as the greatest in the history of WrestleMania. After WrestleMania, Hart went on a European tour over the next two weeks, coming out victorious against Stone Cold Steve Austin and Hunter Hearst Helmsley. The tour ended on April 22, and after this he took his hiatus from television. His final televised appearance
24871-499: The match finish. Many behind-the-scenes events leading up to the Montreal Screwjob were filmed for the documentary Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows , released in 1998. WWE has described the Montreal Screwjob as "arguably the most controversial, most jarring moment in the annals of sports entertainment". Hart's likeness would continue to be featured in WWF media into 1998, including the title video of Raw (brawling in
25058-428: The match was instead made available on a series of Coliseum/WWE Home Video releases. Hart dislocated one of the fingers on his left hand during the match and popped it back in himself so it would not affect the rest of the match. He made successful title defenses against Kamala , The Berzerker and Papa Shango . He would headline his first pay-per-view as champion with a successful title defense against Shawn Michaels at
25245-532: The match when Davis pinned Davey Boy Smith after hitting him with Jimmy Hart's megaphone. The Hart Foundation adopted the nickname, "The Pink and Black Attack", which Hart continued to use after the tag team 's disbandment. This was in reference to the team's ring attire, as well as Hart's signature mirrored sunglasses, which he would routinely give away to a young audience member before matches, following his face turn in 1988. As Hart's WWF career progressed, he increasingly described himself as "The best there is,
25432-400: The match. Neidhart's motivation was made clear when he helped Owen win the tournament that night, so that he could receive a title shot against his brother. At SummerSlam , Hart successfully retained the WWF Championship against Owen in a steel cage match . This match received a five-star rating from Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter , and the brothers' feud was voted " Feud of
25619-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
25806-543: The nature of her post-WWE career. Ultimately, she was posthumously inducted as a member of D-Generation-X in 2019, although fans, family and fellow wrestlers have since started petitioning for her solo posthumous induction. The most recent discussion amongst fans about a potential induction to the Hall of Fame is about the potential posthumous induction of Bray Wyatt in the near future. Fans started petitioning for his induction, whether it be solo or as part of The Wyatt Family , after his death in August 2023. Bruno Sammartino,
25993-659: The new Attitude Era, instead preferring traditional values. This was used as part of his character, as Hart would insult the U.S. fans because of the success of the Attitude Era. Hart successfully defended his title against The Patriot , with whom Hart had become involved in a feud as part of the Canada vs. U.S. storyline, at Ground Zero: In Your House , avenging a loss to him on the July 28 Raw . The Canada vs. U.S. feud would conclude at Badd Blood: In Your House , where Hart and Davey Boy Smith, representing Canada and The Hart Foundation, defeated The Patriot and Vader, representing
26180-400: The only two-time King of the Ring , winning the 1991 tournament and the first King of the Ring pay-per-view in 1993 . Stone Cold Steve Austin , with whom he headlined multiple pay-per-view events as part of an acclaimed rivalry from 1996 to 1997, inducted him into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2006 . In 2019 , he became one of seven people to enter the WWE Hall of Fame twice, when he
26367-524: The original ceremony only being partially recorded and not originally intended to air, Gene Okerlund and Renee Young host the program with added commentary. Due to Vincent J. McMahon 's death in 1984, he was posthumously inducted by the McMahon family . Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the 2020 Hall of Fame ceremony did not take place. As such, the Class of 2020 was inducted alongside the Class of 2021 at
26554-402: The original ceremony only being partially recorded and not originally intended to air, Gene Okerlund and Renee Young host the program with added commentary. It has been discovered that the full ceremony has been recorded (albeit with low quality) and has been uploaded on YouTube The 1995 class featured two posthumous inductees. Antonino Rocca was presented by his wife, and The Grand Wizard
26741-540: The program with added commentary. WWF Hall of Fame (1995) was the event that featured the introduction of the third class to the WWE Hall of Fame. The event was produced by the WWF on June 24, 1995, from the Marriott Hotel in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania. The event took place the same weekend as King of the Ring . In March 2015 a condensed version of the ceremony was added to the WWE Network . Due to
26928-717: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
27115-510: The promotion's top titles, including two British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championships, five International Tag Team Championships, and six North American Heavyweight Championships. Hart also wrestled Tiger Mask in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), a promotion for whom he often wrestled during the early to mid-1980s. He remained one of Stampede's most successful performers until the promotion, along with several wrestlers,
27302-439: The purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether
27489-562: The rest of the world and reunited with brother Owen and brothers-in-law Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart . The family members formed a new Hart Foundation with Brian Pillman ; this incarnation was an anti-American stable which was popular within Canada and Europe. As the leader of this stable, Hart routinely carried a Canadian flag to the ring and engaged in promos where he declared the superiority of his home nation; he became so despised by U.S. audiences that they would often throw debris during his ring entrances, interviews, and matches. He
27676-463: The ring and win the Royal Rumble match, while the referees were distracted by Mankind . Hart quit the WWF the next night on Raw in protest. In order to deal with this controversy, a Fatal Four-Way between Austin and the participants he eliminated after re-entering the ring ( Vader , The Undertaker , and Hart) was set up for In Your House 13: Final Four , with the winner becoming the number one contender. After then-champion Shawn Michaels relinquished
27863-431: The similar family names of both team members and their manager. Bret's agile, technical style – which earned him the moniker "The Excellence of Execution" (coined by Gorilla Monsoon ) – created a contrast with his partner Neidhart's strength and brawling skills. During this time, Hart began wearing his signature sunglasses , initially to conceal his nervousness during promos . Hart considers his microphone work to have been
28050-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
28237-451: The storyline and said that he had been pressured into it, saying, "I am not in any shape or form a racist. And I don't believe it is anything to kid around about. I also want to apologize for any remarks I made about gay people. It was a stupid mistake on my part". Hart successfully defended his title against Nation of Domination leader, Faarooq , on the October 20 episode of Raw . In his penultimate title defence, Hart wrestled Ken Shamrock to
28424-569: The team and manager. This led to matches pitting Hart against Davis and also his first singles championship opportunity, in which he challenged The Honky Tonk Man for the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship in the main event of the July 18 episode of Prime Time Wrestling , with the match ending in a double countout. As relations between the Harts and their former mentor further deteriorated, Jimmy Hart assisted tag team champions Demolition in
28611-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
28798-477: The time was being exposed as owner of the WWF more and more frequently on-air. Although Hart had signed a 20-year contract back in 1996, the WWF was in a rough financial position by late 1997 and could no longer afford to honour the contract. Although Hart was arguably the biggest wrestler in the world during the mid-1990s, McMahon also felt that the value of his character was beginning to wane, and he encouraged Hart to approach World Championship Wrestling (WCW) about
28985-410: The towel for Hart, giving Backlund the championship victory. Bret's feud with Backlund would continue into the following year. He was voted the greatest wrestler of 1994 by Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers, winning the vote for the second straight year. Three days after Hart's title loss, Diesel defeated Backlund in eight seconds with a jackknife powerbomb to become the new WWF Champion. By 1995, Hart
29172-519: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
29359-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
29546-405: The venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as a performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in
29733-507: The victory and title match. They met once again in a street fight on the April 21 episode of Raw Is War , in which Austin injured Hart's ankle with a steel chair. The match was ruled a no-contest and Austin afterward continued to beat Hart while on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance. In the ensuing weeks, Hart denounced American fans, because of their negative reaction to him in the recent weeks in contrast to his continued popularity through
29920-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
30107-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
30294-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
30481-634: Was acquired by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in August 1984. Hart was asked to start out in the WWF as a singles wrestler with a cowboy gimmick but refused, stating that in Calgary, "if you called yourself a cowboy, you'd better be one". He made his televised WWF debut on August 29, 1984, in a tag team match where he teamed with the Dynamite Kid . On September 11, in Poughkeepsie, New York , Hart defeated Aldo Marino in his televised debut singles match, which aired on
30668-409: Was again one of the final two combatants as he was enlisted by former frequent Stampede opponent Bad News Brown to eliminate Junkyard Dog before Brown turned on Hart, eliminating him to win the event. This turned Hart back into a fan favourite and triggered a feud between the two. Neidhart soon came to Hart's side in the feud, but manager Jimmy Hart discouraged the feud, leading to a fallout between
30855-458: Was an interview taped while on the European tour in which he described his passion for wrestling was diminished and stated that although there were offers from competing companies, he might be finished with wrestling. That fall, Hart would indeed receive competing offers of employment from both WWF and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). WCW presented a 3-year, $ 9M contract offer to Hart, while
31042-461: Was announced as the sole inductee. In the proceeding two years, induction ceremonies were held in conjunction with the annual King of the Ring pay-per-view events. The 1996 ceremony was held with the Survivor Series event, for the first time in front of a paying audience as well as the wrestlers, after which, the Hall of Fame went on hiatus. After an eight-year hiatus the promotion - renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) in 2002 - scheduled
31229-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
31416-610: Was critical with the match against Backlund, claiming it was "probably my worst pay-per-view match I ever had". Hart would be the focal point of the first event in the In Your House pay-per-view series, competing in two matches at In Your House 1 . He defeated Hakushi in the first match of the in Your House series. Hart's acclaimed feud with Jerry Lawler was reignited at the event when Lawler defeated Hart due to Hakushi's (now Lawler's protégé) interference. Hart beat Lawler in
31603-606: Was eventually won by André the Giant . He lost to Steamboat again on the July 28, 1986, episode of Prime Time Wrestling . Hart headlined his first televised WWF card when he beat Ray Rougeau , of The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers , in the main event of the November 3, 1986, episode of Prime Time Wrestling . The Hart Foundation won their first of two WWF Tag Team Championship on the February 7, 1987, episode of Superstars of Wrestling when they defeated The British Bulldogs . They then teamed with Danny Davis to face The British Bulldogs and Tito Santana at WrestleMania III . They won
31790-462: Was focusing on projects outside the business, such as acting, and shifted to the number two face in the company, behind Diesel. Hart challenged for Diesel's WWF Championship at the 1995 Royal Rumble , in a match that was continually marred by outside interference and ruled a draw. Both men embraced in a display of sportsmanship after the match. In a rematch from Survivor Series, Hart defeated Bob Backlund in an "I Quit" match at WrestleMania XI . Hart
31977-409: Was fresh from winning the 1996 King of the Ring , continually taunted Hart and challenged him to come back and have a match. After an eight-month hiatus from television, Hart returned and defeated Austin at Survivor Series in a match for the number one contender spot to the WWF Championship. Hart challenged champion Sycho Sid at the following month's In Your House 12: It's Time ; Shawn Michaels, who
32164-440: Was important for Sammartino to be inducted from a "legitimacy standpoint" and ESPN said that his induction was an opportunity to legitimize the Hall of Fame. After being announced as an inductee, Sammartino said he considered the Hall to be legitimate. In December 2021, Jeff Hardy was released from WWE. On March 8, 2022, the day that Hardy's no-compete clause expired, WWE reached out to Hardy and offered him an inductee spot to
32351-468: Was in his professional wrestling career, and also of what a positive effect amateur wrestling has on junior high school and high school-aged boys in terms of building self-confidence. In 1976, Hart began working for his father's Stampede Wrestling promotion in Calgary. Hart first began helping the promotion by refereeing matches. At a 1978 event in Saskatoon , Saskatchewan, a wrestler was unable to perform his match, forcing Stu to ask his son to stand in as
32538-422: Was inducted again as a member of The Hart Foundation , with brother-in-law Jim Neidhart . Outside of wrestling, Hart has appeared in numerous films and television shows such as The Simpsons as well as featuring in several documentaries, both about himself specifically and others about his family or the wrestling industry in general. He also helped found and lent his name to the major junior ice hockey team
32725-417: Was long recognized as being noticeably absent; Chris Jericho said that the Hall achieved a level of legitimacy by inducting Savage in 2015. Mick Foley long described Vader as "the most glaring and obvious omission from the #WWEHOF"; this was later corrected when he was posthumously inducted as part of the Class of 2022. Chyna is also a topic of conversation of whether or not she should be inducted due to
32912-455: Was long-distance runner Harry Smith . Hart grew up in a household with eleven siblings, seven brothers Smith , Bruce , Keith , Wayne , Dean , Ross and Owen , as well as four sisters, Ellie, Georgia, Alison and Diana . As a child he was the closest with his older brother Dean who was the nearest to him in age of all his older brothers, being three years his senior. Together they would often fight with Bret's two older sisters, Ellie, who
33099-571: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
33286-549: Was represented by Bobby Harmon. WWF Hall of Fame (1996) was the event which featured the introduction of the fourth class to the WWE Hall of Fame. The event was produced by the WWF on November 16, 1996, from the Marriott Marquis in New York City , New York . The event took place the same weekend as Survivor Series . In March 2015 a condensed version of the ceremony was added to the WWE Network . Due to
33473-529: Was selected before wrestlers such as Randy Savage or Bruno Sammartino. Caleb Smith of Slam Wrestling questioned how Ware was inducted, but former WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Ivan Koloff never was before his 2017 death. 411Mania writer Steve Cook defended his Hall of Fame status since he was very popular with fans and some of his losses were historic, while Kevin Pantoja described him as "the floor for inductees". Superstar Billy Graham publicly slammed
33660-427: Was serving as a guest commentator at ringside, accidentally cost Hart the victory when he attempted to become involved in the match after being assaulted by Sid. The building tension between Hart and Michaels climaxed after the match when Hart assaulted Michaels. Hart's feud with Austin escalated at the Royal Rumble , when Hart tossed Austin out of the ring, only for Austin (unbeknownst to the referees) to climb back into
33847-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
34034-457: Was studying filmmaking; his coaches and other people around him felt that he had shown sufficient promise to compete at the following year's Commonwealth Games and encouraged him to begin training for the event. He began to find amateur wrestling unrewarding amid injuries and fluctuating weight . Stu still believed his son capable of making it to the Olympic or Commonwealth Games if he put forth
34221-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
34408-442: Was the inaugural class of the WWE Hall of Fame. During the March 22, 1993, episode of Monday Night Raw a video package announcing André the Giant's induction was shown. No ceremony took place, and André was inducted posthumously. In March 2015 a condensed version of the 1994 ceremony was added to the WWE Network . Due to no original ceremony, the 1993 induction of André was discussed by Gene Okerlund and Renee Young as part of
34595-446: Was the only king, attacked Hart and began a barrage against Hart and his family. The two met at SummerSlam in 1993, to determine the "Undisputed King of the World Wrestling Federation". Hart originally won the match by submission, via the Sharpshooter, but as he would not let go of the hold, the decision was reversed to a Lawler victory by disqualification. Hart and his younger brother, Owen Hart , would also feud with Lawler during 1993 in
34782-460: Was two years older, and Georgia, who was one year older. Hart's family were non-denominational Christians , but he and all of his siblings were baptized by a local Catholic priest. Hart spent the vast majority of his childhood in the Hart family mansion which was owned by his father. During one period his father was housing a bear known as Terrible Ted chained under the building, the bear had had all of its teeth removed and Hart would sometimes as
34969-404: Was voted by Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers as the " Most Hated Wrestler of the Year " in 1997. At In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede , in Hart's home town of Calgary, the Hart Foundation defeated the team of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust , and The Legion of Doom , representing the United States, in a ten-man tag team match main event. The Canada vs. U.S. rivalry escalated on
#655344