Wrestler ‘the Anvil’ had roots in Calgary

Minutes after the death Monday of his brotherin-law and former wrestling icon Jim “the Anvil” Neidhart’s death, Bruce Hart received the sad news from his sister Ellie.

Neidhart, 63, had collapsed and struck his head in the Florida home he shared with his wife Ellie.

“I’m kind of shocked — I’d heard he’d had some health issues but nothing alarming,” said Bruce, adding he’d suffered early onset Alzheimer’s disease.

That realization conjured a flood of memories of the man who’d left his NFL dreams behind to come to Calgary in the late 1970s seeking a new chapter under the wing of wrestling royalty the Hart family.

“Anvil had been sent here by some wrestler in Los Angeles,” said Bruce.

“I introduce him to my sister and he went on to wrestle with us for five years before he went on to the WWF.”

Neidhart honed his wrestling chops under the eye of Hart family patriarch Stu, training on the green monster mat in the basement of the family’s west-side Calgary mansion.

He went on to help form the original Hart Foundation with Bret “Hitman” Hart.

After disbanding that team, Neidhart helped form the New Foundation with Bret’s brother Owen, who’d die in a ring accident in Kansas City in 1999.

“They were pretty successful,” said Bruce.

Another Hart Foundation brought together Neidhart with Owen, Bret, the British Bulldog and Brian Pillman.

“Bret’s the last remaining member of the Hart Foundation,” noted Bruce.

“There’ve been quite a few casualties, sad to say, in the wrestling realm.”

HEWAS ALWAYS PRETTY HIGH ENERGY, UP FORFUN.

On Monday, a grieving Hitman could barely summon words to express his sorrow.

“I’m heartbroken,” tweeted the man who won two WWE Tag Team Championships with Neidhart.

On his Instagram account, he added: “Stunned and saddened. I just don’t have the words right now.”

Neidhart’s final time in the WWE ring was in 1997.

But his daughter Natalya has taken up the wrestling torch, while chronicling her life as a grappler as a Postmedia columnist.

On Monday, fellow ring warrior the Iron Sheikh paid homage to Neidhart by recalling their travels.

“One of my oldest friends in the business Jim Neidhart. We travel together I love him forever like a brother,” he tweeted.

Neidhart’s zest for life would be missed, said Bruce Hart. “He was always pretty high energy, up for fun and a bit of a hell-raiser,” he said.