Author | Heath McCoy |
---|---|
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Subject | Professional wrestling |
Genre | History book |
Publisher | CanWest, ECW Press [1] |
Publication date | 2005 |
Media type | Hardcover and paperback |
Pages | 336 [1] |
ISBN | 978-1550227871 |
Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling is a 2005 history book written by Heath McCoy about the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling and its associated wrestling territory. It was published by CanWest and later ECW Press and was well received by former workers of the organisation as well as journalists of the professional wrestling industry.
The book was initially released in 2005 and was published by CanWest. [2] In 2007 McCoy and ECW Press release a revised and updated version. The second edition contains a bonus chapter which covers the development of several key persons of the book since the originals release. [3] Some of the revisions concerned professional wrestler Chris Benoit which were added in because McCoy felt that it would be wrong for him to write a book about Stampede Wrestling and only mention Benoit's double murder and suicide in passing. [4]
The book covers time before the promotion's founding when focusing on its founder and owner Stu Hart, his childhood, amateur wrestling time, military service and early career as a professional wrestler as well as the courtship of his future wife Helen Smith. [5] Its main focus is as the title says Stampede Wrestling, its founding as well as its highs and lows in the industry beginning in 1948 under the name Klondike Wrestling. By 1952 Hart had purchased another minor promotion in the Alberta area, merged them and renamed it Big Time Wrestling. It was later renamed Wildcat Wrestling and finally Stampede Wrestling. [5] The book also centers in large parts on the Hart wrestling family and their work for the promotion. All of Hart's twelve children receive coverage in the book and mainly focuses on how Hart's descendants have influenced the promotion and kept it alive. [5]
The book is critically acclaimed and widely regarded as the most in depth coverage of the Stampede territory to date. [3] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19]
Sports journalist and wrestling historian Dave Meltzer expressed that the book was fantastic and that people should try to acquire the updated edition from 2007. [20]
Stewart Edward Hart 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 professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta, teaching many individuals at its associated wrestling school "The Dungeon" and establishing a professional wrestling dynasty consisting of his relatives and close trainees. As the patriarch of the Hart wrestling family, Hart is the ancestor of many wrestlers, most notably being the father of Bret and Owen Hart as well as the grandfather of Natalya Neidhart, Teddy Hart and David Hart Smith.
Thomas Billington, best known by the ring name the Dynamite Kid, was a British professional wrestler.
Bruce Edward Hart is an American born-Canadian retired professional wrestler, promoter, booker, trainer and school teacher. He is a second-generation wrestler and a member of the Hart wrestling family, being the second child of Stu and Helen Hart. He is best known for his time in Stampede Wrestling and several appearances for WWE, often with his brothers Bret and Owen.
Keith William Hart is an American born-Canadian retired professional wrestler and firefighter. He is a member of the Hart wrestling family and the third child of Helen and Stu Hart, CM. He is best known for his work for Stampede Wrestling and several appearances for WWE, often with his siblings Bret, Owen, Bruce and Diana. In Stampede he won several championships and for WWE he participated in the seventh edition of Survivor Series.
Smith Stewart Hart was an American born -Canadian professional wrestler and a member of the Hart wrestling family. His parents were Stu and Helen Hart. Smith was the first of their twelve children, being one of their eight sons, Bruce, Keith, Wayne, Dean, Bret, Ross and Owen followed him. Hart is also the father of two professional wrestlers, Mike and Matt Hart. Hart wrestled for the majority of his career in Canada but also worked briefly in other countries and is best known for his time in Stampede Wrestling and for his appearances for WWE. He died in 2017 due to prostate cancer.
Dean Harry Anthony Hart was a Canadian–American amateur wrestler, professional wrestler, referee, wrestling as well as music promoter and member of the Hart family who wrestled in Canadian regional promotions during the 1970s and 1980s, most notably in the Calgary-based Stampede Wrestling. He was the son of Stu and Helen Hart and the younger brother of Smith, Bruce, Keith and Wayne, as well as older brother of Ellie, Georgia, Bret, Alison, Ross, Diana and Owen Hart. Dean was widely regarded as the most handsome of the Hart brothers. He died at the age of 36 in 1990, from a heart attack induced by kidney failure.
Benjamin Bassarab is a Canadian former bodybuilder and professional wrestler, best known for his appearances for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling promotion throughout the 1980s. Bassarab is a two time Stampede International Tag Team champion. Wrestling historian Dave Meltzer described Bassarab as a semi-spectacular in-ring performer.
ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named Essays on Canadian Writing. They started publishing trade and scholarly books in 1979.
Diana Joyce Hart is a Canadian-American writer, model, valet and wrestling personality. She is the youngest daughter of Canadian wrestling promoter Stu Hart and was the second to last child born to Stu and his wife Helen. She is best known for her several appearances for Stampede Wrestling and WWE often with her brothers Bret and Owen Hart as well as her husband Davey Boy Smith, and for her book, Under the Mat.
The Hart Dungeon or Hart Family Dungeon, otherwise known simply as The Dungeon, was the gym and wrestling school located in the basement of the Hart mansion. The school was created by Stu Hart, patriarch of the Hart wrestling family and is known for having produced some of the greatest and most successful professional wrestlers of all time.
The Hart wrestling family, sometimes known as the Hart dynasty, is a mainly Canadian family with a significant history within professional wrestling. The patriarch of the family was wrestling legend Stu Hart (1915–2003). An amateur and professional wrestling performer, promoter and trainer, Stu owned and operated his own wrestling promotion, Stampede Wrestling. He also trained some of the most well known stars in wrestling history including Superstar Billy Graham, Fritz Von Erich, Edge, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Christian and his sons Bret Hart and Owen Hart.
Under the Mat: Inside Wrestling's Greatest Family is a book co-written by Diana Hart and journalist Kirstie McLellan. The subtitle, Inside Wrestling's Greatest Family, refers to the Canadian Hart wrestling family, which includes wrestlers such as Smith Hart, Bruce Hart, Keith Hart, Dean Hart, Bret Hart, Ross Hart, Owen Hart, Teddy Hart, David Hart Smith and Natalya Neidhart among others. The book is highly controversial and was pulled from stores after Martha Hart, widow of Owen Hart and Diana Hart's sister-in-law, filed a lawsuit. The book became an Alberta top ten nonfiction best-seller on its release.
Dave Ruhl was a Canadian professional wrestler who during his near 30-year career competed in North American regional promotions in Western Canada and the Canadian Prairies as well as in Japan and other international promotions. A longtime mainstay of Calgary-based Stampede Wrestling during the 1960s and early 70s, he engaged in memorable feuds with Sweet Daddy Siki and The Stomper over the Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship.
Harry James Smith was an American long-distance runner. He was most notable for competing in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. He was also the father of Hart wrestling family matriarch Helen Hart and the father-in-law of Stu Hart.
Ross Lindsay Hart is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, promoter, trainer, booker, TV producer, coach and actor. Hart is a member of the Hart wrestling family and the second youngest son of Stu and Helen Hart. He is best known for his work in Stampede Wrestling and several appearances in WWE, often with his siblings Bruce, Keith, Bret, Diana and Owen Hart.
Bradley Joseph Annis is an American retired bodybuilder, powerlifter, fitness guru, professional wrestler, gym owner and firefighter. Annis is best known for his work for Stampede Wrestling and his ownership and handling of the Calgary gym at which many of the wrestlers trained. Annis is married to Georgia Hart, the daughter of wrestler Stu and wrestling promoter Helen Hart.
The Billington family is a British family of English nationality which has had a history in England as state employed executioners as well as several members who ventured into the world of combat sports and professional wrestling. Men of the family have been noted for their rather short height. Two of the family's sports oriented members would go on to marry into the Canadian Hart wrestling family.
Stu Hart: Lord of the Ring is a 2002 biography of Canadian professional wrestler and promoter Stu Hart, written by journalist Marsha Erb and published by ECW Press. The book is generally considered to be the most in-depth work on Hart's life and career.
Straight from the Hart is a 2011 autobiography by Canadian professional wrestler Bruce Hart. The book chronicles Hart's childhood in Calgary as a member of the Albertan Hart wrestling family, his career in the wrestling industry to his later life as a trainer. It was published by ECW Press. The book is one of a long line of books by or about members of Hart's family.
Heath McCoy is a Canadian sports journalist and author, best known for his work on professional wrestling, having wrote two acclaimed books about Canadian professional wrestling.