Stampede Wrestling

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Stampede Wrestling
Acronym Stampede
Founded 1948
Headquarters Calgary, Alberta
Founder(s) Stu Hart
Owner(s) Stu Hart (1948–1984)
Vince McMahon (1984–1985)
Bruce Hart (1985–1989)
Bruce and Ross Hart (1999–2005)
Bill Bell (2005–present)
Parent National Wrestling Alliance (until 1982)
World Wrestling Federation (1984–1985)
Formerly Klondike Wrestling
Website StampedeWrestling.com

Stampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the promotion competed with other promotions such as NWA All-Star Wrestling and Pacific Northwest Wrestling and regularly ran events in Calgary's Victoria Pavilion, Ogden Auditorium and the Stampede Corral between 1948 and 1984. Bought out by promoter Vince McMahon, the company was briefly run by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) before being sold back to the Hart family the following year. Run by Bruce Hart until January 1990, he and Ross Hart reopened the promotion in 1999 and began running events in the Alberta area.

Along with its wrestling school known as The Dungeon, many of the promotion's former alumni becoming some of the most popular stars in the World Wrestling Federation and other American promotions during the 1980s and '90s, the promotion produced one of the earliest televised professional wrestling programs (today considered the forerunner of today's WWE) that remained one of Calgary's most popular sports programs eventually airing in over 50 countries worldwide.[1]

Contents

History

Stampede Wrestling was operated by Stu Hart between 1948, and 1984. In 1983, a riot broke out during a match at the Ogden Auditorium in Calgary during a match between Bret Hart, Davey Boy Smith and Sonny Two Rivers against Bad News Allen, The Stomper and Stomper's kayfabe son Jeff Gouldie. Longtime Stampede announcer Ed Whalen reportedly became distraught during the riot, in which a woman was trampled, causing him to quit from the Stampede on air. Speaking of the events he remarked, "We're starting to scare the patrons with this violence outside the ring, and I will not be associated with it anymore."[2] The event led to Stampede Wrestling being banned from Calgary for six months by the city's wrestling and boxing commission, and within a year the operation was sold to the World Wrestling Federation.[3]

Take over from the World Wrestling Federation

A member of the National Wrestling Alliance until about 1982, Stampede's talent was taken by the World Wrestling Federation in 1984, developing into the major professional wrestling promotion it is today. In 1985, the WWF sold Stampede back to the Hart family, who continued to run it until it was shut down in December 1989. The promotion was re-opened on April 2, 1999 by Bruce and Ross Hart. Stampede's weekly shows were held mostly at the Victoria Pavilion in Calgary, with special events held at the Stampede Corral.

Notable alumni to enter the WWF

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Stampede Wrestling was one of the top wrestling promotions in Canada. One of its main legacies was its impact on the WWF. In the 1980s, the stars of Stampede Wrestling included Bret Hart, Owen Hart, British Bulldog, Dynamite Kid, Brian Pillman, Bad News Brown, The Honky Tonk Man (under the name Honky Tonk Wayne) and Jim Neidhart. All six wrestlers later joined the WWF when it expanded across Canada and USA. The British Bulldogs and the Hart Foundation were among the top tag teams in the WWF in the 1980s.

Television program

Stampede Wrestling was the basis for a long-running weekly sports broadcast produced in Calgary showcasing many of the promotion's most popular wrestlers. Hosted by Ed Whalen for most of its run, which went from 1957 to 1989, the series was syndicated around the world and reruns continue to be shown in some countries to this day. At the time Stampede was revived in 1999, a second Stampede Wrestling TV series was attempted, but it was short-lived and Whalen was not involved.

Revival

In early 1999, Bruce and Ross Hart reopened Stampede Wrestling after an nine-year hiatus showcasing graduates from the Hart Dungeon training school. However, only weeks after their first event, the promotion once again became inactive following the death of Owen Hart in May. Although considering closing the promotion, the Hart family continued to promote events five months later and began touring western Canada. Although successful, the Harts were forced to cancel several tours in late 2001 and early 2002 due to the arrival of a rival promotion backed by a Calgary businessman. The promotion also lost much of its roster due to its rival hiring away top stars.[4]

In 2005, promoters Bill Bell and Devon Nicholson took over day-to-day operations for Stampede Wrestling. During an event at the Spray Lakes Sawmill Sportsplex in Cochrane, Alberta, Nicholson would face Abdullah the Butcher after the scheduled main event between Lance Storm and Rhyno was canceled when Rhyno failed to appear. At that same event, longtime tag team partners TJ Wilson and Harry Smith faced each other in Smith's final match for the promotion before leaving for World Wrestling Entertainment.[5]

Earlier in 2007, Stampede Wrestling lost the use of the Ogden Legion which was their home base for the past number of years. Stampede Wrestling announced on their official website that the promotion will begin to run at the Bowness Sportsplex with the first show being September 7, 2007.

The last known show run by Bill Bell under the Stampede banner took place on April 26, 2009, at the Acadia Rec Center in Calgary, ending with Ravenous Randy successfully defending the North American Heavyweight Title against Michael Avery.

Tape library

WWE currently controls Stampede's extensive tape library.

The Dungeon

Stampede Wrestling was famous for "The Dungeon", a professional wrestling school located in the basement of the Calgary mansion Hart House, home of the Hart family. The school trained a number of WCW, ECW, and WWE stars, including the Hart Brothers, Mark Henry, Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho.

Championships

Current championships

Championship: Last Champion(s): Active From: Active Until: Notes:
Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship Ravenous Randy February 28, 1968 N/A The North American title was revived in 1998 when Stampede started promoting again[6] [7]
Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship Gama Singh Jr July 1978 N/A The British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight title was revived in 1999 when Stampede started promoting again [6] [8]
Stampede International Tag Team Championship Pete Wilson & Chris Steele 1958 N/A The International Tag Team title was revived in 2000 when Stampede started promoting again [6] [9]
Stampede Women's Pacific Championship Belle Lovitz June 15, 2005 N/A The Women’s Pacific Title is the only title that was not used in the original version of Stampede Wrestling [10]

Retired, defunct, and inactive championships

Championship: Last Champion(s): Active From: Active Until: Notes:
NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship (Calgary version) Dave Ruhl November 1, 1946 1972 [6] [11]
NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Calgary version) Mad Dog Vachon & Butcher Vachon 1954 1959 Tag Team title replaced by the NWA International Tag-Team Championship (Calgary version) later known as the “Stampede International Tag Team Championship”[6] [12]
Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Championship Dynamite Kid September 16, 1972 1984 [6] [13]
Stampede Pacific Heavyweight Championship Michael Modest June 1958 June 27, 2001 [6] [14]
IWA World Women's Championship Kyoko Inoue December 1987 1997 In 1989 the title began being promoted by All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling[6] [15]
Stampede British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship Karl Anderson July 1978 ? Karl Anderson is the last known champion of this title. He won it on March 12, 2006 in Santa Monica, California.[6] [16]

Roster

Alumni (1948–1990)

Tag teams

Hall of Fame

The Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame list professional wrestlers and others who have competed in Stampede Wrestling, from Stu Hart's Klondike Wrestling to the original Stampede Wrestling promotion which closed in 1990.[17]

References

  1. ^ "Stampede Wrestling gets pinned". CBC Television News. 1990-01-10. http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-41-1237-6837/sports/prowrestling/clip3. 
  2. ^ McCoy, H. (2005) Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling. CanWest Books. p 187.
  3. ^ Meltzer, D. (2004) Tributes II: Remembering more of the World's Greatest Professional Wrestlers. Sports Publishing LLC. pp 105-106.
  4. ^ "Can't Stop the Stampede". Wrestling Digest. August 2001. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCO/is_2_3/ai_76726486. 
  5. ^ Clevett, Jason (2006-05-14). "Stampede Wrestling - Past, present and future collide". SLAM! Sports. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2006/05/14/1578782.html. 
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Royal Duncan & Gary Will (4th Edition 2006). Wrestling Title Histories. Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4. 
  7. ^ "North American Heavyweight Title (Calgary Stampede)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/ab/calg-h.html. 
  8. ^ "British Commonwelth Mid-Heavyweight Title (Calgary Stampede)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/ab/calg-mh.html. 
  9. ^ "Stampede International Tag Team Title". Puroresu Dojo. 2003. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/ab/calg-t.html. 
  10. ^ "Stampede Women's Pacific Title". Puroresu Dojo. 2003. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/ab/calg-pac-wm.html. 
  11. ^ "NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship (Calgary)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/ab/ab-can-h.html. 
  12. ^ "N.W.A. Canadian Tag Team Title (Calgary)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/ab/ab-can-t.html. 
  13. ^ "Stampede World Mid-Heavyweight Championship". Puroresu Dojo. 2003. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/ab/calg-world-mh.html. 
  14. ^ "Stampede Pacific Heavyweight Championship". Puroresu Dojo. 2003. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/ab/calg-pac-h.html. 
  15. ^ "IWA Women's World Championship". Puroresu Dojo. 2003. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/japan/zenjo/iwa-wm.html. 
  16. ^ "Stampede British Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship" (in English). Jump City Productions. http://solie.org/titlehistories/mhbccalg.html. 
  17. ^ "Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (1948-1990)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003. http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/ab/hof.html. 

Further reading

External links

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