10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (Oct 20)
3. The Hart Attack Was Inspired By The Doomsday Device
Bret Hart told more than one entertaining story about Road Warrior Hawk when appearing on the Killing The Town podcast with Lance Storm and Cyrus. As part of The Hart Foundation alongside Jim Neidhart, Bret only enjoyed a single match against The Legion Of Doom in the WWF.
Hawk wasn't happy with that match, and felt the 10-man tag main event from In Your House: Canadian Stampede years later was his chance to make up for it. That's something Hawk confided in Bret backstage before the event. Hart was only too pleased to accommodate Hawk, because he had taken inspiration from The Roadwarriors when seeking a new finishing move for he and Neidhart.
Watching the AWA in his hotel room one evening in the 1980's, Bret noticed Hawk and Animal perform The Doomsday Device. Feeling it looked cool, he suggested to Jim that they pattern their new Hart Attack finisher after that move, just with the twist of Neidhart holding opponents in a bearhug first.