30 Days of WWE Challenge Day 07- Favorite Stable

The Hart Foundation

Back when I lived in my old hometown of Arden, my parents subscribed to Cablevision. On this provider, a wonderful little channel popped up, channel #512 if I remember correctly, and it was called WWE 24/7 (now it’s renamed Classics on Demand).

One of the main features was the Monday Night War presentation. Every two weeks, a new week would be released. Hosted by Michael Cole, whose main role was to introduce and perhaps fill in historical gaps, the shows were largely unedited and really made you feel for nostalgia.

Not even the N.W.O could make me feel as nostalgic for the good ol’ days as this reaping of the Hart Foundation.

Going back to WrestleMania 13, where Stone Cold Steve Austin and Bret Hart clashed for finality in a “I Quit” match. Stone Cold bled like a horse, and Bret locked on Austin in the sharpshooter. That ending with Shamrock calling for the bell, led to the most famous double-turn of all time, as perennial good guy Bret stomped his now evil foot into suddenly good guy Austin. While that was developing for a month or two, the fact that WrestleMania hatched the dual turns made the biggest stage of them all notch one more accolade.

Meanwhile, Bret’s brother Owen was clashing with his brother-in-law and co-tag team/European champion Davey Boy Smith. The two set off in a European Championship match, and it looked to be a replication of the classic they had in Germany a month prior.

However, Bret physically separated the two and asked for both men to put aside their differences and something beautiful took place. Sure it was a heel moment, but dammit I related to the fact of that brotherly bond that would never break.

Thus, the Hart Foundation STABLE was born.

Add in Jim ‘the Anvil’ Neidhart and Brian Pillman to the mix, we had a war between not only Hart and Austin escalating, it became a multi-nation war as Canada vs. USA went to the forefront.

The highlight of this all transpired at the Canadian Stampede In Your House PPV in Calgary, Alberta (Canada) in the Saddledome.

The Hart Foundation faced Stone Cold’s team that had himself, Ken Shamrock, Goldust, and the Road Warriors. As you can imagine, this match was crazy, and the fans even more so.

It’s not the full match, but the sentiments are exact.

While Bret Hart would win the WWF Championship at Summerslam the next month, it was actually the beginning of the end of the stable.

Add in D-Generation X, another heel stable, making the Hart Foundation look somewhat-tweenerish. Also add in Brian Pillman’s untimely death, and then Bret’s departure from the WWF, and suddenly the group just…died.

Although that last part was abrupt, let me remind you that the Hart Foundation was one of the reasons why WWF, though it didn’t show in the ratings, had consistently better programming than WCW. It was compelling, unpredictable, and it was truly “must-see” TV.

I hate Time Warner cable for not carrying 24/7 darn it!