WWE Raw: Results, Highlights, and Analysis for August 13, 2018

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Remembering The Anvil

As mentioned earlier, and as referenced by Ronda Rousey to open the show, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart passed away earlier in the day at the age of 63. Neidhart was a part of the Hart Foundation, both the tag team in the 1980s and the larger stable in the 1990s. His daughter, Natalya, is still active in WWE today, and is a former Women’s Champion.

A lot has been written by a lot of people about Neidhart today. The fact that there was no “in memory” graphic at the start of the show was a little strange, but a part of me wonders if that’s because the production crew was still working on the video package.

Either way, the way I’ll always remember The Anvil is as a great tag team wrestler. His partnership with Bret Hart was one of my first introductions to the then-WWF as a child (yes, I am old). I vividly remember them as Tag Team Champions, defending against The Rockers.

Neidhart also teamed with Owen Hart as a part of the unfortunately named “New Foundation.” One of my favorite pay per view events in history is the 1992 Royal Rumble, and the first match on that card was The New Foundation vs. The Orient Express. And it’s a really good tag match.

The sadness at thinking about the Hart Foundation from the 1990s — Bret, Owen, Anvil, the British Bulldog, and Brian Pillman — gets a bit worse every day. Sending positive thoughts to Natalya and the entire Hart and Neidhart families.