*This story originally appeared in "Solie's Vintage Wrestling" on January 18, 1998
The Hart Foundation
Photo came from WWF Impact Web Site
DEEP DOWN SOUTH
After another defense of their NWA National Tag Team Championship, Ole
& Arn Anderson courted a group of reporters for
a post-bout interview. It went:
REPORTER: Ole, Arn. You have been dominant NWA National Champs for months
now. Are you planning to go after the
NWA World Tag Team Championship?
OLE: One thing
at a time, my boy. You see, me and Arn would love nothing better than to
take those NWA straps from those"commies" Ivan & Nikita Koloff. I mean,
if those two scrawny, pretty boys Morton and Gibson can beat them, then
what doyou think a couple of real men like Arn and me would do to them!!!
ARN: (chuckling at Ole's comments) Ole and me would love to go after
the 'heavy metal' gold in the NWA but there are two
things holding us back. One, there are a lot of teams that think that
they can take these (Arn holds up is National Tag Belt)
away but they haven't got the job done yet. Two, the NWA brass doesn't
seem too thrilled at the prospect of me and "The
Rock" holding their NWA World Tag Team Belts because they know that
years ago, when Ole & Gene held those same titles,
no one could beat them so they had to come up with a stupid-a** excuse
to strip them of the titles!!! So, yeah, we would love
to go for the top prize in tag team wrestling but you'll have to ask
the "suits" when the hell that will be?!!!
REPORTER: Ole, you have been involved in tag team wrestling for a number
of years now. What is your impression of the tag
teams of today?
OLE: Well, I have to say that with the exception of Arn and myself,
the tag teams of today aren't nothing to shout about. First,
you have those two pretty boys, The Rock n Roll Express. Sure, Morton
and Gibson have a lot of flashy moves but what
happens when Arn and I take a body part and disable it?!!! No dropkicks,
no flying headscissors, no of that aerial sh*t!!! Then you have The Midnight
Express, who are far better than Morton & Gibson but can't win without
that wimpy manager Jim
Cornette. Say what you want about Arn and myself but we never relied
on a manager to win matches.
ARN: That's right. Now, two teams that I don't personally like but are
quality teams are those Road Warriors and The Steiner
Bros. As I said, I don't like them but they are two of the few quality
teams out there that could actually give us a match!!! We
would win anyway, but at least we would break a sweat!!!
REPORTER: Okay. Let me name a team and you tell me the first thing that comes to mind.
OLE: Fine.
ARN: Shoot.
REPORTER: The Hart Foundation
Both Ole and Arn break out laughing at this point.
REPORTER: Guys?!! What's so funny? The Harts are WWF Tag Team Champions and are a dominant team in the WWF.
OLE: That's just it!!! It's the WWF!!! The World Wrestling Federation
should be called The "Circus" Wrestling Federation!!!
Most of their athletes are a joke and their tag teams are even worse!!!
In fact, the men that the Harts 'beat'--and I use that
term loosely-- are the only decent tag team in that fed, The British
Bulldogs. As for the Harts, first of all, if the Harts were so
great, then why did they have to pay off a referee to beat The British
Bulldogs, who were already one man short anyway?!!!
ARN: Yeah!! And while your at it, answer me this, when was the last
time that a tag team title was defended two against
one?!!! Now, I am not siding with the Bulldogs because they should've
had the common sense not to agree with that stipulation. Still, they didn't
beat the Bulldogs because Dynamite Kid was never involved in the match
anyway!!! The Harts have a tainted
title in my eyes!!!
REPORTER: Well, some might say the same for your National Tag straps you hold.
ARN: Hey!!! At least, we beat two men for them!!! You can print this
Mr. Reporter, if we ever met the Harts in the ring, they
would get streched like they never got streched in "The Dungeon!!!"
End Of Interview!!!
THE REBUTTAL
The next day, the story was printed in PRO WRESTLING ILLUSTRATED. While
wrestling in Tampa, FL, Jim "The Anvil"
Neidhart got a copy of the interview and showed it to his camp. Both
Bret "HitMan" Hart and Jimmy Hart laughed it off. Later,
after a tag team title defense, the Harts were being interviewed. What
started off as a typical wrestling interview ended as a
spark to light the flame.
BRET: One other thing, recently "The Anvil" showed me this paper featuring
an interview with some jokers from Minnesota
who wrestle for some little league promotion down south called the
National Wrestling Alliance. I have a little message for
those guys. Anytime you want to come from the minor leagues to the
big leagues, just step up to the plate!!!
JIMMY: Hahahahahahahahaha!!!!! You know something, maybe their too stupid
to come up from there!!!! They talk good
game but I don't see any game coming from them!!! Andersons or whatever
your name is, come on up and face the music!!!!
Hahahahahahahaha!!!!
This same day, Ole and Arn were headed to Miami, FL for an NWA card
when they saw the tape of what was said. When
they heard what was said, the sinister mind of Ole Anderson went to
work as he asked for a WWF schedule for cards. There
was a WWF being held the next day after the NWA card in Orlando, FL.
"What do say we pay these boys a visit," asked Ole. Arn just smiled.
THE ATTACK
Orlando, FL. The Hart Foundation had successfully defended their WWF
Tag Team Titles against The Killer Bees. Neidhart is outside the ring while
Bret mounts the corner to taunt the crowd with Jimmy Hart, who is also
outside the ring, laughing!!!
Suddenly, two fans jump over the ring barrier to attack "The Anvil"
and Jimmy. It is Ole & Arn Anderson!!! Arn spins the
scrawny manager around and gives him his DDT on the floor!!!
By this time, Bret has come out to help his partner and manager!!! He
reaches though the ropes and gets a shot on Ole, who is
pounding the "Anvil", but gets clocked in the back of the head with
a steel chair by Arn!!! Bret falls back into the ring holding
his head!!! Meanwhile, Ole hammerlocks Neidhart's left arm and rams
it into the steel post!!! He follows it up with a
"hammerlock" slam on the floor!!! While this is going on, Arn is stomping
a mudhole in Bret Hart!!! Ole, seeing that Neidhart is
down, joins Arn in the ring and brings the steel chair used earlier
with him. Arn holds up Bret in a front-facelock while Ole
smashes the chair into Bret's back!!! Then, Arn whips Bret into the
ropes!!!
As this is going on, Ole lays the steel chair flat in the middle of
the ring. Arn crotches low and executes his "spinebuster" slam
onto the steel chair!!! Bret is laying in agony at this point as The
Andersons continue to stomp his back!! "The Anvil" makes his
way into the ring with his injured left arm and shoulder. The Andersons
quickly attack!!! Arn takes him down and streches out
his left arm for Ole to jam the steel chair into bicep and shoulder
area!!! To make matters worse, Arn picks up Neidhart and,
while Ole lays down the chair again, puts him in a "hammerlock" slam
onto the steel chair!!! Finally, Ole goes to the top-rope
and, while Arn streches out "The Anvil's" arm, drives his knee into
the shoulder of Neidhart (I call this move "The Wrecking
Ball")!!!
Seeing both members of The Harts laid out, Ole & Arn raise their
hands in victory and get a surprisingly mixed reaction!!!
Some fans booing, more fans cheering!!! Ole and Arn leave with a number
of security personnel escorting them out for legal
repercussions. Meanwhile, medical personnel are attending too The Harts.
All three men had to be taken to the hospital for
medical attention. Later, the NWA severely fined The Andersons for
their actions and stripped them of their National Tag Team belts.
REVENGE
Two weeks later, during a taping for WTBS' World Championship Wrestling,
Tony Schiavone conducted an interview with
The Andersons about their recent actions. Here was their response:
ARN: Tony, let me ask something. What the hell is the NWA so mad about?!!!
If you ask me and the "Rock", we did them a
favor by beating up the Harts!!! We just proved that tag teams in the
WWF are punks that can't even hold up to a little
punishment!!! We proved that the NWA has the toughest tag teams, not
the WWF!!! And....
At this point, Doug Dillenger interrupts the interview to usher Arn
to the back. Arn runs back to find Ole in laid out in a pool of
his own blood!!! "Get some help back here!!! Damnit, get a doctor back
here!!!, screams Arn. Ric Flair is also back there and
he helps with Ole as well. Ole is rushed to the nearest hospital for
treatment of his cuts to the head. Before leaving, however,
Arn finds a cut-out of a broken pink heart in Ole's locker. Arn knew
what this meant.
Later in the show, Arn was wrestling a singles match but those looking
on could tell that he was distracted. After Arn won this
"squash," he was leaving the ring when The Hart Foundation hit the
ring!!! They jumped Arn before he could leave and was
beating him down with a "storm" of kicks and punches!!! Then, Bret
picks up Arn and executes a piledriver on Arn. By this
time, Ric Flair arrives but is met with Bret's flying clothesline while
coming into the ring!!! "The HitMan" and "The Anvil" are
now ganging up on Flair, beating him senseless!!! "Jim, take care of
Mr. Anderson while I show "The Nature Bozo" a real
figure four!!!", says Bret. Bret drags Flair over to the corner and
rams him groin-first into the ringpost!!! Bret then slaps on the
"Hart-Breaker" (my nickname for his ring-post figure four) on Flair!!!
Flair is screaming to the heavens at this point!! Meanwhile, Neidhart takes
a steel chair, lays it out in the ring and executes his patented powerslam
on Arn on the chair!!! "The
Anvil", seeing Arn incapacitated, goes over to Flair and clocks him
in the face with the steel weapon!!! Neidhart then stretches
out Flair by the arms to create more pressure in the "Hart-Breaker"!!!!
Satisfied that they have done enough damage, Bret and
Jim leave to a smattering of boos in Turner studios.
MAKE THE MATCH
The next day, WWF Head Vince McMahon contacted the NWA to discuss what
to do. It was decided since these two teams
wanted each other so badly, that they would sign the match (not to
mention citing the success they had in joint-venturing the
awesome Magnum TA/"Stone Cold" Steve Austin match). It was also decided
that the WWF World Tag Team Titles would
be at stake in a no-disqualification, no-countout, no-time limit bout
and that both Ric Flair and manager Jimmy Hart would be
barred from ringside!!! The card would be held in Dallas, TX at the
old Texas Stadium. World Class Championship Wrestling
would also let stars to participate in the card as well.
THE UNDERCARD
Ron "Hands Of Stone" Garvin VS. "Gentleman" Chris Adams
About 15 minutes into this bout, the referee is accidentally knocked
down by Adams when Garvin threw him into the ropes.
When Adams turns around, he is met by Garvin's "knockout punch." Garvin
goes for the pin but there is no ref. Seeing
opportunity, Gino Hernandez comes down and nails Garvin with a sockful
of quarters in the head. The ref, however, saw this
and DQ'ed Adams. Ron Garvin gets the duke via disqualification.
Tully Blanchard VS. Shawn Michaels
The battle of native San Antonians!!! Twenty minutes into this grueling
encounter, Baby Doll slips a roll of quarters into Tully's
hands. Chyna runs down from the back and nails B.D. with a running
dropkick!!! She then powerbombs B.D. on the turf!!!
Meanwhile, Blanchard had the coins and takes a swing at Michaels!!!
He misses and Michaels responds with some "Sweet
Chin Music" that catches Blanchard's "loaded" hand!!! Causing him to
hit himself with the roll of coins!!! Michaels takes the pin
and the win!!!
The British Bulldogs & Tito Santana VS. The Fabulous Freebirds (BadStreet Match/Texas Tornado style)
In this no-DQ, no-countout, no-time limit match saw a brutal 10 minute
bout. Wild from the beginning, it saw all hell break
loose in this fashion. Tito captured Buddy Roberts in his figure four
leglock!!! Meanwhile, Davey Boy Smith has Terry Gordy in the corner pounding
him while Dynamite executes his patented "snap" suplex on Michael Hayes
on the outside!!! Gordy, seeing Roberts in trouble, delivers a low-blow
to Davey Boy and goes over and kicks Santana in the head repeatedly to
break the
hold!!! From behind him, Dynamite springboards off the top rope and
catches Gordy in the back of the head with a headbutt!!! This causes Gordy
to go into the arms of Davey Boy Smith as Smith lifted the near 300 pound
Gordy into his powerslam.
Davey goes for the pin but before the ref can get to three, Michael
Hayes comes off the top rope with a cowboy boot to the
head of Davey Boy!!! Gordy then picks up Davey and puts his "Asiatic
Spike" on him but is caught by a Tito Santana flying
forearm!!! From there, all six men began brawling up the runway!!!
The ref is given no choice but to rule the match no
contest!!!
Kevin & Kerry Von Eric VS. The Road Warriors
Twenty minutes into this affair, Kerry Von Eric gets the "iron claw"
on Animal. Animal goes down to one knee. Kerry is
anticipating victory but Hawk's running clothesline puts an end to
that!!! Kevin comes in and now all four men are fighting!!!
While Kevin is fighting with Hawk, Animal takes Kerry outside and delivers
the piledriver on the floor!!! Kevin whips Hawk
into the ropes but gets it reversed!!! When Kevin comes off the ropes,
Hawk catches him and drops him across the top rope.
Hawk goes for the pin when, out of nowhere, The Freebirds come out
to attack Kevin and Kerry!!! The ref calls for a DQ in
favor of the Von Erics. The Warriors are so incensed that they help
Kevin and Kerry fight the 'Birds!!! The Bulldogs &
Santana have also come back down!!! The Birds head for higher ground
as they are badly outnumbered!!! Surprisingly, the
usually vulgar and violent Warriors shake the hands of the Von Erics
and salute them by raising their hands in victory. But, over
the mic, they also vow to return to Texas for a rematch. Kerry responds,
"Hey, man. Anytime you want." Hawk and Animal
nod in acknowledgment and leave.
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin VS. Nikita Koloff (NWA United States Title Match)
Fresh off of his brutal US title win against Magnum TA in Charlotte,
SCSA brought the belt back home to Texas to take on
"The Russian Nightmare." Fifteen minutes into it, Nikita actually hits
the "Russian Sickle" but Austin kicks out!!! Nikita is livid at the ref!!!
Ivan Koloff, Nikita's uncle, manages to get his attention back on Austin.
About 10 minutes later, the ref goes down
from a collision with Austin. Ivan gets in the ring and holds Austin
for another "Sickle" attempt but Austin moves and Nikita gets Ivan. Stunned,
Nikita turns around slowly, giving Austin time to run out of the opposite
corner and hit a running version of his
"Stone Cold Stunner!!" Another ref has come out by this time and Austin
gets the 3 count!! Afterwards, Austin grabs the mic
and says, "Better luck next time commie!!!" He holds up the "bird"
as he says this as well. Austin leaves to a standing ovation
by his fellow texans!!!
Magnum TA VS. Diamond Dallas Page
Twenty minutes into the bout, Magnum goes for a bodyslam but DDP slides behind him and hooks the Diamond Cutter and covers!!! Magnum, however, has his foot under the bottom rope so the pin didn't count. DDP, undaunted, continues his attack by "pancaking" (face-first piledriver) Magnum. He then goes for his airplane spin version of the "DC" but as he releases Magnum for that move, Magnum slides in front of DDP and gets his belly to belly suplex on DDP for the three count. Disappointed but gracious (a trait rarely shown by DDP), DDP shakes the hand of Magnum and both leave to a tremendous ovation from the Texas Stadium crowd.
THE MATCH
Ring Announcer is Gary Cappetta:
"Wrestling fans, the following contest is a no-countout, no-disqualification
bout for the World Wrestling Federation Tag Team
Championship!!!"
With that, The Andersons make their way down to the ring.
"Introducing the challengers, total combine weight 505lbs. "The Minnesota Wrecking Crew" Ole & Arn....."
That's as far as Cappetta gets because The Hart decided not to wait
for further announcements!!! They jump the Andersons
before they even make it into the ring!!! Using their championship
belts, the Harts pummel the Andersons from behind, driving
them to the ring!!! Once at ringside, Jim Neidhart continues to battle
Ole on the outside while Bret battles Arn in the ring!!! The Andersons
are being overwhelmed!!! Bret flings Arn into the ropes and catches him
with a gut shot. From there, he applies his
patented "Russian Legsweep" on Arn!!! By this time, Ole is still on
the floor while "The Anvil" has made his way to a corner.
Meanwhile, Bret drops two standing elbows on Arn. He picks Arn up and
brings him over to his corner. He makes the tag to
"The Anvil". Neidhart comes in and gives Arn a smashing forearm to
the chest!! Neidhart tries an Irish whip but Arn reverses it
(by this time Ole has made his way to a corner as well). Arn tries
a clothesline but Neidhart ducks it and does a standing
dropkick on "The Enforcer"!! Ole comes in and is met with a flying
tackle from the former football star!!!
Neidhart quickly turns his attention back to Arn and makes another tag
to Bret. Bret whips Arn into the ropes and catches him in a inverted atomic
drop!!! Arn is standing motionless and can't move! Bret quickly takes advantage
and applies "The
Sharpshooter" (I know that he didn't use that move back then but I
am letting everyone use their moves in my stories). Ole
does his version of the basketball "head-fake" by pretending to come
into the ring. The prompts Neidhart to actually come in.
Naturally, he is cut off by the referee. This allows Ole to get a kick
in to break up the "Sharpshooter."
Seeing the ref still tied up with Neidhart, Ole takes Bret by the "seat of his pants" and by his singlet and throws him shoulder first into the ringpost!!! Bret is screaming in pain!!! Arn crawls over to Ole to make the first legal exchange for the Andersons. Ole quickly goes over to Bret who is still hanging around the cornerpost. Ole takes Bret's left arm and jumps off of the apron with it, ramming it into the post again!!! Ole then re-enters the ring and begins to stomp on the arm. Ole quickly tags back in Arn. Arn comes in and gives Bret a shoulderbreaker. Arn covers for the first pin attempt of the contest. It is a two count. Arn picks up Bret and executes the trademark "hammerlock" slam on Bret!!! Arn follows up with a knee to the shoulder area. Arn now takes the arm and twists it in an unnatural way!!! He now takes it and puts it in a top wristlock but Bret is bridging up!!! Ole illegally comes in but, with the no-DQ rule, the ref really can't stop them. Anyway, Ole grabs Bret's right arm in a top wristlock as well. "The HitMan" performs one of his better moves as he flips over and somehow manages to use leverage to flip over both of the Andersons!!!
While this was taking place, "The Anvil" came in and bounded off the ropes to greet the stunned Andersons with a flying double clothesline!!! Neidhart quickly goes back to his corner and Bret quickly makes the tag to him!!! Neidhart picks up Arn and flings him into the ropes. Arn reverses the whip and Ole (who is on the outside now) reaches in to trip up Neidhart. Neidhart sees him in time but Ole has done his job and that's to distract Neidhart for Arn to get in a knee to his back!!! When "The Anvil" turns around, he is greeted with an Arn Anderson DDT!!! Arn covers but only gets a one count because Bret kicks him in the head to break up the count!!! Arn goes and makes another tag. As Arn leaves, Ole signals to Arn for something. That something is a steel chair!!! Bret comes in to protest but the ref holds him back and explains that because of the no-DQ rules, that would be legal!! As the argument continues, Ole lays the chair in the middle of the ring and "hammerlock" slams Neidhart onto it!!! Neidhart is in dire straits as Ole goes to the top for his knee to the shoulder to finish him off!! Bret goes over an pushes Ole off knee first into the steel chair (which is still laying in the ring)!!! Ole is holding his knee in pain!!! Neidhart crawls over and makes the tag to Bret.
Bret comes in, drags Ole over to the corner and puts the Hart-Breaker
on Ole!!! In this match, this hold is a legal maneuver!!!
Arn, realizing this, quickly goes over and kicks Bret in the head and
chest to break the hold!!! "The Anvil" goes over and he
and Arn duke it out on the floor and back in the ring!!! Meanwhile,
Ole is writhing in pain from the "Hart-Breaker" while Bret is just coming
to his feet!! Arn has taken the advantage by kicking Neidhart low!!! Arn
signals for his "spinebuster" slam but as he whips "The Anvil" into the
ropes, Neidhart reverses it and catches him in the bearhug position for
the "Hart-Attack." At the same time, Bret realizes what Neidhart is up
too and responds with his flying clothesline off of the ropes!!! As the
move is being executed, it causes Arn's head to strike the steel chair
that is still laying in the ring!!! Neidhart covers and the ref, gladly,
makes
the three count with the Harts retaining their titles.
