Remebering Owen Hart

Ph3n0m

Owen Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was born in Calgary, Alberta, the youngest of 12 children, all of whom were involved with wrestling in some way; one of his brothers is the legendary Bret "Hitman" Hart. His father was the late wrestling promoter Stu Hart.

Owen entered wrestling by working for his father's Stampede Wrestling promotion. Wrestling however was not Owen's first choice for a career; as Martha Hart, his widow, would explain in her book 'Broken Harts,' that Owen tried numerous times to find a profitable living outside of wrestling. Those attempts were unsuccessful, and Owen began his WWF stay as the Blue Blazer in 1987. The Blue Blazer was at that time a generic masked wrestler gimmick, but made its return in 1999 to be portrayed as a stereotypical over-the-top superhero; some argue this was done to punish him for refusing to take part in lurid storylines of the WWF Attitude Era. Owen would later team alongside Koko B. Ware in the early 1990s as High Energy.

Eventually he was pushed as a singles competitor and feuded with his brother Bret--they competed at WrestleMania X and later in a Cage Match at SummerSlam 1994. They are both considered two of the greatest matches of the 1990s. Owen combined high flying and technical mat skill for a very sound style; he was also quite adept at playing a sneaky, smarmy heel, as evidenced by his "King of Harts" gimmick.

Hart's WWF career included Intercontinental, Tag Team and European titles; he teamed with the 600-pound Yokozuna and his brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith, the British Bulldog, at various points in his career; both of whom have sadly also passed away. He was also infamous at this time for a piledriver at Summerslam 1997 which severely injured Steve Austin, causing momentary paralysis, and ultimately led to Austin's semi-retirement in 2003. When his brother Bret lost his WWF title in controversial fashion at the 1997 Survivor Series in Montreal, Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart, another Hart brother-in-law, responded by joining Bret in WCW. Owen tried this as well, but elected to stay put in the WWF when faced with breach of contract issues. This was the start of his "Blackhart" gimmick which had a great deal of potential; however Shawn Michaels, the WWF champion in the wake of Montreal, suffered a career-ending (at the time) back injury and additionally managed to convince WWF owner Vince McMahon not to put that potentially hot feud together. As such Owen floundered for a bit, turning heel again and
joining the Nation of Domination, a black militant themed stable. Obviously, this was not a good fit for Owen.

In early 1999 Owen began teaming with Jeff Jarrett and again captured the tag team titles; however he was also in a storyline involving the Blue Blazer character; this, again, was rumored as punishment for Owen not wanting to do a storyline which suggested a sexual affair with Debra, the valet for the team. Of course, Owen Hart was a happily married family man and wanted no part of this. It was the Blue Blazer gimmick which led to his untimely and unfortunate death at the Over the Edge PPV in May 1999.

Owen died six years ago today May 23, 1999, in Kansas City during the WWF's Over The Edge pay-per-view. His death occurred while he was being
lowered into the ring from a catwalk of the Kemper Arena for a match with The Godfather. This entrance was originally planned to be a comedy stunt entrance, in keeping with the character of the Blue Blazer gimmick. Owen - in Blue Blazer regalia - was to be lowered to just above ring level, at which time Owen would release himself from the safety harness, drop to the ring, land on his feet...and then fall flat on his face.

However, for reasons never revealed, the release was triggered early, and Owen took a four-storey fall in front of thousands of fans, smashing his chest on a ring turnbuckle. The viewers at home did not see the incident, as the WWF was transmitting a promotional package for the Hart/Godfather match. Upon the return to live action, the cameras focused on the crowd and the announcing team (Jim Ross and a visibly shaken Jerry Lawler) as paramedics tried to revive Owen Hart. The crowd, most believing that this was part of the act (despite Ross stating repeatedly that it was not), cheered with a standing ovation as Owen was carried out. Owen was transported to Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, where he died a short time later; the cause was later revealed to be internal bleeding from blunt chest trauma. Despite the tragedy, the show continued.

The next night, the WWF mounted a two-hour televised tribute to Owen Hart - featuring the company's biggest stars (most of whom were in shock or in tears) - which concluded with a toast from Steve Austin. The Over The Edge event name was retired immediately, and the show was never released on home video. However, the Hart family was furious with the WWF for continuing the pay-per-view, with Bret going as far as to accuse Vince McMahon of murder.

Owen left a widow, Martha, and two children, Oje and Athena. His widow now runs a charity called the Owen Hart Foundation with the money gained from her out-of-court settlement with the WWF from a wrongful death lawsuit. (As a result of the settlement, what truly happened on May 23, 1999 was never revealed.) Martha wrote a book about Owen's life in 2002 called Broken Harts.

Owen Hart's last match was on May 22, 1999 in Chicago. He and Jarrett won a tag team match against Edge and Christian.

On the night of his death, Owen was scheduled to win the Intercontinental Championship from The Godfather.


-- With files from The Calgary Herald and the Kansas City Star
Credit: Wrestling 365 Newsletter

Owen Hart R.I.P

Berger

He didnt really die, it was all an elaborate hoax.

Kevin_rc_ie

I remember Owen Hart. It was very sad that he died in such tragic circumstances.

maxtrax

Berger wrote:

He didnt really die, it was all an elaborate hoax.

out of order Berger!

Lamar

rip owen...you sadly missed!!!

el rabitos

i always thought it was a shame that owen and bret never swapped the world title a couple of times during the summer of 94. the old wwf title looked awsome on owen and theres few people who has deserved the title and to be part of the group that has been world champ.

Fozzy

He was brilliant. And from the sounds of it, even better outside the ring. I don't think anyone ever said anything bad about when he was alive, real funny too

RIP