New Era Hart Foundation (or simply The Hart Foundation) was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

stable in

Major League Wrestling Major League Wrestling (MLW), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in New Rochelle, New York. The promotion was founded in 2002 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by former WWE writer Court Bauer. The promotion markets its product as ...

, consisting of

Teddy Hart Edward Ellsworth Annis (born February 2, 1980) is a Canadian-American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Teddy Hart. He currently wrestles on the independent circuit. He wrestled on a National scale for Major League Wrestling ...

Davey Boy Smith Jr. Harry Francis Smith (born August 2, 1985) is a Canadian professional wrestler, best known under the ring name Davey Boy Smith Jr. and his real name Harry Smith. He currently performs for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), where he was o ...

and Brian Pillman Jr. The group was the latest incarnation of the Hart Foundation which was formed by MLW in 2018. The trio enjoyed success as they are former one-time World Tag Team Champions within the promotion, defending the title under the

Freebird rule The Fabulous Freebirds were a professional wrestling tag team who attained fame in the 1980s, performing into the 1990s. The team usually consisted of three wrestlers, although in different situations and points in its history, just two performed ...

. In addition,

is a one-time World Middleweight Champion as part of the group. Hart was released by MLW on December 6, 2019 and Smith left the promotion on December 2, 2020, thus ending the group.

History

Height of dominance (2018–2019)

On June 14,

announced on its website that a new era incarnation of the famous

Hart Foundation Hart often refers to: * Hart (deer) Hart may also refer to: Organizations * Hart Racing Engines, a former Formula One engine manufacturer * Hart Skis, US ski manufacturer * Hart Stores, a Canadian chain of department stores * Hart's Reptile ...

was going to begin which would consist of Hart family members

and

along with Brian Pillman Jr., the son of

Brian Pillman Brian William Pillman (May 22, 1962 – October 5, 1997) was an American professional wrestler and professional football player best known for his appearances in Stampede Wrestling in the 1980s and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Ch ...

, a former member of a previous incarnation of Hart Foundation. Pillman made his televised debut in MLW on the August 3 episode of ''

Fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

'', where he showed respect to Kevin Sullivan accepting him as his mentor. Hart Foundation made its debut on the August 17 episode of ''Fusion'' as a trio with Pillman acting as the

cornerman In combat sports, a cornerman, or second, is a coach or trainer assisting a fighter during a bout. The cornerman is forbidden to instruct and must remain outside the combat area during the round. In the break, they are permitted to enter the ri ...

of Hart and Smith, who defeated

A. C. H. Albert Christian Hardie Jr. (born December 7, 1987), is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, currently known by his ring name A. C. H. He has wrestled for several American promotions, like Ring of Honor, Ring of Honor Wrestl ...

and

Rich Swann Richard Allen Swann (born February 15, 1991) is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Impact Wrestling. He is a former Impact World Champion, TNA World Heavyweight Champion, Impact X Division Champion and Impact Digital Media Cha ...

after Pillman hit Swann with his cane. The trio established themselves as a villainous group and ranted against MLW management, which included Pillman turning on his mentor Kevin Sullivan and attacking him along with Hart and Smith on the August 31 episode of ''Fusion''. Hart Foundation would dominate competition as they went on to defeat The Stud Stable and the team of ACH, Rich Swann and Marko Stunt on ''Fusion''. The team would soon find championship success as Hart won the vacant

World Middleweight Championship In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

by defeating

Dezmond Xavier Deveon Everhart Aikens (born November 2, 1988) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Wes Lee, and is the current NXT North American Champion in his first rei ...

, El Hijo de L.A. Park, Gringo Loco and Kotto Brazil in a five-way ladder match on the first-ever live episode of ''Fusion'' on December 14. Pillman and Smith continued to succeed in tag team competition. The winning streak of Hart Foundation earned them a title shot for the

World Tag Team Championship The world tag team championship is the name usually given to the primary tag team championship (professional wrestling), championships in professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotions, promotions. Nomenclature The name of the promo ...

against

The Lucha Brothers The Lucha Brothers, also known as The Lucha Bros or Los Lucha Bros, are a Mexican professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Penta El Zero Miedo/Penta Oscuro and Rey Fénix, and their manager Alex Abrahantes. They currently compete ...

at SuperFight on February 2, 2019, which Smith and Hart won, thus making Hart a double champion. Pillman was also recognized as a champion via the

, which required any two of the three members to defend the titles. On the February 16 episode of ''Fusion'', Hart successfully defended the World Middleweight Championship against

MJF Maxwell T. Friedman (born March 15, 1996), better known by his ring name Maxwell Jacob Friedman (often abbreviated to MJF), is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW), wh ...

, after which Richard Holliday joined MJF in attacking Hart. As a result, Holliday and MJF formed an alliance called

The Dynasty A dynasty is a series of rulers from one family. Dynasty may also refer to: Arts and media Film and television * ''Dynasty'' (film), a 1976 NBC television film * ''Dynasty'' (Australian TV series), a 1970 Australian TV series * ''Dynasty'' ...

and began feuding with Hart Foundation, which led to Hart Foundation turning into a heroic stable. Smith and Hart defended the World Tag Team Championship against Dynasty on the March 16 episode of ''Fusion'', where Dynasty was disqualified after

Alexander Hammerstone Alex Rohde (born January 17, 1991), better known by his ring names Alexander Hammerstone or simply Hammerstone is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Major League Wrestling, where he is the current MLW World Heavyweight ...

joined Dynasty by attacking the Hart Foundation, beginning a lengthy feud between the two stables. On the April 27 episode of ''Fusion'', Hart Foundation suffered their first loss as they were defeated by the Dynasty in a six-man

tables match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

. Pillman and Hammerstone would qualify for the finals of a tournament to crown the inaugural National Openweight Champion at Fury Road, which Hammerstone won. Pillman and Hart would lose the titles to Dynasty in a ladder match on the July 13 episode of ''Fusion''. Smith and Hart received a rematch for the titles in a

two out of three falls match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

against the Dynasty on the September 21 episode of ''Fusion'', in which they were unsuccessful due to interference by

Austin Aries Daniel Healy Solwold Jr. (born April 15, 1978), better known by his ring name Austin Aries, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler currently signed to the Control Your Narrative wrestling promotion. He is best known for his ...

, who demanded a World Middleweight Championship title shot against Hart. The three members of the Hart Foundation would go on to compete in separate singles matches at Saturday Night SuperFight, where Hart successfully defended the World Middleweight Championship against Austin Aries, Smith failed to win the National Openweight Championship from Alexander Hammerstone and Pillman lost to

Low Ki Brandon Silvestry (born September 6, 1979) is an American professional wrestler of Italian and Puerto Rican descent, better known by his ring name Low Ki. He is known for his time with Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor and Major League Wrestli ...

Breakup and split (2019–2020)

On the November 11 episode of ''Fusion'', Hart lost his title to Myron Reed after

Contra Unit Contra Unit is a Heel (professional wrestling), villainous professional wrestling Stable (professional wrestling), stable in Major League Wrestling (MLW) and Southern Honor Wrestling (SHW). It consists of Ikuro Kwon and Mads Krügger. In SHW (where ...

member

Josef Samael Joseph Cabibbo (born May 21, 1974) is an American professional wrestler currently wrestling under the ring names Josef and Josef Samael on the independent circuit and in Major League Wrestling (MLW) as a member of Contra Unit with Jacob Fatu, ...

threw a fireball on Hart. This would mark Hart's final appearance in MLW as he was released by the promotion on December 6. Smith and Pillman were both entered into the Opera Cup tournament, a family heirloom handed over to MLW management by Teddy Hart as the Opera Cup trophy had been won by his grandfather

Stu Hart Stewart Edward Hart (May 3, 1915 – October 16, 2003) was a Canadian amateur and professional wrestler, wrestling booker, promoter, coach, trainer, football player and sailor. He is best known for founding and handling Stampede Wrestling, a ...

in 1948. Smith and Pillman made it to the final round of the tournament, which Smith won. Hart and Pillman went their separate ways afterwards until they reunited for one final match on the April 25, 2020 episode of ''Fusion'' by defeating Los Mercenarios (

Texano Jr. Juan Aguilar Leos (born July 31, 1984) is a Mexican ''luchador'', or professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Texano Jr. Aguilar is the son of Juan Conrado Aguilar Jáuregui, who wrestled under the name El Texano; Aguilar's brother ...

and

Rey Escorpión Fabián Núñez Napoles (born January 20, 1979) is a Mexican ''luchador'' (professional wrestler), better known by the ring name Rey Escorpión. He is currently working for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA), where he portrays a ''rudo'' or bad guy ...

) in a tag team match, marking Hart Foundation's final appearance as a team. The group finally disbanded when Smith left the company after losing to

in the opening round of the 2020 Opera Cup, thus disbanding Hart Foundation.

Championships and accomplishments

MLW World Middleweight Championship The MLW World Middleweight Championship is a professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion Major League Wrestling (MLW). The title was unveiled on July 18, 2018, it is contested in MLW's ...

( 1 time) – Teddy Hart **

MLW World Tag Team Championship The MLW World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship which is owned by the Major League Wrestling (MLW) promotion. The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which partici ...

( 1 time) - Teddy Hart, Davey Boy Smith Jr, and Brian Pillman Jr **

Opera Cup (2019) Opera Cup (2019) was a professional wrestling supercard event produced by Major League Wrestling (MLW), which took place on December 5, 2019 at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, New York City, New York. The event was a set of television tapings for ...

– Davey Boy Smith, Jr. **Wrestler of the Year (2018) – Teddy Hart *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' ** Rookie of the Year (2019) – Brian Pillman, Jr. **Ranked Davey Boy Smith Jr. No. 253 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'' in 2018 **Ranked Teddy Hart No. 301 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''PWI 500'' in 2019 **Ranked Brian Pillman Jr. No. 411 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the ''PWI 500'' in 2019

References

External links

Hart Foundation
at Cagematch
Brian Pillman Jr. profile
at

Davey Boy Smith Jr. profile
at

{{MLW World Tag Team Championship Hart Foundation Major League Wrestling teams and stables