Ben Bassarab
Encyclopedia
Ben Bassarab is a Canadian
former professional wrestler
, best known for his appearances with Stu Hart
's Stampede Wrestling
promotion
throughout the 1980s.
and debuted in Hart's Calgary, Alberta based Stampede Wrestling
promotion
under his own name in 1983. Bassarab formed a tag team
with Phil Lafleur. They faced Danny Davis
and Hubert Gallant
for the Stampede International Tag Team Championship in early 1984, but the match was ruled a no-contest and the title was vacated.
The acquisition of Stampede by Vince McMahon
(owner of the World Wrestling Federation
, WWF) in 1985 led to many Stampede wrestlers being signed by the WWF. The British Bulldogs
, Jim Neidhart
, Owen Hart
, and Bret Hart
were all hired, but Bassarab was not, though he did face WWF wrestler Brutus Beefcake at the Maple Leaf Gardens
in Toronto
on July 28, 1985. Bassarab substituted for the absent Tony Garea and lost to Beefcake.
Bassarab began pursuing the International Tag Team Championship once more and began teaming with Chris Benoit
. On March 1, 1986 in Regina, Saskatchewan
, Bassarab and Benoit defeated Honky Tonk Man, Wayne Farris, and Rotten Ron Starr for the International Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Farris and his new partner, The Cuban Assassin
, on March 21 in Calgary.
Bassarab then formed a new team with his brother-in-law, Owen Hart. On August 9 in Edmonton, Alberta they defeated Duke Myers and Kerry Brown
for the International Tag Team Championship. They held the title until October 3, when they lost to The Viet Cong Express (Hiroshi Hase and Fumihiro Niikura) in Calgary. Bassarab and Owen feuded
with the Express throughout Western Canada
, on one occasion fighting to a forty-five minute draw, but were unable to regain the International Tag Team Championship.
Bassarab remained with Stampede for the remainder of his career. He worked for the WWF when they toured Alberta in 1987 and 1988, and retired in 1992.
accused him of participating in various criminal activities and of being a "deadbeat dad
". In September 1990, he was charged with steroid
possession and trafficking, although the charges were dropped. Subsequently, he went to prison for 18 months for assault.
On March 20, 1991, Bassarab pleaded guilty to aggravated assault by inflicting a deliberate beating as punishment for failing to account for $30,000 worth of cocaine. The assault was inflicted by punches, kicks and assault with a knife.
Bassarab later became a truck driver and, later, a warehouse
foreman before retiring to run a vending machine
and landscaping
business.He now works at a Home Depot.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
former professional wrestler
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
, best known for his appearances with Stu Hart
Stu Hart
Stewart Edward "Stu" Hart, CM was a Canadian amateur wrestler, professional wrestler, promoter and trainer. Hart founded Stampede Wrestling, a promotion based in Calgary, Alberta, and was the father of famous wrestlers Bret and Owen Hart...
's Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies...
promotion
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...
throughout the 1980s.
Professional wrestling career
Bassarab was trained by Stu HartStu Hart
Stewart Edward "Stu" Hart, CM was a Canadian amateur wrestler, professional wrestler, promoter and trainer. Hart founded Stampede Wrestling, a promotion based in Calgary, Alberta, and was the father of famous wrestlers Bret and Owen Hart...
and debuted in Hart's Calgary, Alberta based Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling
Stampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies...
promotion
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...
under his own name in 1983. Bassarab formed a tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...
with Phil Lafleur. They faced Danny Davis
Dan Marsh
Dan Marsh is a former professional wrestling referee and wrestler most famous as Danny Davis of the World Wrestling Federation. He also competed in the WWF for several years as Mr. X, a masked wrestler....
and Hubert Gallant
Hubert Gallant
Hubert Gallant is a retired Canadian professional wrestler and trainer who competed in North American regional promotions during the 1970s and early 1980s including Stampede Wrestling and Emile Dupree's Grand Prix Wrestling as well short stints in the National Wrestling Alliance, specifically the...
for the Stampede International Tag Team Championship in early 1984, but the match was ruled a no-contest and the title was vacated.
The acquisition of Stampede by Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
(owner of the World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
, WWF) in 1985 led to many Stampede wrestlers being signed by the WWF. The British Bulldogs
British Bulldogs
The British Bulldogs were the team of cousins Davey Boy Smith and Tom Billington , professional wrestlers who competed through most of the 1980s in both North America, England, and Japan and is by many considered one of the top tag-teams in history.-Early years :In the 1970s, Dynamite Kid and Davey...
, Jim Neidhart
Jim Neidhart
James Henry "Jim" Neidhart is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. Jim is the father of WWE Diva Natalya...
, Owen Hart
Owen Hart
Owen James Hart was a Canadian professional and amateur wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling , World Championship Wrestling , and most notably, the World Wrestling Federation , where he wrestled under both his own name, and ring name The...
, and Bret Hart
Bret Hart
Bret Hart is a Canadian on-screen personality, writer, actor and Semi-retired professional wrestler. Like others in the Hart wrestling family, Hart has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College...
were all hired, but Bassarab was not, though he did face WWF wrestler Brutus Beefcake at the Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is an indoor arena that was converted into a Loblawssupermarket and Ryerson University athletic centre in Toronto, on the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto's Garden District.One of the temples of hockey, it was home to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
on July 28, 1985. Bassarab substituted for the absent Tony Garea and lost to Beefcake.
Bassarab began pursuing the International Tag Team Championship once more and began teaming with Chris Benoit
Chris Benoit
Christopher Michael "Chris" Benoit was a Canadian professional wrestler whose career and life ended in a murder–suicide...
. On March 1, 1986 in Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
, Bassarab and Benoit defeated Honky Tonk Man, Wayne Farris, and Rotten Ron Starr for the International Tag Team Championship. They lost the title to Farris and his new partner, The Cuban Assassin
Angel Acevedo
Angel Acevedo is an American filmmaker.-Biography:Acevedo attended Hofstra University where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Film Studies and Production and won Best Screenplay for his thesis film Cheesecake...
, on March 21 in Calgary.
Bassarab then formed a new team with his brother-in-law, Owen Hart. On August 9 in Edmonton, Alberta they defeated Duke Myers and Kerry Brown
Kerry Brown (wrestler)
Kerry Brown was a Canadian professional wrestler. Brown was best known for working in Stampede Wrestling in the 1980s under his real name, but also wrestled in Puerto Rico and the Maritimes using the ring name Rick Valentine.-Beginning and Canadian promotions:Brown began wrestling in 1979 in...
for the International Tag Team Championship. They held the title until October 3, when they lost to The Viet Cong Express (Hiroshi Hase and Fumihiro Niikura) in Calgary. Bassarab and Owen feuded
Feud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...
with the Express throughout Western Canada
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces and commonly as the West, is a region of Canada that includes the four provinces west of the province of Ontario.- Provinces :...
, on one occasion fighting to a forty-five minute draw, but were unable to regain the International Tag Team Championship.
Bassarab remained with Stampede for the remainder of his career. He worked for the WWF when they toured Alberta in 1987 and 1988, and retired in 1992.
Personal life
He married Stu Hart's daughter Alison Hart in May 1983. They were married briefly, before leaving Alison when she was pregnant with their second daughter. They have two children, Lindsay and Brooke, both children are close to Davey Boy Smith's children. In her controversial autobiography, Under The Mat, his sister-in-law Diana HartDiana Hart
Diana Joyce Hart-Smith is the youngest daughter of Canadian wrestling promoter Stu Hart and now his youngest living child. She is also the former wife of wrestler "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith and mother of former WWE superstar David Hart Smith. She was also the 1997 Mrs...
accused him of participating in various criminal activities and of being a "deadbeat dad
Deadbeat dad
Deadbeat parent is a term referring to obligor parents of either gender that have freely chosen not to be a financially supportive parent in their children's lives...
". In September 1990, he was charged with steroid
Steroid
A steroid is a type of organic compound that contains a characteristic arrangement of four cycloalkane rings that are joined to each other. Examples of steroids include the dietary fat cholesterol, the sex hormones estradiol and testosterone, and the anti-inflammatory drug dexamethasone.The core...
possession and trafficking, although the charges were dropped. Subsequently, he went to prison for 18 months for assault.
On March 20, 1991, Bassarab pleaded guilty to aggravated assault by inflicting a deliberate beating as punishment for failing to account for $30,000 worth of cocaine. The assault was inflicted by punches, kicks and assault with a knife.
Bassarab later became a truck driver and, later, a warehouse
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
foreman before retiring to run a vending machine
Vending machine
A vending machine is a machine which dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, alcohol, cigarettes, lottery tickets, consumer products and even gold and gems to customers automatically, after the customer inserts currency or credit into the machine....
and landscaping
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...
business.He now works at a Home Depot.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Diving crossbody
- Running powerslam
Championships and accomplishments
- Stampede WrestlingStampede WrestlingStampede Wrestling is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta and was for nearly 50 years one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies...
- Stampede International Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Chris BenoitChris BenoitChristopher Michael "Chris" Benoit was a Canadian professional wrestler whose career and life ended in a murder–suicide...
(1), Owen HartOwen HartOwen James Hart was a Canadian professional and amateur wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling , World Championship Wrestling , and most notably, the World Wrestling Federation , where he wrestled under both his own name, and ring name The...
(1)