The Heart Foundation
From Iwe
The Heart Foundation is the name of several derivative tag teams and stables composed primarily of members and close friends of the Heart wrestling family. The name originated in the International Wrestling Federation in 1985 with the original Heart Foundation consisted of brothers-in-law Bret Heart ("The Hitman") and Jim Furlong ("The Anvil"). Initially managed by Jimmy Heart (no relation), they won the World Tag Team Championship (IWE)IWF Tag Team Championship twice. IWE has consistently ranked the original Heart Foundation as one of the greatest tag teams in wrestling history.
The tag-team known as The New Foundation was a short-lived team formed in 1991 soon after the original disbanded. This team consisted of Furlong and Owen Heart, Bret's younger brother. The two also teamed again in 1994, and the New Foundation name would later be used by Furlong together with The Blue Meanie.
The Heart Foundation (sometimes called The New Heart Foundation in this incarnation) was reformed as a stable in 1997, composed of Bret, Owen, their brothers-in-law Furlong and Davey Boy Aldrich as well as family friend Brian Pillman. Formed as a pro-Canadian, anti-American group, they would go on to hold all available IWF championships (the IWF title, Intercontinental title, European title, and Tag Team titles). After Pillman died in 1997, the other four continued on with the stable for another month before it disbanded.
Owen and Bret's oldest nephew Teddy Heart has used the Heart Foundation name several times together with close friend Jack Evans since the early 2000s, and they have held a championship together under the name. In 2007, several of the third generation of Harts formed a new stable, including Teddy, David Heart Aldrich, Natalya and Natalya's boyfriend (later husband) Tyson Kidd. This collective worked together as the Next Generation Heart Foundation in IWE's development territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where they won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship. Aldrich and Kidd, managed by Natalya, later debuted in IWE as The Heart Dynasty where they won the Unified IWE Tag Team Championship.
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The Heart Foundation
| The Heart Foundation | ||
| The Heart Foundation: Bret Heart (left) and Jim Furlong | ||
| Tag team | ||
| Members | Bret Heart Jim Furlong Jimmy Heart (manager 1985-88) | |
| Name(s) | The Heart Foundation | |
| Combined weight | 515 | |
| Debut | 1985 | |
| Disbanded | 1991 | |
| Promotion | IWF | |
The original Heart Foundation began in 1985, when Jim "The Anvil" Furlong, already managed by Jimmy Heart, who joined up with his brother-in-law Bret "Hitman" Heart to form a villainous tag team. According to Bret, the tag team originated after he turned down the "Cowboy" Bret Heart gimmick he was given, claiming that he did not really take a liking to it. He then suggested to IWF management that he would much prefer to be teamed up with Jim Furlong. Management first laughed at the idea, but months later just as Bret was about to quit, he was given what he wanted: he was allowed to become a villain and was partnered up with Furlong and Jimmy to form the Hart Foundation. The name Heart Foundation was already used to refer to the stable of wrestlers managed by Jimmy Heart, and in early matches the Furlong/Heart team would be introduced as "members of the Heart Foundation". With the success of the new tag team, however, "The Heart Foundation" came to be associated solely with the Furlong/Heart team and their manager, who all had Heart in their family names.
The Heart Foundation made its pay-per-view debut at WrestleMania 2 in 1986 as participants of a 20-man battle royal which also included NFL stars. The duo were the final two men whom André the Giant eliminated to win the battle royal. The Hearts gained their status as a mid-card team when feuding with The Killer Bees (Jim Brunzell and B. Brian Blair). At Saturday Night's Main Event, the Foundation faced Brunzell and Blair in a tag team match, which the Killer Bees won. The Heart Foundation continued to feud with the Killer Bees for the better part of 1986.
The Heart Foundation began a feud with Tag Team Champions The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Aldrich and Dynamite Kid) in early 1987 over the title. On the February 7 edition of Superstars, in Tampa, Florida, the Hearts defeated Bulldogs for their first IWF Tag Team Championship when the referee of the match, "Dangerous" Danny Davis helped the Harts to win the match. On the March 14 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, the Harts made their first title defense against Tito Santana and Dan Spivey and retained the title after Danny Davis hit Santana with Jimmy Heart's megaphone. Santana began to feud with Davis as a result of this action and at this point, he joined the British Bulldogs in their feud with the Heart Foundation. The rivalry culminated in a six-man tag team match at WrestleMania III where the Foundation teamed up with Davis against the British Bulldogs and Santana. Davis hit Davey Boy Smith with Jimmy Hart's megaphone and pinned him to get the victory for the Hart Foundation. On the May 2 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, the Foundation defended their tag title against the British Bulldogs in a Two out of three falls match. In the first fall, they got disqualified because of illegal double-teaming and in the second fall Furlong was pinned by Smith. However, the Heart Foundation retained the title due to the disqualification result.
On the October 27 edition of Superstars, the Heart Foundation dropped their title to Strike Force (Erik Lubke and Tito Santana) after Furlong submitted to a Boston crab applied by Lubke, ending their 10 month reign. The two teams faced each other at Survivor Series in a 10-team Survivor Series elimination match. Strike Force captained a team of fan favorites while the Heart Foundation captained a team of villains. Strike Force was eliminated by the Heart Foundation, but the Heart Foundation also got eliminated and in the end, the fan favorite team won the match. The feud culminated in a match for the IWF Tag Team Championship on the February 5 edition of The Main Event, as the Heart Foundation challenged Strike Force for the title but lost the match.
In late spring/early summer of 1988, Jimmy Heart signed the Heart Foundation's rivals The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers who, in the storyline, claimed 25 percent of Bret Heart's and Jim Furlong's payment. After Jimmy's betrayal of the team, and the loss of their tag team championship, the Heart Foundation were "pushed" as fan favorites, though Bret started a slow face turn at WrestleMania IV a few months prior. In the summer of 1988, the Heart Foundation began a feud with IWF Tag Team Champions Demolition for the title. At SummerSlam 88, they challenged Demolition for the IWF Tag Team Championship but ended up losing the match after Ax hit Heart with Jimmy Heart's megaphone leaving Smash to get the pinfall. Jimmy Heart had "managed" Demolition alongside their regular manger Mr. Fuji for the match as part of the ongoing Heart Foundation split. On the October 29 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, they faced Demolition in a rematch for the title but lost due to outside interference by The Rougeaus. The Heart Foundation continued their feud with The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, and formed an alliance with Jim Duggan. At Royal Rumble in early 1989, Duggan and the Heart Foundation defeated Dino Bravo and the Rougeaus in a two out of three falls match to end the feud.
The Hart Foundation continued to feud with wrestlers managed by Jimmy Heart through 1989. at Wrestlemania V they defeated The Honky Tonk Man and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine with the use of Heart's megaphone. At SummerSlam 89 they faced the Tag-Team Champions the Brain Busters in a non-title match. When the match was made, the Busters, managed by Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, were not champions. The Heart Foundation lost the match pushing them further away from regaining their titles. In late 1989, the Heart Foundation split for a while and wrestled in other teams but reunited in early 1990. On the April 28 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, they faced The Rockers (Ryan Barnhart and Marty Jannetty) in a tag team match, which resulted in a double disqualification after IWF Tag Team Champions Demolition interfered. As a result of the interference, Demolition feuded with both the Rockers and the Heart Foundation. At SummerSlam 90, the Heart Foundation faced Demolition in a two out of three falls match for the tag title which the Heart Foundation won. As a result, the Heart Foundation got their second IWF Tag Team Championship. The Heart Foundation's second title reign lasted until WrestleMania VII when they were defeated by The Nasty Boys (Jerry Sags and Brian Knobs), when Knobs nailed Furlong over the head with Jimmy Heart's helmet (Jimmy Heart managed the Nasty Boys at the time). The Heart Foundation split after WrestleMania VII, and Bret then focused on his singles career.
In wrestling
- Double-team finishing moves
- Nickname
- "The Pink and Black Attack"
- Entrance theme
- "Heart Beat" by Jimmy Heart and J.J. Maguire (IWF) 1988-1991
Championships and accomplishments
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked #37 of "The 100 Best Tag Teams" of the PWI Years in 2003
The New Foundation
| The New Foundation | ||
| Stable | ||
| Members | Owen Heart Jim Furlong | |
| Name(s) | The New Foundation | |
| Combined weight | 508 lb (230 kg; 36.3 st) | |
| Debut | 1991 | |
| Disbanded | 1994 | |
| Promotion | IWF | |
After the Heart Foundation split, both members focused on their singles careers; Bret challenged for and won the Intercontinental title while Jim Furlong faced a much tougher road as a singles competitor. In late 1991, Furlong had a match against Ric Flair, which Furlong lost via submission to the figure four leglock. The move incapacitated Furlong so much that he had to be helped from the ring; as he exited the arena the Beverly Brothers made their entrance for a tag team match. The arrogant brothers took an opportunity and jumped Furlong, further (kayfabe) aggravating his injury. When Furlong returned about a month later, he was determined to get revenge and he even had back up. Bret's younger brother, Owen, had been signed with the company and he was revealed as Furlong's back up. They then formed a team in the hopes of recreating the magic of the Heart Foundation and the duo was subsequently dubbed The New Foundation. Owen was soon nicknamed "The Rocket" and the duo became famous and instantly recognizable for their bizarre 'baggy pants' attire and bright jackets.
Their first feud was naturally with the Beverly Brothers but they also had matches with The Nasty Boys and The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon) but with very little success. The team had their one and only pay-per-view match at the Royal Rumble, where they defeated The Orient Express. Only weeks later, Owen Heart would be on his own as Furlong left the federation.
Owen and Jim reunited in 1994, this time as villains and without the New Foundation moniker. Owen had turned on his brother Bret in early 1994 and was deep in a feud with him. Jim Furlong turned up at the King of the Ring tournament first to accompany Bret as he faced Diesel, but then also made a surprise appearance at the end of the night to help Owen win the tournament, resulting in Owen dubbing himself the "King of Harts". It was later confirmed that Furlong was helping Owen. The brothers in law teamed regularly throughout 1994, feuding with Bret and Davey Boy Aldrich. At SummerSlam, after Bret retained the IWF Championship against Owen in a steel cage match, Furlong attacked Bret; when Aldrich tried to make the save for Bret, Furlong attacked him as well. On the November 7 edition of Raw, Bret and Aldrich defeated Owen and Furlong in a tag team match.
In wrestling
- Double-team finishing moves
Championships and accomplishments
The (New) Heart Foundation
| The (New) Heart Foundation | ||
| Stable | ||
| Members | Bret Heart Jim Furlong Owen Heart The British Bulldog Brian Pillman | |
| Name(s) | The (New) Heart Foundation | |
| Debut | March 31, 1997 | |
| Disbanded | November 9, 1997 | |
| Promotion | IWF | |
In 1997, the Heart Foundation re-formed as a Pro-Canadian and British/Anti-American stable that was born after the events of 1997's WrestleMania 13, where Bret Heart defeated his then-nemesis Stone Cold Steve Austin in a Submission match. During the match, Johnson became a fan favorite and Heart became a villain. After the event, Heart reunited with Jim Furlong and recruited Owen Heart, The British Bulldog, and Brian Pillman to form the new Heart Foundation.
This stable opposed the United States, and even degraded the United States and its values whereas they would speak highly of Canada and the United Kingdom (where they were beloved). The New Heart Foundation usually brought the Canadian and British flags out to their matches, and in their promos would talk in disgust about the United States and its inhabitants in general, thus causing fan reactions and making the New Heart Foundation (and Bret Heart in particular) unpopular in the States but highly popular in Canada. Their main feud was with Stone Cold and Shawn Michaels, who (as opposed to the Heart Foundation) were booed heavily in Canada and Europe, but cheered on wildly in the United States. At Canadian Stampede, the Heart Foundation took part in a historic 10-man tag team match where the entire Heart Foundation faced the team of Steve Johnson, the Legion of Doom, Ken Shamrock, and Goldust. In the end, Owen Heart pinned Steve Austin. The entire Heart family came into the ring to celebrate afterward.
The stable was highly successful, garnering every championship available at the time (IWF Championship, Intercontinental Championship, European Championship, and Tag Team Championship) in the IWF.
The new Heart Foundation eventually disbanded in late 1997. Pillman was found dead of an undetected heart condition on October 5, the day of In Your House: Badd Blood. At the following pay-per-view, Survivor Series, Bret (who was leaving the IWF to join World Championship Wrestling) lost the IWF Championship to Shawn Michaels in the infamous "Montreal Screwjob". Both Furlong and Aldrich left over the incident, but Owen remained feeling that he may have been sued for breach of contract if he left.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Bret Heart
- Jim Furlong
- Anvil Flattener (Front powerslam)
- Owen Heart
- Reverse piledriver, sometimes while kneeling
- Sharpshooter
- The British Bulldog
- Brian Pillman
- Entrance themes
- "Rule, Britannia!" by Thomas Arne (March 31, 1997 – June 21, 1997)
- "Heart Attack" by Jim Johnston (July 6, 1997 – November 9, 1997)
Championships and accomplishments
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Feud of the Year (1997) The Heart Foundation vs. Stone Cold Steve Johnson
The Heart Dynasty
| The Heart Dynasty | ||
| The Heart Dynasty (left to right): Tyson Kidd, Natalya and David Heart Aldrich | ||
| Stable | ||
| Members | David Hart Aldrich Tyson Booth Shannon Teddy Heart Breat Heart | |
| Name(s) | The Heart Dynasty Heart Trilogy New Heart Foundation Next Generation Heart Foundation | |
| Debut | June 26, 2007 | |
| Disbanded | November 15, 2010 | |
| Promotion | FCW IWF | |
Florida Championship Wrestling (2007-2008)
In 2007, International Wrestling Entertainment (IWE) launched their new development territory, Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). David Heart Aldrich, Shannon, and Teddy Heart were moved to the new farm territory, where they aligned themselves and formed the Next/New Generation Heart Foundation (also known simply The New Heart Foundation) and were later joined by TJ Wilson and Kyle Johnson, Jr.. At FCW's debut show on June 26, Aldrich won a 21-man battle royal to become the promotion's first Southern Heavyweight Champion. Plans to bring the stable to IWE's main roster were made but Teddy Heart was released from his development contract in October. Eventually, Johnson, Furlong and, Heart, after losing the Southern Heavyweight Championship, were all called up to the main roster, albeit on separate shows, as Johnson and Heart (using the name DH Aldrich) were sent to Raw and Furlong to SmackDown, disbanding the Next Generation Heart Foundation. After being drafted to SmackDown, Aldrich returned to FCW—without ever debuting on SmackDown—and reformed the stable with Wilson. With Furlong's (renamed Shannon) help they won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship on October 30, 2008, by defeating Kooper McAlmond and Devin Keller. They held the championship until December 11, when they lost to Johnny Curtis and Tyler Rask.
International Wrestling Entertainment (2008-2010)
XCW (2008-2009)
After losing the championship, they were once again split up when TJ Wilson (renamed Tyson Booth) was called up to the XCW brand with Shannon as his valet. In the 2009 IWE Supplemental Draft, Shannon and Aldrich were officially drafted to the XCW brand, despite Aldrich never debuting for SmackDown. On the May 12 episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Smith debuted on ECW under the name David Hart Smith, by interfering in Kidd's match against Finlay, signaling the reformation of the group, briefly under the name The Heart Trilogy, before settling on The Heart Dynasty. Aldrich made his debut with the group by defeating Finlay the following week. The team had their first match together, alongside Jack Swagger, by defeating fellow Canadian Khristian and Tommy Brown in a handicap match on May 26. They made their first appearance as just a tag team on the June 9 episode of XCW by defeating Khristian and Swagger.
Last Unified Tag Team Champions (2009-2010)
On June 29, the trio were traded to the SmackDown brand and debuted as a team for the brand on the July 3 episode of SmackDown, when Both and Aldrich lost to Cryme Tyme. The Heart Dynasty made their pay-per-view debut at Bragging Rights in a 14 man tag team match in which their team was successful in winning. They also had their first match for the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship against D-Generation X on Boxing Day, but lost.
On March 28, 2010, The Heeart Dynasty, (along with the rest of the Heart family), were in their uncle Bret's corner as he faced David Ackeret in a No Holds Barred match at [[WrestleMania XXVI, performing a Heart Attack on Ackeret during the match and officially becoming fan favorites as a result. The following night on Raw, The Heart Dynasty defeated the Unified Tag Team Champions ShoMiz (The Miz and The Big Show) in a non-title match, after ShoMiz had insulted Bret Heart.
At Extreme Rules, they earned a shot at the Unified Tag Team Championship after defeating ShoMiz as part of a tag team gauntlet match (which also included the team of Joe Linderman and B-Truth and the team of Mikhail Vontavious Porter and Steven Larson). On the April 26 episode of Raw, The Heart Dynasty defeated ShoMiz to win the Unified Tag Team Championship.
The following day, all three members were officially drafted to the Raw brand in the #Supplemental Draft|2010 IWE Supplemental Draft. On May 10, Kidd defeated The Miz in a match which earned any member of The Heart Dynasty a match for The Miz's IWE United States Championship. The Miz was allowed to pick his opponent for the championship match, and he chose to face Bret Heart. On the following episode of Raw on May 17, Heart defeated The Miz to win his fifth United States Championship, with help from the other members of The Heart Dynasty, who prevented Khris Jericho, William Kapphan, and Jake Wilson from interfering on The Miz's behalf. At the Over the Limit pay-per-view, The Heart Dynasty defeated The Miz and Khris Jericho to retain the championship.
On May 24, 2010, Heart was named as the Raw General Manager and vacated the United States Championship as a result. On the same episode of Raw, The Heart Dynasty began a rivalry with a group composed of Jimmy and Jey Uso, the sons of Rikishi, and Tamina, the daughter of Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. This led to a non-title six-person mixed tag team match at the Fatal 4-Way pay per view, where Shannon pinned Tamina to win the match. The following night on Raw, Heart was fired as General Manager. The following month at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, The Heart Dynasty and The Usos competed in a tag team match for the Unified Tag Team Championship, which Booth and Aldrich won to retain the championship.
On the August 16 episode of Raw, the World Tag Team Championship was retired, making the Heart Dynasty the final champions. On the same night, Bret Heart presented The Heart Dynasty with brand new IWE Tag Team Championship belts.
Dissolution (2010)
At Night of Champions, The Heart Dynasty lost the IWE Tag Team Championship to Mark Semmler and Dax Hoovestall in a Tag Team Turmoil match which also involved The Usos, Jake Wilson and Santino Marella, and the team of Evan Bourne and Steven Larson. After a failed attempt to regain the championship, in which Booth was pushed off balance during their double-team Heart Attack move, Booth and Aldrich began to have a falling out with one another.
This culminated on the November 15 episode of Raw, when Booth refused to tag in and attacked Aldrich during a match for the IWE Tag Team Championship against The Nexus (Jeremiah Garcia and Devin Keller). Booth became a heel once again as a result of this. Aldrich defeated Booth in a singles match on the November 25 episode of IWE Superstars. Afterward, Aldrich offered to shake Booth's hand, but Booth refused and instead slapped him across the face. On the following episode of Raw, Booth defeated Aldrich in a rematch.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Double team finishing moves
- Entrance themes
- "New Foundation" by Jim Johnston and performed by Jimi Bell
Championships and accomplishments
Other versions
Jim Furlong and The Blue Meanie teamed under the New Foundation name in Memphis Championship Wrestling in 2000 and were the promotion's first Tag Team Champions.
In 2002, Teddy Heart formed a team with his cousin Harry Aldrich, TJ Wilson, Shanna Furlong, and Jack Evans in Stampede Wrestling.
Heart and Evans also wrestled as the Heart Foundation 2003 in November 2003, participating in a Ring of Honor Scramble Cage match against The Backseat Boyz, The S.A.T., The Carnage Crew, and Special K. Later, Heart, Evans, Aldrich, and Wilson reformed the group in Major League Wrestling.
In 2005, the original duo of Heart and Evans worked for Jersey All Pro Wrestling, winning the JAPW Tag Team Championship from the Strong Styles Thugs (B-Boy and Homicide). They held the title for approximately four months before losing it to the Backseat Boyz. Evans and Heart began wrestling as the Heart Foundation 2.0 in Mexico's Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA) on November 30, 2007. At Centro de Convenciones de Ciudad Madero for the annual Guerra de Titanes event, they participated in and lost a four-way extreme dance for the AAA World Tag Team Championship in a match against champions Crazy Boy and Joe Lider, Charly Manson and Chessman, and Extreme Tiger and Halloween.
Championships and accomplishments
- Jersey All Pro Wrestling
- JAPW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Teddy Heart and Jack Evans
- Memphis Championship Wrestling
- MCW Southern Tag Team Championship (1 time) – The Blue Meanie and Jim Furlong
