It's absolutely staggering to me that Friday is nine years since we lost Owen Hart.
I -- like many of you -- still remember the day, crystal clear. It was May 23, 1999 -- just 13 days after I started with WWE as an intern.
The business was red hot, and I was still a wide-eyed mark when I first walked in the door that May 10 to start my internship.
The Friday of my first week, the guest on the "Byte This!" Internet show was to be Owen, and they invited me to watch the show's evening production, but my commute was so ridiculous during my internship (driving an hour each way every day from Brooklyn) that I had to politely decline. It would turn out to be a big regret.
I watched "Over The Edge" the following Sunday at my friend Paul's house in Brooklyn that night -- Paul wasn't a wrestling fan, but he was fun to watch the show with because he was absolutely hysterical. I seem to remember him even making fun of me when I took out a yellow notepad to scribble some thoughts from the show, trying to convince him that I might have to offer feedback or commentary on this circus we were watching.
The Hardcore Title match soon ended and the graphic came up for Owen's match, in which he (as the Blue Blazer) would take on Godfather for the IC Title. I'd heard buzz that Owen was slated to win the title, which in hindsight, started an odd precedent of guys dying the night of winning a major title -- Owen with the IC belt, Eddie Guerrero with the World Title, and Chris Benoit with the ECW Title.
As soon as they panned to the crowd after the match promo, I could tell something was very, very wrong. I think we longtime fans are really good at picking up on stuff like that ... Paul, not being a wrestling fan, laughed at me as I tried to convince him that it was real, but soon he was as concerned as I was.
When J.R. made the official announcement, I remember just making a note on my pad that said, "Owen Hart has died," and underlining it. I don't think I took very many more notes that night.
It was a chilling day at Titan Tower the next day. I sat in a room on the second floor with about four or five other dot-commers, and the mood was absolutely somber. We conferenced in our boss -- who was at the TV tapings the following night -- and he directed us to produce the tribute site we'd all soon be hard at work on. I got to work scanning Owen photos, and we were all invited to write commentary pieces for the site. That was one of the first things I had published on what was then WWF.com.
It took a while for the reality to set in on the Owen thing. It still seems so surreal.
Two and a half years after Owen died, we lost Paul on 9/11. So May 23, 1999, holds a lot of emotion for me for multiple reasons.
Three years after Owen's death, I worked backstage at Backlash 2002, which was the first Pay-Per-View at Kemper Arena since Over the Edge. My WWE.com colleague Phil Speer and I thought it would be a cool idea to talk to the superstars about their memories of Owen. I just googled the story and found it on this site below if you want to take a read.
Owen was am incredible entertainer, a terrific athlete, and from everything I've heard, an amazing human being. Reading about him in Bret Hart's book only makes me sadder that such a great guy was taken from us so soon.
I encourage you to post your favorite Owen memories and stories, and to remember a man who seemed like a truly good guy in the fierce world of professional wrestling.
Comments (17)
I never tire of reading Owen stories. Everyone can talk about the tragedies with Eddie and Benoit, but they did not live the clean life that Owen did. He did things right from start to finish.
It is amazing that it has been 9 years. I was the biggest Owen Hart fan. My favorite memory of Owen is when he won the IC Title on my birthday (April 28 1997). I was so happy for him and its just a shame that such a good guy was taken from this earth so young. Long live The King of Harts!!!
I remember my first live event, I went to all the vendors looking for an Owen 3:16 "I just broke your neck!" t-shirt. Failing that, a Bret Hart shirt would have been ok. I always liked Owen better. Of course, this live event was the Wednesday after Survivor Series 1997, so there was no Hart merchandise anywhere. But Owen was in action that night, as he and Neidhardt took on Austin and Foley. (It was supposed to be Bulldog instead of Neidhardt; sadly I never did get to see him in action.) Not a five star classic match by any means, but it's the only one I can remember on that card, or any other non-PPV card that I saw live.
My favorite Owen Hart memory was WrestleMania X, when he defeated his brother, just before Bret would win the title. I remember watching that show and being shocked that Owen won, because at that point, he was still a lower card wrestler.
I still distinctly remember going into school on Monday, and learning that he died. What a great wrestler, especially as a heel.
Like Brett posted before me, Wrestlemania X stands out as one of my favourite Owen memories. The scene of Owen standing in the entranceway as all the babyfaces celebrated Bret's title win and Owen looking down as if he was thinking "I beat Bret tonight, it should have been my night and he stole my moment!" is still one of the best Wrestlemania moments ever.
Owen had to be a good guy. Otherwise he would have killed Jason Sensation, who did a dead on and not too flattering impression off him on Raw one night
Out of all the wrestling tragedies, Owen’s death is still the most tragic. Owen lived a clean life and his death was a result of a freak accident, doing a senseless stunt at a Pay Per View. I think unlike Benoit and Guerrero who abused their bodies, Owen’s death was avoidable.
When given a chance to shine with his feud with Bret, Owen showed that he could compete with the top card talent. He was a class act and was a great practical joker.
Somehow, I still like watching the Raw is Owen Special on YouTube. I still wish Owen didn’t die, but I like watching it to see the emotions of his co-workers. Unlike some angle, the emotions exhibited by the superstars that night was true and raw. Owen meant a lot to the people who worked with him, in a business full of backstabbing and politics.
I defended the decision of Vince McMahon to continue the pay per view after his death. 9 years later, I think they should have called it off. While Owen might have wanted the show to go on, to ask his co-workers to go on while watching being carried on a gurney to the back was wrong.
A little bit of my love for professional wrestling died that night.
My favorite tag team of all time was Owen and The Bulldog. The dynamic that team had going in '96 still brings a smile to my face every time I think about their run as champs that year. Although their fueds were with not so great opponents, I remember their final go round together with Furnas/Lafon and Mankind/Vader.
Owen always made me laugh and I always knew that when he came across that screen, I would be entertained.
My favorite Owen moment was at the '97 Slammies. Owen "won" his second Slammy that year, not even being nominated. He was a presenter and walked up with the winner envelop, shoved it in his sport coat and screamed "I did it again! Two-time Slammie Award winner! WHOOO!" And just walked off stage. Hysterical. He was the best.
My favorite Owen match was the cage match between him and Bret, were Owen lost because his foot got stuck on the cage on his way down. Back then I still believed everything happened for real and was heartbroken by how he could haave won if not for bad luck. To this day, whenever anyone asks me what is my favorite all time feud, my answer is invariably Owen vs Bret.
To me, its amazing how he lived his life all clean and proper in a business were thats supposed to be impossible. I used to b a skeptic about this, as I thought everyone came out with the nice Owen stories after he died just out of respect, but its been nine years and Ive never heard anyone saying a negative thing about Owen. The worst thing ive heard is that he was a prankster and those pranks sometimes got under peoples skins, but that sort of thing really turns out to be funny stories down the road and now real harm came from them. He had so much to give
I really miss Owen Hart. He's one of the best to ever step in a square circle. He's really the King of Harts.
Owen should be in the Hall of Fame.
They should also do a DVD set of his life and greatest matches, and donate all proceeds to charity.
Owen is not in the hall of fame because his wife does not negotiate or talk to WWE. I believe it would be in bad taste for WWE to go ahead and induct him without the family's approval. I do hope that someday they can put aside their personal issues and let him go into the Hall of Fame and make a dvd about his career.
My favorite Owen moment is from Survivor Series 94 when he was in Bob Backlund's corner. As Bret was in the gribs of the crossface chickenwing for what I remember being around twenty minutes, Owen pleaded with Stu and Helen (who Lawler mercilessly mocked throughout the match) to throw in Bret's towel. Owen seemed genuinely concerned with his brother's well being. As soon as Helen through the towel in the ring Owen's demeanor instantly switched to that of triumph, he celebrated as if he won the match, running to the back with the towel. Owen gave a promo where he bragged about fooling everyone. Gold.
I always felt the tribute show captured how really human the wrestlers are. Watching Jeff Jarrett and the others, wrestling fan or not, it had to bring a tear to your eye. Mark Henry is always picked on by the Internet community, but I always took away from that night, that he was probably a really good guy. The Broken Harts book by his wife is one of the saddest books you will ever read.
I remember the night of the tribute show buttersweetly. I wept openly and honestly for two straight hours. I had never spoken to Owen as friends would, I had seen him at a couple live events and spoken to him there before the show. Owen turned me on to Stampede wrestling, Japan and Mexico. Owen made me a smart fan, I will never forget the emotion of watching Owen, as the Blue Blazer, on Saturday Night Main Event do a suicida tope on the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase. I slow-motioned it over, and over until I literally thought that the tape would wear out. My friends were amazed by Owen's athleticism and when I revealed to them that it was Bret's brother under the mask, they were shocked.
Most of us fans only know Owen as a wrestler and we can only express our appreciation as fans, which to us is noteworthy. However, while we lost a talented entertainer, two children and wife lost the single most important man in their lives. That to me is what brought the tears to my eyes on that fateful May night.
It's kind of ironic...reading the link to the superstars' memories of Owen on the WWF/E's return to the Kemper Arena, and the theme from "Chariots of Fire" is playing on my computer....
:'o(
You are still missed, Owen.
i have an owen hart tattoo on my thigh