Show: Interactive Wrestling Radio
Guest: Teddy Hart
Date: 05/119/19
Your Host: James Walsh

The man who once was considered the “Past, Present, and Future of Professional Wrestling” is back in action with Major League Wrestling and is proving that he is one of the true best in the world presently as he carries his family name into battle with his new Hart Foundation stable. Of course, I am speaking of Teddy Hart! And, he joins us for the first time in 15 years for a brand new interview.

Teddy’s journey has been one that has been laced with controversy. But, in 2019, Teddy is in the best head space and sounds the most mature he has ever sounded. The reigning and defending MLW Middleweight and one-half of the Tag Team Champions is set to head into Fury Road live on beIN Sports on June 1st from Milwaukee, WI defending his Middleweight title against the ultra-violent Jimmy Havoc. That is a topic of discussion as well as the birth of AEW, the growth of MLW, and his finding himself and his maturity over the years.

If you were around back when we first had Teddy on in 2003 and hear this interview, you know it is the same person. But, a much better version of the same person. I truly believe Teddy Hart has the right attitude to succeed.

NOTE: This is the first of 2 transcripts I will be sending out on this interview. He spoke about the birth of AEW, facing Jimmy Havoc at Fury Road, and his maturity since his jail time in part 2 which we will release later in the week. There was just too much content to release all at once without it getting lost. But, you can hear it ALL now! 

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TEDDY HART:

On being the MLW Middleweight Champion:
“It has been unbelievable. Actually, I have the tag titles too right now with my cousin Davey Boy Smith Jr. To hold two belts is amazing. This company has been unbelievable to me.”

On leading the Hart Foundation in the 21st Century:
“It has been a huge honor to carry the family name and to be from the Dungeon alone and to be the oldest grandson of Stu Hart. It has its ups and downs. We’ve had a lot of death in our family. But, with death comes either sitting around and moping or getting up and doing something about it and trying to honor the people who are up in Heaven now watching me. It has been a tough 20 years with some stuff and a good with others. MLW has probably been the best thing to happen to me except maybe the MTV show (Wrestling Society X). That was a great show but never really did anything after the first season. Hopefully MLW continues doing well and gives me a platform to show my skills.”

On his age working for or against him:
“I’m getting a little older. Wrestling is something that you can do until you’re 50, maybe even older. I’m pretty excited about this next couple of years. A lot of young guys have come up watching guys like Ricochet, Kenny Omega, Neville, The Young Bucks, myself, Jack Evans… I think the evolution of wrestling is something I’m on the forefront of. The evolution of moves. The whole thing with cool outfits and trying to expand the fan base of wrestling for the next 20 years.”

On realizing his high flying style would become the norm when he was doing it 20 years ago:
“We hoped it would be like that. I think we were persecuted for it at first (ha and Jack Evans) because we were doing so much. It made the bar a lot higher and the skill level for guys coming up, they had to do more than a few moves to be noticed. I don’t think we got the credit we deserved. But, I think a lot of people are going back and watching YouTube videos and seeing who did these moves first. It is hard to innovate new moves and people steal it, copy it. I think, especially me and Jack. I think Ricochet too, Amazing Red… There was about five guys. AJ Styles. Maybe Christopher Daniels… There were about ten guys who were always trying to come up with different stuff and different combos. I believe those are the guys who changed wrestling and made wrestling what it is today. I love the big guys too. But, if I watch the same episode of something over, and over, and over again, it is going to be good a couple of times but it is going to get monotonous. That is something I hope wrestling fans and people appreciate. Coming up with new stuff is hard! You’ve got to be in the ring and practicing a lot. You’ve got to watch your tapes.”

On bringing a cat to the ring:
“I bring a cat to the ring a lot now. Cats are hard to train. I kind of think of myself like a cat. I don’t always want to do what I’m told unless there is a reason for it. I thought it would be cool to teach the cat to do a backflip or just get it to sit on the turnbuckle and watch my match. Just to bring something different to the wrestling world. I would love to do something with dogs too. I see some of those show dogs. I saw a lady on America’s Got Talent doing stuff with 7 or 8 cats. I thought that was incredible. It even expanded what I could do with my cat. I’ve had my cat, Mr. Velvet, do a couple finishes lately. One time, the cat actually ran into the audience because the guy didn’t hold him properly. That was kind of crazy because I had to finish the whole match wondering where the cat was.”

On why we saw Teddy on WSX but never Lucha Underground:
“That was probably my own fault. I was going through a divorce and there were some charges that were involved with that. Most of it was bullshit. I can’t stop someone from charging me. What I can do is hire a lawyer and take it to the court and if I’m guilty, I’m going to jail. If I’m innocent, I’ll be acquitted. That time, I was acquitted of all charges. I couldn’t be there the way that I wanted and the people that were running it, it was a new show, if your lifestyle was a problem or could come back to haunt them, they weren’t going to use you. That was probably my own fault. I would love to get on Lucha Underground. I thought that show was unbelievable. I’m glad it got as many seasons as it did. I hope it gets another season.”

On the Lucha Underground presentation:
“I think AEW is going to be like that I think MLW has a pretty cool outllook on wrestling. There rules for success are a little different from how other companies do stuff. They’ve become this new company that has got big balls and are not afraid to book certain guys and let them run with the ball. That is the thing with Teddy Hart. I always wanted to do stuff but maybe the interpretations of my attitude. Some of that was my fault. But, I think a lot of that was smoke and mirrors. A lot of guys who are my friends stick up for me. It seems to me the MLW fans have noticed my efforts. I say this to anyone that asks – I get paid nothing extra to do all that crazy stuff. It is just my respect for the wrestling fans that I felt they deserved to get more. I risk my life for your smile and also to call out the other guys in the business to do more. If a 40 year old man like me is doing this stuff clean at 40, and more people are getting to see what I do than ever before based on how the Internet works and the fact that MLW is on TV… This is the first time that I’ve been on national TV in the United States. So far, so good. I’ve gotten to live the dreams I never thought I would. I’ve got to have a belt, two belts now. I get to be with my cousin (Davey Boy Smith Jr). So, that is a dream come true.”

On the passing of his brother:
“Today is my brother’s birthday who passed away from the flesh eating virus. He was the motivation for me and my cousin to continue wrestling. I was 15, my brother was 13. Harry was, I think, 11. They had their first match when they were, I think, 8! Harry (Davey Boy Smith Jr) has been wrestling since he was 7 and my brother started when he was 9. They were my inspiration to get in there. WHen my brother passed away, I felt it was my responsibility to carry on the family name. My parents were devistated by it and I wanted to give them something to sort of focus their energies on instead of his death. His death caused a chain reaction for a lot of guys to get in this business and honor his memory and do really cool stuff. I believe in God all the time and in Heaven, there is a crowd watching Teddy Hart, Davey, Jack Evans… THose are kind of the 3 that came out of the Hart Dungeon.”

On his thoughts of Tyson Kidd:
“Obviously, Tyson Kidd is one of the greatest wrestlers ever. I don’t think he ever got the right treatment from WWE until he started getting popular and people started realizing he is one of the greatests. He had that injury that was a terrible injury,. That could have went really bad for everybody. I have said this before. If Tyson Kidd wanted to sit and be upset about what happened to him, instead of Bret, Tyson Kidd had quite a worse situation happen to him, he found a way to get through it and now he’s back up working with WWE as an agent.”

On Natalya:
“My cousin Natalya is one of the hardest working and most talented. She’s been wrestling forever. I think she’s had the most matches, in WWE, in female wrestling. I think she’s had the most matches in company history which is just another signature of the Harts. The fact that she was the last student out of the Dungeon and the people she trained with like Tokyo Joe, Tyson Kidd, myself… The Mat Rats program before. She was one of the first ones to get in there and try crazy stuff. She was doing moonsaults, dragonranas, and frankinsteiners off the top. A lot of stuff that I don’t think she does now because she got hurt in Japan. She came back and said to me, “It is so crazy doing all this stuff. I’d like to find a style that is going to allow me to last in this business.” I take my hat off to her for being so relevant for so long and for being so popular and so well respected by the females in the locker room.”