Has Teddy Hart Changed At All in the Past 15 Years?
Credit: MLW via Twitter
Teddy Hart has burst back onto the national scene in a big way with The New Hart Foundation made up of himself, Davey Boy Smith Jr and Brian Pillman Jr. While Hart has shown that he can still compete with the top names of today, has anything about him changed in the last 15 years?
Let me just get this out of the way before anything else – Teddy Hart is fun to watch. Whether or not you like flips, dives, and sometimes convoluted high-flying you can’t deny that when you watch a Teddy Hart match that you’re going to enjoy yourself on some level. Maybe it’s the spectacle of watching the 20-plus year veteran soar around the ring. Perhaps it’s the edge-of-your-seat fear of seeing a springboard gone awry. Either way, Teddy Hart captivates wherever he goes and against whoever he wrestles.
That being said, there are a number things about Hart that have felt a bit off since resurfacing in Major League Wrestling and other US indies this year. We can start with the one topic that likely always surfaces when someone talks about the controversial leader of the Hart Foundation – his attitude. Since his first match back in MLW, where he defeated Trey Miguel to earn a spot in Battle Riot, Hart has carried an air of frustration and paranoia along with him.
Hart has had several run-ins with Rich Swann and ACH in which Hart accuses the partners to be laughing at him and demands that they “let me in on the joke” that has the pair so tickled. Not only that, but Hart has also lashed out at the duo claiming that they need to “remember who you used to watch and why you guys are so good.” To cap things off, on MLW Fusion 17 Hart and crew tore into a camera person attempting to catch a word with them while informing us all that he won’t be following anybody’s scripts as he makes his MLW comeback.
The common belief when it comes to characters and gimmicks in professional wrestling is that they often work best when they are an extension of the individuals themselves. Does it seem out of the realm of possibility that the portrayal of Teddy Hart on-screen is born out of his own real-life insecurities and delusions? Perhaps the obsession of rising back to prominence in the world of professional wrestling has begun to eat away at Hart who, at 38, could be seeing and feeling the tolls that two decades as a high-flyer have taken on his body. This may be Hart’s final chance to make a lasting mark and shine amongst an entirely new breed of athletes.
When Hart first rose to prominence in the early 2000s, independent wrestling was an entirely different place than it is now. His antics and demeanor earned him a short stay in Ring of Honor in 2003 after being released from a WWE developmental contract for reported attitude problems. While the wrestlers of today need to be mindful of their surroundings and how their behavior may affect their chances of being booked, Teddy Hart still seems to be fighting the same inner battles as he was 15 years ago and alienating himself from those around him.