Owen James Hart
(May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999)
It was sad. It was depressing. It brought silence throughout the audience and all over the world.
It was the night of May 23, 1999 when we were all shocked by the horrifying event that happened when a stunt went terribly wrong.
It was the night when all the people who said that wrestling was fake thought differently and saw the effects and tolls of professional wrestling. Wrestlers were affected by the event as well, as indicated by these quotes:
"I'm not going to get into the details of this accident as I really don't care to know them, all I know is that a friend is gone.
"Never mind the fact that Owen was a great guy. Never mind the fact that Owen was one of the greatest wrestlers the world has ever seen. Never mind the fact that he was one of the reasons I wanted to become a wrestler. Never mind that I went to the Hart Bros. Pro Wrestling camp, in hopes of meeting and training with him.
"All that matters is that Owen Hart is gone, never to entertain or make us smile again. This was a terrible senseless accident and it puts everything into perspective. Owen..... I know I will always respect you and I will never forget you."
—Chris Jericho, from Owen Hart's Death
"I don’t like to stop and remember the day he died. So much as I’d like to remember other things like his birthday [May 7]. I’m maybe different than a lot of members of the family.
"In Calgary, when you see the green grass coming up, with some patches of snow, you find yourself thinking of funerals. I was just thinking about his funeral yesterday and all the people that were there. Even now, I think about all the wrestlers that were at Owen’s funeral who are dead today.
"There are a lot of things that connect to Owen’s death and beyond, but all I want him to know is that I love him and will never forget him."
—Bret Hart, from Owen Hart's Death
It was Over The Edge 1999 and it was death.
The date is May 23, 2009 now and it's the tenth year since the tragic death of a man names Owen Hart. Recently, I sent Joe Burgett on a mission to find out if the WWE was to pay tribute to the Blue Blazer and I was shocked to find that no tribute matches were scheduled.
So I decided that I would give it a shot by creating my own tribute to Owen Hart. Many people know that I'm passionate about Hart family history and I'm honored that so many people took part.
Owen James Hart was born on May 7, 1965, the youngest of twelve. The Hart boys studied wrestling from an early age in the famous Hart Dungeon under the watchful eye of their father Stu Hart, the famous wrestling trainer and fighter.
Owen showed skill early on and wrestled at the amateur level. He eventually became a Canadian college champion before making his professional debut in 1986, as part of his father's Stampede Wrestling tour.
He worked in Stampede wrestling in both 1986 and 1987 and turned himself into an established wrestler there, winning four championships and becoming the face of the promotion. He had some memorable feuds there, but moved on to bigger and better things quickly, wrestling in promotions around the world.
He fought in Europe, Japan, Canada, and Mexico, becoming an international wrestling star. He is most well known for fighting in New Japan Pro Wrestling around this time, winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
It was one of his biggest accomplishments in wrestling, as he was just the second Canadian to win the title (the other being Chris Benoit). Despite holding the title for only a month, the title reign truly honored his in-ring skills.
After getting this international experience, Owen was brought into the WWF by his brother Bret "The Hitman" Hart, who was then wrestling with Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart as the Hart Foundation. He debuted in the WWF with the gimmick of the Blue Angel (later known as the Blue Blazer), not as Bret's younger brother.
Even though he mainly appeared as a mid-carder he had good matches against Ted Dibiase at an edition of Saturday Night Main Event, and challenged Mr. Perfect at Wrestlemania V. Shortly after Wrestlemania V he decided to stop touring with the WWF and moved back to the independent circuits once again.
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