The Hart Dungeon or Hart Family Dungeon, otherwise known simply as The Dungeon, was the gym and wrestling school located in the basement of the Hart mansion. The school was created by Stu Hart, patriarch of the Hart wrestling family and is known for having produced some of the greatest and most successful professional wrestlers of all time.
Video Hart Dungeon
Location description
The room was located in the Hart family mansion basement and had a very low roof. For most of the duration of the room being used as training hall there was a wrestling mat located on the floor without any ropes which would be used for training students.
Maps Hart Dungeon
History
Hart acquired the former army hospital mansion in 1951 and transformed its basement into his personal training centre shortly thereafter, he did so since he needed a training facility after the founding of his first wrestling promotion in 1948. Although, the nickname itself developed over time when Stampede Wrestling became world famous.
Aside from professional wrestlers, the Dungeon provided training grounds for various athletes from strongmen to football players. The majority of Hart's sons trained in the Dungeon and went on to become involved in the wrestling world including Bret and Owen Hart. Other famous Dungeon graduates include Billy Graham, Greg Valentine, Allen Coage, Davey Boy Smith, Brian Pillman, Jushin Thunder Liger, Ricky Fuji, Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, Chris Benoit, Justin Credible, Edge, Christian and Mark Henry. Natalya, daughter of Jim Neidhart and granddaughter of Stu, was the first ever woman to graduate from the Dungeon. The final graduate of the Hart Dungeon was Tyson Kidd (now Natalya's husband).
One of the first televised acknowledgements of the nickname "Dungeon" was by then WWF color commentator Jesse Ventura. Its first significant exposure was in the documentary Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows. In it, the Dungeon was moderately filmed for the first time and Stu Hart is shown demonstrating wrestling holds on a pupil. Bret also discusses being trained by his father and having submission holds applied to himself, often with graphic descriptions from his father of the holds' impact. A bonus feature on Bret's DVD set also shows him discussing the Dungeon.
Various activities took place in the Dungeon, ranging from weight lifting to Catch wrestling. Bret Hart has described the Dungeon in interviews as having holes in the walls and ceiling from bodies being driven into them. He also noted that practices could, at times, be as intense as MMA styled fighting. In July 1998, the WWF filmed a match between Owen Hart and Ken Shamrock in the Dungeon for the Fully Loaded pay-per-view.
Reputation
During the period when Stu Hart was regularly training individuals at the school, it held a reputation for being one of the harshest wrestling schools in the world. Graduating from it was considered very impressive and something which would be brought up on air on televised wrestling shows. Hart himself also garnered a reputation for being borderline sadistic in his training techniques, and was known to torture his pupils with legitimate submission wrestling holds he had learned as a sports wrestler. Buddy Roberts described the place as "like a torture chamber". In contrast to his descendants, Stu never took money for his training services and did it mostly for the love of the artform of professional wrestling.
Trainers
- Stu Hart
- Mr. Hito, head trainer after Stu Hart
- Kazuo Sakurada
List of notable trainees
Subsequent training camps
After their father's retirement some of the Hart brothers managed the school by themselves under the name Hart Brothers Training Camp which was also known by the nickname School of Hart Knocks. Leading up to the Hart House's sale in 2003, the Hart Brothers Training Camp run by Bruce, Keith and Ross was still running three times a week in the basement of the Hart mansion. A very similar training camp remains today at the family's gym, although none of the Hart brothers are involved.
Teddy Hart, grandson of Stu Hart ran a training camp in Texas named Texas Hart Dungeon from around 2012 to 2015.
Smith Hart, the oldest son of Stu Hart founded a new wrestling school in 2015 named Dungeon Discipline Professional Wrestling School which is run out of Calgary and Berrie in Alberta.
Legacy
In 2005 a documentary directed by Blake Norton (who trained at the school) named Surviving the Dungeon: The Legacy of Stu Hart was released.
References
Further reading
- Geoff (December 4, 2017). "TODAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY... DEC. 4th: The Dungeon Becomes a Landmark". thegorillaposition.com. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
- Bret Hart interview: pg 3 and 4; June 4th 2004, at IGN.com
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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