Harley and the Hart Family

As told by Harley Race

There aren't many families out there who have had as many members involved in and outside the ring as the Hart family. Stu and Helen had eight sons and four daughters. Out of the twelve; five of the sons wrestled at some point in their lives.

At one point, Stu Hart was probably considered the toughest guy in Canada. He wrestled throughout the provinces and lot in the Northeast and Northwest parts of the United States. I was lucky enough to go up to Canada the first time I was World Heavy Weight Champion in 1973. None of the boys were actively wrestling at that point in time. Bret, Ross and Owen were three of the younger sons. Bret at the time was probably fourteen or fifteen. Owen, the youngest son, was twelve or thirteen at the time. Everywhere I went those kids traveled with me.

There are horrendous drives in the northern part of Canada where the Hart’s promoted; from Calgary all the way north into Saskatchewan and as far east into New Brunswick. It’s a lot of territory to cover and to drive 500 hundred miles one way was common. I clicked with the Hart boys from the moment I met them. They traveled all that ground with me, keeping me awake as I drove it. They later became talented wrestlers. Bret went on to become one of the top five in the world at one point in time. In general, the Hart’s were a great family.

I have been to the Hart family home countless numbers of times. It was a huge house by any standards. It was probably around 6,000 square feet. The table in the dining room had enough room to seat everyone one of those kids. When you went there, Stu was always the cook. I might add he was very good at what he did. I always had a wonderful 10 day trip every time I went up there. Everyone knows about the basement in the Hart family home. They called it “The Dungeon.” I’ve been in the Dungeon several times. The vast majority of the wrestling world considered the Dungeon a torture chamber. I never participated in any of the training in the Dungeon. More kids started out in that Dungeon than with any other wrestling family.

Stu Hart knew characters very well and he knew people very well. The Harts were a highly respected family in wrestling. Bret went on to become WWE Champion; he went further than the rest of the Hart boys. You know the story of Owen Hart dying in Kansas City. I happened to be there that night. I went to the hospital with him. I was the one who called his father and his wife to let them know Owen had died. We could probably spend the rest of time talking about the Hart family. I am glad that I had the opportunity to get to know Stu, Helen and the rest of the Hart family.

I went up to Calgary when Stu's wife Helen passed away. I got there the day after the funeral. People came from all over the world for Helen’s funeral. I said to myself "I want to go there at a time when I could spend some quality personal time with Stu." I knew going there the day of the funeral wouldn’t be that time. So I spent four or five days with him, after the funeral and I think Stu appreciated that greatly. We talked about things that never have been talked about. A lot of really heart warming personal things that wouldn’t have been discussed had I been there when everyone else was there. To this day I still consider that one of the better things I’ve done in life.