Gary Hart RIP

Vince135792003

From Slam sports:

In front of the camera, Gary Hart, who died Sunday, was one of the most vile and hated managers of all time; behind the scenes, he had one of the greatest minds for professional wrestling.

"He was a slinky bad guy, ruthless," said World Class Championship Wrestling announcer Bill Mercer. "I think he was the best of all the managers. With all respect to the others, God, he could slink around and look like he was always involved in doing something dirty behind the scenes -- which he did."

Born Gary Williams, Hart broke into the business in Chicago, his hometown, in 1960.

"I'm a guy from Chicago, I did grow up in a rough area and I learned early if somebody's got a brick you get a board, if they got a board you get a knife, and if somebody gets you today, you get them tomorrow. That's always been my mentality," he told The Missing Link biographer Meredith Renwick. "I'm a kid from Chicago who worked very hard to make it in wrestling."

His uncle, Billy Gales, was the booking agent for promoter Fred Kohler in the Chicago area. One night, Angelo Poffo was looking for someone to be a second to him, as Bronko Lubich had gone to the Carolinas. "I started as his second. As time went by, he liked me, I became his tag team partner, then I became his manager."

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Hart had made an appearance on Saturday in Allentown, Penn., for a signing, a story covered by our own Steven Johnson [World Class not a distant memory].

At the signing, Hart took credit for the legendary Von Erichs versus Freebirds feud from World Class. "Contrary to what Michael Hayes said, that was all 'Playboy' Gary Hart. I brought him in, I manipulated him, I positioned him," said Hart, who ran the office with referee Bronco Lubich, a 10 percent owner, since Fritz Von Erich spent most of his time tending to other interests. "They [The Freebirds] were great at what they did, but that was me. I would have never told you that 10 years ago," Hart said. "What popped Dallas and Texas itself was Kevin, David, and Kerry. They were the guys that packed arenas."

Other Hart creations? How about naming Virgil Runnels Dusty Rhodes, and later baptizing him The American Dream.

He had numerous stints as a booker, primarily in Texas, but also in Florida and Australia. It was a job he took seriously. "I was the booking agent and I was the producer of the TV and I had a responsibility to World Class, and I had a responsibility to the other wrestlers in the area to make this thing work," he recalled about returning to World Class around 1987.

Hart was a house-father the last few years, raising his son Chad, who had begun his own career in pro wrestling, in Euless, Tex.

He died Sunday afternoon.

SLAM! Wrestling is still gathering information and will have more details later.

I'd imagine not many on the board would have heard of him unless you watched the NWA for a while in the late 80's or were into relatively old wrestling.

He was pretty important though as a manager and as a booker. He's also a big reason why wrestling fans should go out of their way to watch the World Class documentaries in my opinion. His knowlegde, passion and intelligence really shines through. RIP Gary Hart.

fatal

Although I havent seen much of him in his managerial ,i've heard people refer to him as being one of the greatest managers ever in the business.
His role as a booker was also very sucessful.He certainly knew what to give the crowd at his shows.He was very passionate about wrestling and certainly left his mark on the business.


RIP Gary Hart:(

Fozzy

RIP. He was very influential in WCCW and a great manager

Vince135792003

A little more perspective from Dave Meltzer:

Legendary wrestling manager passes away

Gary Hart passed away yesterday afternoon at his home in Euless, TX, after returning from an autograph session in Allentown, PA. He was 66.

Hart would have been among the top wrestling managers of all-time and was a fixture in the Dallas area working for Fritz Von Erich. He was best known for managing people like Bruiser Brody, The Spoiler, Great Kabuki, Chris Adams and the Great Muta.

Hart was the heel manager used when Eddie Graham and booker Bill Watts turned Dusty Rhodes babyface in Florida in 1974. As a booker, he was the mastermind of the building of Kerry Von Erich in Dallas in the early 80s, and booked the famous Christmas 1982 cage match with Ric Flair that ignited the territory.

ShawnRaven

Definitely one of the better managers from the 80s that wasn't on the WWE circuit. It would have been damn near impossible to watch the J-Tex Corp without Hart there.

"Playboy" Gary Hart. 1942-2008
VR!

nacho libre

I remember him as being a fantastic bad guy. You couldn't trust his character at all.:pac:

RIP

Vince135792003

http://www.wwe.com/inside/news/6686296/

Gary Hart video tributes from Ric Flair, Michael Hayes, Dusty Rhodes, Jim Ross and others. Worth a watch especially Micheal Hayes's. It's pretty special.