THE HART LEGACY AND DEKADA |
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How the Legendary Hart Family of Calgary Influenced Dekada Fight Night
May 1, 2018 - Calgary, AB, Canada
By: Dennis Herrmann - Co-Founder of Dekada Fight Night
By: Dennis Herrmann - Co-Founder of Dekada Fight Night
Wrestling was a crazy world, to say the least. Most Calgary kids experienced family Bar-B-Ques, camping and fishing trips where the main subject of conversation may have been hockey or their experience at Callaway Park the previous weekend. Mine included adventures that could only be matched by a Hollywood script.
I was born in Hanover, Germany in 1978 to a loving mother and a father who was a homicide detective of unconventional proportions, living a life similar to Donnie Brasco. This alone threw me into an interesting childhood where seeing dad on the front page of the paper was a normal thing, usually in relation to a successful arrest and sometimes in relation to his questionably agressive arrest tactics. He loved the job, the streets and the people he dealt with which, at times, even included people on the wrong side of the fence.
This life also became a catalyst for his involvement in professional wrestling through a friend, who eventually convinced him to join the ranks of the sport in a tag team under a mask due to Police regulations, at the time.
Hanover was home to an annual 53-day tournament that saw the likes of big names from around the world. It was only natural that the Harts would be involved and in the mid 70s, my father met and became friends with Bret, Keith, Bruce, Smith and Owen. In fact, eventually, I had to give up my room for whenever one of them was in Germany for the tournament. At one time we even had the Wild Samoans stay with us, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s uncles.
The friendship with the Harts grew and soon they invited dad to Calgary to work for their father, Stu, in Stampede Wrestling.
My father fell in love with city and the business and soon thereafter made the decision to eventually move all of us over. Immigration into Canada was a challenging thing, even in the 80’s so, in 1985, Stu decided to sponsor my father as a full time referee for the company.
And there began my full time life in the world of wrestling. I was 6 years old when we landed in Canada and the first experience I had was at the Saddle Dome where WWE (then WWF) was in town. Upon walking into the back area, I saw Hulk Hogan, Mr. T and Randy The Macho-Man Savage. I was hoping that Sylvester Stallone wasn’t there because two of the three just laid a major beat down on him in Rocky 3 which I had just finished watching for the 200th time back in Germany before we left.
As I grew up, I gravitated into the business and started wrestling at 16. Though I really enjoyed it, my heart was set on becoming a promoter one day and, I took every opportunity I could to learn from Stu. Often the lessons were carried out in the massive kitchen of his giant house on a Saturday morning while the old TV was broadcasting Stampede Wrestling from the night before. The biggest thing that I took away from that experience was five words he often used. ‘Aim high and shoot straight.’
In addition to my dad, Stu Hart was my idol. I admired everything he stood for, especially his ironclad, golden handshake. He came from the hardships of the 1930’s prairie life in Saskatchewan with nothing to his name while helping to raise his siblings. Stu knew that no one owed him anything which paved the way to fight for everything he earned. This fortitude would, one day, be the reason he found a way to support his lovely wife, Helen, and 12 very hungry kids after landing in Calgary where he set his roots.
I was very fortunate to have Stu in my life and cherish the experiences that surrounded him and his kids, many of them being mentors to me as well. Knowing the Harts, made for some very interesting Bar-B-Ques. It wasn’t shocking to see people in suites talking to people with chicken bones woven into their hair as part of their character. Though this business came with it’s shares of tragedies, tears and craziness, it was also something very special, the experience of which I wouldn’t trade for the world.
In the late 90s, wrestling, on a local level, became a very hard business to sell so, I decided to get out of it and went on to lead a normal life even though the urge to promote kept burning inside. I missed the business and the touring. Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, The Cuban Assassin, Gama Singh, Jerry Morrow, Keith and Bruce Hart and many more were a big extension of my family.
In early 2015, I met Michael Short whose life was boxing. After talking for a few hours, which lead to days and even weeks, the idea to promote boxing together came up. His wealth of knowledge in the boxing business and my experience with the entertainment side of things would be a nice combination to pave a path for a really entertaining event.
We shared a lot of the same philosophies and idolized Stu Hart. Our goal was to creat a platform for fighters to grow while we helped promote their name through the natural stories that surrounded them. Dekada Fight Night was born on October 16, 2015 in Calgary and we vowed to treat this business and city like Stu did in his day.
Each event gets more exciting and new ideas are brought forth on a daily basis. Dekada has grown way beyond what we expected in two and a half years. We are dealing with some of the biggest names in the business like having had 6 time 3 division world champion Zab Judah on our most recent card. We rub elbows with Roy Jones Jr., Freddie Roach, even Mike Tyson. Not bad for a little Calgary company that started with nothing but two guys, a notebook and a dream.
Michael and I come from different walks of life. He has an interesting story to tell as well and many experiences in his life that led to this day. As for me, I want to pay my respects and express my gratitude to Stu and Helen Hart and all of their kids. They not only changed my family’s life, they were also an important corner stone for Calgary, Western Canada and the world.
They are the sole reason my family lives in this beautiful country now. They are the reason I found my calling to be a promoter. Essentially, the Harts are the reason Dekada Fight Night exists.
On November 3rd, 2018, with the blessing of the Harts, we are going to award, one Dekada fighter, with the first Annual Stu Hart Memorial MVB (Most Valuable Boxer) trophy. It will signify, not only, the athlete’s abilities and record but, also what he or she means to the sport, the community and the city. It is a huge honor for us and we feel it to be necessary to keep the Hart Legacy alive in Calgary and Western Canada.
Thank you, Hart family.
I was born in Hanover, Germany in 1978 to a loving mother and a father who was a homicide detective of unconventional proportions, living a life similar to Donnie Brasco. This alone threw me into an interesting childhood where seeing dad on the front page of the paper was a normal thing, usually in relation to a successful arrest and sometimes in relation to his questionably agressive arrest tactics. He loved the job, the streets and the people he dealt with which, at times, even included people on the wrong side of the fence.
This life also became a catalyst for his involvement in professional wrestling through a friend, who eventually convinced him to join the ranks of the sport in a tag team under a mask due to Police regulations, at the time.
Hanover was home to an annual 53-day tournament that saw the likes of big names from around the world. It was only natural that the Harts would be involved and in the mid 70s, my father met and became friends with Bret, Keith, Bruce, Smith and Owen. In fact, eventually, I had to give up my room for whenever one of them was in Germany for the tournament. At one time we even had the Wild Samoans stay with us, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s uncles.
The friendship with the Harts grew and soon they invited dad to Calgary to work for their father, Stu, in Stampede Wrestling.
My father fell in love with city and the business and soon thereafter made the decision to eventually move all of us over. Immigration into Canada was a challenging thing, even in the 80’s so, in 1985, Stu decided to sponsor my father as a full time referee for the company.
And there began my full time life in the world of wrestling. I was 6 years old when we landed in Canada and the first experience I had was at the Saddle Dome where WWE (then WWF) was in town. Upon walking into the back area, I saw Hulk Hogan, Mr. T and Randy The Macho-Man Savage. I was hoping that Sylvester Stallone wasn’t there because two of the three just laid a major beat down on him in Rocky 3 which I had just finished watching for the 200th time back in Germany before we left.
As I grew up, I gravitated into the business and started wrestling at 16. Though I really enjoyed it, my heart was set on becoming a promoter one day and, I took every opportunity I could to learn from Stu. Often the lessons were carried out in the massive kitchen of his giant house on a Saturday morning while the old TV was broadcasting Stampede Wrestling from the night before. The biggest thing that I took away from that experience was five words he often used. ‘Aim high and shoot straight.’
In addition to my dad, Stu Hart was my idol. I admired everything he stood for, especially his ironclad, golden handshake. He came from the hardships of the 1930’s prairie life in Saskatchewan with nothing to his name while helping to raise his siblings. Stu knew that no one owed him anything which paved the way to fight for everything he earned. This fortitude would, one day, be the reason he found a way to support his lovely wife, Helen, and 12 very hungry kids after landing in Calgary where he set his roots.
I was very fortunate to have Stu in my life and cherish the experiences that surrounded him and his kids, many of them being mentors to me as well. Knowing the Harts, made for some very interesting Bar-B-Ques. It wasn’t shocking to see people in suites talking to people with chicken bones woven into their hair as part of their character. Though this business came with it’s shares of tragedies, tears and craziness, it was also something very special, the experience of which I wouldn’t trade for the world.
In the late 90s, wrestling, on a local level, became a very hard business to sell so, I decided to get out of it and went on to lead a normal life even though the urge to promote kept burning inside. I missed the business and the touring. Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, The Cuban Assassin, Gama Singh, Jerry Morrow, Keith and Bruce Hart and many more were a big extension of my family.
In early 2015, I met Michael Short whose life was boxing. After talking for a few hours, which lead to days and even weeks, the idea to promote boxing together came up. His wealth of knowledge in the boxing business and my experience with the entertainment side of things would be a nice combination to pave a path for a really entertaining event.
We shared a lot of the same philosophies and idolized Stu Hart. Our goal was to creat a platform for fighters to grow while we helped promote their name through the natural stories that surrounded them. Dekada Fight Night was born on October 16, 2015 in Calgary and we vowed to treat this business and city like Stu did in his day.
Each event gets more exciting and new ideas are brought forth on a daily basis. Dekada has grown way beyond what we expected in two and a half years. We are dealing with some of the biggest names in the business like having had 6 time 3 division world champion Zab Judah on our most recent card. We rub elbows with Roy Jones Jr., Freddie Roach, even Mike Tyson. Not bad for a little Calgary company that started with nothing but two guys, a notebook and a dream.
Michael and I come from different walks of life. He has an interesting story to tell as well and many experiences in his life that led to this day. As for me, I want to pay my respects and express my gratitude to Stu and Helen Hart and all of their kids. They not only changed my family’s life, they were also an important corner stone for Calgary, Western Canada and the world.
They are the sole reason my family lives in this beautiful country now. They are the reason I found my calling to be a promoter. Essentially, the Harts are the reason Dekada Fight Night exists.
On November 3rd, 2018, with the blessing of the Harts, we are going to award, one Dekada fighter, with the first Annual Stu Hart Memorial MVB (Most Valuable Boxer) trophy. It will signify, not only, the athlete’s abilities and record but, also what he or she means to the sport, the community and the city. It is a huge honor for us and we feel it to be necessary to keep the Hart Legacy alive in Calgary and Western Canada.
Thank you, Hart family.