Report: WWE Plans to Induct the Original Hart Foundation Into 2019 Hall of Fame
The first names that are going to be inducted into this year’s WWE Hall of Fame appear to be the original Hart Foundation trio of Bret “Hitman” Hart, the “Anvil” Jim Neidhart and their manager, Jimmy Hart. The report comes from PWInsider’s Mike Johnson, who wrote that he as confirmed the news with multiple sources over the last 48 hours.
The current plan is for the trio of Bret Hart, the late Jim Neidhart and Jimmy Hart to be inducted. Since Bret and Jimmy are already in WWE’s Hall of Fame as individuals, this will be their second Hall of Fame induction. Neidhart passed away in August 2018 and his daughter Natalya has been a WWE superstar in WWE for over a decade. Neidhart was married to one of Bret’s sisters, so in addition to being tag team partners, they were also brothers-in-law. Jimmy Hart is not related to Bret Hart.
The Hart Foundation teamed together from 1985 to 1991 with two Tag Team Title reigns during an era considered by many to be the best run of tag team wrestling in the WWF/E due to how many great teams there were. I think it’s been that period and the early 2000s. The Hart Foundation were a great mix of speed, power and technical wrestler. They had a successful run as a heel turn, then they became faces and were very popular. The team ended as a team in 1991 because Bret received a big singles push, which he deserved. Bret has said many times over the years that he was asked to split from Neidhart earlier, but he refused because he wanted to keep the team together.
Since it will just be the original trio, that means it won’t include the 1997 version of the group that included Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith and Brian Pillman, which was only together for about seven months, but they did have a manager impact. The heel referee Danny Davis that was part of the Hart Foundation briefly won’t be part of the induction.
It’s not known when WWE might make the announcement official, but it could happen as soon as tonight’s Raw since we are into February with no Hall of Fame names officially announced yet.
Analysis: This makes me very happy. They are my favorite tag team in WWE history along with Edge & Christian and The Hardy Boyz. From this era when I was a kid growing up watching wrestling, they were the best in my eyes. I always loved them. It’s sad that Jim won’t be there to accept the honor, but I know he has a loving family that will pay tribute to him in what should be an emotional night.