The Assignment: Hart Family Anthology

It’s important to know your history to know where you have come from and where you are going. Back when Nova was in charge of the WWE developmental system he implemented mandatory history assignments for the students of the developmental territories so they would know pro wrestling’s history and they would learn just how many moves Nova created and apparently the best ways to get on-line prescriptions. I feel Nova had a great idea there and every week I will assign a book or DVD for you to check out and learn from. They are not only educational but also very entertaining.

Enjoy.

In the year 2010 World Wrestling Entertainment has seen a renaissance in regards to the famous Hart wrestling family. After the incredibly surprising return of Bret “Hit Man” Hart to the company in January of this year the Hart name has regained a sense of prominence. In addition to Hart’s improbable return to the ring at WrestleMania XXVI, the kids of The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd and DH Smith) have recently became the Unified WWE World Tag Team Champions. It was only logical that WWE capitalize on the popularity by releasing a new DVD set highlighting the entire family, entitled Hart and Soul: The Hart Family Anthology.

Released on April 6, 2010, Hart and Soul isn’t just the standard WWE style wrestling documentary that features a variety of talking heads talking one person’s career and in-ring accomplishment inter-spliced with clips of the action and the subject’s thoughts on everything. Rather this DVD features a look at the Hart family, starting with the patriarch Stu Hart. It chronicles his early life, the meeting of his wife Helen, the evolution of Hart House in Calgary and a brief overview of the Stampede Wrestling territory, owned and run by the entire family. In essence it’s not so much a “wrestling” documentary, but a documentary about a family who happened to be ingrained in the wrestling business.

Each of the twelve siblings gets their own brief (non-brief piece) that introduces them to the audience and explains their relationship with the family. Their events of their life are related in regards to what happened in the wrestling side of things chronologically. Most of the living siblings (including brothers Bret, Smith, Bruce, Keith and sisters Georgia, Ellie and Diana) all were interviewed specifically for this piece, as well as brother-in-law Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, Natalya Neidhart, Tyson Kidd, DH Smith and Natalya’s sister Kristen. Plus archival footage of the late “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith was included to better tell his story. The only non-Hart family member included in the interview process was Chris Jericho, who was a graduate of the Hart Family training camp and long-time Hart family friend.

It was a lot of fun as a long time fan to hear from some of the relatively unknown Hart siblings, especially the sisters like Georgia and Ellie, who have never really had the chance to tell their sides of the story on camera. Towards the end of the doc it turns absolutely gut wrenching towards as the death of the youngest sibling Owen, the death of the matriarch Helen, the internal fighting over the lawsuit surrounding Owen’s death, the untimely death of Davey Boy Smith and then the loss of Stu, which effectively ended the family’s unity. Thankfully it picks up at the finale with the rise of the third generation of the Hart kids now making their way in the wrestling business and the hope that the family has for them.

The extras and match selection only add to the goodness of the three-disc set. The extra bits feature a lot of fun tidbits and poignant stories, including various stories about Owen’s legendary practical joking skills, Jericho’s three-hour flight with Owen that allowed Jericho to be a “fanboy” and home video footage of the Hart family Thanksgiving from 1987.

The match selection for the extras is quite fun despite it still being disappointing for a long-time fan like me. The Intercontinental Championship match between Bret Hart and Davey Boy Smith at SummerSlam ’92 and the Bret Hart-Owen Hart WWF Title Steel Cage Match from SummerSlam ’94 are both repeats from other sets but worthy inclusions for a compilation such as this. Of course there is an old-school Hart Foundation-British Bulldogs tag team match from the mid ‘80s that seem to pop up on DVD relating to the family. The two teams have had an amazing amount of great bouts and it’s great to see them included in various places for newer fans to discover.

While the ten-man tag bout featuring The Hart Foundation against Stone Cold Steve Austin’s team at the Canadian Stampede pay per view in July 1997 is another repeat from other sets, the true joy is just watching the introductions of each of the Harts. Each man, from Brian Pillman to Jim Neidhart to Davey Boy Smith to Owen and finally Bret get their own introduction and theme and music. The pop for each man gets louder as they are introduced, as while they were considered villains in America they were heroes in Canada and across the world. Pillman’s smile is ten miles wide and Neidhart admits it was the biggest “pop” he has ever received. It was a sentimental match for the Hart family and was a must have for this set.

It is disappointing that very little of the men’s early Stampede careers were not highlighted. Only one six man tag featuring the Hart brothers against Dynamite Kid and The Kiwis represents the storied Stampede catalog. A lot more could and should have been included to highlight the family’s early career and perhaps some more hidden gems should have been included.

It is all at one time one of the most heart-wrenching yet poignant and beautiful DVDs that WWE has put out in a long time.