OWEN

Today marks the 9th anniversary of the tragic death of Owen Hart.

I didn’t actually watch the WWE: Over the Edge 1999 PPV at the time as I was working a harsh twilight shift job for Tescos. I only heard the heard the news from a friend the next day in passing.

I can’t say I was Owen Hart’s biggest fan not that I hated him either; the guy was an excellent in-ring performer and a great underdog babyface that transitioned into a very nasty heel as he progressed in wrestling. I can think far back and seeing Owen wrestle as ‘Brono’ Owen Hart on ITV WoS Wrestling and other moments such as beating Skinner, High Energy, Winning the 1994 King of the Ring and also his eventful turn on big brother Bret, a change which changed his career forever.

During 1999 Owen was on the verge of a face turn and gave the fans a comedy angle to laugh about when he returned to wrestle under his old Blue Blazer gimmick. The Blue Blazer was funny and nothing more, this was comedy packaging wrapped around a talented wrestler who was otherwise taken seriously, a character that unexpectedly lead Owen to his death. Owen was due to take on The Godfather for the Intercontinental Championship and tragically his high flying ring entrance backfired when his rope harness failed. I can only try and imagine the horror of the fans who were watching this event at the arena to have seen an in-ring death like this. I can only imagine the other wrestlers carrying on with the show despite what had happened and having to cope. I also don’t think I can even imagine the horror felt by Owen Hart’s family watching at home.

It would seem Wrestling especially has seen a lot of fallen comrades over the last few years especially in premature circumstances. Last year for me saw a few of my best liked grapplers head up to that big squared circle in the sky before their time. 2007 was a sad year especially. Bam Bam Bigelow, Crush, Mike Awesome and Chris Benoit; all who were favourites of mine had all died prematurely, these all were workers I admired and inspired to be like (even Benoit at one time).

Owen Hart’s death particularly was something that could have easily been avoided. I could go into chaos theory about this but bereavement is something I don’t like to delve to into. I much prefer to talk about what that person did in their lifetime and reflect on their impact they had on those and places around them.

Now I said Owen was not one of my favourite wrestlers but I recognised how good he was and maybe I should have recognised more during his lifetime. You ever see the guy cut a promo? His heel stage when he spoke reminded me so much of Johnny from Karate Kid part 1. Another thing I should have mentioned earlier in the list of memories was the feud with Ken Shamrock which I thought was something truly hard hitting and even involved the use of the infamous Hart Family Dungeon. Wrestlers don’t leave that Dungeon the same as they came in.

From what I also gather Owen was a well liked person in the locker-room and well known for his fun pranks and ribbing on others. Owen was a family man too with a wife and two children aside from being the baby brother of the Hart siblings. The RAW episode that aired after Over The Edge was one of the most tear jerking pieces of television I had ever watched. Just watching that episode was evident of how well liked the man was by everybody.

So I will close now and hope that this blog has turned a few heads and has hopefully encouraged a few other grappling fans to reflect on the life and career of Owen.

“I’m not a nugget!!”

Owen Hart
May 7th 1965 – May 23rd 1999