About
WORKFORCE FITNESS PERFORMANCE CENTER
Welcome to the Official Website of the Workforce Fitness Performance Center! Located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Workforce Fitness Performance Center is continuing the tradition of producing the Best Wrestlers in the World.
Imagine being named alongside such Calgary-Trained Wrestlers as Brian Pillman, Owen Hart, Teddy Hart, Rachael Ellering, Taya Valkryie, Davey-Boy Smith Jr., Viktor, Tyler Breeze, Gama Singh, Rick Titan, Test, Edge, Christian, Rhino, The Beast From The Middle East, Ken Shamrock, Mark Henry, Droz, Crush, Rhonda Singh, Natalyia, “Champaigne” Gerry Morrow, Bad News Allen/Brown, Edge, Andrew Martin “Test”, Lance Storm, Chris Jericho, Jason Reso & Bret “The Hitman” Hart. All these names were trained in the city of Calgary, Alberta, and all their training stemmed in one way or another from the infamous Hart Dungeon or under the guidance of our Head Coach Leo “The Legend” Burke at the WWF Training Center in the Bret Hart Mansion.
Workforce Fitness Performance Center
Success Story - Making It BIG!
TJ Wilson aka Tyson Kidd
Sidney Iking Bateman
Leo " The Legend" Burke
Bruce Hart
Train with Hart’s & Legends
Hart History & Our Origins
Want to be trained by the same man who trained 9 (so far) World Champions? Now you can! Our Chain Wrestling Coach & Former WWF Superstar, “Dr. Hannibal” Steve Gillespie has trained many superstars including Lance Storm (one of the best technical wrestlers of all time) & Chris Jericho.
You’ll learn every aspect of being a Pro Wrestler there is, receiving training in not just how to Take & Deliver a Bump, but Time-Honoured Traditions such as Locker Room Etiquette, the correct way to Enter a Ring, how to Cut a Promo, Give Interviews in Front of a Camera, Finding & Developing Your Character, what “Ring Psychology” Really Is and More. you’ll be taken from Day One right to Graduation, complete with a Certificate of Training, Promo Video of You & Your Work, a Portfolio, and a Tryout with all the World’s Biggest Promotions (ROH, AEW, Triple A, IMPACT, WWE, ect…), with a Guaranteed Debut on the Independent Circuit! Check out our website and see what we offer you! Then Submit our Online Application Form. We’ll go from there!
The school is open to both Men & Women, Boys & Girls!
The Hart Dungeon or Hart Family Dungeon, otherwise known simply as The Dungeon, was the gym and wrestling school located in the basement of the Hart mansion. The school was created by WWE Hall of Famer Stu Hart, patriarch of the Hart wrestling family and is known for having produced some of the greatest and most successful professional wrestlers of all time, where one of your in ring handlers and coaches Torrin Rex Hart learned firsthand the secrets of the trade.
History
Stue Hart, Torrin’s grandfather acquired the former Calgary Army Hospital Mansion in 1951 and transformed its basement into his personal training center shortly thereafter. This was done because Hart needed a training facility after the founding of his first wrestling promotion in 1948. Although, the nickname itself developed over time when Stampede Wrestling became world famous.
Aside from professional wrestlers, the Dungeon provided training grounds for various athletes from strongmen to football players. The majority of Hart’s sons trained in the Dungeon and went on to become involved in the wrestling world including Bret & Owen Hart. Other famous Dungeon graduates include Billy Graham, Greg Valentine, Allen Coage, Davey Boy Smith, Brian Pillman, Jushin Thunder Liger, Steve “Dr Hannibal” Gillespie, Ricky Fuji, Chris Jericho, Lance Storm, Chris Benoit, Justin Credible, Edge, Christian & Mark Henry. Natalya, daughter of Jim Neidhart and granddaughter of Stu, was the first ever woman to graduate from the Dungeon. The final graduate of the Hart Dungeon was Tyson Kidd (now Natalya’s husband) and brother-in law to Torrin Rex Hart who trained along-side our very own The Beast From The Middle East, The Man They Hale “Ali” under the Hart Family.
I take a lot of pride in being one of the last guys that had the hands-on training from Stu Hart when I went to the Hart Family to train … It was a good experience just to be there, to imagine all the people that had been through there, and all the blood, sweat, and tears that had been paid … Going to the Hart Family for training was kind of like, if you’re a very religious person, going to the Vatican.
- Chris Benoit, WWE Unscripted, p. 54
One of the first televised acknowledgements of the nickname “Dungeon” was by then WWF color commentator Jesse Ventura. Its first significant exposure was in the documentary Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows. In it, the Dungeon was moderately filmed for the first time and Stu Hart is shown demonstrating wrestling holds on a pupil. Bret also discusses being trained by his father and having submission holds applied to himself, often with graphic descriptions from his father of the holds’ impact. A bonus feature on Bret’s DVD set also shows him discussing the Dungeon.
Various activities took place in the Dungeon, ranging from weight lifting to Catch wrestling. Bret Hart has described the Dungeon in interviews as having holes in the walls and ceiling from bodies being driven into them. He also noted that practices could, at times, be as intense as MMA styled fighting. In July 1998, the WWF filmed a match between Owen Hart and Ken Shamrock in the Dungeon for the Fully Loaded Pay-Per-View.
Reputation
During the period when Stu Hart was regularly training individuals at the school, it held a reputation for being one of the harshest wrestling schools in the world. Graduating from it was considered very impressive and something which would be brought up on air on televised wrestling shows. Hart himself also garnered a reputation for being borderline sadistic in his training techniques, and was known to torture his pupils with legitimate submission wrestling holds he had learned as a sports wrestler. Buddy Roberts described the place as “like a torture chamber”. In contrast to his descendants, Stu never took money for his training services and did it mostly for the love of the artform of professional wrestling.
3 Original Dungeon Trainers
- Stu Hart
- Mr. Hito, head trainer after Stu Hart
- Kazuo Sakurada
List of Notable Dungeon Trainees #34 Torrin Rex Hart, #61 Steve “Dr Hannibal” Gillespie & #66 The Beast From The Midadle East, your New Pro & Amateur Wrestling Coaches. 66 Dungeon Trained Men + 1 Woman #67
- Abdullah the Butcher
- Allen “Bad New Allen/Brown” Coage
- Al Oeming
- Archie Gouldie
- Ben Bassarab
- Billy Jack Haynes
- Blake Norton
- Brian Pillman
- Chris Benoit
- Chris Jericho
- Yvon Durelle
- Christian
- Davey Boy Smith
- Harry “Davey Boy Jr” Smith
- David Hart Smith
- Tyler Mane
- Dynamite Kid
- Edge
- Eduardo Miguel Perez
- Fritz Von Erich
- Gama Singh
- Gene Anderson
- George Scott
- Gorilla Monsoon
- Greg Valentine
- Dean Hart
- Smith Hart
- Ross Hart
- Wayne Hart
- Bret Hart
- Keith Hart
- Bruce Hart
- Owen Hart
- Torrin Rex Hart
- Teddy Hart
- Jason Helton
- The Honky Tonk Man
- Jake Roberts
- Jim Neidhart
- Jos LeDuc
- Junkyard Dog
- Jushin Thunder Liger
- Justin Credible
- Ken Shamrock
- Klondike Bill
- Lance Storm
- Larry Cameron
- Luther Lindsay
- Hiro Hase
- Mark Henry
- Masahiro Chono
- Michael Majalahti
- Nikolai Volkoff
- Paul LeDuc
- Ricky Fuji
- Roddy Piper
- Ruffy Silverstein
- Sandy Scott
- Shinya Hashimoto
- Steve Blackman
- Steve “Dr Hannibal” Gillespie
- Superstar Billy Graham
- Tyson Kidd
- Tom Magee
- Viktor
- The Beast From The Middle East, The Man They Hale “Ali”
- Natalya Neidhart
Legacy
In modern day being trained in the Dungeon carries a level of status and there have been many attempts to recreate and recapture its glory. In 2005 a documentary directed by Blake Norton (who trained at the school) named Surviving the Dungeon: The Legacy of “Stu Hart” was released.
SUBSEQUENT training camps run by members of the Hart family
After their father’s retirement some of the Hart brothers managed the school by themselves under the name Hart Brothers Training Camp which was also known by the nickname School of Hart Knocks. Leading up to the Hart House’s sale in 2003, the Hart Brothers Training Camp run by Bruce, Keith and Ross was still running three times a week in the basement of the Hart Mansion.
A very similar training camp with old traditions and respected legends remains today at the Workforce Fitness Performance Center under the guidance Hall of Famer Leo “The Legend” Burke Leonce Cormier, Steve “Dr Hannibal” Gillespie, Torrin Rex Hart, Vinnie Fever & The Beast From The Middle East, The Man They Hale Ali.
We look forward to working with you, welcome you aboard and hope your journey takes you down the same path and success as our very first student to join our school Sidney Iking Bateman and we are proud to announce has been offered a contract with the WWE/NXT, and on October sixteenth has officially signed with WWE/NXT
Workforce Fitness Performance Center. Facility & Services:
Workforce Fitness Performance Center not only has a world class facility to help you develop as you learn the art of Professional Wrestling, but it also includes a Full Gym Membership and the availability of Tanning Beds, Licensed Massage Therapists & Chiropractors, Aerobics, Spin & Hot Yoga Classes, Cardio Machines, Steam Room & Showers, Kickboxing, Grappling, Jujitsu, Boxing & MMA Classes, Power Lifting Equipment, Free Weights, Boot Camps, a Protein Bar, Nutritionist & Personal Fitness Trainer so you can develop your professional wrestling skills and physical body simultaneously.
Also for our International Students we provide Meals, Accommodations & Transportation to and from the Academy until you feel you are ready to work live shows, at which time we will provide you with the experience you will need with one of sister organizations traveling on the road doing live shows until we feel you are ready to debut with one of the larger organizations i.e. WWE who we are in contact with on a regular basis developing talent for their ever growing roster.
- Full Gym Membership
- Stand Up Tanning Beds
- Massage Therapy
- Aerobics Classes
- Spin Classes
- Cardio Equipment
- Steam Room
- Protein Bar (Healthy Choice Meals)
- Gym Wear
- Wrestling Gear
- Chiropractor
- Acupuncture
- Power Lifting Equipment
- Free Weights
- Boot Camp
- Hot Yoga
- Nutritionist
- Personal Trainer (Body Building)
- Showers
- Walk Ins Welcome (Wrestlers Needing a Place to Bump)
- Meals (7 Days a Week)
- Transportation (To & From Gym)
- Accommodations (International & Out of Town Students)
- Debuts & Tryouts with (WWE, Impact, AEW, ROH, MLW, NWA, QPW, New Japan & Triple AAA)
- Promo Pictures
- Character Development
- Entrance Music
- Work Name
- Finishing Move
- Highlight Video
- Extra & Background Work Acting on Movie Sets through (Dichter Casting)
- Meals (7 Days a Week)
- World Class & Hart Family Instructors from the (WWF, NWA, WCW, Impact, FMW, SOW, Can-Am & the UWN)
Plus:
For our International Students we Customize your Visa Application & Training Times to accommodate your schedule.
Please Note:
Space is limited and on a first come first serve basis as we are trying to be fair to all our students.
