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Submitted by Dumass on Sunday, May 23, 2004 at 1:44 AM EST
No intro today.  ------------------------ Owen started his wrestling career much like most of the Hart brothers, training in his father's Dungeon. The Dungeon, if you don't know, was a magical place in Calgary, Alberta, Canada where wrestlers would come from everywhere in the world to train in. Stu Hart rode Owen hard, making him into a budding athlete, as he began to wrestle in the family's Stampede organization. He wrestled there for a few years, honing his skills and becoming a top-notch wrestler. In August '86, he teamed with Ben Bassarab, winning the Stampede International Tag-Team Titles from Duke Myers and Kerry Brown. They would hold the belts for two months before falling to the Viet-Cong Express. Hart rebounded quickly, winning the British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Title from Les Thorton later that month. He would stay the champion for nearly 10 months, then finally was beaten by Gama Singh. During this time, Hart also had a feud with Makhan Singh, trading the Stampede North American Heavyweight Title, which Hart at one point held for 13 months. With the knowledge and skill that he had at the time, he headed to Japan; where he would make a very large impact. In 1988, Owen became the first westerner to win the coveted IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, beating Hiroshi Hase. While his reign was less than a month, it was still a major victory for the young man. He went on to fued with many other great Japanese wrestlers, including Jushin Liger. It also got him noticed, as he was later invited to join the WWF. Owen returned to the States, where the WWF showed interest in him. Owen, beneath hood and cape, became the Blue Blazer - a lightweight high flyer versus the heavyweights of the WWF. Owen's skills was mostly used to put the other guys over, at WrestleMania V, he jobbed to Mr. Perfect, shortly after Owen left the WWF. Never once during his first stint in WWF was it mentioned, that Owen was Bret Hart's brother. the Blue Blazer was not yet a successful gimmick, and Owen soon left the WWF to continue to grow as a wrestler.Owen spent the next two years on the road, showing his skills in Mexico, Canada, Japan, Europe, and he had a very short stint in the WCW. In Mexico Owen lost the mask of the Blue Blazer to El Canek. At the end of '91, Owen was brought back to the WWF, this time under his real name. He was promoted as Bret Hart's brother, and even placed in a tag-team with Bret's former tag-team partner (and Owen's brother-in-law), Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. As the New Foundation, the team wrestled against various tag-teams, but never really found their mark. When the team broke up, Owen tried out another team, joining Koko B. Ware as High Energy. Once again, though, the chemistry just wasn't quite right. When Owen went down with a knee injury near the end of '92, the team was taken apart, with Koko B. Ware eventually being released by the WWF. Owen rehabbed for a time, then moved around in 1993, being 'loaned' out to the USWA. There he defeated Papa Shango in June '93 to become the USWA Unified Heavyweight Champion. The reign only lasted a few weeks, though, as the perrenial winner, Jerry "The King" Lawler, returned to claim the belt. Owen then returned to the WWF, still wrestling under his brother Bret's shadow. This would all soon change. At the 1993 Survivor Series, "The Rocket" Owen Hart teamed up with his brothers Bret, Bruce & Keith to take on "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels & his Knights. The match seemed to be comfortably in the Hart family's hands, as they systematically chopped down the Knights. Owen himself made one of them submit to his version of the Sharpshooter. Soon it was Michaels vs. the entire Hart family. Michaels persevered for a while, going at it with Owen. On the outside, an injured Bret walked the apron, trying to pull it together. Meanwhile, Michaels reversed an Owen whip, sending Owen crashing straight into his brother, who flew off the apron and into the guardrail. While the rest of the brothers checked on Bret, Owen was rolled up and pinned by Michaels, the only Hart brother to be eliminated. Later on, when Michaels left, getting counted out, Owen came back to ringside, apparently to celebrate the victory with his brothers. Instead, he verbally berated Bret, saying that it was Bret's fault that Owen was eliminated. It was compelling to say the least, and the fans wanted it badly. Watching that PPV once again, you could hear the chorus of boos at Owen and his decision, but it didn't matter to him; to him, he was wanting to get out of the shadow of his brother, Bret. He even demanded a match, which Bret would not give him. For weeks, Bret would reject his offer, until 2 weeks before the Royal Rumble. That was when Owen got his chance at WWF gold; but he would have to share it with his brother Bret. Royal Rumble 1994. The double main event; Bret and Owen Hart against the WWF Tag Team champions, The Quebecers. 2 weeks before the event, Bret and Owen had seemed to put their differences aside for the sake of the family and were ready to be tag champs together. During the match, Bret's knee was injured severely, and the Quebecers quickly focused on it, doing enough damage that the referee called for the bell, ending the brothers' title hopes. Owen then came into the ring and angrily kicked Bret in the knee, blaming him for the loss. Owen also said, that it was Bret, who told him to wrestle under hood and cap, so Owen wouldn't take the limelight from Bret. Their feud led to a match-up at Wrestlemania X, where Owen surprisingly came out on top. His anger was not sated, though, as Bret, later in the night, won the WWF Heavyweight Title, by beating Yokozuna. Owen believed that he deserved a shot at the belt, since he had beaten Bret, but he did not get one, until he fought in the King of the Ring Tournament. Owen wanted another shot at Bret, but to get that, he had to win the King of the Ring tournament. Owen qualified to the King of the Ring by beating Adam Bomb. In the first round of the tournament, Owen and Tatanka went at it, with Owen coming out on top. In the semifinal round waited the 1-2-3 Kid. Owen defeated him easily with the sharpshooter. It was time for the final round. Jim Neidhart had secured that Bret was still the champ, by attacking Diesel, who got the DQ victory. Owen and Razor Ramon was the two finalists, it was an even match until Anvil attacked Razor, which made Owen the 1994 King of the Ring. After the victory Owen proclaimed himself the King of Harts. With the win and becoming the King of the Ring, Owen landed himself a title shot at Summerslam. People were going to wonder how the two brothers were going to duke it out. Owen went on a spree of insult promos, saying that Bret would run away from him if they had a match together. The powers that be stated that it had to be a Steel Cage Match. Bret and Owen were ready. Before the match, Bret said, during a promo, that he was battling strep throut, but he would battle out of it. What followed was probably the best cage match the WWF ever put on. Owen and Bret put on a 5-star classic that was to completely overshadow the main event of the night of Undertaker vs Undertaker. Owen and Bret also had a Lumberjack match later that year, where Neidhart was one of the lumberjacks. During the match he sneaked up on Bret and knocked him down, Owen then quickly pinned Bret, and thought that he had won the World Title, but a second referee made his way down and the decision was overturned. The family war died out when Neidhart left the federation in the start of 1995. Owen then aligned himself with Jim Cornette, challenged the WWF tag team champions, The Smoking Gunns, at WrestleMania XI, where he would reveal his mystery partner. The mystery partner was none other than the mighty Yokozuna. The two rolled over the Smoking Gunns to win the Tag Titles, Owen's first belts in the WWF. for the majority of 1995, Owen & Yokozuna stayed at the top of the tag-team division, flooring many teams that thought they could get through them. However, things started to fall apart in September '95. A match was scheduled between the tag champs and Shawn Michaels & Diesel. The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith substituted for Owen, and the match commenced. During the fight, Owen surprisingly reappeared, trying to interfere for his team. Instead, Davey was pinned by Diesel, apparently transfering the tag-team belts. Though Jim Cornette argued that Owen wasn't pinned and the belts were given back to Owen and Yoko, they only held the belts for a short time. They lost the belts back to the Smoking Gunns in November of 1995. From then until mid-1996, he was bascially a jobber for the most part. He had some feuds with Diesel, Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon, with little to show for it. During one incident however, on an installment of Monday Night Raw during a match against Shawn Michaels, Owen hit Michaels with a kick to the back of the head, which made the lights go out for Michaels, who laid flat on his back. At the Slammy Awards 1996, Owen won a Slammy for the incident. After the event, he billed himself the Slammy Award Winning Owen Hart. During the summer of 1996 The British Bulldog, who had joined Camp Cornette in the end of 1995, and Owen decided to use their combined forces to win the WWF tag team titles from the Smoking Gunns. During the night, they also changed managers, as Clarence Mason was able to trick a groggy Jim Cornette into signing them over. With the belts, Owen & Smith continued to rule over the tag-team division. But a split seemed to be forming between them. During the 1997 Royal Rumble, Owen eliminated Davey, which 'rocked the boat' (so to speak) on their tag team. Later on, Smith fired Mason as their manager, despite Owen's feelings about it. Turmoil appeared to be building between them. Things did not get any better, especially when Owen and Davey wrestled each other in the finals of the European Championship tournament in early 1997. Smith managed the victory, taking the belt and keeping Owen away from a singles title. The two continued to try to work together, though, defending the tag belts against teams like Vader & Mankind and the Headshrinkers. Things finally broke down, though, when an angry Owen demanded a shot at Smith's European Title after a tag-team title match. The next week, the two went at it, with no mercy for either competitor. Just when chairs were becoming involved, though, Bret Hart interceded, saying that family shouldn't fight each other. He blamed the Americans for breaking up their family, and said that they should work together against the USA. Owen & Smith agreed, forming a union. A few weeks later, Jim Neidhart and Brian Pillman joined them as well, as the Hart Foundation was reborn. During this time, at the Slammy Awards 1997, Owen "won" another Slammy. 2 weeks after joining the Hart Foundation, Owen won the Intercontinental Title, cleanly, from Rocky Maivia at Raw is War. Owen had finally won a singles title, which he has deserved. Owen and Bulldog's constant attacks on Austin and Michaels (whom teamed up to oppose the Hart Foundaton) lead to a challenge from the Tag Team Champions. On an installment of Raw is War, Austin and Michaels won the titles from Owen and Bulldog, who had held on to the titles for 8 months. At Summerslam '97, Owen and Austin went at it, with the Intercontinental Title on the line. This was the match where Owen injured Austin's neck with a piledriver. He still lost, however, as Austin managed to get the pinfall victory and take away the IC Title. Owen was proud, though, of injuring Austin, bragging about it at every opportunity. This would lead to constant stunners by Austin every way you turned. Owen, fearing the stunner, tried to file a restraining order to stop Austin's attacks, with little success. An IC title tournament was being held at the Badd Blood PPV for the vacated title that Austin was forced to put up. Owen, with the help of Austin, managed to win the tournament. This was Austin's plan, since now Owen would have to put the belt up for grabs at Survivor Series 1997. At the PPV, Austin made short work of Owen (likely due to Austin's neck problems and the concussion suffered by Owen in a match with Ahmed Johnson); which was overshadowed by the INCIDENT that happened that night. Being angry with what went down later that night, Owen decided to take a month off. He came back at the D-Generation X PPV in December of 1997; attacking Shawn Micheals. Quickly, Owen found himself shunted into a feud with Michaels' DX partner, Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Owen won the WWF European Title held by HHH, but lost it back after about a month, in a pair of bizarre title switches tainted by injuries hobbling both men. As DX became babyfaces by mid-1998, Owen was left with little choice but to return to the heel status that had served him so well for about 4 years. He "snapped" on a live edition of RAW, and joined the Nation (led by Rocky Maivia) where he continued to demand that it's "Time for a change." The Nation would feud with DX for the Summer months, with Owen playing an important part in storylines. With the Nation of Domination on his side, Hart began a brutal war against Degeneration-X, which culminated at Over The Edge '98. Hart, D'Lo Brown and Kama Mustafa went at it with Helmsley and the New Age Outlaws. Hart eventually grabbed the victory by pedigreeing Helmsley. A few days later, as the war between the Nation and Degeneration-X continued, Hart was attacked by a returning Ken Shamrock, leading to a war between the Nation of Domination and Shamrock and his ally, Dan Severn. In an "art imitates life" twist, the WWF ran a storyline in which Severn's neck was "broken" following an Owen Hart piledriver. The distraught Owen Hart then "retired" the next week, saying that he never meant to hurt anyone, and couldn't live with himself if he crippled anyone again. Despite Owen's retirement speech, the Blue Blazer made a return to the WWF, and many fans put the pieces together and realized Owen was exactly serious about retiring. Raw is War, November 16, the Blue Blazer had his first match since his return, the Blazer tagged up with Jeff Jarrett to take on Steve Blackman and Goldust. After the match Blackman tried to unmask the Blazer, but Jarrett and Owen made sure he didn't. Almost the exact same thing happened the next week on Raw is War, but again Owen made sure that Blackman didn't finish the unmasking. The problems with Steve Blackman continued at Raw is War, November 30, as Owen attacked Goldust, the Blue Blazer showed up and attacked Owen, the Blazer then unmasked and revealed himself to be Steve Blackman. When Blackman attacked Owen, trying for revenge, the Blue Blazer shockingly appeared and nailed Blackman with another assault, making it seem as if the Blue Blazer was, in fact, NOT Owen Hart. In actuality, it was a trick, with Jeff Jarrett and Owen switching the mask back and forth, to confuse the issue. At the Rock Bottom PPV in December '98, Owen 'returned' to the ring, fighting a match with Blackman. However, Owen became discouraged during the bout and left, losing via countout. On the next show, during a match between Goldust and the Blue Blazer, Steve Blackman came down to the ring and unmasked him, showing it to actually be Owen Hart. However, the Owen/Jarrett tag team wasn't fading away anytime soon... as 1999 began, the duo started teaming up full time, and in January, won the WWF Tag Team titles from the Big Bossman and Ken Shamrock. This marked the third different partner Owen held the tag titles with. It appeared as though it might be another long tag title reign for Owen, as the team was really clicking, and was over with fans. However, the duo lost the straps in April to the mis-matched team of X-Pac and Kane. Owen & Jarrett continued to try to get the belts back from Kane & X-Pac for the next month, with little success. They lost a #1-Contenders match to the New Age Outlaws at Backlash, seemingly ending their title hopes. Soon afterwards, a feud began between the duo and the Godfather, who won a match over Jeff Jarrett that supposedly had Debra on the line. The Godfather wanted to make Debra one of his ho's, but Owen kept that from happening. A few weeks later, Owen was supposed to wrestle Val Venis. Instead, the Blue Blazer returned once again, and was able to defeat Venis. He then announced that everyone should drink their milk and eat their vitamins, acting like a 'hero'. This would be the last time we would see Owen Hart wrestling. On May 23rd, 1999, Owen Hart, as the Blue Blazer, was scheduled to win the IC title against the Godfather. He was supposed to make a 'super-hero' entranace, by "flying" from the rafters of the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo.; it had been done before in WCW with the character Sting, and the WWF also hired the man who used to work with Sting's entrances. The entrance music came on and Hart appeared as the Blue Blazer, 'flying' in from the ceiling on a cable. Somehow, during the move, the cable came loose, sending Owen Hart down nearly 50 feet to the ring below. Fans in attendence quickly realized the serious nature of the accident, and stood around in stunned silence as medics worked on Owen.... Owen was admitted to Truman Medical Center in critical condition. The fans watching the program at home were told, from a crying Jim Ross, that Owen Hart had died due to cardiac arrest. The next night on Raw, there was memorial night to Owen. They gave him a 10 bell salute and dedicated the night to him. Owen must have been watching from heaven because he pulled a hell of a rib on Mick Foley when Mankind came out to wrestle and the words 'w/ PMS' were underneath his name. Even in death, he was still the prankster that the locker room all knew. At the end of the night, Steve Austin, the man who really made Owen his own wrestler and took him away from the shadow of his brother Bret, gave Owen a patented Stone Cold beer-trenched tribute. The People's Voice ---------------------- Note: These opinions are my own and do not reflect the ideas and standards of Calvin Martin and the LOP staff (unless they agree with me). 'The Peoples Voice' is to be taken with a grain of salt and not intentionally. Thank you. I know you're reading the heading on the column. It makes sense. Owen's death broke kayfabe. So there I am, looking through a message board (I won't say the name because I don't believe in free advertising. P.S: Eat at Tony Roma's) when someone says the following: nothing short of a Five Star Frog Splash from the top of the arena can save [Judgement Day PPV]. Now, seeing my opportunity, I reply with the quick quip of: Now we know what Owen was thinking. Seriously, Over The Edge '99 sucked. Not 20 minutes after that, I recieved flames and AIMs of people wanting me to die for the Owen comment (sorry DDD, it happened because of what I said). I'm wondering why I'm getting all these IMs and such when suddenly it does finally don on me; "Maybe this is offensive." Guess what? I don't care if it's offensive. It's a joke, not a statement. I'm not pushing for Owen to be completely defiled, but, as a fan and a friend, I'm making a joke on his behalf. Now, I know people are going to be angry and say "But Dumass, you're making fun of a dead guy! That's really low of you!" If it's low, who cares? I certainly don't. If you can't find the comedy in a useless tragedy, then it isn't worth talking about. I've been making Owen jokes for years now, but they are all in good taste and no matter what, I'll always believe that Owen Hart is one of the most underused wrestlers ever. I loved Owen. He was a great wrestler and all the inside stories from guys I've heard who were with him make him seem like a terrific and loving man outside of the ring. It's not a sin to make fun of dead people and it's not a sin to think of Owen and say to yourself "Thanks for DROPPING by." Now, I've heard some really mean jokes about Owen and others that are funny and not funny. I heard the one that goes "Why did Miss Elizabeth manage Hogan instead of Savage? She found out that Macho Man's Slim Jim went stale." This is quality stuff. Look at Owen's death as well in the same light. Now, if you feel offended by jokes about Owen, then please realize that there are more positives to the sport of wrestling in his death than there are negatives. I'll list them. Negative: Owen will no longer be wrestling. The thought that I'll never see Owen wrestle again is really a tradgedy. I know none of you are going to believe me, but, again, I do think Owen was a terrific wrestler and one of the best in the business. It's a shame that things like the accident happen. It's a shame that they happen to the worst canadates. It's a shame, but you must realize that this was a concious decision by Owen. He did want to do it. It is someone's fault for not talking him out of it, but it's his for doing it. Positive: Owen's death opened a lot of eyes in the industry of how desperate the companies are willing to go to beat each other. Think about it. Would Vince have asked Owen to do something like this if he didn't see the same thing happen at WCW with Sting? Hell, the WWF tried it before with Shawn Micheals. That was originally supposed to be the entrance, not a straight drop like Sting. The death of Owen was the final unfortunate point crossing the line in wrestling. What keeps it from being TOO entertaining and crosses an area where the wrestlers' life is at stake? That incident showed the difference and where to draw the line. Negative: The sport lost a wrestler who was peaking, in a sense, his prime. Finally, he didn't have his brother with him to follow in a 'shadow'. He was going great by himself, then the accident. That's the worse thing; everyone will call him underrated, when he wasn't. He was at his prime and then he died. It's a tragedy. A real tragedy. Positive: People are looking back at his old matches and finding the good in them Am I saying that no one saw them before? No, but you have to admit, when someone dies, they're work is hailed as genius. It happened to Van Gogh and it happened to Owen Hart. I'm finding myself making the Steel Cage Match with Bret Hart a must watch every week. I watch the one match I have between Owen and Benoit as much as I can. The importance of the matches are being known everyday. Positive: It gave us the greatest match in the past 5 years. Seriously, did you watch the Bret Hart/Chris Benoit tribute match? If not, find it and experience why it's better than what the past 5 years have given us. I won't go into personal matters because that's not my business. Point of the matter is this. 5 years ago, we lost one of the most popular wrestlers to ever lace wrestling boots. He came and went without a care in the world. His peers look at him with stride and they remember his sense of humor and nank for ribbing his fellow wrestler. His fans and the people who watched him were awed by some of the best wrestling to come around in a long time and it was coming from a guy who we didn't mind calling 'nugget' because we knew it was out of respect. He took everything with grace and stride, which is rare, especially in this time of pro wrestling's history. If I make a joke here and there about Owen, it's not to offend or demean him. It's respect. I hope people will make fun of me when I die. Light-hearted comedy and ribbing is a forgotten past time in this PC world we live in, I'm sure we would all take great joy in enjoying a joke here and there. The best way I've ever heard anyone say it was Sammy Davis Jr at his own roast: I love Owen. I wish the best for his kids and his wife. I miss his father and his mother (both wonderful people). I wish the best for Bret, Bruce & Keith and their families. I wish the best for those who trained and knew Owen better than I did. I wish the best for everyone associated with him. Owen broke kayfabe. Why? He made me and many others care about him outside of the business. That's breaking kayfabe and he broke it; but, when he did, he opened up a window for everyone to experience the greatness that he was.  After five years, Rest In Peace, Owen. Your friend and fan, Dumass AOL IM: Dumass4k Lethal Wrestling: Slammy Award Winners need not apply. *NEW GALLERY* Very HOT Photos of Alicia Webb aka X-Pac's Sexy Girlfriend!
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