Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta . For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies . Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the promotion competed with other promotions such as NWA All-Star Wrestling and Pacific Northwest Wrestling and regularly ran events in Calgary's Victoria Pavilion , Ogden Auditorium and the Stampede Corral between 1948 until 1984 when bought out by promoter Vince McMahon , the company was briefly run by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) before being sold back to the Hart family the following year. Run by Bruce Hart until January 1990, he and Ross Hart reopened the promotion in 1999 and began running events in the Alberta area.
39-768: (Redirected from Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship ) Professional wrestling championship British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship Details Promotion Stampede Wrestling Date established 1978 1999 Date retired 1989 2008 Statistics First champion(s) The Dynamite Kid Final champion(s) Gama Singh, Jr. Most reigns Bruce Hart (8) Longest reign Duke Durango (483 days) Shortest reign Tiger Kahn, Hubert Gallant , Gama Singh Jr., Keith Hart , Terry Sawyer, Dick Steinborn, Davey Boy Smith , and Dynamite Kid (<1 day) The British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship
78-573: A few days later, after Bret Hart proved that he owned the rights to the footage of his matches. Stampede Wrestling was famous for "The Dungeon", a professional wrestling school located in the basement of the Calgary mansion Hart House , home of the Hart family. Stu Hart and Mr. Hito were the main trainers in the Dungeon. The school trained a number of ECW , WCW , WWE and NJPW stars, including
117-588: A hiatus. After over two and a half years, Ashura Hara made his triumphant return to the ring for Super World of Sports in August 1991. While in SWS, he would team with Genichiro Tenryu, Samson Fuyuki, and Takashi Ishikawa, as well as WWF Superstar Davey Boy Smith . He and Tenryu teamed up for the SWS World Tag Team Championship tournament, defeating Shinichi Nakano and Tatsumi Kitahara in
156-751: A lack of approval by the Calgary Wrestling & Boxing Commission to promote shows. The next attempt was around December 1991 by Abu Wizal, but only lasted a couple weeks. Between July 1995 and July 1997, Bruce Hart promoted one-off shows periodically at the Rockyford Rodeo in Rockyford, Alberta. On December 15, 1995, a special Stampede Wrestling tribute show was held at the Corral in Calgary, celebrating Stu Hart's life and career. It featured several Stampede alumni, as well as talent from both
195-646: A masked Hiroshi Hase ). In December 1987, they added a women's championship, the IWA World Women's Championship , with Monster Ripper as their champion, but by January 1989, that championship moved to Japan. Despite a valiant four years trying to resurrect the wrestling scene in Calgary to its former glory, Stampede officially shut down on December 18, 1989. The closure stemmed from long-standing problems between Bruce Hart and Ed Whalen, producer Fred May's constantly editing too much content off TV, and pay disputes within talent. Their final show before closing down
234-462: A one-night six-man tag team tournament, which he lost to Genichiro Tenryu, Atsushi Onita , and Bam Bam Bigelow in the finals. On October 3, 1994, Hara announced that he was retiring after 16 years in the sport. His last match was held on October 29, in which he lost to close friend and tag team partner Tenryu. After retiring, Hara became a rugby coach and teacher for various schools, including his alma mater. In 2004, his mother died after suffering
273-560: A three-way match for the reactive title. 45 Tiger Mahatma Khan June 2, 2000 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 N/A — Vacated August 30, 2000 Stampede show N/A — — vacated due to lack of defenses 46 Bruce Hart November 15, 2002 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 8 217 Defeated Kwik Kick and TJ Wilson in
312-3036: A three-way tournament final. 47 Duke Durango June 20, 2003 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 483 48 TJ Wilson October 15, 2004 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 91 49 Duke Durango January 14, 2005 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 2 N/A — Vacated May 20, 2005 Stampede show N/A — — Championship vacated for undocumented reasons 50 Pete Wilson June 17, 2005 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 343 Defeated Gama Singh, Jr. and Randy Myers. 51 Randy Myers May 26, 2006 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 231 52 Chucky Blaze January 12, 2007 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 336 53 Gama Singh, Jr. December 14, 2007 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 134 — Deactivated April 26, 2008 Stampede show N/A — — Stampede closed Combined reigns [ edit ] Rank Wrestler No. of reigns Combined days 1 Bruce Hart 8 1444 2 Gama Singh 6 502 3 Duke Durango 2 483 4 Dynamite Kid 4 418 5 Pete Wilson 1 343 6 Chucky Blaze 1 326 7 Chris Benoit 4 293 8 Owen Hart 1 286 9 Johnny Smith 4 253 10 Randy Myers 1 231 11 Richard Pound 1 210 12 Keith Hart 1 177 13 Ron Starr 1 176 14 Gama Singh Jr. 1 134 15 Norman Frederick Charles III 2 121 16 Bret Hart 3 120 17 Sonny Two Rivers 1 105 18 Danny Davis 1 98 19 TJ Wilson 1 91 20 The Cobra 2 78 21 Hubert Gallant 1 57 22 Les Thornton 1 36 23 Tiger Mahatma Khan 1 30 24 Dick Steinborn 1 26 25 Terry Sawyer 1 13 26 Fighting Hara 1 5 27 Davey Boy Smith 1 4 References [ edit ] ^ Duncan, Royal & Will, Gary (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4 . ^ Tanabe, Hisaharu. "British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title" . Wrestling-Titles.com. Archived from
351-3083: A tournament final. 12 Bruce Hart September 19, 1980 Stampede show N/A 1 175 13 Hubert Gallant March 13, 1981 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 57 14 Keith Hart May 9, 1981 Stampede show N/A 1 177 15 Davey Boy Smith November 2, 1981 Stampede show N/A 1 4 16 Gama Singh November 6, 1981 Stampede show N/A 1 67 17 Bruce Hart January 12, 1982 Stampede show N/A 2 149 18 Dick Steinborn June 10, 1982 Stampede show N/A 1 26 19 Bruce Hart July 6, 1982 Stampede show N/A 3 129 20 Danny Davis November 12, 1982 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 98 21 Bruce Hart February 18, 1983 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 4 196 22 The Cobra September 2, 1983 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 77 23 Sonny Two Rivers November 18, 1983 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 105 24 Ron Starr March 2, 1984 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 176 25 Bruce Hart August 25, 1984 Stampede show Edmonton, Alberta 5 468 26 Gama Singh December 6, 1985 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 2 14 27 The Cobra December 20, 1985 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 2 1 28 Gama Singh December 21, 1985 Stampede show Edmonton, Alberta 3 119 29 Bruce Hart April 19, 1986 Stampede show Edmonton, Alberta 6 69 — Vacated June 27, 1986 Stampede show N/A — — Bruce Hart
390-640: The Alberta Tag Team Championship that was retired the year before, which was won by The Kalmikoffs . In 1959, Oeming retired and Hart took full control of the territory. Hart would also retire their version of the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship . In 1965, he changed the name of the promotion to Wildcat Wrestling . Finally, in August 1967, he changed it to Stampede Wrestling , and the name stuck. In February 1968, they created their own singles title,
429-700: The All Asia Tag Team Championship , defeating The Great Kojika and Motoshi Okuma to win the vacant titles. They would hold on to the titles for a year, before vacating the titles due to Inoue's focus on the NWA International Junior Heavyweight Championship . However, Hara got another partner in Takashi Ishikawa and regained the titles, defeating Gerry Morrow and Thomas Ivey to win the vacant titles. He and Ishikawa would hold on to
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#1732793937760468-841: The Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship , which was won by Archie Gouldie (the future Mongolian Stomper). Four years later, they retired their version of the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship . In June 1978, they introduced the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship , with Dynamite Kid as their inaugural champion during his first tour in North America. In 1979, Stampede would bring back an old championship,
507-787: The Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Championship (the title was first introduced in June 1959, before being quickly abandoned), with Dick Steinborn as champion. In 1982, Stampede withdrew from the NWA. On December 2, 1983, a riot broke out at the Victoria Pavilion in Calgary during a match between Bret Hart , Davey Boy Smith and Sonny Two Rivers against Bad News Allen , The Stomper and Stomper's kayfabe son Jeff Gouldie . Longtime Stampede announcer Ed Whalen reportedly became distraught during
546-953: The WWF Junior Heavyweight Championship from Tatsumi Fujinami , but failed. After the failed attempt, he went to the United States , wrestling for Bill Watts ' Mid-South Wrestling . During that time he had bulk up into a heavyweight, which caused the WWU World Junior Heavyweight title to be abandoned at the end of March 1980. Returning to IWE, he teamed up with Mighty Inoue to capture the IWA World Tag Team Championship in May 1981, defeating Paul Ellering and Terry Latham . The championships were abandoned upon IWE's closure in August 1981, making him and Inoue
585-708: The Hart Brothers, Mark Henry , Chris Benoit , Chris Jericho , Ricky Fuji , Hiroshi Hase , Ken Shamrock , Justin Credible , Christian and Edge . The Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame list professional wrestlers and others who have competed in Stampede Wrestling, from Stu Hart's Klondike Wrestling to the original Stampede Wrestling promotion which closed in 1990. General Specific Ashura Hara Susumu Hara ( 原 進 , Hara Susumu ) (January 8, 1947 – April 28, 2015)
624-851: The Spray Lakes Sawmill Sportsplex in Cochrane, Alberta, Nicholson would face Abdullah the Butcher after the scheduled main event between Lance Storm and Rhyno was canceled when Rhyno failed to appear. At that same event, longtime tag team partners TJ Wilson and Harry Smith faced each other in Smith's final match for the promotion before leaving for World Wrestling Entertainment. Bruce and Ross Hart sold Stampede Wrestling to Bill Bell in 2007. The promotion ceased operations again in April 2008. Stampede's weekly shows were held mostly at
663-554: The Victoria Pavilion in Calgary, with special events held at the Stampede Corral . Stampede Wrestling was the basis for a long-running weekly sports broadcast produced in Calgary showcasing many of the promotion's most popular wrestlers. Hosted by Ed Whalen most of its run, which went from 1957 to 1989, the series was syndicated around the world and reruns continue to be shown in some countries to this day. At
702-483: The WWF sold Stampede back to the Hart family, with Bruce Hart taking the reins, and by 1986, the Calgary territory was given a shot of adrenaline with new talent such as Owen Hart , Brian Pillman , Chris Benoit , Biff Wellington , and Johnny Smith coming in to tangle with Gama Singh and his Karachi Vice stable (which included Shinya Hashimoto , Gary Albright , and Mike Shaw ) and The Viet Cong Express (which included
741-649: The World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. The main event saw Bret Hart successfully defend the WWF Championship against Davey Boy Smith. In early 1999, Bruce and Ross Hart reopened Stampede Wrestling, showcasing graduates from the Hart Dungeon training school. However, only weeks after their first event, the promotion once again became inactive following the death of Owen Hart in May. Although considering closing
780-580: The belts for over eight months, before vacating in October 1984. In October 1986, he teamed up with Super Strong Machine to win his third All Asia Tag Team title, defeating his former All Asia Tag Team championship partners Inoue and Ishikawa. They would hold on to the titles until Super Strong Machine's departure in June 1987 forced Hara to vacate the titles. After vacating the All Asia Tag titles, he reformed his tag team with Tenryu, as well as forming
819-678: The final champions. Immediately after IWE's closure, Ashura Hara, Mighty Inoue, Apollo Sugawara, and Goro Tsurumi joined All Japan Pro Wrestling , initially as an IWE stable. He would forge a longtime friendship and partnership with Genichiro Tenryu ever since. On May 3, 1982, his first heavyweight title challenge took place during an interpromotional card with Kintarō Ōki 's Korean Wrestling Association in South Korea , Hara unsuccessfully challenging Oki for his All Asia Heavyweight Championship in Gwangju . In February 1983, he and Inoue won
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#1732793937760858-527: The newly unified World Tag Team Championship , defeating The Olympics. They lost the belts back to The Olympics a day later. More bad news struck Hara, as days before the World's Strongest Tag Determination League was about to take place, he was fired from AJPW by Giant Baba for massive gambling debts in November 1988. Toshiaki Kawada would take his place in teaming with Tenryu. Upon his firing, he would take
897-2837: The original on 26 January 2018 . Retrieved 2018-01-26 . v t e Stampede Wrestling Stu Hart Al Oeming Championships Main Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Championship Secondary British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship Stampede Wrestling Women's Pacific Championship Tag Team Alberta Tag Team Championship Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship Other NWA Canadian Heavyweight NWA Canadian Tag Team World Mid-Heavyweight Stampede Wrestling Pacific Heavyweight Championship World Women's Triple Crown Talent Former personnel Hart wrestling family Shows Stu Hart 50th Anniversary Show Stampede Wrestling 50th Anniversary Show Miscellaneous The Dungeon Stampede Corral Victoria Arena In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling [REDACTED] Category v t e Stampede Wrestling British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship 1950s Dynamite Kid Norman Frederick Charles III Fighting Hara Bret Hart Terry Sawyer 1960s Bruce Hart Hubert Gallant Keith Hart Davey Boy Smith Gama Singh Dick Steinborn Nightmare Danny Davis The Cobra Sonny Two Rivers Ron Starr Johnny Smith Les Thornton Owen Hart Chris Benoit 1990s Principal Richard Pound 2000s Tiger Mahatma Khan Duke Durango T. J. Wilson Randy Myers Chucky Blaze Gama Singh Jr. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=British_Commonwealth_Mid-Heavyweight_Championship&oldid=1253539800 " Categories : Stampede Wrestling championships Mid-Heavyweight wrestling championships National professional wrestling championships 1978 establishments in Canada Hidden categories: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Articles needing additional references from July 2021 All articles needing additional references Articles with hCards Stampede Wrestling Along with its wrestling school known as " The Dungeon ", many of
936-1153: The original on 9 February 2013 . Retrieved 2007-06-09 . ^ Mellott, Douglas. "Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title History" . Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on 16 March 2006 . Retrieved 2007-06-09 . ^ Hoops, Brian (January 12, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/12): The Outsiders win WCW Tag team titles" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Retrieved January 18, 2019 . ^ F4W Staff (June 10, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (June 10): Harley Race beats Ric Flair for NWA title, Jerry Blackwell turns babyface" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Retrieved February 10, 2017 . {{ cite web }} : CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ( link ) ^ Hoops, Brian (January 13, 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/13): TNA Genesis 2013" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Retrieved January 18, 2019 . External links [ edit ] "Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title History" . CAGEMATCH.net. Archived from
975-419: The promotion's former alumni becoming some of the most popular stars in the World Wrestling Federation and other American promotions during the 1980s and 1990s, the promotion produced one of the earliest televised professional wrestling programs (today considered the forerunner of today's WWE ) that remained one of Calgary's most popular sports programs eventually airing in over 50 countries. Stampede Wrestling
1014-541: The promotion, the Hart family continued to promote events five months later and began touring western Canada. Although successful, the Harts were forced to cancel several tours in late 2001 and early 2002 due to the arrival of a rival promotion backed by a Calgary businessman. The promotion also lost much of its roster due to its rival hiring away top stars. In 2005, promoters Bill Bell and Devon Nicholson took over day-to-day operations for Stampede Wrestling. During an event at
1053-459: The riot, in which a woman was trampled, causing him to quit from the Stampede on air. Speaking of the events he remarked, "We're starting to scare the patrons with this violence outside the ring, and I will not be associated with it anymore." The event led to Stampede Wrestling being banned from Calgary for six months by the city's wrestling and boxing commission. In August 1984, Stampede Wrestling
1092-780: The semi-finals, before losing to Yoshiaki Yatsu and King Haku in the finals for the vacant titles. Turmoil backstage and money problems led SWS to its demise in June 1992. Upon SWS's closure, Ashura Hara joined Genichiro Tenryu in forming WAR . In late 1992, he, Tenryu, Takashi Ishikawa, and Tatsumi (now Koki) Kitahara were involved in a feud with New Japan's stable Heisei Ishingun , in which The Great Kabuki joined in November 1992. However, despite Kabuki's betrayal, he and his allies had added reinforcements in early 1993, thanks to another NJPW stable, Raging Staff (formerly Blonde Outlaws). By October 1993, Raging Staff had disintegrated, as Tatsutoshi Goto joined Heisei Ishingun. In July 1994, Hara teamed up with Jinsei Shinzaki and John Tenta for
1131-2247: The specific champion Days Number of days held No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref. Date Event Location Reign Days British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship (1978-1989) 1 Dynamite Kid June 1, 1978 Stampede show N/A 1 9 2 Norman Frederick Charles III June 10, 1978 Stampede show Edmonton, Alberta 1 28 3 Fighting Hara July 8, 1978 Stampede show Edmonton, Alberta 1 5 4 Norman Frederick Charles III July 13, 1978 Stampede show Edmonton, Alberta 2 93 5 Bret Hart October 14, 1978 Stampede show Edmonton, Alberta 1 84 6 Dynamite Kid January 6, 1979 Stampede show Edmonton, Alberta 2 146 7 Bret Hart June 1, 1979 Stampede show N/A 2 36 8 Dynamite Kid July 7, 1979 Stampede show N/A 3 84 9 Terry Sawyer September 29, 1979 Stampede show N/A 1 13 10 Bret Hart October 12, 1979 Stampede show N/A 3 7 — Vacated October 19, 1979 Stampede show N/A — — Bret Hart moved to heavyweight division. 11 Dynamite Kid March 24, 1980 Stampede show Red Deer, AB 4 179 Defeated Keith Hart in
1170-603: The stable Revolution with Footloose ( Samson Fuyuki and Toshiaki Kawada ) and Yoshinari Ogawa (Tatsumi Kitahara would join the group upon his debut in April 1988). In September 1987, he and Tenryu won the PWF Tag Team Championship , defeating Austin Idol and Stan Hansen . They would hold onto the titles for over nine months before losing the titles to The Olympics ( Jumbo Tsuruta and Yoshiaki Yatsu ). He and Tenryu would rebound in August 1988 as they won
1209-464: The time Stampede was revived in 1999, a second Stampede Wrestling TV series was attempted, hosted by Bad News Allen and play by play commentator Mauro Ranallo , but it was short-lived and Whalen was not involved. WWE currently controls Stampede's extensive tape library . In December 2015, the WWE Network began adding Stampede Wrestling shows to its Vault section. However, it was all removed
British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-584: The title back to Charles five days later. In October 1978, he would tour Europe with Otto Wanz 's Catch Wrestling Association . By December 1978, he returned to Japan and was given the name Ashura Hara by author Akiyuki Nosaka , who happens to be a fan of Hara's. In May 1979, Hara won the WWU World Junior Heavyweight Championship, defeating Mile Zrno . He would be the last holder of that title. In March 1980, he went to New Japan Pro-Wrestling in an attempt to capture
1287-789: Was a professional wrestling title for lighter wrestlers in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling . It was created in 1978. Title history [ edit ] [REDACTED] This section does not cite any sources . Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . Find sources: "British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( July 2021 ) ( Learn how and when to remove this message ) Key No. Overall reign number Reign Reign number for
1326-605: Was a Japanese rugby player and professional wrestler , better known by his ring name Ashura Hara ( 阿修羅・原 ) . Susumu Hara began his rugby career in high school, playing for the Agricultural High School in the Isahaya region of Nagasaki. Upon graduating high school, he continued his rugby career in college for Toyo University . After college, he was drafted by the Kintetsu Liners . In 1976, he
1365-623: Was elected to represent Japan . After he finished his rugby career, Susumu Hara was scouted by International Wrestling Enterprise in 1976. After a couple years of training, he finally made his debut on June 23, 1978, against Isamu Teranishi. Shortly after his debut, he went to Stampede Wrestling in Canada, under the name Fighting Hara, where he won his first championship, the Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship , defeating Norman Frederick Charles III in July 1978. He would lose
1404-724: Was formed in 1948 by Stu Hart and Al Oeming under the name Klondike Wrestling , and held their first show on September 11, 1948, at the Sales Pavillion in Edmonton, Alberta. It also become the National Wrestling Alliance 's Calgary territory in Canada. In May 1951, they changed its name to Big Time Wrestling . In February 1958, they introduced their version of the NWA International Tag Team Championship to replace
1443-569: Was held in Edmonton on December 16, with Larry Cameron defeating Bob Emory in the main event to retain the North American Heavyweight Championship. Despite Stampede officially closing down in December 1989, there were several attempts to revive the promotion. The first attempt occurred around March 1990 by Bruce Hart, but it only lasted three months, running smaller towns outside Calgary and Edmonton, due to
1482-2790: Was injured 30 Gama Singh August 1, 1986 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 4 7 31 Johnny Smith August 8, 1986 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 42 32 Les Thornton September 19, 1986 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 36 33 Owen Hart October 25, 1986 Stampede show Edmonton, Alberta 1 286 34 Gama Singh August 7, 1987 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 5 224 35 Chris Benoit March 18, 1988 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 84 36 Johnny Smith June 10, 1988 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 2 7 37 Chris Benoit June 17, 1988 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 2 7 38 Johnny Smith June 24, 1988 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 3 203 39 Chris Benoit January 13, 1989 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 3 175 40 Johnny Smith July 7, 1989 Stampede show Dawson Creek, BC 4 1 41 Chris Benoit July 8, 1989 Stampede show Grande Prairie, AB 4 27 42 Gama Singh August 4, 1989 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 6 71 43 Bruce Hart October 14, 1989 Stampede show Lethbridge, AB 7 41 — Deactivated November 24, 1989 Stampede show N/A — — Stampede closed British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship (1999-2008) 44 Richard Pound November 5, 1999 Stampede show Calgary, Alberta 1 210 Defeated Tiger Khan and Greg Pawluk in
1521-566: Was sold to the World Wrestling Federation . Of all the talent that WWF took upon their purchase of Stampede, they took only three wrestlers: Bret Hart, Davey Boy Smith, and Dynamite Kid. Their last show was held on November 5, 1984 in Vancouver, British Columbia, as a WWF/Stampede joint show. Bret Hart claims that Vince McMahon never actually paid for the territory, and “stiffed” his father, Stu Hart. On October 28, 1985,
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