The circle is complete....for the next generation of Harts

I felt that it was or would be a nice touch to mention that minor line from Star Wars Episode 4: A New Hope. The Harts family's next generation of wrestlers are all on the same brand by draft or such, and are now one unit. Tyson Kidd can formally welcome his friend, Natalya as well as his long-time partner, D.H. Smith. This talented trifecta has the talent to go very far in the WWE if all goes well. In fact, they have the chance to make as much noise, filling a void ECW has had in talent since April. But, before we go into that, let's have a look at D.H. and Natalya and see what makes them tick. Thanks, Wikipedia...again!

D.H. Smith's actual name is Harry David Smith. The middle name is the first name of his late father, David "Davey Boy" Smith, also known as the "British Bulldog". Davey's wife was Diana Hart, the youngest girl in the Hart Family, so D.H. comes from some serious wrestling history. He was trained by his father as well as Diana's brother and famous wrestler, Bruce Hart. He made his unofficial wrestling debut in 1996 when, at the age of 10, he teamed with his cousin Ted Annis (we know him as controversially talented wrestler Teddy Hart), to face TJ Wilson (whom we know as Tyson Kidd) and Andrew Picarnia at a Calgary House show. He made his official professional debut at the age of 15 at the Rockyford Rodeo, becoming a mainstay in Calgary's Stampede Wrestling organization. In May of 2002, Smith teamed up with his father twice, shortly before his father's untimely death. He turned down a contract from the WWE in 2004 to go to college and wrestle in Japan to fine tune his education in wrestling and academia. In that same year, he started teaming with TJ Wilson to form the "Stampede Bulldogs", a tag team that pays homage to D.H.'s father's team, the British Bulldogs, which consisted of Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid. That same year, the Stampede Bulldogs formed a stable called "The Hart Foundation 2.0", which consisted of themselves, Teddy Hart, and Teddy's good friend, Jack Evans. Initially, they were to wrestle in only Stampede Wrestling, but soon enough, they wrestled in America, competing in MLW (Major League Wrestling).

In January of 2005, Smith toured Japan for 5 weeks, wrestling with NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling) as the Black Assassin. He broke his hand during this tour. After he healed, he left Stampede Wrestling to wrestle a number of dark matches for the WWE. He then toured Japan again and later returned to Stampede Wrestling in October of 2005. On November 25 of that year, he was beaten by TJ Wilson, his long-time partner, in the finals of a tournament for the North American Heavyweight Championship. Smith then traveled to his father's country of England in January of 2006, wrestling in 1PW on January 6. He was billed as the mystery opponent for Jeff Jarrett, handpicked by Bret Hart, Smith's uncle. Later that year, Smith and his relatives attended Bret Hart's WWE Hall of Fame induction. He took that opportunity to meet with WWE execs for a shot in the WWE. They accepted, and he was sent to the WWE's farm systems of OVW, DSW, and FCW. After he completed his training, he was called up to Monday Night Raw. It was a failed experiment due to cold reviews and a suspension for a drug-related issue. After many months of inactivity, he was drafted to SD and then to ECW just recently, making his return to television by assisting Tyson Kidd and Natalya.

Natalya's real name is Natalie Neidhart. She is the daughter of Ellie Hart and wrestler Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. She received training in the Hart family training area, the "Dungeon", the basement of the Hart household where many wrestlers were trained by Stu Hart, the Hart family patriarch. Natalie was trained there by her uncles, Bruce and Ross Hart. She also received training in amateur wrestling and mixed martial arts. Currently, she is the only 3rd-generation female wrestler in the world today. Between the years of 2000 and 2001, Natalie acted as the host and ring announcer of MatRats, a wrestling youth-promotion created and lead by Eric Bischoff which did include Teddy Hart, Harry Smith, and TJ Wilson as wrestlers on their actual shows. In the year 2003, Natalie began working for Stampede Wrestling, starting a long-time feud with Belle Lovitz. The feud even spilled into the Prairie Wrestling Alliance where even a tag match was held between the two, only it involved Jim Neidhart as Natalya's partner. In 2005, she joined forces with the wrestling stable, the Myers Family.

Intending to hone her skill, Natalie toured England in 2004 and Japan in March of 2005. Upon returning to Canada, she became a heel and on June 17, 2005, won a four way match to become the first ever Stampede Women's Pacific Champion. Later, she vacated the title, and in November of 2005, she damaged her cruciate ligament in Japan, having to undergo surgery in early 2006. After being out for 6 months with this injury, Neidhart won the SuperGirls Championship from Lisa Moretti (we know her as Ivory while in the WWE), at a show held by NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling representing Big Time Wrestling. She lost the title in October 27, 2005, and had her last match in Stampede Wrestling before signing in January of 2007 with the WWE. She said thanks to her fans there, and reported to the WWE farm systems of FCW and OVW. In April of 2008, she was called up to the Smackdown roster, as a heel, under the name, Natalya. Her outing on SD included a partnership with Victoria, multiple losses in tag team action to rookies, and only one attempt at the newly vacant WWE Divas title, which she failed to get wrestling Michelle McCool. Some say it was due to her backstage heat with McCool over McCool's attempt at teaching her to wrestle the WWE style, which was something Natalya was more than capable of over years of training. After which, she was drafted to ECW, but not before introducing Tyson Kidd and acting as his valet.

Those were two very long and difficult journeys for these new draftees. However, if it's any indication of what they are capable of, the sky is truly the limit for Natalya, D.H., and even Tyson Kidd...if all goes well. All has to go well for these three, as they are the new representatives for the Hart Family. In fact, Kidd and Smith have the indelible task of filling the gap left by the Miz and Morrison as the top ECW tag team. It's not an easy task, as Miz and Morrison had everything to assist their excellence, like charisma. That might be something rather lacking on Kidd and Smith's part, for now. It's only a matter of time before they get noticed for their charisma. Still, there's room for growth. So, all has to go well for these three....hopefully.

I say, "hopefully", only because of the unforeseen factors that may or may not play a role in their untimely demise. One such thing is trouble with their health. They all have to stay healthy in more ways than one. Other than being careful in the ring, they have to make sure they don't hurt others, either. They don't want to end up like Kennedy, so, yea. Also, if there's a drug policy that needs following, they better do it. The last thing they need is another suspension, as D.H. Smith already has a few strikes against him. If he blows this deal, that's it for him, legacy or no. That could really hurt Tyson Kidd as his skills as a singles star will be put to the test, and so far, it hasn't looked good. I'm not talking about his style, as he can get it done. I'm talking about his record against big name stars. Another problem, I'm sorry to say, is politics. The surname, "Hart", is not very popular with a few key stars, as Bret Hart has had some serious disagreements during his career. This includes problems between himself and the "Kliq". Currently, the two top members of said group are still active in the WWE, with one of them (HHH) taking a very active role in the creative process. They have already shown Teddy Hart who's boss by showing him the door before he even got to the main stage. This not only had to do with HHH and his fellow Kliq member, HBK and their distaste for the Harts, but it also had to do with Teddy's controversial nature. Also, we have already seen Natalya virtually lose all momentum while on SD because of her problems with Michelle McCool (who is dating the Undertaker, a non-Kliq member with lots of clout). One wrong word to the wrong person, and any and all of this group will be fired. So, they have to be on their best behavior and at the best of their ability.

Nevertheless, it is great to see these three together, continuing the Hart Family legacy. They are probably the finest of athletes on ECW and now they have a platform to showcase their excellence in their battles. They just need to keep their noses clean, and away from trouble. They also need to step up their style and show the world why they are the best wrestlers going today. If they can't do that, they will have to find another place to keep the Hart wrestling legacy alive. Because, I get the impression that the WWE management won't be too "Hart"-broken over their loss of jobs. Lousy puns.