Hart's initial WWE success came as part of the Hart Foundation, a tag-team partnership with Neidhart under the management of the unrelated Jimmy Hart. With Stu's sale of Stampede Wrestling to Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment in 1984, Hart joined his in-laws Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart and Davey Boy Smith on the roster of the rapidly expanding Connecticut-based promotion. Hart became a regular competitor in Stampede Wrestling in the late 1970s and went on to claim a series of individual and tag-team championships. He began selling programs for Stu's Stampede Wrestling promotion at an early age, and soon joined his brothers for practice in the basement of their 22-room mansion, a space known as "The Dungeon." By high school, the well-trained grappler had emerged as a state and provincial champion. Early Years and Stampede Wrestlingīret Sergeant Hart was born on July 2, 1957, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, the eighth of 12 children of longtime wrestler and promoter Stu Hart and his wife, Helen.Īn artistic child, Hart enjoyed drawing cartoons and later went to film school, but the lure of the family business proved irresistible. Hart joined the rival WCW in the late 1990s following the controversial "Montreal Screwjob," before mending ties with WWE the following decade. After surfacing in WWE as one-half of the Hart Connection tag-team duo, the "Hitman" emerged as a fan favorite en route to becoming a five-time heavyweight champion. In the second, he shows up on ‘The Price Is Right’ and hangs out with Bob Barker.One of 12 children born to Canadian wrestler and promoter Stu Hart, Bret "Hitman" Hart began his career in his father's Stampede Wrestling promotion. In the first, Baker starts a riot in Cleveland by refusing to stop Heart Punching his opponent. To celebrate the life of Ox Baker, here are two very different, equally awesome clips from his career. Baker also put out a music CD, published both a children’s coloring book and a cookbook (!), and appeared on wrestling shows in a guest role well into the 2000s. The cult film I Like to Hurt People not only featured him, but used one of his signature phrases as its title. Outside of wrestling, you might recognize Baker from his various acting roles, including “Slag” in the 1981 classic, Escape From New York. In both cases, Baker was “blamed” for the death. The truth is that Gunkel won the match and died in the dressing room after the match. Though it was claimed that Gunkel dropped dead in the ring from the Heart Punch, other accounts, most notably in the biography of Vince McMahon Sex, Lies and Headlocks, state that Gunkel had suffered a heart attack apparently from over-indulging at a restaurant before the match. On August 1, 1972, in Savannah, Georgia Baker faced Ray Gunkel, who was a popular wrestler in (and part owner of) the Georgia promotion. Though evidence indicated that Torres died of a ruptured appendix, Baker’s Heart Punch was blamed and, though by his own account Baker was privately distraught over the death, he did “work” it as though he had killed Torres. Torres was injured during the match and died three days later. On June 13, 1971, Ox and his partner the Claw were wrestling in an AWA Midwest Tag Team Championship tag team match against Alberto Torres and his partner Cowboy Bob Ellis in Verdigre, Nebraska. Sad news today for old school wrestling fans as legend Ox Baker has died at the age of 80 following complications from a heart attack.īaker’s wrestling career spanned 30 years and saw him competing and holding championships everywhere in the world, from the NWA and AWA to the then-It was such an effective move that it was blamed for the death of two of Baker’s opponents.
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