Hart & Soul is a three disc DVD release from the WWE that focuses on the story of the Hart Family. Obviously Bret and Owen are my two favorite wrestlers of all time, so I was excited to pick up this release a couple years back. I finally decided to give this a watch, especially looking forward to the two discs of matches.
I have followed the history of the Harts closely over the years and I can confidently say that I know their story incredibly well. I’ve read all the books: Bret Hart’s autobio, Martha Hart’s book on Owen, Diana Smith (though that was a complete piece of trash), Stu Hart’s biography, Pain and Passion – the history of Stampede Wrestling, and even skimmed through Bruce’s book (which is also supposed to be full of some questionable truths). I’ve read all of Bret’s old newspaper columns, watched the documentaries and news stories, and of course followed their exploits in wrestling since I was a little kid.
So with all that already in my head, the documentary portion of this set was a big disappointment. First of all, it’s a disorganized mess. It follows no real timeline, and randomly a member of the Harts is subject to a mini profile. Not all the Harts mind you, just the ones that are friendly with the WWE. It’s also unfortunately a big fluff piece, with typical WWE whitewashing of events, and lots of pats on the back to the WWE for how they helped the Harts succeed. The story is incredibly rushed too, with just the main highlights touched on. Just like the The Story of Wrestlemania, or whatever it’s called, why not extend the doc over two discs and just have a smaller set of matches?
Most of the main WWF matches and storylines get mentioned, though it follows no real timeline. Lots of major stuff barely gets mentioned, if at all, and the story loses focus immediately. They also touch on some of the tragedies that plagued the family later on. Most interesting was the footage of how Davey Boy Smith got hurt in WCW (lol, of course they can’t resist taking a shot), showing the suplex on to the Ultimate Warrior’s trapdoor in the ring which destroyed his back. They quickly talked about Owen’s tragedy, without really saying what happened. I believe Martha Hart sued the WWE over this disc, because they portray her out to be a heel after what happened to Owen.
The last part of the disc was also kind of sad because they hyped the Hart Dynasty and played them up as the next generation of Harts, which never really panned out as David Hart Smith was fired shortly after this DVD was released (and he recently wrestled at Garden City Mall lol), and Tyson Kidd was reduced to being a jobber. Natalya is the only “success” of the next generation Harts.
This wasn’t much a review, but there really isn’t much to say. It’s not a bad watch, but you’ll learn nothing new about the family if you’re already familiar with their story, aside from a few fun tidbits.
Some of the best stuff however can be found in the extras. There was a great piece of home video footage from Thanksgiving 1987. You get to see all the Harts at the Hart house for dinner, including other wrestlers, like Brian Pillman. It’s really cool to see these larger-than-life wrestlers relaxing and helping out around the house. There’s also some great segments on Owen Hart playing pranks, the wrestling bear that lived at the Hart house, a segment on Survivor Series 94, etc. I would have loved a disc full of these interesting short stories.
Now on to the best stuff – the matches! There’s a great mix of rare and classic matches on this disc, all featuring different members of the Harts. Bret, Owen, and the Bulldog are the big focus of the matches, especially Bret who’s in nearly every one. Each match is introduced by the Hart Dynasty, and their delivery is completely wooden and kayfabe. They talk a little bit about the match, clearly reading off a script, and offer no real insight unfortunately. It’s especially irritating to hear them keep saying “WWE” when talking about these classic battles. Not sure why they even bothered.
1) Bret, Bruce, & Keith Hart defeated the Dynamite Kid & the Kiwis via disqualification when Sweet William and Dynamite attacked Keith as Keith has Nick Carter covered following a piledriver (joined in progress) (5/79)
It was great to see some classic 1979 Stampede wrestling. The Kiwis are the future Bushwhackers, with long hair and wacky tights. This match was wrestled with a more realistic style, which is what Stampede was all about. Tags were frequent among both teams, and every punch seemed to hurt. The crowd was insanely into it, with the shouting and screaming not slowing down one bit. It was amazing to see how skinny the Hart kids were at this time. They were still great athletes in the ring, and you could already tell that both Bret and Bruce had something special. Dynamite was even skinnier, but was the hardest hitter in the match. He was so hated, and was a natural asshole heel, teaming with the evil foreign Kiwis. The match was all action and was a ton of fun to watch. The DQ made sense after all the chaos in this one.
2) WWF Tag Team Champions the British Bulldogs defeated the Hart Foundation at 13:44 when Smith rolled up Neidhart from behind; both were the illegal men in the ring but the dazed referee failed to notice; after the bout, Hart continued to attack Dynamite and hit a piledriver before Smith cleared the ring (11/1/86; Boston Garden)
Wow was it shocking to see Bret and Dynamite in this match after the last one. Seven years later, both Bret and Dynamite look like completely different people. Dynamite was obviously hitting the steroids hard, and Bret wasn’t far behind. Both Bret and Dynamite admit this in their books, saying they would have never made it in the WWF had they not used roids. Regardless of their physiques, this was a phenomenal match. The Harts and Bulldogs never failed to deliver, and this Boston house show battle for the belts in late 86 was arguably at the peak of their rivalry. The action never lets up, and the crowd is just on fire in Boston. Loved every bit of this mid 80s classic.
3) Davey Boy Smith pinned WWF IC Champion Bret Hart to win the title by blocking a sunset flip attempt at 25:11; after the match, Hart initially refused to shake Smith’s hand before the two eventually hugged; moments later, Diana Hart Smith celebrated in the ring with Hart and Smith as the show went off the air; (Summer Slam 92 – 8/29/92; Wembley Stadium)
I decided to skip this Summer Slam 92 classic, as I’d like to watch the event in full sometime soon. This another of my favorite matches of all time. I’ll never forget seeing this for the first time and being on the edge of my seat. One of the greatest matches in WWF history.
4) Bret, Owen, Bruce, & Keith Hart (w/ Stu Hart) defeated Shawn Michaels, the Black, Blue, & Red Knight in an elimination match at 30:56 (Survivor Series 93 – 11/24/93; Boston Garden)
First of all, this match was a humongous disappointment when I saw this PPV live back in 93. For weeks we had all been speculating at school who the Knights would be. Matt and I came up with a lot of names from the past who we believed would be the Knights. Right before the PPV, Jerry Lawler left the company for a while to deal with his infamous 13-year-old girl sexual assault case, that has since lead to many jokes at his expense. So they had to rush the return of the suspended Shawn Michaels and insert him into this match for absolutely no reason. Then, in true 80s/early 90s WWF fashion, they had to pretend that Michaels was in this match all along and his feud with Bret had been going on for months. It was such an epic disappointment when the Knights turned out to be masked nobodies and Lawler wasn’t even in the damn match! Now, all that being said, this match was still great to see at the time because of how much I loved the Harts. And of course it plants the seed for one of the greatest heel turns in WWF history with Owen being the only Hart eliminated. In Bret’s book he talks about how the WWF originally wanted to put Bruce in this role. Imagine how crappy the Bret-Bruce feud would have been? Wouldn’t have lasted more than a couple events. I haven’t watched this match in a few years, so I had to see it again. The commentary of Bobby Heenan and Ray Combs simply steals the show. Heenan is on fire with his Hart family jokes, especially making fun of Stu on the outside. Simple jokes about Stu, such as him stealing his Boston Bruins jacket from the merch stand, had me doubled over laughing. Bobby also got in tons of great jokes about Keith and Bruce, about them being a firefighter and school teacher respectively. The action in the ring, while pretty good, was almost secondary to the comedy gold coming from the announce team. Despite the Knights being jobbers and Michaels not even belonging, it was a solid Survivor Series battle that told a really great story. I like the length of time given to this match, and it’s expertly put together. If they had better knights, the heat would have been off the charts. Terry Funk was rumored to have been one of the knights, which would have been awesome. Nonetheless, it was very fun to relive the memories and see again!
5) Bret & Owen Hart fought Rick & Scott Steiner to a double count-out at 24:55 when, after Bret and Rick were knocked to the floor, Scott and Owen came off the top onto their opponents on the floor (1/11/94; Florence, SC)
This, surprisingly, is one of the biggest memory matches of junior high. I skipped a stupid sock hop, and rented WrestleFest 94 instead. On that tape was one of the greatest matches I had ever seen – the Harts vs the Steiners. I’ve only ever seen that tape once, but I’ve never forgotten this match. Nearly 20 years later I had the chance to see it again, and it was even better than I remembered. This felt like it was a WWF vs WCW dream match. Four of the best from both companies just going at it. Excellent wrestling, brawling, and insane high impact moves. The action never lets up and is stiff as hell. Scott Steiner even uses one of his scariest moves – the Steiner Screwdriver (dropping an opponent from a suplex position straight down into a piledriver) – on Owen; something he rarely did outside of Japan or jobber matches. I find the Steiners 1994 run extremely bizarre. They were in the main event of Series 93, then treated as complete jobbers in Rumble 94, then dropped to the lower mid-card, and not even being featured at Mania 10. They were gone from the WWF soon after. I’ve always wondered what lead to all this. Anyway, I can’t say enough great things about this match. Surprisingly, the Harts played the heels in a way, and it was so exciting to see Owen and Bret as a team, weeks before their big breakup. The end schmozz was exciting, complete with the big hug at the end of all the brawling. Awesome, awesome match.
6) WWF Tag Team Champions the Quebecers (w/ Johnny Polo) defeated Bret & Owen Hart at 16:48 when the referee had the match stopped due to Bret’s knee injury; Bret had the Sharpshooter applied on Pierre but could not keep it on due to the amount of pain he was suffering; after the match, Owen confronted Bret over not tagging him when he had the chance and kicked Bret in his injured leg; after Owen left ringside, referees and others tended to Bret in the ring (Royal Rumble 94 – 1/22/94; Providence, RI)
11 days after the Steiners match we get this classic from the Rumble 94. The match itself is pretty great, with tons of drama as to what’s going to happen with the Hart brothers. It’s interesting too how Bret was supposed to wrestle the Mountie two years earlier at the Rumble. We all know what happened at the end of this match, and it’s still exciting to watch the drama unfold. Bret really does appear selfish in not tagging in Owen. The build up to Owen kicking Bret’s leg is just awesome. And all it took was one simple kick – not a million chair shots or anything – to complete the heel turn. The most unfortunate thing stemming from this match is that after all this, Owen gets dumped in the early part of the Rumble by Diesel. Thankfully his career would recover in the coming months. Absolute great stuff from Owen and Bret here.
7) WWF World Champion Bret Hart defeated Owen Hart in a steel cage match at 32:08 when, as both men were hanging on the outside of the cage, the champion rammed Owen’s head into the cage and Owen was hung upside down with his legs caught in-between the steel bars (Summer Slam 94 – 8/29/94; Chicago, IL)
I decided to pass over this match too, wanting to wait until I watch the full PPV. I’ll always remember seeing this event live and being so shocked that the British Bulldog (wearing glasses, lol) returned in the audience. Great surprise! The match itself is an absolute classic, making excellent use of the cage for drama. I’ve always imagined the ‘what if’ had Owen won the belt here.
8) WWF World Champion Bret Hart & Davey Boy Smith defeated Owen Hart & Jim Neidhart (11/7/94; Bushkill, PA)
This was a cool surprise – a rare tag team match pitting Bret and the Bulldog against the evil New Foundation. Funny that the old team was never referenced during this run of Owen and Neidhart. This match was from a late 94 Raw, which was live from the Fernwood Resort in Bushkill, PA. I love seeing Raw in these small, intimate settings. Something about it makes the show seem more special. The small crowd is of course hot for everything, and we get a ton of action, as expected, from these four family members. The evil Owen and Anvil combo are hilarious here. In the end the Anvil submits to the sharpshooter; funny to see Bret beat his former partner.
9) WWF European Title Tournament Finals: WWF Tag Team Champion Davey Boy Smith pinned WWF Tag Team Champion Owen Hart with a roll over out of a victory roll at 22:43 to win the title (2/26/97; Berlin, Germany)
I was really excited to see this match again. I had only ever seen it once, on a Raw that I distinctly remember watching at Matt’s house. This was right before “Raw Is War” made it’s debut, maybe a week or two prior. The WWF was on a tour of Germany and had booked a tournament for a new championship – the European title – that wasn’t hyped at all. They had a random tournament on the German tour cards, I believe, with the final matches on this Raw, which is basically a Berlin tour card, with dark lighting and no big entrance. Owen and Bulldog were heel tag champs at the time, and were having difficulties getting along. Here in Germany first Owen received a big amount of cheers, then the roof blew off the building when Davey came out. Bulldog was a total face in Germany with people going crazy and waving UK flags. The match itself is a masterpiece, as you might expect, and is one of the greatest Raw matches of the 90s. Owen and Bulldog are super crisp and tell an amazing athletic story, both bringing out the best in each other. They wrestle for over 20 minutes and the pace never lets up. Bulldog outsmarts Owen with the final pin attempt, and really this could have gone either way. After the match Owen hilariously “congratulates” the Bulldog but puts himself over, saying he really had the match won and everyone knows that he’s better. They hilariously banter back and forth for several minutes – great stuff!
10) Bret Hart, WWF IC Champion Owen Hart, WWF European Champion Davey Boy Smith, Jim Neidhart, & Brian Pillman defeated Steve Austin, Goldust, Ken Shamrock, & the Legion of Doom at 24:30 when Owen pinned Austin with a roll up as Austin was distracted by several of the Hart brothers at ringside (In Your House: Canadian Stampede – 7/6/97; Calgary, Alberta)
This is one of my favorite matches of all time, and I’ve seen it so many times that I decided to skip it here. It really makes me sad, knowing this is the absolute pinnacle for the Harts in the WWF and that it all falls apart in November. Three of the five Harts would no longer be with us over the next few years, and the family would never full recover. The atmosphere in Calgary is unreal. Awesome, simply awesome.
11) Bret Hart, WWF IC Champion Owen Hart, & WWF European Champion Davey Boy Smith defeated WWF World Champion the Undertaker, WWF Tag Team Champions Steve Austin & Dude Love in a flag match when Bret captured his team’s flag after Brian Pillman prevented the Undertaker from grabbing the American flag (7/21/97; Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Another great Raw match, from a Raw that I remember so well. The summer of 97 featured some of the greatest Raws in history. The fans were passionately invested in the characters, specifically in this cross-border feud. The Harts are ridiculously over, but the fans are also torn in supporting guys like Austin and the Undertaker, making for a really unique atmosphere. So much heat and excitement in this crazy six man tag flag match. The crowd in Halifax really take this match to another level, with many waving Canadian flags and holding up hilariously pro-Hart signs. The pop when Pillman jumps from the crowd and saves the match is unbelievable.
12) WWE Unified Tag Team Champions Shawn Michaels & Triple H defeated David Hart Smith & Tyson Kidd (w/ Natalya Neidhart) at 15:38 when Triple H pinned Smith with the Pedigree after Michaels landed the superkick from the ring apron (12/20/09; Orlando, FL)
After all this great stuff, the DVD set concludes on a sour note. It’s nice to see a Hart Dynasty match, but of course they have to job to Shawn Michaels and Triple H, two of the most historical enemies of the Harts – in wrestling and reality. You just know that Triple H had a hand in making sure this match was on the set. They could have featured any other Hart Dynasty match, and instead they picked this one. I can’t say I’m surprised that the last image I saw at the end of the Hart DVD set was that of Triple H standing victorious. Fucking bullshit.
the RepoDan Wrestling Institution 