Jaze Hart from Oro-Medonte, has a career defining opportunity in front of him Saturday, Aug. 11 at Barrie Wrestling.
Hart is currently managing the most dominant star in Barrie Wrestling history, Patient 705, who will be competing for the 3 Pistols championship.
It’s been quite a journey for Hart, who fell in love with wrestling as a youngster – a love affair that began when he started renting old Wrestlemania VHS tapes from his local Blockbuster.
It wasn’t until he became a teenager that he decided that wrestling was going to become his profession.
“I asked myself at 16, what I wanted to do with my life? I knew my passion was always going to be wrestling, and I had to become a wrestler,” Hart said.
For Hart, some unfortunate circumstances afforded him the chance to chase his dream.
“My Godmother passed away when I was 19 and she left me with an inheritance of about $300,000,” said Hart, who admits he wanted to put all of it toward becoming a professional wrestler.
“I bought myself a pair of tights and boots and signed up for wrestling school at Squared Circle Training in North York,” he said.
Hart’s family and friends were the furthest thing from supportive. He was laughed at, teased and told he was wasting his time. As he looks back, he admits overcoming those taunts was the easy part.
“On the first day of training, I wasn’t ready for what hit me. They tried to break me,” said Hart. “They thought I was just a backyard wrestler and it took some convincing to gain respect.”
Gaining respect was not easy.
“They made me spend six to seven hours doing brutal training, running around the facility non-stop, jumping jacks, burpees, you name it, I had to do it,” Hart said.
Hart never really found his stride as a wrestler, but once the opportunity to become a manager presented itself, he discovered his true talent.
“When I started managing, I played the classic bad guy kind of manager, sort of like Bobby “The Brain” Heenan,” Hart said. “I really found my stride and had wrestlers coming up to me saying I cut a better promo than anyone in the country.”
The ultimate praise of Hart’s work as a manager came from a WWE Hall of Famer.
“I got the chance to cut a promo in front of Jake “The Snake” Roberts, and his feet left the ground,” Hart said smiling from ear to ear. “He looked at me with a look of shock on his face.”
And that is saying something. “Jake is probably one of the best promo guys of all time. For him to be impressed with my work, was super cool.”
Hart says he wants to go pro in the industry, and feels that he has the talent to one day make it to the WWE.
Despite those future ambitions, all Hart is currently focused on is this Saturday at Barrie Wrestling.
Bell time at the 49 Ferris Lane venue is 5 p.m.
