owen hart 10 years on.

grames_bond

As you probably all know today is the 10 year anniversary of owen harts tragic death, so i wanted to open this thread as a mark of respect. I was always a great admirer of owen, technically sound, great in the ring and on the mic, multiple title holder and you never heard a bad word said against him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfwtbWMToP8

Owen Hart, King of Harts, Lone Hart 1965-1999


on a related topic, does anyone think the daniels/suicide storyline in tna is a way for them to pay respect to owen as it is almost identical to the owen/blue blazer storyline, also considering jeff and owen were incredibly close friends.

PRICELESS

This was the first non family related death that really got to me, i cried buckets, think I missed a few days off school aswell.

Long live Owen Hart.

Rocket, King, Black Hart, Soul Survivor.

RIP

ShawnRaven

The morning this happened is still fresh in my mind. Friend of mine was recording this PPV for me and I was supposed to go up to hers and watch it the next day. Of course, by the time about 2.20am struck, i got a phone frantic phone call explaining everything that had happened. Neither of us could get over the shock. I got another phone call about an hour later confirming that he had died. I actually wouldn't see that PPV for about another six years afterwards, primarily because I couldn't bring myself to watch it.

Was always an Owen fan, especially in his feuds with Bret. I always thought that he was the better worker, it's unfortunate how his career turned after Bret left the company, and Vince locking him into his contract.And especially the reasons why he was handed back the Blue Blazer gimmick.

Which said a lot about Owen as a guy who stood up for what he believed in, while keeping his personal beliefs while at the same time, still trying to do what he could to keep his employer content. It's just very unfortunate he ended up dying for his art.

Owen Hart - 1965-1999

grames_bond

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Which said a lot about Owen as a guy who stood up for what he believed in, while keeping his personal beliefs while at the same time, still trying to do what he could to keep his employer content. It's just very unfortunate he ended up dying for his art.

when i read this bit in brets book i had an even greater respect for owen, not liking the direction in which the company is going and standing up for what he believed in. further admirable qualities.

i will always rwemember the morning i found out, i was in 6th class and my mam woke me up to tell me, i was distraught and then heard JR's speech on the morning news.....couldnt believe it!

Shawn do you still have that PPV somewhere? if so you are probably one of the only people with the footage (actually how did wwe/f handle that when it happened live?)

DarkJager

grames_bond wrote: »

when i read this bit in brets book i had an even greater respect for owen, not liking the direction in which the company is going and standing up for what he believed in. further admirable qualities.

i will always rwemember the morning i found out, i was in 6th class and my mam woke me up to tell me, i was distraught and then heard JR's speech on the morning news.....couldnt believe it!

Shawn do you still have that PPV somewhere? if so you are probably one of the only people with the footage (actually how did wwe/f handle that when it happened live?)

I still have it on VHS. The camera cut to a panning overhead shot of the crowd, and then to the announcers who explained what was after happening and that it was not a planned part of the evening.

ShawnRaven

grames_bond wrote: »

Shawn do you still have that PPV somewhere? if so you are probably one of the only people with the footage (actually how did wwe/f handle that when it happened live?)

I still have the live sky sports feed, but they were able to cover it up with a 20 second delay or something when they got it in their earpiece that there were problems with the harness.

So they cut to a prerecorded interview while mentioning there were difficulties.
Then a crowd shot took place while JR explained the match wouldn't be taking place and that this is not part of the scheduled program and that Owen Hart has been seriously hurt.
They skip on then, to the next match, and this is where it goes downhill, as Jarrett's match is up next. Owen and Jarrett were pretty close and both he and Debra are close to tears trying to cut their pre match promo.

PPV then goes on for a little while before JR makes the announcement that is heard on nearly every WWE DVD that mentions Owen.

Lawler sounds very different during the rest of this PPV, you could tell he didn't want to keep going.

Mossy Monk

10 years ago already? Damn.

I remember watching the PPV live and saw some of what ShawnRaven describes and went to sleep. I heard it on Today FM the following morning while waiting for a bus that he died

grames_bond

ShawnRaven wrote: »

They skip on then, to the next match, and this is where it goes downhill, as Jarrett's match is up next. Owen and Jarrett were pretty close and both he and Debra are close to tears trying to cut their pre match promo.

Lawler sounds very different during the rest of this PPV, you could tell he didn't want to keep going.

yeah this is something ive always wrestled with myself (no pun intended) should the show have kept going? i know vince says there would have been a riot otherwise but i dunno, how was anyone supposed to continue on properly after what had just happened!

especially as you said, jarret who was great friends with owen, had to cut a promo and have a match?! (which is why i think tna are doing the daniels/suicide storyline, to finish it they way it was meant to be done....either that or i am lookin way too much into it)

Mossy Monk wrote: »

10 years ago already? Damn.

I remember watching the PPV live and saw some of what ShawnRaven describes and went to sleep. I heard it on Today FM the following morning while waiting for a bus that he died

yeah today fm is where i heard it too, after my mam told me, i remmeber ever second of that morning as if it was yesterday, i always admired owen and his skill, and his matches vs bret were amazing, i think they brought the best out of each other!

DM_7

Owen was one of my favourite wrestlers. I remember watching it on tape as I couldn't believe it had happened till i watched the tape. I was hoping the news had got it wrong.

grames_bond wrote: »

yeah this is something ive always wrestled with myself (no pun intended) should the show have kept going? i know vince says there would have been a riot otherwise but i dunno, how was anyone supposed to continue on properly after what had just happened!

especially as you said, jarret who was great friends with owen, had to cut a promo and have a match?! (which is why i think tna are doing the daniels/suicide storyline, to finish it they way it was meant to be done....either that or i am lookin way too much into it

The PPV should of ended. But how could vince know what to do, it was an unprecedented occurance I wouldn't envy anyone in that position who had to make a decision.

I'm not sure about the suicide thing, you could be right.

I had assumed the daniels storyline came about as people knew he took over from Kaz when he got injured. Its a storyline that is used in wrestling from time to time so i thought it just came up again. But before today I hadn't realised it was 10 years so hadn't thought about it.

grames_bond wrote: »

yeah today fm is where i heard it too, after my mam told me, i remmeber ever second of that morning as if it was yesterday, i always admired owen and his skill, and his matches vs bret

I will also remember the matches v Bret. I will be checking them out over the weekend.

Podge2k7

Can't believe its been 10 years already:(



RIP:(

Iridium

It is hard to believe it is ten years ago alright. As fate would have it I wasn't actually watching Over the Edge, and to this day I've still never seen it or have had any desire to see it. I remember a friend phoning me the next day and telling me though. I can still remember the intensity of the shock. Back then wrestling was a huge deal to me, and the Hart brothers were my favourite wrestlers. I don't watch much wrestling these days, apart from tapes of old events every now and again, and I can trace the start of my falling interest levels back to Owen's accident.

Unlike many of the guys who have risen to the top of the wrestling business due to their charisma behind the mic, or being in with the boss, I always admired the guys who were more athletic and skillful in the ring, and Owen was definitely one of the best workers in the then WWF in the 1990s. His fued with Bret in 1994 produced some amazing matches, and I still review their match at WrestleMania X, and their cage match at Summerslam 1994 fairly often. I still find their style of match building way better than anything that's being produced by WWE today. I always liked his character too, even when he was playing the jealous little brother role. He pulled it off in such an almost cartoonish way - you couldn't help but laugh.

Pro wrestling is unfortunately an industry that's filled with tragedy stories - but this particular tragedy definitely affected me more than any of the others.

RIP Owen. Thank you for the memories.

flahavaj

How fast time flies. Unbelievable that its 10 whole years ago.:(

I loved Owen to bits, he was a phenomenal worker. I remain convinced he would have eclipsed his brother at least as an in-ring worker, if not in kayfabed achievements if we hadn't lost him so soon. He had buckets of talent, I have some old footage of him from Stampede when he ws literally only a kid and he was absolutely phenomenal even back then.

Iridium

PRICELESS wrote: »

Rocket, King, Black Hart, Soul Survivor.

You forgot Slammy Award Winning. It always cracked me up that he made such a massive point of the fact that he had two Slammy's, when he hadn't actually won either of them!

PRICELESS

Iridium wrote: »

You forgot Slammy Award Winning. It always cracked me up that he made such a massive point of the fact that he had two Slammy's, when he hadn't actually won either of them!

I also left out "Jim Owen" but some things are better off unsaid! Ha Ha!:D

DM_7

I have to check out some of Owens matches this weekend, any suggestions or reccomendations?

PRICELESS

DM-ICE wrote: »

I have to check out some of Owens matches this weekend, any suggestions or reccomendations?

The one where Owen faced Bret for the WWF title and the WWF suddenly start using the instant replay rule.

I think this is it, hope I'm not remembering it thru rose tinted glasses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q41jwsAVcM&feature=related

DenMan

Owen Hart - The King of Harts.

I can't believe it's 10 yrs now. imo locked in the Sharpshooter better than Bret.

RIP Rocket

JP Liz

Galvasean

Great wrestler, great showman andall round nice guy.
Wrestling misses him.

ShawnRaven

DM-ICE wrote: »

The PPV should of ended. But how could vince know what to do, it was an unprecedented occurance I wouldn't envy anyone in that position who had to make a decision.

Dunno about the PPV should have ending, but Vince sure as hell shouldn't have paraded everyone out the following night on RAW with zero time to grieve. It looked tacky and tasteless, despite what Vince's best intentions may have been, it just reeked of "desperation for ratings".

Time doesn't do that show much justice either, it really looks tacky, say by comparison to Eddie's tribute show they did in 2005.

Iridium

DM-ICE wrote: »

I have to check out some of Owens matches this weekend, any suggestions or reccomendations?

Any match he ever had against Bret really. WrestleMania X, Summerslam 1994, I have a no holds barred match between them on an old tape somewhere from Raw in early 1995 I think. Owen also challenged Bret for the WWF Title in September or October 1994 on the first episode of the Action Zone.

Owen also always had a good match with Razor Ramon every time they clashed. I think he had a good one with Shawn Michaels at In Your House 6 (Feb 1996). And the final of the European Title tournament against Davey Boy Smith in Germany in early 1997 was awesome.

His matches in the King of the Ring tournament in 1994 are worth watching. The semi-final against 1-2-3 Kid is probably the best short match I've ever seen. They fit so much into 4 minutes - amazing.

I'm quite fond of his guest commentary on the entire King of the Ring 1996 event too. When Davey Boy is being introduced for his main event match against Michaels, Owen gives him a standing ovation on top of the commentators' table - complete cheese, but Owen could always pull it off so well. And his estimation of Jake Roberts age getting progressively higher and higher as the night went on was also memorable.

ShawnRaven

Owen has had a couple of really good matches with Shawn Michaels in 96 and on RAW in towards the end of 1997.

DM_7

Thanks for the suggestions lads. I will try and check some out. The things like owen giving the standing ovation to Bulldog or his matches with Bret are the things i like remembering.

EDIT: Just had al ook at the 1-2-3 Kid match from KOTR 94, great call, really good match and seemed to go on far longer than it actually did.

dlofnep

I watched that event live. I was in my friend's house for it - we both when completely and utterly silent as if we lost a member of our family for a few minutes. It was weird. Can't believe it's 10 years ago now, damn I'm getting old!

ShawnRaven

dlofnep wrote: »

I watched that event live. I was in my friend's house for it - we both when completely and utterly silent as if we lost a member of our family for a few minutes. It was weird. Can't believe it's 10 years ago now, damn I'm getting old!

And here's what people don't get about the whole thing, especially if they didn't see it or hear it happen at the time.

The whole knowing that he died, while you were watching the event, really had it's impact and took it's toll on a lot of fans. It wasn't like the Guerrero or Pillman deaths where they happened in hotel rooms, it was on the actual PPV, live! And although it wasn't shown (for obvious reasons), it didn't change the fact that it happen, and how nearly everyone who watched and listened on as we found out he fell, that he was on his way to the hospital, and then how we found out that he died as a result. It was definitely a strange feeling.

Austin/Undertaker and Rock/HHH put on awesome matches that night too, but unfortunately, the crowd was still in shock to be able to fully appreciate it, and the commentary team weren't able to keep up. I still love those two matches from that PPV, but not as much as i miss Owen's matches though.

DM_7

Just had a look at the match v HBK feb 18, In your House, really good match, the snot rocket while HBK was on the ground was genius, how could you not dislike that? Owens Enziguri looked fantastic then and it still looks great now. Great commentary by Jerry "Owen invented the camel clutch".

cena

i can't believe its ten years. was in in first year when that happened. i came home and my mother told me about it. i had it taped but the vcr eat up the tape. just told my mother its ten years she can't get over it

ShawnRaven

cena wrote: »

i can't believe its ten years. was in in first year when that happened. i came home and my mother told me about it. i had it taped but the vcr eat up the tape. just told my mother its ten years she can't get over it

Most people i reminded couldn't believe it either, and it was almost the five year anniversary of it when RAW came back to Ireland in 2005 too, and then, we couldn't believe it was five years then!

Yup, time flies, yet planes crash?

grames_bond

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Dunno about the PPV should have ending, but Vince sure as hell shouldn't have paraded everyone out the following night on RAW with zero time to grieve. It looked tacky and tasteless, despite what Vince's best intentions may have been, it just reeked of "desperation for ratings".

Time doesn't do that show much justice either, it really looks tacky, say by comparison to Eddie's tribute show they did in 2005.

yeah i agree while the "raw is owen" show had good intentions and all, even back then to me it seemed as a ratings grabber, and with a 7.2 (one of the highest in raw history) it certainly worked! and i really dont care about "he has to stay in character" i think taker should have been on the ramp with the rest of the superstars...but thats just my own personal gripe!

seanybiker

10 years already. I remember watching it live. That was a sad day. Horrible to watch. I remember jeff jarret telling deborah to shut up while it came through that he died.

fatal

10 years already!?!?Time sure flies. Although I've had the opportunity to watch the PPV,I never have nor have any intentions to.
Although I wasn't Owens biggest fan when I was younger, after watching many of his matches and promos, I can only imagine how good a wrestler he would have been if he was still around today.His death the first time that I came to realise how cruel death can be.

RIP Blue Blazer aka Owen hart:(

big syke

10 years??? Good god im getting old... Such a pity he's gone. Is there any reasons one can think of why an Owen Hart dvd has been brought out with some of his classic matches??? Would it be thought of as bad form or something??

SuperWoody101

Watched the PPV and Raw is Owen last night, that was a fast 10 years. RIP

Black Lead

big syke wrote: »

10 years??? Good god im getting old... Such a pity he's gone. Is there any reasons one can think of why an Owen Hart dvd has been brought out with some of his classic matches??? Would it be thought of as bad form or something??

The reason that WWE hasn't brought out an Owen Hart DVD is they no longer own the rights to his matches and footage it all went to his wife in the court case, Not sure of it is true but I've heard it a few times over the years.

I first heard about Owens death on the BBC teletext but it only had the bare details I gad to wait weeks for a wrestling magazine to come out to get the full story.

Oasis44

You guys should read 'Broken Harts: The Life & Death of Owen Hart'

Its written by his widow and I would say its one of the best wrestling books I've every read - goes into lots of detail about what happened in and around Owen's death.

Personally I thought he was a great wrestler but his mike skills were weak to be fair. Also he was a much better heal than he was a baby face - his 'king of harts' phase was probably his best period IMO.

big syke

Black Lead wrote: »

The reason that WWE hasn't brought out an Owen Hart DVD is they no longer own the rights to his matches and footage it all went to his wife in the court case, Not sure of it is true but I've heard it a few times over the years.

But i have oficial WWE dvds at home with owen hart matches on it...

ShawnRaven

Black Lead wrote: »

The reason that WWE hasn't brought out an Owen Hart DVD is they no longer own the rights to his matches and footage it all went to his wife in the court case, Not sure of it is true but I've heard it a few times over the years.

No they didn't. The cause was a wrongful death lawsuit which nobody officially won because it was settled out of court for about 18 million. I think the makers of the harness also got sued successfully.

She also sued Diana Hart for libel and had her book taken off the market. But trust me, WWE still own the rights to Owen's footage. They may require her consent to release his footage as part of the settlement, but theres's been a few DVD's (as big syke pointed out) with Owen footage on them since his death.[/QUOTE]

grames_bond

is martha stopping them putting owen in the HOF because she donesnt wanted to be associated with wwe anymore? i heard that somewhere (forget where....probably here tbh)

ShawnRaven

grames_bond wrote: »

is martha stopping them putting owen in the HOF because she donesnt wanted to be associated with wwe anymore? i heard that somewhere (forget where....probably here tbh)

Not heard anything of the sort, although this time a couple of years back, I don't think Owen would even be in the running for HOF. Much as i love Owen's work, he died too soon. He had no major main event programs and therefore no credibility as a main event draw. On top of that he severely injured WWE's biggest promise for the future at the time in Steve Austin.

Not like the WWE HOF counts for jack sh*t (in fact, it was only ever set up to honour Andre The Giant after he passed on) when they throw baseball and football players in there, but i'm pretty certain those are two reasons why he never made it into the Wrestling Observer Hall Of Fame.

flahavaj

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Not heard anything of the sort, although this time a couple of years back, I don't think Owen would even be in the running for HOF. Much as i love Owen's work, he died too soon. He had no major main event programs and therefore no credibility as a main event draw. On top of that he severely injured WWE's biggest promise for the future at the time in Steve Austin.

Not like the WWE HOF counts for jack sh*t (in fact, it was only ever set up to honour Andre The Giant after he passed on) when they throw baseball and football players in there, but i'm pretty certain those are two reasons why he never made it into the Wrestling Observer Hall Of Fame.

Exactly, drawing power and overall effect on the history of wrestling are massive criteria in the Observer's HOF, which in reality is the legit Hall of Fame for Pro-Wrestling.

Red Sleeping Beauty

I just put in WWF Attitude for the N64 and it has "Dedicated to Owen James Hart" at the start of it. I also somehow came across a news article on Friday night/Saturday morning. Like everyone else, I can't believe it's been 10years. I heard about it from someone in school who said it was on the news.

I really liked that Triple H/Rock match. It's not an easy tape to rewatch though. And the angle he was in at the time was atrocious.

I always liked the programs he did with Bret. Their SS '94 steel cage match was bloody fantastic. As was the WM X opener.

Jayob10

can anyone forward me a link of jeff jarretts promo with Debra after Jeff was carried from the ring??

ShawnRaven

Jayob10 wrote: »

can anyone forward me a link of jeff jarretts promo with Debra after Jeff was carried from the ring??

If anyone does find it, dump it in the video thread please?
Cheers.

grames_bond

ShawnRaven wrote: »

If anyone does find it, dump it in the video thread please?
Cheers.

id love to see that too, never got to see it back in the day and im still astonished that he was able to cut any sort of a promo.

ShawnRaven

I do have the DVD but i am swamped with last minute college stuff due in for this monday. If i get a chance later, depending on the workload, i'll dump it in the video thread, but i can't make any definite promise.

Red Sleeping Beauty

grames_bond wrote: »

id love to see that too, never got to see it back in the day and im still astonished that he was able to cut any sort of a promo.

The guy was shaken and looked like he was in shock. Debra I think had tears in her eyes . As far as i know Owen had just been wheeled past them on a stretcher to an ambulance.

There's some videos on Daily Motion :
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/owen+hart+over+the+edge
The "owen hart last footage" video stops just before it cuts to the Jarrett interview.

ShawnRaven

Alan Rouge wrote: »

The guy was shaken and looked like he was in shock. Debra I think had tears in her eyes . As far as i know Owen had just been wheeled past them on a stretcher to an ambulance.

There's some videos on Daily Motion :
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/owen+hart+over+the+edge
The "owen hart last footage" video stops just before it cuts to the Jarrett interview.

OK i'm gonna up it to youtube soon so keep an eye on it on the video thread in the next 10 minutes or so.

Please be advised, this isn't for the faint at heart as one of Jarrett's best friends basically fell from the roof to the ring minutes before the promo was taken.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Another thing is, the match Jarrett was in (with Val Venis) was an awful crap angle. Something with Venis pursuing Debra or something like that. Owen's sort of storyline at the time (Blue Blazer goes around trying to "clean up people's flegling morals" was similarily awful. I can't remember why or when they were split as a tag team but I remember enjoying the little run they had.

I could be just seeing vague memories through tinted glasses though.

ShawnRaven

Val wanted Debra, while a jealous Nicole Bass was stalking Val. It was truly dire.
The angle ended with Bass snogging Val and Val enjoying it. Most likely a crass attempt to try and take the crowds mind off of what had happened ten minutes earlier.

Thankfully, that match didn't last long.

Red Sleeping Beauty

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Most likely a crass attempt to try and take the crowds mind off of what had happened ten minutes earlier.

I never read any personal reports from then as I wasn't near a computer/internet till years later, but did the crowd notice what happened ? It was during a break while they played a promo tape that Owen fell. They obviously would've seen what happened after when the medics were working on him.

ShawnRaven

Alan Rouge wrote: »

I never read any personal reports from then as I wasn't near a computer/internet till years later, but did the crowd notice what happened ? It was during a break while they played a promo tape that Owen fell. They obviously would've seen what happened after when the medics were working on him.

Did the crowd notice it? Damn right they did. It didn't happen during a break, it happened live, but because of a tape delay, they were able to show the promo that Owen cut on Sunday Night Heat earlier in the night while they were attending the mess that took place seconds earlier.

I know someone posted up some very low res shots from the cheap seats that took place as it happened, you couldn't make out a thing, But the crowd definitely saw it.

Video of the promo is up in the video thread btw.