Keith Hart (wrestler)

Keith Hart
Birth name Keith William Hart
Born (1951-08-21) August 21, 1951
Great Falls, Montana, Cascade County, Montana, United States[1][2]
Residence Calgary
Spouse(s) Leslie duBerger Hart (divorced in 1995)[3]
Joan Hart (m. 2002)[4]
Children 3
Family Hart
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Keith Hart
Ted Keath[5]
Billed height 180 cm (5 ft 11 in)[6]
Billed weight 94 kg (207 lb)[7]
Billed from Calgary, Alberta[8]
Trained by Stu Hart
Debut 1973[9]
Retired 2000

Keith William Hart (born August 21, 1951) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler and firefighter. He is a member of the Hart wrestling family and the third son of Helen and Stu Hart, CM. He is best known for his work for Stampede Wrestling and several appearances for WWE, often with his siblings Bret, Owen, Bruce and Diana. In Stampede he won several championships and for WWE he participated in the seventh edition of Survivor Series.

Early life

Hart is the third child of wrestling promoter Stu Hart and his wife Helen, thus he is the younger brother of Smith and Bruce and the older brother of Wayne, Dean, Ellie, Georgia, Bret, Ross, Alison, Diana and Owen Hart.

He is of Greek descent through his maternal grandmother and Irish through his maternal grandfather.[10][11][12][13] His father was mainly of Scots-Irish descent but also had Scottish and English ancestry.[14][15] Hart is a dual citizen of Canada and the United States.[16][17]

Before becoming a wrestler, Keith Hart earned a degree in teaching.

Amateur wrestling

Hart had a lot of experience in amateur wrestling during his youth,[18] something he did mostly to please his father.

Professional wrestling career

Stampede Wrestling

Hart trained under his father and began wrestling on June 1, 1973 in his father's promotion, Stampede Wrestling, facing Lindy Calder in his debut match. He spent much of his career as a tag team wrestler, teaming with wrestlers such as his brother Bret, with whom he won the Stampede International Tag Team Championship four times. He feuded with wrestlers such as Dick Steinborn, Dynamite Kid, Herbert Gallant, K J Anderssen, Mr. Hito, and Mr. Sakurada. As a singles wrestler he held the Britith Commonwealth Mid Heavyweight title. In addition to wrestling in Canada, Hart performed in Germany, Japan and made infrequent appearances in the United States of America.[19]

World Wrestling Federation

As part of the feud between Bret and Jerry Lawler, at the 1993 Survivor Series Bret and his brothers Keith, Bruce and Owen faced Shawn Michaels and his three masked knights. Though Owen was eliminated and Keith's shoulder was injured by a prolonged assault at the hands of Michaels, the Hart brothers were victorious.

Return to Stampede Wrestling

In the 1990s, Hart worked as a trainer in the Hart Dungeon (the wrestling training camp located in the basement of the Hart family mansion). He eventually retired in 1995 to become a full-time firefighter, although he briefly came out of retirement in 1999 when Stampede Wrestling was reopened by his brothers Bruce and Ross Hart. Hart became a tag team champion with Chris Benoit.

Firefighting

In the late 1970s, at the urging of his brother-in-law, B.J. Annis, Hart passed a test and was accepted into the Calgary firefighter department. As a result, he largely reduced his wrestling commitments.[20] Hart would work for Annis until 2007, when he retired from firefighting after 26 years and began working as a substitute teacher.[21] He is known to teach in Calgary and Okotoks (just outside Calgary).[22]

Other media

Hart has appeared on several wrestling documentaries, including the 1998 documentary Wrestling with Shadows and 2010's Survival of the Hitman which are both about his younger brother Bret Hart.

Hart was also present on the stage together with all his living siblings when his father Stu Hart was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.[23]

Personal life

In 1994 Hart and his first wife won $100,000 in a lottery. An amount of said money was used by Hart on a campaign to get elected to provincial office.[24] He did not get elected.[25] The couple divorced in 1995.[26]

Family

Main article: Hart wrestling family

Hart has three sons with his ex-wife Leslie,[27][28] Stewart Hart II, Conor Hart and Brock Hart. Conor pursued amateur wrestling at the University of Calgary and coaches a local high school team.[29][30] His other son Stewart has also pursued amateur wrestling and has won a medal in his school championship but does not wish to work with pro wrestling.[31][32]

In 2002 Keith married for the second time to his long-time girlfriend Joan.[33]

Wrestling related

Following the death of Stu Hart on October 16, 2003, the Hart family sold the Hart mansion. On August 14, 2004 Hart organised a fundraiser, held within the mansion, for the Stu Hart Amateur Sport Foundation (which supports amateur wrestling in the Calgary area).

In wrestling

Wrestlers trained

Championships and accomplishments

  • CAWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Vinnie Fever
  • PPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Bruce Hart

See also

References

  1. ↑ Surviving The Dungeon Extra: Ross Hart on The Hart Siblings (1 of 2)
  2. ↑ "Smith Hart on The Hart Family's ties to Long Island, the city of Long Beach, and more". noplacelikelongisland.com. No Place Likelong Island. May 19, 2016. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  3. ↑ Hart, Diana; McLellan, Kirstie (2001). Under the Mat: Inside Wrestling's Greatest Family. Fenn. p. 84 pp. ISBN 1-55168-256-7.
  4. ↑ Hart, Martha; Francis, Eric (2004). Broken Harts: The Life and Death of Owen Hart. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 253 pp. ISBN 978-1-59077-036-8.
  5. ↑ "Keith Hart: Facts". WrestlingData.com.
  6. ↑ "Keith Hart". cagematch.net.
  7. ↑ "Keith Hart". cagematch.net.
  8. ↑ "Keith Hart: Facts". WrestlingData.com.
  9. ↑ Vance Nevada's Canadian Wrestling Results Archive (Stampede, June 1, 1973)
  10. ↑ Hart, Bret (2007). Hitman: My real life in the cartoon world of wrestling. Ebury Press. p. 8 pp. ISBN 9780091932862.
  11. ↑ Letawsky, Craig (2002-05-07). "Ask 411 - 5.07.02". 411wrestling.com.
  12. ↑ Hart, Diana; McLellan, Kirstie (2001). Under the Mat: Inside Wrestling's Greatest Family. Fenn. p. 16 pp. ISBN 1-55168-256-7.
  13. ↑ Heath McCoy (2007). Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling. ECWPress. p. 30 pp. ISBN 978-1-55022-787-1.
  14. ↑ Slamthology: Collected Wrestling Writings 1991-2004. jnlister. 2005. p. 252 pp. ISBN 1-4116-5329-7.
  15. ↑ Heath McCoy (2007). Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling. ECWPress. p. 16 pp. ISBN 978-1-55022-787-1.
  16. ↑ Martha Hart; Eric Francis (2004). Broken Harts: The Life and Death of Owen Hart. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 84 pp. ISBN 978-1-59077-036-8.
  17. ↑ "An open letter to Shawn Michaels". http: canoe. May 17, 1997.
  18. ↑ Mix, Brett (November 28, 2010). "Review: WWE Hart and Soul: Hart Family Anthology". wrestlingdvdnetwork.com.
  19. ↑ "Keith Hart: Profile & Match Listing". profightdb.com. The Internet Wrestling Database.
  20. ↑ "Keith Hart". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  21. ↑ Platt, Michael (February 1, 2016). "Bret Hart reveals cancer diagnosis on Facebook". Calgary Sun.
  22. ↑ "RINGSIDE REMEMBRANCES — THE HART DYNASTY". 1wrestling.com. April 14, 2010.
  23. ↑ Bret Hart and the Hart family speak on behalf of Stu Hart
  24. ↑ Hart, Bret (2007). Hitman: My real life in the cartoon world of wrestling. Ebury Press. p. 169 pp. ISBN 9780091932862.
  25. ↑ Hart, Diana; McLellan, Kirstie (2001). Under the Mat: Inside Wrestling's Greatest Family. Fenn. p. 84 pp. ISBN 1-55168-256-7.
  26. ↑ Hart, Diana; McLellan, Kirstie (2001). Under the Mat: Inside Wrestling's Greatest Family. Fenn. p. 84 pp. ISBN 1-55168-256-7.
  27. ↑ Hart, Diana; McLellan, Kirstie (2001). Under the Mat: Inside Wrestling's Greatest Family. Fenn. p. 49 pp. ISBN 1-55168-256-7.
  28. ↑ Hart, Martha; Francis, Eric (2004). Broken Harts: The Life and Death of Owen Hart. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 69 pp. ISBN 978-1-59077-036-8.
  29. ↑ "godinos: roaster: Conor Hart". godinos.com. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  30. ↑ "Torch passed to up-and-comers". Slam Canoe. Retrieved June 30, 2001.
  31. ↑ "Sage advice from Uncle Bret". Slam Canoe. May 2, 1998.
  32. ↑ "Stu Hart's grandson continues family tradition". Slam Canoe. May 2, 1998.
  33. ↑ Hart, Martha; Francis, Eric (2004). Broken Harts: The Life and Death of Owen Hart. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 253 pp. ISBN 978-1-59077-036-8.
  34. ↑ "Keith Hart: Facts". WrestlingData.com.
  35. ↑ "Keith Hart: Facts". WrestlingData.com.
  36. ↑ "Keith Hart: Facts". WrestlingData.com.
  37. ↑ http://aofdarkness.tripod.com/bios.html
  38. ↑ Robert Picarello (2002). Monsters of the Mat. Berkley Publishing Corporation. p. 129 pp. ISBN 978-0425185940.
  39. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 1993". profightdb.com. The Internet Wrestling Database.
  40. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 1994". profightdb.com. The Internet Wrestling Database.
  41. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 1995". profightdb.com. The Internet Wrestling Database.
  42. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 1996". profightdb.com. The Internet Wrestling Database.
  43. ↑ "Keith Hart: Titles". WrestlingData.com.
  44. ↑ "Keith Hart: Titles". WrestlingData.com.
  45. ↑ "Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Title". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
  46. ↑ "Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (1948-1990)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.

Further reading

Books
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External links

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