Hart Attack: The Origin?
By Scott Keith on 9th August 2021
Okay, this came up in the Challenge thread.
When the heck did the WWF start calling the Hart Foundation's finisher the Hart Attack? I remember people using that name for it on RSPW circa 97 when I joined, but where the hell did all you old farts get it from? The best we can come up with is that Randy Savage called it that once at KOTR 94.
Is this one of those things where RSPW decided on something, and then someone like Joey Styles picked up on it in the early ECW days and used it?
It came from the WWF magazine and I think everyone just figured that the name was so stupidly perfect that it couldn't possibly be called anything else. I don't recall ever hearing it on WWF TV until long after the Harts had ceased to be a team, though, well into the late 90s as you note. In fact the first time I can actively recall it being used as a name for the move in canon was actually the nutso Vince and Shane tag team match in 2006 where they did all the 80s moves on Shawn Michaels.
This also leads to another rabbit hole: I know I always call it “Demolition Decapitation” from RSPW as well, but was THAT ever a real thing or did we just collectively make that up as well?