Could Stampede Wrestling be poised for a Calgary comeback?
CBC Calgary is reporting that Bruce Hart, a former wrestler and second oldest child of Stampede Wrestling's founding family, is training wrestlers and hopes to have them ring-ready for a televised event in November.
The goal is to return to the roots of the original Stampede Wrestling venture and there are no plans to bring Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment into the fold.
"Stampede (Wrestling) was sort of like two guys going at it and a lot more action than talk, and WWE is about 60 per cent talk and about 40 per cent action — not all that spectacular either," Hart told CBC Calgary.
This is the second time in recent years a Hart family member has pitched to bring the live ring back to Canada.
In October 2011, Smith Hart - the oldest of the Hart children - appeared on Dragon's Den, pitching the return of Stampede Wrestling to Canada's most famous investors.
He was turned down for the $350,000-for-33-per-cent-of-the-company -investment, but hosted an revival showing of Stampede Wrestling for one night in Barrie, Ont., anyway.
"The Hart name is sort of what I'm pushing, Stu Hart's brand of wrestling," Smith Hart told Canoe.com at the time.
"It wasn't just that we were all stiff and solid out there, and maybe my dad liked submission wrestlers, guys that could hold their own in a lot of circles. It was more good, sensible issues that people could identify with."
Stampede Wrestling was operated by the Hart family in Calgary from 1948-1984, when the World Wrestling Federation took over the franchise. Until that point, founder Stu Hart drew huge crowds to the Calgary Stampede grounds weekly for the televised matches. According to the Calgary Herald, special guests to the ring included Andre the Giant, wrestling bears and Bengal Tiger.
Almost one year ago Calgarians said goodbye to the East Village's B.J.'s Gym - once a training facility and home for many wrestlers, including those of the Hart family. The gym was torn down to make way for new development in the area, but not before a big blowout party was thrown.
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