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137-644: All of Stu's eight sons were wrestlers and two of them, Bret and Owen, achieved considerable fame and success in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), with many of the WWF's biggest storylines in the mid-1990s being built around Bret and Owen and their brothers-in-law. The family is closely associated with Canada in the North American wrestling landscape and its Canadian heritage has often been emphasized in wrestling storylines, even to

274-588: A Parejas Suicidas steel cage match, featuring three other former tag teams. However, both Hart and Evans managed to escape the cage and avoid having to face each other in a Hair vs. Hair match . On February 22, 2013, Hart participated on the AAA Canada: Next Generation Wrestling event, competing in the NGW World Title Tournament. Hart reached the finals of the tournament but ultimately would not win

411-805: A five-way ladder match to win the vacant World Middleweight Championship . At MLW Saturday Night SuperFight on November 2, 2019, Hart defeated Austin Aries via the Canadian Destroyer to retain the MLW World Middleweight Championship. On the November 11, 2019 edition of MLW Fusion Hart was defeated by Myron Reed for the Middleweight Championship. On December 6, MLW posted on their website and social media that Hart had been released from

548-597: A wrestling school in Edmonton . He is the son of Georgia Hart of the Hart wrestling family and wrestler B. J. Annis . He is also the nephew of former professional wrestlers, Bret Hart and Owen Hart . Hart achieved an early degree of fame when he became the youngest wrestler to be signed to the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE ). His subsequent release, controversial actions while wrestling on

685-637: A 3-Way No Disqualification New Jersey Street Fight at Reclaiming Hudson . Less than a month later on February 16, 2008, Hart defeated Kenny Omega and Xavier in a 3-way elimination match at Wild Card IV . After the match, Hernandez hit Hart with the Border Toss . That same night, Hart, in response to being attacked by Hernandez, announced that he would challenge LAX for the Tag Team Titles at Caged Fury and that his partner would be Samoa Joe . On March 8, 2008, LAX defeated Hart and Samoa Joe in

822-457: A JAPW event in Aberdeen, New Jersey . The match culminated with Hart climbing on top of a soda machine and delivering a moonsault onto Lethal. The match was briefly stopped while Hart stepped out into the parking lot to recover. Hart managed to recuperate in time and then returned to the ring, where he won the match. On October 28, 2006, Hart defeated Homicide , Low Ki , and Necro Butcher at

959-682: A Three Way Elimination match at Triplemanía XVI . On September 14, La Hermandad Extrema (Joe Líder and Nicho El Millonario ) defeated The Hart Foundation 2.0 (Teddy Hart and Jack Evans), The Mexican Powers (Crazy Boy and Último Gladiador) and La Familia de Tijuana (Extreme Tiger and Halloween) in a Four Way Ladder match for the World Tag Team Championship at Verano de Escandalo . After the loss, Hart and Evans began feuding with Líder and Nicho and on October 24, La Hermandad Extrema defeated The Hart Foundation 2.0 (Teddy Hart and Jack Evans), and Los Bello Stones (Alan and Chris Stone) in

1096-403: A Three Way Ladder match for the World Tag Team Championship at the 2008 Antonio Peña Memorial Show . On December 6, Hart and Evans wrestled to a double countout against Líder and Nicho for the World Tag Team Championship at Guerra de Titanes . On March 15, 2009, El Zorro, Hart and Evans defeated Charly Manson and D-Generation Mex ( X-Pac and Alex Koslov ) at Rey de Reyes . In June 2009 Hart and

1233-445: A daughter named Vylet Louise Hart. Kristen Culbreth has two sons with her husband: Lachlan, (pronounced Lock-lin) and Maddox Culbreth. Natalie Neidhart (Natalya) is married to fellow wrestler TJ Wilson (Tyson Kidd) . Brooke Hart is married to Peter Minnema better known under his ring name "Pistol" Pete Wilson. Conor Hart is married to a woman named Inka Foster Hart. Farrah Hart has one daughter named Bria. Brock Patrick Hart

1370-417: A deal with Endeavor Group Holdings, under which it would merge with Zuffa , the parent company of mixed martial arts promotion Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to form TKO Group Holdings, a new public company majority-owned by Endeavor, with McMahon serving as executive chairman of the new entity, and Nick Khan becoming president. The merger was completed on September 12, 2023. In 2024, McMahon, who

1507-516: A deal with UPN, McMahon shut down the XFL. WWE maintained control of the XFL trademark before McMahon reclaimed the XFL brand, this time under a separate shell company from WWE, in 2017 with intent to relaunch the XFL in 2020 . On June 24, 2002, episode of Raw , Vince McMahon officially referred to the start of the next era, called the "Ruthless Aggression" era. On May 6, 2002, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) changed both its company name and

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1644-661: A family member. In the late 80s the Stampede storylines also included a fictional brother of Davey Boy Smith by the name of Johnny Smith who feuded with Davey and Owen, the storyline also involved Diana Hart, who was worried over how Johnny's behaviour would affect their family. Stu Hart was an experienced grappler who held many national championships. Several of his sons, including Keith, Dean, Bret and Owen had experience in amateur wrestling. With Bret and Owen being considered outstanding as young men. Conor and Stewart Hart, two of Keith's sons pursued amateur wrestling, Conor did so at

1781-769: A flesh eating disease in 1996. Two of Bruce Hart's sons Bruce Jr and Torrin have been involved in pro wrestling. Torrin began wrestling when he was 17 years old. Two of Smith Hart's sons, Mike and Matt Herweg have started a career in wrestling. They perform under the names Matt Hart and Mike Hart, using their father's surname. Matt gained his first championship on December 15, 2017, for the Real Canadian Wrestling promotion. Both of Alison's daughters, Lindsay and Brooke have had relationships with wrestlers, Lindsay with Randy Myers and Brooke with Peter Minnema better known under his ring name "Pistol" Pete Wilson. Brooke and Peter Minnema are now married since 2014. Minnema

1918-438: A four-way tag team match, which was won by Joe Líder and Juventud Guerrera and also included the teams of Extreme Tiger and Fénix, and Halloween and Nicho el Millonario. On April 1, El Hijo del Perro Aguayo , who had recently been feuding with Hart's former partner Jack Evans, named Hart the newest member of his Los Perros del Mal stable. On August 5 at Triplemanía XX , Hart reunited with Evans for one night to take part in

2055-485: A grudge match at Pro Wrestling Xplosion's debut show Lighting the Fuse at the infamous ECW Arena . The match ended in a no contest after the referee , who was associated with Corino, claimed that Hart had submitted when he had not. Hart then challenged Corino to a fight in the parking lot, which led to another brawl. Hart made his debut with AZW Hawaii at their March 29 event Revenge and Retribution . He wrestled in both

2192-485: A legal dispute with the World Wildlife Fund , the WWF was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In 2011, the promotion ceased branding itself as World Wrestling Entertainment and began solely branding itself with the initials WWE . Prior to September 2023, the company's majority owner was its executive chairman, third-generation wrestling promoter Vince McMahon , who retained a 38.6% ownership of

2329-404: A majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into fields outside of wrestling, including film , football , and various other business ventures . The company is additionally involved in licensing its intellectual property to other companies to produce video games and action figures . The promotion

2466-599: A monopoly on the world title. In a now infamous situation, the NWA sent former five-time world champion and legitimate wrestler Lou Thesz to Toronto to face Rogers on January 24, 1963. Thesz recalls this was not planned and prior to the match remembered telling Buddy "we can do this the easy way or the hard way." Rogers agreed to lose the fall and title in a one fall match versus the traditional two out of three fall matchup that most world title matches were defended. Once word reached back to Mondt and McMahon, at first they simply ignored

2603-581: A pay cut, and the company has also suspended construction on its new headquarters for at least six months. The firings caused significant backlash by fans; with Business Insider calling them "livid." Both fans and several media outlets pointed out that while WWE claimed that these actions were "necessary due to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic", the WWE also claimed to have "substantial financial resources. Available cash and debt capacity currently total approximately $ 0.5 billion". DeSantis's claimed WWE

2740-401: A pre-recorded format. NXT continued to air from Full Sail University, but under similar restrictions. Live broadcasts returned on April 13, with the existing arrangements continuing; WWE stated to ESPN.com that "we believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times", and that the company's programming "bring[s] families together and deliver

2877-734: A publicly traded company, trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) with the issuance of stock then valued at $ 172.5 million. The company is traded on the NYSE under ticker symbol WWE. By the fall of 1999, the Attitude Era had turned the tide of the Monday Night War into WWF's favor. After Time Warner merged with America Online (AOL), Ted Turner 's control over WCW was considerably reduced. The newly merged company lacked interest in professional wrestling as

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3014-496: A sense of hope, determination and perseverance". It was subsequently reported that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had deemed WWE a business critical to the state's economy, and had added an exception under the state's stay-at-home order for employees of a "professional sports and media production" that is closed to the public and has a national audience. The decision was met with criticism from media outlets, with several media outlets pointing out that DeSantis's actions happened on

3151-722: A singles against SABAKI and a six-man tag team match, where he was partnered with SABAKI and Mark Anarchy against AkuA, DDB and Rocko Shinoda. He debuted for Florida's Pro Wrestling Dynasty in 2006 as part of "Team Vision" (with Chasyn Rance and Mister Saint Laurent) and helped them win in the main event. He also wrestled the next night for Florida's Coastal Championship Wrestling teaming with Rance, defeating Pablo Marquez and J.P. Ace. He also wrestled for UXW Wrestling in Florida on their June 16, 2006 event "Xtreme Havoc", where he defeated Rance. On December 1, 2007 at All Pro Wrestling , Hart and Markus Riot defeated Dana Lee and Brian Cage in

3288-577: A steel cage match to retain the Tag Team Championship at Caged Fury . On December 19, 2009, more than five and a half years after his last appearance, Hart returned to Ring of Honor at their first live pay-per-view Final Battle 2009 , where he was defeated by Jack Evans. Hart made his AAA debut on November 20, 2007, in an Extreme Four Way tag team Ladder Match, where he teamed with Sabu against Crazy Boy and Joe Líder , Charly Manson and Chessman , Extreme Tiger and Halloween for

3425-473: A third brand on May 26, 2006. Two years later, WWE adapted a more family-friendly format and their programming received a TV-PG rating . The final ECW program aired on February 16, 2010, after which it was replaced with NXT . During this time many new and young wrestlers would join the company, many which would become household names for the next years to come such as John Cena , Randy Orton , Brock Lesnar , and Batista . On April 7, 2011, WWE, via

3562-407: A time of record low revenues. This helped drive many WWF wrestlers over to rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (WCW), including 1980s babyface hero Hulk Hogan. During this period, the WWF promoted wrestlers of a younger age comprising "The New Generation", featuring Bret Hart , Shawn Michaels , Diesel , Razor Ramon and The Undertaker among others in an effort to promote new talent into

3699-515: A whole and decided to sell WCW in its entirety. Although Eric Bischoff , whom Time Warner fired as WCW president in October 1999, was nearing a deal to purchase the company, in March 2001 McMahon acquired the rights to WCW's trademarks, tape library, contracts, and other properties from AOL Time Warner for a number reported to be around $ 7 million. Shortly after WrestleMania X-Seven , the WWF launched

3836-506: A woman named Marla Josephson, and Satania "Tania" Hart (6 March 1985 – 14 March 2022) with his wife Maria Rosado Hart, a son Matthew Herweg with a woman named Liane Reiger Herweg and son Chad Pointen with a woman named "Zoe" Zo Amber Lee Beattie, as well as step-sons Steven Jupe and Michael Herweg with Liane Reiger Herweg. Bruce has five children in total, daughters Brit, and Lara as well as sons Bruce Jr, Torrin and Rhett Hart with his ex-wife Andrea Reding Hart. From 2000 to 2002, while Bruce

3973-539: A wrestling supercard was nothing new in North America; the NWA had begun running Starrcade a few years prior. In McMahon's eyes, however, what separated WrestleMania from other supercards was that it was intended to be accessible to those who did not watch wrestling. He invited celebrities such as Mr. T , Muhammad Ali , and Cyndi Lauper to participate in the event, as well as securing a deal with MTV to provide coverage. The event and hype surrounding it led to

4110-537: Is a Canadian-American professional wrestler , better known by his ring name Teddy Hart . He currently wrestles on the independent circuit . He wrestled on a National scale for Major League Wrestling (MLW) as the leader of The Hart Foundation , where he held the MLW World Middleweight and MLW Tag Team championships. He has also wrestled for AAA , the short-lived Wrestling Society X , Jersey All Pro Wrestling , and Dragon Gate USA . He operates

4247-537: Is a derivative of Owen's first and middle name Owen and James, it was also Owen's nickname when he was younger. At the time of Owen's death in May 1999, he and Martha were planning on having a third child. Tom Billington and Michelle Smadu Billington's three children, one son named Marek, and two daughters named Bronwyne Jewel and Amaris Jayne, are counted among the Hart grandchildren, since their parents were considered part of

Hart wrestling family - Misplaced Pages Continue

4384-403: Is a third-generation wrestler; his father, B. J. Annis , and his grandfather Stu Hart were both wrestlers. Annis has a son, Bradley, with his ex-girlfriend Kim. Annis suffers from Bipolar disorder and does not medicate. Annis's great-grandfather Harry Smith also had bipolar disorder, as did his brother Frank. Annis was married to Fay, and she was involved in his wrestling career, mainly in

4521-458: Is about his uncle Smith and cousin Matt . Annis is also the subject of the documentary Hart of Darkness by directors Kurt Spenrath and Fred Kroetsch, and the 2022 true crime documentary Dangerous Breed: Crime. Cons. Cats. which was originally being filmed as a "redemption" story, but changed directions upon the mysterious disappearance of Hart's then-girlfriend Samantha Fiddler. Annis

4658-628: Is located in Stamford, Connecticut , with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, and Munich. As in other professional wrestling promotions, WWE shows are not true contests but entertainment-based performance theater, featuring storyline -driven, scripted , and partially choreographed matches; however, matches often include moves that can put performers at risk of injury, even death, if not performed correctly. The pre-determined aspect of professional wrestling

4795-469: Is married to a man named Mike McIvor. Edward Annis (Teddy Hart) has a son, Bradley Annis, with his ex-girlfriend Kim, born in 2001. Hart has also married a woman named Fay. She has been involved in his wrestling career. Annis and his wife have divorced. Jade Hart Lambros has a daughter named Kyra Beans (born June 2010) with her husband Steve Lambros. Alexandra Sabina Hart has a son, Grayson Knight Cassidy (born June 20, 2015, at 1:25 am). Dallas Hart has

4932-665: Is married to a woman named Lynn. Dean had one child with his girlfriend Tammy, a daughter by the name of Farrah Hart, born in April 1990. Ellie had three daughters with her husband, wrestler Jim Neidhart . Jennifer Neidhart, Natalie Neidhart (better known as Natalya), and Kristen Culbreth. Ellie and Jim divorced in 2001, but remarried to each other in 2010. Georgia had four children with her husband, bodybuilder, gym owner, fitness guru and part-time wrestler Bradley Joseph "BJ" Annis . Edward, better known as Teddy Hart , Matthew, Annie and Angela Annis. On July 4, 1996, Matthew fell ill and

5069-553: Is married to a woman named Melissa Johnson Hart. Brit is married to a man by the name Jamie Harling, who works with her at the Rouge restaurant in Calgary. Georgia Smith was engaged to British musician Adam Barry , the singer of the band Merrymouth . In his autobiography, wrestler Roddy Piper (father of wrestler Teal Piper ) states that he is a cousin of the Hart family he also made this statement in an interview on TNA. This fact

5206-527: Is targeted at career and athletic development for the company's wrestlers. Full Sail is also home base to WWE's NXT brand, which served as a developmental territory for WWE. On February 24, 2014, WWE launched WWE Network , an over-the-top streaming service that would feature archive content from WWE and its predecessors, all pay-per-views, (which would continue to be sold through television providers as well), and original programming. Beginning in 2015 WWE started to push Roman Reigns as their face of

5343-510: Is the oldest male grandchild of Stu and Helen Hart and the second oldest overall. His mother is of Greek descent through her maternal grandmother and Irish through her maternal grandfather. His maternal grandfather was of Scots-Irish, English and Scottish descent. On his father's side he is part Italian. He is the nephew of former professional wrestlers, Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Bruce Hart, Keith Hart, Smith Hart, Ross Hart, Dean Hart, and Wayne Hart. Annis holds dual citizenship with Canada and

5480-895: The AAA World Tag Team Championship at Guerra de Titantes . Soon after joining, Hart joined Konnan 's heel stable Legión Extranjera (Foreign Legion) , where he regularly teams with Evans as The Hart Foundation 2.0. Part of his villainous character is that he cannot speak Spanish and during his promos, AAA captions his remarks in Spanish. On March 16, 2008, Hart lost a $ 2500 Ladder Battle Royal Match to Xtreme Tiger, which also included Chessman, Juventud Guerrera , Halloween and Joe Líder at Rey de Reyes . On June 13, The Mexican Powers (Crazy Boy, Último Gladiador and Ricky Marvin ) defeated La Legión Extranjera ( Bryan Danielson , Jack Evans and Teddy Hart), and La Familia de Tijuana (Extreme Tiger, Halloween and TJ Xtreme) in

5617-689: The British Bulldogs (Diana Hart's husband Davey Boy Smith and Bret Hart's sister-in-law's husband Dynamite Kid, who were first cousins in real life). On January 26, 1987, Hart and Neidhart defeated the Bulldogs to win the WWF Tag Team Championship . After the Hart Foundation split up, Owen Hart began teaming with Neidhart as The New Foundation . Bret went on to have a successful career as a singles wrestler, holding

Hart wrestling family - Misplaced Pages Continue

5754-571: The Calgary, Alberta -based Stampede Wrestling promotion, Hart teamed with Smith, Wilson and Jack Evans . In 2000, he wrestled for and was a key creative figure in the Matrats promotion. At the age of 16, he wrestled in the opening match of a World Wrestling Federation house show in Calgary, teaming with his cousin, Harry Smith, against Andrew Picarnic and T. J. Wilson as a tribute to his brother, Matthew, who had recently died. In 1998, Hart became

5891-604: The Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League . Stu began promoting wrestling in 1948 and operated Stampede Wrestling until selling it to Vince McMahon in 1984. In 1985, however, he decided to revive the promotion, which remained in operation until December 1989. It was brought back again in 1999 by Bruce and Ross Hart and remains active today. Stu Hart has been noted from training some of North America's most famous wrestlers, including André

6028-685: The Hart Legacy promotion. In 2016 Annis and his wife divorced. Annis holds Canadian citizenship as a result of his birth in Canada to a Canadian-born mother. He also holds American citizenship due to being born to an American-born father. On November 19, 2016, Annis's girlfriend Samantha Louise Michelle Fiddler disappeared in Bartow, Florida . On December 3, 2014, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced that Annis

6165-569: The WWF World Heavyweight Championship five times. The family connection played a role in two major WWF storylines. Four of the Hart brothers (Bret, Owen, Keith, and Bruce) formed a team at Survivor Series 1993 . Animosity began to build between Bret and Owen, and Owen turned on Bret at Royal Rumble 1994 . This led to a feud between the two brothers; Neidhart later became involved on Owen's side, while Smith sided with Bret. The feud culminated with Owen costing Bret

6302-707: The WWWF World Heavyweight Championship was created, with the promotion claiming that inaugural champion Rogers had won a tournament in Rio de Janeiro on April 25, 1963, defeating long time Capitol favorite Antonino Rocca in the finals. In reality, Rocca was no longer in the area, as he was working for Jim Crockett Sr. in the Carolinas. Rogers also had already suffered what would later be a career ending heart attack on April 18 in Akron, Ohio, and

6439-470: The XFL , a new professional football league that debuted in 2001. The league had high ratings for the first few weeks, but initial interest waned and its ratings plunged to dismally low levels (one of its games was the lowest-rated prime-time show in the history of American television). NBC walked out on the venture after only one season, but McMahon intended to continue alone. However, after being unable to reach

6576-533: The Backseat Boyz for the titles, giving Hart his second reign and Homicide his fifth. A little over a week later, however, they lost the titles back to the Backseat Boyz. On January 7, 2006, Hart defeated Azrieal to become the new Light Heavyweight Champion in a Gauntlet match at Wild Card II . Four months later, Hart lost the title to Frankie Kazarian in a triple threat match also involving A.J. Styles . On July 29, 2006, Hart took on Jay Lethal at

6713-493: The Cookbook Co. Brit and her husband Jamie are also involved in the restaurant business, they both work for the Rouge restaurant in Calgary. Georgia Smith is a model and voice over actress and her fiancé Adam Barry is a musician. Farrah Hart is a clothes designer. WWE World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) is an American professional wrestling promotion . It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings ,

6850-456: The Giant , the "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith , Dynamite Kid , Junkyard Dog , and dozens more in addition to his own sons. Bret Hart has won the most wrestling championships of anyone in the family. He won his first title belt in the World Wrestling Federation while teaming with brother-in-law Jim Neidhart (Ellie Hart's husband) to form The Hart Foundation tag team . They had a feud with

6987-536: The Hart family, largely due to Tom's big role in Stampede Wrestling , Michelle being a sister of Bret Hart's first wife, Julie, as well as Tom being the cousin of Davey Boy Smith . After her divorce from Tom in 1991, Michelle would later on marry another man and have two twin children, Trey Liam Burbank and Trinity Eve Burbank. Tobi McIvor has three daughters, Jessica and Amanda Steed born in 1995 and 1996 respectively, and Isabella McIvor, born in 2006. Tobi

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7124-486: The Invasion storyline, integrating the incoming talent roster from WCW and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). With this purchase, WWF now became by far the sole largest wrestling promotion in North America and in the world. The assets of ECW, which had folded after filing for bankruptcy protection in April 2001, were purchased by WWE in 2003. In 2000, the WWF, in collaboration with television network NBC , launched

7261-590: The JAPW ninth Anniversary Show in Rahway, New Jersey to win the vacated JAPW Heavyweight Championship (the reigning JAPW champion, Rhyno had no showed the event). On January 23, 2007, Hart was stripped of the JAPW Heavyweight Championship due to problems with the promoter and was released from the company. In 2005, he made several appearances with WWE, wrestling in dark matches , where he

7398-728: The James Boys, Charles Evans and Justin LaRouche , Mr. Strongko and Ramón Loco , and Jamin Olivencia and TJ Dalton. Hart appeared at the debut show for Florida Championship Wrestling, as he defeated Shawn Osbourne and competed in a battle royal and a triple threat match . On September 25, TJ Wilson and Ted DiBiase, Jr. joined the Next Generation Hart Foundation stable alongside Hart, Smith, and Neidhart. On October 2, Hart competed in his last match for

7535-518: The Montreal Screwjob, which took place at the 1997 Survivor Series , former WCW talent were being hired by the WWF, including Stone Cold Steve Austin , Mankind , and Vader . Austin was slowly brought in as the new face of the company despite being promoted as an antihero , starting with his " Austin 3:16 " speech shortly after defeating Jake Roberts in the tournament finals at the King of

7672-767: The Performance Center in a similar setup dubbed the Capitol Wrestling Center. It had many of the same features as the ThunderDome, but with a small crowd of select live fans included, in addition to the virtual fans. The name is also an homage to WWE's predecessor, the Capitol Wrestling Corporation. On May 21 WWE brought back fans full time, beginning with a 25-city tour, thus ending the ThunderDome residency. The July 16 episode of SmackDown started WWE's return to

7809-485: The Performance Center with paying fans, thus being WWE's last event to have ticketed fans in attendance before the pandemic took full effect. WrestleMania 36 was scheduled to take place on April 5 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa but on March 16, was moved to Orlando to be held behind closed doors. WrestleMania, as well as Raw and SmackDown for a period before and after WrestleMania, shifted from live broadcasts to

7946-615: The Ring pay-per-view in 1996. On April 29, 1999, the WWF made its return to terrestrial television , airing a special program known as SmackDown! on the fledgling UPN network. The Thursday night show became a weekly series on August 26, 1999 – competing directly with WCW's Thursday night program titled Thunder on TBS . In the summer of 1999, Titan Sports, Inc. was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. On October 19, 1999, World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. launched an initial public offering as

8083-550: The Special K faction confronted Hart, and mocked him for not being a good high-flying wrestler. On November 1, 2003, Hart competed at a Ring of Honor show in Elizabeth, New Jersey as part of a Scramble Cage match . After losing the match, he began to perform moonsaults and executed a shooting star press from the top of the cage rather than selling the moves he had taken. Hart then vomited at ringside. His actions attracted

8220-677: The United States. Annis grew up with three siblings, two sisters named Annie and Angela, as well as a younger brother named Matthew who died of necrotizing fasciitis in 1996. Annis is the cousin of fellow professional wrestlers Natalya Neidhart , Mike Hart , Matt Hart , Harry Smith , Bruce Hart Jr. and Torrin Hart as well as wrestling personalities Lindsay Hart and Georgia Smith . Hart debuted in July 1995 at Rockyford, Alberta , where he teamed up with his brother, Matthew, and defeated his cousin, Harry Smith, and T. J. Wilson . In

8357-474: The University of Calgary and Stewart won a medal in his school championship. The Hart family is one of the most well-known professional wrestling families in history. The patriarch of the family, Stu Hart was a professional wrestler and a trainer as well as the owner of Stampede Wrestling. Many of his children became professional wrestlers. He became involved with wrestling after retiring from his career with

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8494-498: The WWE Corporate website, the company ceased using the full name World Wrestling Entertainment and henceforth referred to itself solely as WWE, making the latter an orphan initialism . This was said to reflect WWE's global entertainment expansion away from the ring with the ultimate goal of acquiring entertainment companies and putting a focus on television, live events, and film production. WWE noted that their new company model

8631-528: The WWF World Heavyweight Championship. While Bret was defending the title against Bob Backlund at Survivor Series 1994 , Owen tricked his mother Helen into throwing a towel into the ring to signify that Bret conceded defeat. Several years later, the Hart Foundation was formed again, this time as a stable of anti-American wrestlers. Bret and Owen reconciled, and they were joined by Neidhart, Smith, and Brian Pillman (Pillman

8768-498: The WWF were former AWA or NWA talent. The WWF would tour nationally in a venture that would require a huge capital investment, one that placed the WWF on the verge of financial collapse. The future of McMahon's experiment came down to the success or failure of McMahon's groundbreaking concept, WrestleMania . WrestleMania was a major success and was (and still is) marketed as the Super Bowl of professional wrestling. The concept of

8905-591: The WWF) under the ring name Natalya. She was the first female from the Hart family to win a championship gold, when she won the Divas Championship at Survivor Series 2010 . Natalya would go on to have one of the most prolific careers of any female in WWE history, having the most matches of any female in WWE history, along with an on-going 15-year tenure, the longest of any active female wrestler in WWE. Harry Smith, son of Diana and Davey Boy Smith, currently uses

9042-576: The WrestleMania III main event between WWF champion Hulk Hogan and André the Giant took place on The Main Event I in 1988 and was seen by 33 million people, the most-watched wrestling match in North American television history. In 1983, Titan moved its offices to Stamford, Connecticut . Subsequently, a new Titan Sports, Inc. (originally WWF, Inc.) was established in Delaware in 1987 and

9179-700: The aforementioned draft), and airs live instead of the previous pre-recorded format. Due to the return of the brand split, a new World Championship , called the WWE Universal Championship was introduced at the August 21, 2016 SummerSlam event with Finn Bálor defeating Seth Rollins to become the inaugural WWE Universal Champion. On November 29, 2016, WWE introduced a new program specifically for their cruiserweight division (wrestlers 205 lbs. and under) called WWE 205 Live . The program focuses exclusively on those wrestlers who qualify for

9316-495: The championship. On April 5, 2014, Hart competed for Dragon Gate USA where Hart, Chuck Taylor and Biff Busick faced Anthony Nese , Caleb Konley and Trent Baretta in a losing effort. on May 31, at an ACW event, Hart, Dan Maff and Monsta Mack defeated Azrieal, Danny Demanto and Damien Darling. on October 5, 2014, Hart competed for the Inspire Pro Pure Prestige title in a triple threat match which

9453-480: The company began the removal of some of the contents that were considered iconic moments of the Attitude Era that were deemed inappropriate by Peacock, these archived contents would no longer be available under any of WWE's authorized platforms. Amdist the criticisms, in April 2021 WWE executive Triple H defended WWE's move to Peacock. Teddy Hart Edward Ellsworth Annis (born February 2, 1980)

9590-523: The company since having him win the 2015 Royal rumble match , amidst mixed reception . By 2017 Roman Reigns became their highest merchandise seller. On May 25, 2016, WWE relaunched the brand split, billed as the "New Era". Subsequently, Raw and SmackDown have each featured their unique rosters, announcers, championships and ring sets/ropes. A draft took place to determine which wrestlers would appear on what show. SmackDown also moved from Thursdays to Tuesday nights, which began on July 19 (the night of

9727-584: The company's outstanding stock and 81.1% of the voting power. The current entity, which was originally named Titan Sports, Inc. , was incorporated on February 21, 1980, in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts , but reincorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law in 1987. It acquired Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd., the holding company for the WWF, in 1982. Titan was renamed World Wrestling Federation Entertainment, Inc. in 1999, and then World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. in 2002. In 2023, its legal name

9864-600: The company. While MLW offered no official explanation for Harts release, anonymous sources speculated that it was the result of ongoing disciplinary issues with Hart, including no showing an event and appearing in the crowds of AEW and NXT shows. On April 20, Hart made his return to the company after 5 years away from the AAA, attacking Joe Líder and Pagano . That same night he reappeared with Juventud Guerrera and Kevin Kross , attacking Dr. Wagner Jr. , Vampiro and Hernandez after

10001-497: The company. The actual date of sale is still unknown but the generally accepted date is June 6, 1982; however, this was likely only the date the deal was struck but not finalized. On WWF television, Capitol Wrestling Corporation maintained copyrights and ownership past the June 1982 date. The World Wrestling Federation was not solely owned by Vincent J. McMahon but also by Gorilla Monsoon , Arnold Skaaland and Phil Zacko. The deal between

10138-823: The course of the Super X Cup Tournament . He returned in March 2004 as a member of Team Canada , and represented them as its original captain in the second America's X-Cup , where Hart defeated Mr. Águila in the first match. He was released from the promotion following an altercation in a restaurant with CM Punk stemming from the Elizabeth ROH show, where Sabu had to separate the two. The Hart Foundation stable would later compete in Major League Wrestling , where Hart teamed with Evans as The Hart Foundation 2.0 , as well as being labeled "The New Hart Foundation". MLW's TV series, MLW Underground would be

10275-642: The division. The cruiserweights – who first became a fixture in WWE with the Cruiserweight Classic tournament – were originally exclusive to the Raw brand before landing their own brand . On December 15, 2016, WWE established a new WWE United Kingdom Championship , with the inaugural champion being decided by a 16-man tournament to air on WWE Network featuring wrestlers from the UK and Ireland during January 2017. WWE executive Paul "Triple H" Levesque said

10412-427: The eldest child of Bret Hart, launched a clothing line called Jade Hart Kimonos . Based out of Calgary the clothing line consisted of handmade kimono made from Canadian silks and other fabrics. The business suspended operations in 2013. Georgia Hart Annis is an employee at the Cookbook Co. in Calgary. She at one point helped her niece Jennifer Neidhart to get a job there too and Neidhart is now manager of catering for

10549-572: The eventual plan with the new title and tournament was to establish a UK-based brand with its own weekly television show. WWE subsequently launched its UK-based brand as an offshoot of NXT, NXT UK , in June 2018, with Johnny Saint serving as inaugural general manager. Starting in September 2019, NXT had a weekly, live, two-hour show Wednesday nights on the USA Network and WWE began promoting NXT as their "third brand". However, in 2021 NXT

10686-413: The family and the only person who was neither related to the Hart through blood or marriage to be a member of the Hart Foundation. He has stated that he considered Bret and Owen as brothers to him and that he would have done anything for them. Pillman's son Brian Pillman Jr. also works with and is close to the family. Chris Benoit was also very close to the Hart family. Bret Hart referred to him as like

10823-428: The film Rocky III . McMahon signed Roddy Piper as Hogan's rival, and then shortly afterward Jesse Ventura as an announcer. Other wrestlers joined the roster, such as The Iron Sheik , Nikolai Volkoff , Junkyard Dog , Paul Orndorff , Greg Valentine , and Ricky Steamboat , joining existing stars such as Jimmy Snuka , Don Muraco , Sgt. Slaughter and André the Giant . Many of the wrestlers who would later join

10960-494: The first appearance for Hart, Smith, Evans and TJ Wilson on a major cable television network. On January 9, 2004, Hart defeated Bryan Danielson in a match billed as " Shawn Michaels ' top protégé (Danielson) vs. the last student of the Hart family dungeon (Hart)”, playing up the Montreal screwjob and bitter real-life rivalry between Michaels and Bret Hart . In 2004, Hart began competing for Jersey All Pro Wrestling , and won

11097-560: The first time that professional wrestling had been broadcast on network television since the 1950s when the now-defunct DuMont Television Network broadcast matches of Vincent J. McMahon's Capitol Wrestling Corporation. The 1980s "Wrestling Boom" peaked with the WrestleMania III pay-per-view at the Pontiac Silverdome in 1987, which set an attendance record of 93,173 for the WWF for 29 years until 2016 . A rematch of

11234-580: The founder of the CWC was. Some sources state that it was Vincent J. McMahon , while other sources cite McMahon's father Jess McMahon as founder of CWC. The CWC later joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and famous New York promoter Toots Mondt soon joined the promotion. Vincent J. McMahon and Toots Mondt were very successful and soon controlled approximately 70% of the NWA's booking power, largely due to their dominance in

11371-405: The four major sports leagues closed locker rooms to the media as a precautionary measure. As other sports cancellations and postponements were being introduced, WWE began to film its weekly programs at the Performance Center without spectators and with only essential staff present, beginning with the March 13 episode of SmackDown  – the March 11 episode of NXT had been recorded at

11508-583: The heavily populated Northeastern United States . In 1963, McMahon and Mondt had a dispute with the NWA over "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers being booked to hold the NWA World Heavyweight Championship . Mondt and McMahon were not only promoters but also acted as his manager and were accused by other NWA promoters of withholding Rogers making defenses in their cities versus only defending in Mondt and McMahon's own cities thus maintaining

11645-526: The home of another independent wrestler, Ace Montana. Montana claims he had pulled a gun on Annis in order to get him off of Manic. He then called the cops and Annis was arrested and charged with strangulation resulting in wounding/bodily harm. He was held without bail in the Richmond City jail until his court date on April 22. On October 23, 2020, Annis was arrested in Texas and charged with injuring

11782-487: The independent circuit and various legal problems have earned him a measure of infamy. Outside of the ring, Annis has been a mentor to several young wrestlers and has been a trainer at wrestling schools. Among his trainees are Jack Evans , Pete Wilson and his younger cousin Matt Hart . Annis is also a cat lover and breeder of Persian cats which he has used sometimes in storylines and brought with him to matches . Annis

11919-482: The ire of many wrestlers, as he endangered some wrestlers by performing moves on them which they were not anticipating. Hart attributes his actions to a concussion suffered during the match, and has since only wrestled at two ROH shows, At Our Best , on March 13, 2004, and Final Battle on December 19, 2009, against Jack Evans. Hart made several appearances with NWA Total Nonstop Action . In August 2003, he defeated Jonny Storm and then lost to Juventud Guerrera in

12056-687: The longest world title reign in the WWE since Hulk Hogan from 1984 to 1988. WWE remained at the Amway Center up through early December before relocating the ThunderDome to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida . The ThunderDome relocated to Yuengling Center , located on the campus of the University of South Florida in Tampa, beginning with the April 12, 2021, episode of Raw . In October 2020, NXT events were relocated from Full Sail University to

12193-506: The main event by the AAA Mega Championship . The trio called themselves MAD , and vowed to meet against their upcoming incumbents. Annis was the subject of the 2009 documentary A Hart Still Pounding . The project was originally named Ted Hart's Truth and Reality and was almost shut down by the creator, due to having problems with working with Hart. Hart also appeared in the 2016 documentary Hart Still Beating , which

12330-494: The main event. On March 22, 2008, Hart and Jack Evans defeated Ruckus and Trent Acid at PWS Majestic Mayhem in round one of the Majestic Tournament to crown the first ever PWS Champion. In the second round, Evans defeated Hart by countout in a 30-minute match which received a standing ovation. A best of five series was made and the two met for their second encounter on May 2 at Belleville Breakdown , where Hart

12467-404: The name Davey Boy Smith Jr. and also wrestled for WWE, under the name David Hart Smith. Teddy Hart, son of Georgia Hart and B. J. Annis , has also competed in WWE, but was released by the company. In the mid and late 90s Harry Smith, T.J. Wilson, Teddy and his brother Matthew were all training together. Matthew would later wrestle shortly together with Wilson, Smith and his brother before dying of

12604-618: The name of its wrestling promotion to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) after the company lost a lawsuit initiated by the World Wildlife Fund over the WWF trademark. Although mainly caused by an unfavorable ruling in its dispute with the World Wildlife Fund regarding the "WWF" initialism, the company noted it provided an opportunity to emphasize its focus on entertainment. In March 2002, WWE decided to create two separate rosters, with each group of wrestlers appearing on one of their main programs, Raw and SmackDown! , due to

12741-519: The organization. McMahon also worked to get WWF programming on syndicated television all across the United States. This angered other promoters and disrupted the well-established boundaries of the different wrestling promotions, eventually ending the territory system, which was in use since the founding of the NWA in the 1940s. In addition, the company used income generated by advertising, television deals, and tape sales to secure talent from rival promoters. In an interview with Sports Illustrated , McMahon

12878-441: The other were available for wrestlers from any show to compete for; the "Supershow" format would mark the end of the brand split, as all programming and live events (until July 2016) featured the full WWE roster. In 2013, the company built the sports medicine and training facility WWE Performance Center in the east Orange County, Florida in partnership with Full Sail University from Winter Park, Florida . The training facility

13015-487: The overabundance of talent left over from the Invasion storyline and the ensuing absorption of WCW and ECW contracts. This was dubbed as the " brand extension ". Beginning in 2002 a draft lottery was held nearly every year to set the rosters, with the first draft to determine the inaugural split rosters, and subsequent drafts designed to refresh the rosters of each show. WWE expanded the brand split by relaunching ECW as

13152-569: The pandemic to have ticketed fans in attendance with a maximum of 25,000 spectators for each night with COVID-19 protocols in place. Also around this time, the WWE Network in the United States became exclusively distributed by Peacock on March 18, 2021 (ahead of Fastlane and WrestleMania 37). The merger of the WWE Network and Peacock did not affect the service outside of the United States. The move to Peacock received some criticisms from fans particularly due to Peacock's heavy censorship policy,

13289-482: The pandemic, including releasing a number of performers ( Karl Anderson , Kurt Angle , Aiden English , EC3 , Epico , Luke Gallows , Curt Hawkins , No Way Jose , Sarah Logan , Mike Kanellis , Maria Kanellis , Primo , Erick Rowan , Rusev , Lio Rush , Zack Ryder , Heath Slater , and Eric Young ), three producers ( Dave Finlay , Shane Helms and Lance Storm ), referee Mike Chioda , and multiple NXT/Performance Center trainees and staff. WWE executives also took

13426-493: The point of overt opposition to American culture, but most of its members also have American citizenship through the family's American matriarch, Helen Hart. As of 2024, the only Hart actively wrestling in WWE is Stu's granddaughter Natalie "Natalya" Neidhart , but Bret makes occasional guest appearances while WWE employs Dungeon graduate Tyson Kidd (also Neidhart's husband) as a producer. Smith had six children, four of which are his biologically, daughters Tobi McIvor with

13563-538: The promotion as he and TJ Wilson defeated Mike Mondo and Nick Nemeth . On October 11, Hart was released from the company. On July 1, 2006, Hart made his One Pro Wrestling debut at Fight Club II in Yorkshire, England , and defeated PAC . During the next two months, Hart competed regularly for 1PW , including a 10-man brawl, in which he was eliminated by Abyss after Hart's teammate Steve Corino turned on him. On September 13, 2006, Hart and Corino wrestled in

13700-482: The promotion's Tag Team Championship with Jack Evans by defeating The Strong Style Thugs ( Homicide and B-Boy ) in a steel cage tag team match at Caged Fury , with help from Hart's uncle Jim Neidhart . After being champions for nearly four months, Evans and Hart lost the titles to the Backseat Boyz . Three months later, Hart teamed up Homicide, one of the men he beat for the Tag Team Championship, to defeat

13837-622: The rest of Legion Extranjera turned on Evans and kicked him out of the stable. On June 13, Team AAA ( El Hijo del Santo , La Parka , Vampiro , Octagón and Jack Evans) defeated La Legion Extranjera ( Silver King , Chessman, Kenzo Suzuki , Electroshock and Teddy Hart) at Triplemania XVII to regain control over AAA and force Konnan out of the company. On August 21 at Verano de Escandalo Konnan and Hart returned to AAA with their new version of La Legion Extranjera. In early 2010 AAA suspended Hart indefinitely. Hart returned to AAA on March 18, 2012, at Rey de Reyes , where he teamed with Chessman in

13974-519: The result of a failed stunt during his ring entrance at the Over the Edge 1999 pay-per-view. Bret would eventually return to the renamed WWE in 2010 after settling his differences with the promotion. Three of Stu and Helen Hart's grandchildren have begun careers in professional wrestling. Nattie Neidhart, daughter of Ellie and Jim, trained in Calgary and now wrestles for World Wrestling Entertainment (formerly

14111-604: The road, taking place at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. In January 2021, WWE moved WrestleMania 37 , which was originally to be held in Inglewood, California on March 28, to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida – WrestleMania 36's original location – as a two-night event on April 10 and 11, with fans in attendance, though to a limited capacity. This marked WWE's first event during

14248-465: The same day a pro- Donald Trump political action committee led by Linda McMahon , who was previously a part of Trump's cabinet, pledged to spend $ 18.5 million in advertising in Florida, and that, also on the same day, Vince McMahon was named part of an advisory group created by Trump to devise a strategy in re-launching the US economy. On April 15, WWE started a series of cuts and layoffs in response to

14385-503: The show with "M-Dogg 20" Matt Cross , where their tag team was known as "The Filth and the Fury". As a team, Hart and Cross managed to defeat The Trailer Park Boys and Team Dragon Gate . On the fifth episode, Hart had to be stretchered away following his match after landing leg-first on the guardrail and then climbing to the top of the set and executing a moonsault , clashing heads as he landed. WSX ceased operations after their television show

14522-422: The spotlight. In January 1993, the WWF debuted its flagship cable program Monday Night Raw . WCW countered in September 1995 with its own Monday night program, Monday Nitro , which aired in the same time slot as Raw . The two programs would trade wins in the ensuing ratings competition (known as the " Monday Night War ") until mid-1996. At that point, Nitro began a nearly two-year ratings domination that

14659-407: The term Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection , due to the cross-promotion of popular culture and professional wrestling. The WWF business expanded significantly on the shoulders of McMahon and his babyface hero Hulk Hogan for the next several years after defeating The Iron Sheik at Madison Square Garden on January 23, 1984. The introduction of Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC in 1985 marked

14796-471: The three business partners receiving roughly $ 815,000 among them and Vincent J. McMahon receiving roughly $ 185,000. Seeking to make the WWF the premier wrestling promotion in the country, and eventually, the world, he began an expansion process that fundamentally changed the wrestling business. At the annual meeting of the NWA in 1983, the McMahons and former Capitol employee Jim Barnett all withdrew from

14933-737: The title change. From January until April 1963, Rogers was promoted as the NWA World Champion, or simply the World Heavyweight Champion, in their area. The World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) was not an immediate creation after Rogers's one fall loss to Thesz. Mondt and McMahon both eventually left the NWA in protest and formed the WWWF in the process. They brought along with them Willie Gilzenberg , long time boxing and wrestling promoter in New Jersey. In April 1963,

15070-419: The two McMahons was a monthly payment basis, in which if a single payment was missed, ownership would revert to the elder McMahon and his business partners. Looking to seal the deal quickly, McMahon took several loans and deals with other promoters and the business partners (including the promise of a job for life) in order to take full ownership by May or June 1983 for an estimated total of roughly $ 1 million with

15207-461: The wrestlers' entrances on a level similar to that of pay-per-view productions pre-pandemic. Nearly 1,000 LED boards were installed to allow for rows and rows of virtual fans. It was free of charge for fans to virtually attend the events, though they had to reserve their virtual seat ahead of time. During this time, Roman Reigns began his historic world title reign with the WWE Universal Championship , which would eventually surpass 1,000 days; being

15344-499: The youngest person ever to be signed to a World Wrestling Federation developmental contract, and was sent to train with Dory Funk, Jr. at the "Funkin' Conservatory". However, he was later released by the WWF, due to alleged attitude problems. On September 20, 2003, Teddy wrestled for Ring of Honor in Philadelphia on their September event Glory by Honor II , where he defeated partner and friend, TJ Wilson. Backstage, however,

15481-420: Was "essential", which meant that the company's revenues loss would be limited. In August 2020, WWE relocated from the Performance Center to Orlando's Amway Center for a long-term residency, broadcasting episodes of Raw , SmackDown , and pay-per-views through a virtual fan viewing experience called WWE ThunderDome . Inside the ThunderDome, drones, lasers, pyro, smoke, and projections were utilized to enhance

15618-553: Was arrested in Virginia and was charged with possession of a schedule III controlled substance with the intent to sell or distribute. On March 4, 2020, Annis was once again arrested in Virginia, this time for violating the conditions of his bail by not staying under house arrest. On March 26, 2020, Annis was arrested in Virginia for a third time after allegedly assaulting his girlfriend, female independent wrestler Maria Manic at

15755-600: Was assigned to the Florida Championship Wrestling developmental facility of WWE. Hart appeared at the July 18 Ohio Valley Wrestling television taping, participating in a battle royal where the winner faced John Cena at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom on July 27. Although he lost, it was announced that he and Harry Smith (along with Nattie Neidhart ) would face Shad Gaspard and JTG at the same show. The " Next Generation Hart Foundation ", began teaming regularly, and would go on to defeat teams such as

15892-405: Was by now no longer the majority WWE stockholder, ended his ties with the company amid a sex trafficking scandal . Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s WWE's origins can be traced back as far as the 1950s when on January 7, 1953, the first show under the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was produced. There is uncertainty as to whom

16029-652: Was cancelled. On October 27, 2007, Hart returned to JAPW after interfering in the fight between Homicide and Low Ki at the JAPW tenth Anniversary Show. On December 8, 2007, Teddy Hart teamed with Low Ki against The Latin American Xchange (LAX) ( Homicide and Hernandez ) and BLK OUT ( Eddie Kingston and Slyk Wagner Brown ) in a three-way match for the JAPW Tag Team Championship at Seasons Beatings , however LAX retained. On January 19, 2008, Hart defeated Homicide and Eddie Kingston in

16166-542: Was changed to World Wrestling Entertainment, LLC . WWE is the largest wrestling promotion in the world. Its main roster is divided into two touring brands , Raw and SmackDown . Its developmental brand , NXT , is based at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida . Overall, WWE programming is available in more than one billion homes worldwide in 30 languages. The company's global headquarters

16303-551: Was consolidated with the Massachusetts entity in February 1988. The WWF was hit with allegations of steroid abuse and distribution in 1992. This was followed by allegations of sexual harassment by WWF employees the following year. McMahon was eventually exonerated, but the allegations brought bad public relations for the WWF, and an overall bad reputation. The steroid trial cost the company an estimated $ 5 million at

16440-496: Was defeated by Harry Smith and working as an enhancement talent on Velocity , teaming with JD Michaels against The Basham Brothers . On April 1, 2006, Hart and several of his relatives attended the induction of his uncle Bret into the WWE Hall of Fame . After Wrestling Society X folded, Hart moved to Florida in hopes of earning a development deal with World Wrestling Entertainment, which he received. After being re-signed, he

16577-928: Was diagnosed with the flesh eating disease Necrotizing fasciitis . On July 16, 1996, Matthew died at the age of 13. Bret and his first wife Julie Smadu Hart have four children, Jade Lambros, Dallas Hart, Alexandra Sabina "Beans" Hart and Blade Hart. Bret and Julie divorced in 2002. Bret married his second wife Cinzia Rota in 2004, but they divorced in 2007. Bret married his third wife Stephanie Washington in 2010. Alison Hart has two children with her ex-husband, wrestler Ben Bassarab , Lindsay and Brooke B Hart. After their divorce Bassarab remarried to another woman. Diana married wrestler Davey Boy Smith and had two children with him, Harry and Georgia Smith. Diana and Davey divorced in 2000. Diana has also dated pro wrestler James Trimble, who has worked for Ross and Bruce's incarnation of Stampede Wrestling. Owen and his wife Martha had one son, Oje and one daughter, Athena. The name Oje

16714-584: Was founded in 1953 as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), a Northeastern territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Following a dispute, CWC left the NWA and became the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in April 1963. After rejoining the NWA in 1971, the WWWF was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979 before the promotion left the NWA for good in 1983. In 2002, following

16851-445: Was in an Ohio hospital during the time the alleged tournament took place. Rogers lost the championship to Bruno Sammartino a month later on May 17, with the promotion beginning to be built around Sammartino shortly after. In June 1963, Gilzenberg was named the first president of the WWWF. Mondt left the promotion in the late 1960s and although the WWWF had previously withdrawn from the NWA, McMahon quietly re-joined in 1971. The WWWF

16988-587: Was largely fueled by the introduction of the New World Order (nWo), a stable led by former WWF performers Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall (the former Razor Ramon), and Kevin Nash (the former Diesel). As the Monday Night War continued between Raw Is War and WCW's Nitro , the WWF would transform itself from a family-friendly product into a more adult-oriented product, known as the Attitude Era . The era

17125-581: Was moved to Tuesday nights, having conceded the Wednesday Night Wars to rival promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and in September of that year was reinstated to its original function as the developmental brand for the main roster (Raw and SmackDown), under the name "NXT 2.0". In March 2020, WWE began to be impacted by the American onset of the COVID-19 pandemic . In mid-March, three of

17262-590: Was not related, but had trained with the Hart family and was a friend of the family). At the In Your House: Canadian Stampede pay-per-view in Calgary on July 6, 1997, the Hart Foundation won a five-on-five match against "Stone Cold" Steve Austin , Ken Shamrock , Goldust , and The Legion of Doom ( Hawk and Animal ). Bret Hart left the WWF in 1997 after what has come to be known as the Montreal Screwjob , while Owen died as

17399-503: Was publicly acknowledged by WWE's then-owner Vince McMahon in 1989 in order to avoid taxes from athletic commissions. WWE markets its product as sports entertainment , acknowledging professional wrestling's roots in competitive sport and dramatic theater. In 2023, WWE began to explore a potential sale of the company, amidst an employee misconduct scandal involving McMahon that had prompted him to step down as chairman and CEO, although he returned as executive chairman. In April 2023, WWE made

17536-658: Was put into effect with the relaunch of Tough Enough , being a non-scripted program (contrary to the scripted nature of professional wrestling) and with the launch of the WWE Network (at the time scheduled to launch in 2012; later pushed back to 2014). However, the legal name of the company still remains as World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. Beginning with the August 29, 2011, episode, Raw - referred to as Raw Supershow - featured talent from both Raw and SmackDown (the "Supershow" epithet would be dropped on July 23, 2012). Championships previously exclusive to one show or

17673-637: Was quoted as saying: "In the old days, there were wrestling fiefdoms all over the country, each with its own little lord in charge. Each little lord respected the rights of his neighboring little lord. No takeovers or raids were allowed. There were maybe 30 of these tiny kingdoms in the U.S. and if I hadn't bought out my dad, there would still be 30 of them, fragmented and struggling. I, of course, had no allegiance to those little lords." McMahon gained significant traction when he hired American Wrestling Association (AWA) talent Hulk Hogan , who had achieved popularity outside of wrestling, notably for his appearance in

17810-631: Was renamed the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979. Vincent J. McMahon's son, Vincent K. McMahon , and his wife Linda , established Titan Sports, Inc., in 1980 in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts and applied trademarks for the initials "WWF". The company was incorporated on February 21, 1980, in the Cape Cod Coliseum offices, then moved to the building on Holly Hill Lane in Greenwich, Connecticut . The younger McMahon bought Capitol from his father in 1982, effectively seizing control of

17947-426: Was spearheaded by WWF VP Shane McMahon (son of owner Vince McMahon) and head writer Vince Russo . 1997 ended with McMahon facing real-life controversy following Bret Hart 's controversial departure from the company, dubbed as the Montreal Screwjob . This proved to be one of several founding factors in the launch of the Attitude Era as well as the creation of McMahon's on-screen character, " Mr. McMahon ". Before

18084-415: Was still legally married to Andrea, Andrea was in a relationship with Diana Hart's ex-husband Davey Boy Smith , until Smith's death from a heart attack in May 2002. On December 27, 2019, Andrea died at the age of 52. Keith has three children with his ex-wife Leslie duBerger Hart, Stewart Hart II, Conor Hart and Brock Hart. After his divorce Keith would remarry with another woman named Joan in 2002. Wayne

18221-501: Was trained in by the Hart family and has appeared for the Hart Legacy promotion. Alexandra Sabina "Beans" Hart was at one point training to become a wrestler, hoping to eventually join her cousin Natalya as a WWE Diva . Helen Smith Hart was the daughter of noted marathoner and sprinter Harry J. Smith , finished 17th in the 1912 Olympic marathon and married a Greek woman, Elizabeth "Ellie" Poulis Smith In December 2011, Jade Hart,

18358-401: Was used as a trivia question on Raw once. Bret Hart has also stated that Piper was the only wrestler to visit him in the hospital after his stroke and that they were as close as brothers. Wrestling promoter Jack Pfefer was a very close friend of Stu Hart who asked him to be the godfather of Hart's tenth child and seventh son, Ross . Brian Pillman was another very close wrestler to

18495-493: Was victorious. On May 4, 2012, in Rahway, New Jersey Hart defeated Matt Hardy and Colt Cabana in a triple threat match for Pro Wrestling Syndicate. Hart was part of MTV 's Wrestling Society X project, which was filmed in 2006 and premiered in January 2007. He appeared in the inaugural contract rumble, where he was the second man to enter the ring, but did not win. Hart also wrestled tag team matches on later episodes of

18632-535: Was wanted on sexual assault charges involving two women. The charges were dropped in June 2016. Annis later opened up about several personal/real-life topics including his rape accusations in an interview hosted by wrestlers Chuckie T and Trent Barreta in January 2015. On January 1, 2017, Annis was arrested in Arlington, Texas , and was charged with DUI , evading arrest, and auto theft . The charges against Annis were later dropped. In February 2020, Annis

18769-610: Was won by Thomas Shire. On August 21, 2015, it was announced that Hart would make his debut for NOVA Pro Wrestling . In January 2016 Hart debuted for Canadian Wrestling's Elite . On July 14, 2016, in his debut for Lucha Libre Elite , Hart was defeated by Diamante Azul . Hart returned to Major League Wrestling (MLW) in 2017 as part of New Era Hart Foundation with cousin Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Brian Pillman Jr. On December 14, 2018, he defeated Dezmond Xavier , El Hijo de L.A. Park , Gringo Loco and Kotto Brazil in

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