NWA Member: Stewart E. Hart Admitted to Organization: November 1953 Calgary Office: Box No. 133, Rosscarrock P.O. Phone Number: Calgary 4-92143 Around April 27, 1959 in Calgary, Gunther Abel was fined for attacking wrestler Maurice Vachon after a tag team bout on April 3 at the Victoria Pavilion. Dave Wells wrote an article about wrestling in the Friday, October 14, 1983 edition of the Lethbridge Herald. It discussed the famous Hart Family and how they'd controlled wrestling in Alberta "for 35 years." Bruce Hart and Mike Hammer explained that they drove 2,000 miles a week, working five or six nights. Helen Hart, the wife of Stu and mother of 12, said she met him in New York, and he began promoting in 1948. At the time, he told her he'd stay in promotions for only two years. But that stretched into several decades. Helen said: "Wrestling gets in your blood. I wouldn't watch any of it for anything - but it has been good to my family." She didn't watch the shows, but she was directly involved in the business behind-the-scenes. She said that "we broke Archie Goldie [into the business], oh, 25 years ago." At the time, four of the Hart sons wrestled professionally, one was a referee, and another was a wrestling TV producer. One of the Hart's daughters married a wrestler. A controversial show in Calgary on December 2, 1983 caused some backlash from the Calgary Boxing and Wrestling Commission and ultimately Calgary's License Appeal Board. During the program, weapons were reportedly used and "Bad News" Allen Coage grabbed and shook a member of the audience, according to the Calgary Press (12/23/83, Lethbridge Herald). The Licence Appeal Board overrode a ban on Coage, allowing him to wrestle in Calgary in 1984. However, it "upheld the [Calgary Boxing and Wrestling] Commission's earlier decision to strip [Stu] Hart, promoter of Stampede Wrestling, of his permit for the rest of this year." Hart was required, incidentally, to post $10,000 with the commission to hold matches in Calgary for 1984, but didn't know if he was going to do so. He was planning, as an alternative, to stage shows outside the city on the Sarcee Reverve, at an arena there. Since being banned in Calgary after the December 2 show, he'd staged shows at that venue. Lethbridge drew 928 fans to its December 22 program at the Exhibition Pavilion, the "largest wrestling crowd in three years." In the main event, Archie "The Stomper" Gouldie beat Allen in a cage match. Bret Hart and Davey Boy Smith teamed up on the undercard to beat Karl Moffat and the Cuban Assassin. Research by Tim Hornbaker |
Calgary Booking Office |