Owen Hart Tribute

Today, we celebrate what would have been the 50th Birthday of one of the most beloved wrestlers of all-time Mr. Owen James Hart. Born on May 7, 1965 Owen was the youngest child of Stu and Helen Hart. Wrestling was in his DNA, as he would become the next biggest star in the family behind his older brother Bret. His other older brothers, Smith, Keith and Bruce were also wrestlers. Like the rest of his family, Owen was trained in his father Stu's Dungeon before getting his start in Stampede Wrestling.

Owen made his wrestling debut for Stampede Wrestling in Calgary in 1986, where he first honed his craft. During his time with Stampede, Owen teamed with Ben Bassarab and won the Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship. The success of the team along with Owen's impressive skills earned him the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Rookie of the Year Award in 1987. After losing the tag titles, Owen and Bassarab feuded with Johnny Smith and Dynamite Kid. During 1987, Owen would branch out on his first tour of Japan with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). In NJPW, Owen wrestled Keiichi Yamada both unmasked, and later under Yamada's masked gimmick of Jushin "Thunder" Liger. On May 27, 1988, Owen Hart defeated Hiroshi Hase for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. Hart became the first non-Japanese wrestler to win the title. On June 24, Owen's reign would end as he lost the title to Shiro Koshinaka.

Hart's success in NJPW and Japan's relationship with the World Wrestling Federation led him to sign with WWF in the summer of 1988. Instead of being promoted as Bret Hart's younger brother, Vince McMahon and his creative team gave Owen the gimmick of a "masked" superhero called "The Blue Blazer". This gimmick fit in with his high-flying style at the time. Starting out, The Blazer defeated jobbers such as Terry Gibbs, Steve Lombardi (later The Brooklyn Brawler) and Barry Horowitz. The Blue Blazer made his pay per view debut at the 1988 Survivor Series, teaming with The Ultimate Warrior, Brutus Beefcake, Jim Brunzell and Sam Houston vs. Honky Tonk Man, Greg Valentine, Outlaw Ron Bass, Bad News Brown, and Dangerous Danny Davis. The Blazer was eliminated by Valentine, but his team won the match. As the Blazer, Owen continued to defeat enhancement talent, but would fall to more established names. On Saturday Night's Main Event (3/11/1989), The Blue Blazer lost to Ted DiBiase. At WrestleMania V, he lost to Mr. Perfect.

Shortly after WrestleMania, Owen left the WWF to return to Stampede Wrestling until it closed in December of 1989. During his collective tenure at Stampede, Owen forged relationships with fellow Stampede alums such as Flyin' Brian Pillman, Bad News Allen (later Brown) and a young Chris Benoit. In March of 1991, Owen made a brief appearance in WCW as he had five TV matches. That is right, Owen Hart was part of WCW but not in a significant way. Owen was engaged in contract discussions with WCW, but a deal was never done since he did not want to move himself and the family to Atlanta. Instead, he signed for another stint with the WWF.

During his return to the WWF, Owen Hart was paired together with Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. The Hart Foundation was a popular and successful tag team that consisted of Owen's brother Bret "The Hitman" Hart, and his brother in-law Jim Neidhart. After WrestleMania VII, the team was split up as Bret would venture for an incredible singles career while Neidhart floundered. Together, Owen and Jim became "The New Foundation", a spin-off of the legendary tag team that featured Bret as the star. Owen was used as the replacement for Bret as the workhorse of the group. However, the team floundered as Jim would soon leave the WWF. Owen would pursue his own singles career. At WrestleMania VIII, Owen Hart defeated Skinner. After WrestleMania, Owen Hart would team with Koko B. Ware to form the very colorful tag team "High Energy". Like the New Foundation, this team would wear bright, neon colors and parachute pants with checkered suspenders. They only had one PPV match as a team, where they lost to Headshrinkers at Survivor Series. At the start of 1993, the team was quickly dropped with Owen on his own once again.

In mid-1993, Owen stood by Bret's side as the Hitman's feud with Jerry Lawler ignited. Owen would also fight against Lawler in the United States Wrestling Association (USWA), where most of the WWF wrestlers played heels. It was bizarro land in Memphis, while Lawler was the heel in WWF. Owen defeated Papa Shango for the USWA Championship. In the summer of 1993, Owen's participation the USWA feud was cut short due to a knee injury. Hart returned to the WWF in the fall of 1993, as he would team with his brothers in a Survivor Series match with Jerry Lawler and his "knights". However, Lawler could not make it because of his legal issues. Shawn Michaels would replace him as the team captain. During the match, Owen and Bret accidentally crashed into each other, causing Owen to be eliminated. After the match, Owen returned to the ring in a heated confrontation with Bret while Keith, Bruce and their father Stu tried to calm things down. The confrontation resulted in Owen leaving the ring to a crowd full of boos. The seeds were being planted for a feud with his brother. The next night, Owen changed his image to pink and black tights, pink sunglasses and the Sharpshooter similar to his brother. Owen would enter the feud that would bring new life to his career. At the 1994 Royal Rumble, Bret and Owen teamed up to challenge the Quebecers for the Tag Titles. However, Bret suffered a knee injury and continued to wrestle without tagging Owen. This left Owen frustrated, as he let out his anger after the match by kicking his brother in the leg. In the opening match of WrestleMania X, Owen pulled the upset of the year when he defeated Bret. Jerry Lawler said it best, "Owen did not step out of his brother's shadow. He jumped out of it". This was the push that saved Owen Hart's career. The feud with Bret elevated his career from wrestling in floundering tag teams to become a featured player. Bret & Owen feuded throughout the summer of 1994, as Bret successfully defended the WWF Title against Owen in a Steel Cage Match at Summerslam of that year. The rivalry won the PWI "Feud of the Year" Award. Owen also won the 1994 King of the Ring Award, calling himself "The King of Harts".

Following the success of his feud with Bret, Owen would capture tag team gold with stars like Yokozuna and Davey Boy Smith (British Bulldog). He would also call himself "Mr. Slammy" as he popularized the Slammy Award. By 1997, Bret would reform the Hart Foundation as a Faction. The group featured Bret as the leader, along with Owen, Bulldog, Anvil and Pillman. The Hart Foundation would find collective success as a stable, as they feuded with the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels and other American stars. At Calgary Stampede 1997, The Hart Foundation defeated the team of Stone Cold, Ken Shamrock, LOD and Goldust. Bret was the World Champ, while Owen was the European Champ and Tag Champ with British Bulldog. At Summerslam, Owen defended his IC Title against Stone Cold. However, the match will be forever known for the accident that nearly ended Austin's career. Owen was going for a variation of the Tombstone Piledriver. Unfortunately, Austin landed the wrong way. Steve would go on to win the title. Things started to truly unravel at Survivor Series with the Montreal Screwjob. With the departure of Bret and Davey Boy, Owen was left on his own.

By 1998, Owen Hart would change his gimmick from King of Harts to the Black Hart. He would feud with Triple H over the European Championship, but to no avail. By this point, Owen was being used to elevate younger stars from Triple H to Rocky Maivia. Later in the year, Owen Hart would join the Nation of Domination during their feud with DX. The Atmosphere of the WWF had drastically changed as they were deep into the Attitude Era. Owen was highly against many of the storylines that portrayed immorality. Hart would also feud with Ken Shamrock in the Summer of '98. He would later team with Jeff Jarrett to win the WWF World Tag Team Titles during 1999. May 23, 1999 would be a day that no one would ever forget. That night, WWF held their PPV "Over The Edge" in the Kempner Arena in Kansas City, MO. Owen would come to the ring as "The Blue Blazer" from the ceiling with the help of a cable, just like Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII and Sting in WCW. He was booked to wrestle Godfather for the IC Title. Sadly, the cable broke as he was coming down. As a result, Owen fell from the rafters and landed head first on the turnbuckle as he was instantly killed. He was only 34. Jim Ross made the announcement during a break in the show.

The next morning, I will never forget as a child watching the news report Owen's death. I could not believe it for myself. That night on RAW, there was a Special Tribute Show in honor of Owen Hart. The aftermath of Owen's death opened up Pandora's Box to a new world of controversy against Vince McMahon. The Hart Family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against WWF. On Nitro, Bret would defeat Chris Benoit in a Tribute Match to Owen.

Sadly, Owen's legacy has been tainted by the circumstances of his death because of his widow Martha Hart's bad blood with the company. His legacy cannot be featured properly, because his likeness cannot be used in any form, from video games to any other outlet. In the early 2000's, Acclaim featured Owen in their Legends of Wrestling games, as he was closely connected with Bret. Now, today's fans have a tainted view of the career of Owen Hart. However, Owen's legacy needs to be remembered more for what he did in the ring than how his life ended. It is the reverse of Chris Benoit. Benoit disqualified himself from the Hall of Fame or any other type of celebration. Meanwhile, Owen's widow is hindering WWE from celebrating him.

Enough is Enough and it's time for a change. Owen Hart will forever be a legend in wrestling. Hart was a two-time WWF Intercontinental Champion, European Champion, Tag Team Champion, 2-time Slammy Award Winner and 1994 King of the Ring among other accolades in his career. Mr. Owen Hart, today we celebrate you.