Bad News Allen, Gene Kiniski, Fritz Von Erich, “Superstar” Billy Graham, Abdullah the Butcher, Stan Stasiak, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit, Jim Neidhart, Brian Pillman, the Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith are just some of the names who got their start in a Canadian town called Calgary, Alberta. In addition to those names you must add the sons of legendary wrestler and promoter Stu Hart namely Bret “Hitman” Hart and Owen Hart who left their family promotion, Stampede Wrestling, to great levels of success and unfortunately tragic ends to their careers in the World Wrestling Federation AKA the WWE. But what really happened behind the scenes with the Hart family when the cameras stopped rolling and the fans went home. What were the trips across the Canadian Rockies like with a van full of wrestlers in the era of no cell phones or PDA’s? Author and Calgary Herald columnist Heath McCoy found out a few years ago and thanks to ECW Press and some current events, they reissued his book Pain and Passion: the History of Stampede Wrestling (333pp, $19.95 US, $22.95 CDN)
Alan Wojcik Reviews the History of Stampede
