owen hart 10 years on.

grames_bond · 23-05-2009 07:52AM #1

As you probably all know today is the 10 year anniversary of owen harts tragic death, so i wanted to open this thread as a mark of respect. I was always a great admirer of owen, technically sound, great in the ring and on the mic, multiple title holder and you never heard a bad word said against him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfwtbWMToP8

Owen Hart, King of Harts, Lone Hart 1965-1999

on a related topic, does anyone think the daniels/suicide storyline in tna is a way for them to pay respect to owen as it is almost identical to the owen/blue blazer storyline, also considering jeff and owen were incredibly close friends.

PRICELESS · 23-05-2009 10:35AM

This was the first non family related death that really got to me, i cried buckets, think I missed a few days off school aswell.

Long live Owen Hart.

Rocket, King, Black Hart, Soul Survivor.

RIP

ShawnRaven · 23-05-2009 11:35AM

The morning this happened is still fresh in my mind. Friend of mine was recording this PPV for me and I was supposed to go up to hers and watch it the next day. Of course, by the time about 2.20am struck, i got a phone frantic phone call explaining everything that had happened. Neither of us could get over the shock. I got another phone call about an hour later confirming that he had died. I actually wouldn't see that PPV for about another six years afterwards, primarily because I couldn't bring myself to watch it.

Was always an Owen fan, especially in his feuds with Bret. I always thought that he was the better worker, it's unfortunate how his career turned after Bret left the company, and Vince locking him into his contract.And especially the reasons why he was handed back the Blue Blazer gimmick.

Which said a lot about Owen as a guy who stood up for what he believed in, while keeping his personal beliefs while at the same time, still trying to do what he could to keep his employer content. It's just very unfortunate he ended up dying for his art.

Owen Hart - 1965-1999

grames_bond · 23-05-2009 11:42AM

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Which said a lot about Owen as a guy who stood up for what he believed in, while keeping his personal beliefs while at the same time, still trying to do what he could to keep his employer content. It's just very unfortunate he ended up dying for his art.

when i read this bit in brets book i had an even greater respect for owen, not liking the direction in which the company is going and standing up for what he believed in. further admirable qualities.

i will always rwemember the morning i found out, i was in 6th class and my mam woke me up to tell me, i was distraught and then heard JR's speech on the morning news.....couldnt believe it!

Shawn do you still have that PPV somewhere? if so you are probably one of the only people with the footage (actually how did wwe/f handle that when it happened live?)

DarkJager · 23-05-2009 11:56AM

grames_bond wrote: »

when i read this bit in brets book i had an even greater respect for owen, not liking the direction in which the company is going and standing up for what he believed in. further admirable qualities.

i will always rwemember the morning i found out, i was in 6th class and my mam woke me up to tell me, i was distraught and then heard JR's speech on the morning news.....couldnt believe it!

Shawn do you still have that PPV somewhere? if so you are probably one of the only people with the footage (actually how did wwe/f handle that when it happened live?)

I still have it on VHS. The camera cut to a panning overhead shot of the crowd, and then to the announcers who explained what was after happening and that it was not a planned part of the evening.

ShawnRaven · 23-05-2009 11:59AM

grames_bond wrote: »

Shawn do you still have that PPV somewhere? if so you are probably one of the only people with the footage (actually how did wwe/f handle that when it happened live?)

I still have the live sky sports feed, but they were able to cover it up with a 20 second delay or something when they got it in their earpiece that there were problems with the harness.

So they cut to a prerecorded interview while mentioning there were difficulties.
Then a crowd shot took place while JR explained the match wouldn't be taking place and that this is not part of the scheduled program and that Owen Hart has been seriously hurt.
They skip on then, to the next match, and this is where it goes downhill, as Jarrett's match is up next. Owen and Jarrett were pretty close and both he and Debra are close to tears trying to cut their pre match promo.

PPV then goes on for a little while before JR makes the announcement that is heard on nearly every WWE DVD that mentions Owen.

Lawler sounds very different during the rest of this PPV, you could tell he didn't want to keep going.

Mossy Monk · 23-05-2009 12:29PM

10 years ago already? Damn.

I remember watching the PPV live and saw some of what ShawnRaven describes and went to sleep. I heard it on Today FM the following morning while waiting for a bus that he died

grames_bond · 23-05-2009 12:44PM

ShawnRaven wrote: »

They skip on then, to the next match, and this is where it goes downhill, as Jarrett's match is up next. Owen and Jarrett were pretty close and both he and Debra are close to tears trying to cut their pre match promo.

Lawler sounds very different during the rest of this PPV, you could tell he didn't want to keep going.

yeah this is something ive always wrestled with myself (no pun intended) should the show have kept going? i know vince says there would have been a riot otherwise but i dunno, how was anyone supposed to continue on properly after what had just happened!

especially as you said, jarret who was great friends with owen, had to cut a promo and have a match?! (which is why i think tna are doing the daniels/suicide storyline, to finish it they way it was meant to be done....either that or i am lookin way too much into it)

Mossy Monk wrote: »

10 years ago already? Damn.

I remember watching the PPV live and saw some of what ShawnRaven describes and went to sleep. I heard it on Today FM the following morning while waiting for a bus that he died

yeah today fm is where i heard it too, after my mam told me, i remmeber ever second of that morning as if it was yesterday, i always admired owen and his skill, and his matches vs bret were amazing, i think they brought the best out of each other!

DM_7 · 23-05-2009 01:42PM

Owen was one of my favourite wrestlers. I remember watching it on tape as I couldn't believe it had happened till i watched the tape. I was hoping the news had got it wrong.

grames_bond wrote: »

yeah this is something ive always wrestled with myself (no pun intended) should the show have kept going? i know vince says there would have been a riot otherwise but i dunno, how was anyone supposed to continue on properly after what had just happened!

especially as you said, jarret who was great friends with owen, had to cut a promo and have a match?! (which is why i think tna are doing the daniels/suicide storyline, to finish it they way it was meant to be done....either that or i am lookin way too much into it

The PPV should of ended. But how could vince know what to do, it was an unprecedented occurance I wouldn't envy anyone in that position who had to make a decision.

I'm not sure about the suicide thing, you could be right.

I had assumed the daniels storyline came about as people knew he took over from Kaz when he got injured. Its a storyline that is used in wrestling from time to time so i thought it just came up again. But before today I hadn't realised it was 10 years so hadn't thought about it.

grames_bond wrote: »

yeah today fm is where i heard it too, after my mam told me, i remmeber ever second of that morning as if it was yesterday, i always admired owen and his skill, and his matches vs bret

I will also remember the matches v Bret. I will be checking them out over the weekend.

Podge2k7 · 23-05-2009 01:47PM

Can't believe its been 10 years already:(

RIP:(

Iridium · 23-05-2009 06:27PM

It is hard to believe it is ten years ago alright. As fate would have it I wasn't actually watching Over the Edge, and to this day I've still never seen it or have had any desire to see it. I remember a friend phoning me the next day and telling me though. I can still remember the intensity of the shock. Back then wrestling was a huge deal to me, and the Hart brothers were my favourite wrestlers. I don't watch much wrestling these days, apart from tapes of old events every now and again, and I can trace the start of my falling interest levels back to Owen's accident.

Unlike many of the guys who have risen to the top of the wrestling business due to their charisma behind the mic, or being in with the boss, I always admired the guys who were more athletic and skillful in the ring, and Owen was definitely one of the best workers in the then WWF in the 1990s. His fued with Bret in 1994 produced some amazing matches, and I still review their match at WrestleMania X, and their cage match at Summerslam 1994 fairly often. I still find their style of match building way better than anything that's being produced by WWE today. I always liked his character too, even when he was playing the jealous little brother role. He pulled it off in such an almost cartoonish way - you couldn't help but laugh.

Pro wrestling is unfortunately an industry that's filled with tragedy stories - but this particular tragedy definitely affected me more than any of the others.

RIP Owen. Thank you for the memories.

flahavaj · 23-05-2009 07:56PM

How fast time flies. Unbelievable that its 10 whole years ago.:(

I loved Owen to bits, he was a phenomenal worker. I remain convinced he would have eclipsed his brother at least as an in-ring worker, if not in kayfabed achievements if we hadn't lost him so soon. He had buckets of talent, I have some old footage of him from Stampede when he ws literally only a kid and he was absolutely phenomenal even back then.

Iridium · 23-05-2009 09:08PM

PRICELESS wrote: »

Rocket, King, Black Hart, Soul Survivor.

You forgot Slammy Award Winning. It always cracked me up that he made such a massive point of the fact that he had two Slammy's, when he hadn't actually won either of them!

PRICELESS · 23-05-2009 09:41PM

Iridium wrote: »

You forgot Slammy Award Winning. It always cracked me up that he made such a massive point of the fact that he had two Slammy's, when he hadn't actually won either of them!

I also left out "Jim Owen" but some things are better off unsaid! Ha Ha!:D

DM_7 · 23-05-2009 10:02PM

I have to check out some of Owens matches this weekend, any suggestions or reccomendations?

PRICELESS · 23-05-2009 10:17PM

DM-ICE wrote: »

I have to check out some of Owens matches this weekend, any suggestions or reccomendations?

The one where Owen faced Bret for the WWF title and the WWF suddenly start using the instant replay rule.

I think this is it, hope I'm not remembering it thru rose tinted glasses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q41jwsAVcM&feature=related

DenMan · 23-05-2009 10:28PM

Owen Hart - The King of Harts.

I can't believe it's 10 yrs now. imo locked in the Sharpshooter better than Bret.

RIP Rocket

JP Liz · 23-05-2009 10:33PM

Galvasean · 24-05-2009 01:01AM

Great wrestler, great showman andall round nice guy.
Wrestling misses him.

ShawnRaven · 24-05-2009 01:03AM

DM-ICE wrote: »

The PPV should of ended. But how could vince know what to do, it was an unprecedented occurance I wouldn't envy anyone in that position who had to make a decision.

Dunno about the PPV should have ending, but Vince sure as hell shouldn't have paraded everyone out the following night on RAW with zero time to grieve. It looked tacky and tasteless, despite what Vince's best intentions may have been, it just reeked of "desperation for ratings".

Time doesn't do that show much justice either, it really looks tacky, say by comparison to Eddie's tribute show they did in 2005.

Iridium · 24-05-2009 01:14AM

DM-ICE wrote: »

I have to check out some of Owens matches this weekend, any suggestions or reccomendations?

Any match he ever had against Bret really. WrestleMania X, Summerslam 1994, I have a no holds barred match between them on an old tape somewhere from Raw in early 1995 I think. Owen also challenged Bret for the WWF Title in September or October 1994 on the first episode of the Action Zone.

Owen also always had a good match with Razor Ramon every time they clashed. I think he had a good one with Shawn Michaels at In Your House 6 (Feb 1996). And the final of the European Title tournament against Davey Boy Smith in Germany in early 1997 was awesome.

His matches in the King of the Ring tournament in 1994 are worth watching. The semi-final against 1-2-3 Kid is probably the best short match I've ever seen. They fit so much into 4 minutes - amazing.

I'm quite fond of his guest commentary on the entire King of the Ring 1996 event too. When Davey Boy is being introduced for his main event match against Michaels, Owen gives him a standing ovation on top of the commentators' table - complete cheese, but Owen could always pull it off so well. And his estimation of Jake Roberts age getting progressively higher and higher as the night went on was also memorable.

ShawnRaven · 24-05-2009 01:16AM

Owen has had a couple of really good matches with Shawn Michaels in 96 and on RAW in towards the end of 1997.

DM_7 · 24-05-2009 01:20AM

Thanks for the suggestions lads. I will try and check some out. The things like owen giving the standing ovation to Bulldog or his matches with Bret are the things i like remembering.

EDIT: Just had al ook at the 1-2-3 Kid match from KOTR 94, great call, really good match and seemed to go on far longer than it actually did.

dlofnep · 24-05-2009 01:55AM

I watched that event live. I was in my friend's house for it - we both when completely and utterly silent as if we lost a member of our family for a few minutes. It was weird. Can't believe it's 10 years ago now, damn I'm getting old!

ShawnRaven · 24-05-2009 02:04AM

dlofnep wrote: »

I watched that event live. I was in my friend's house for it - we both when completely and utterly silent as if we lost a member of our family for a few minutes. It was weird. Can't believe it's 10 years ago now, damn I'm getting old!

And here's what people don't get about the whole thing, especially if they didn't see it or hear it happen at the time.

The whole knowing that he died, while you were watching the event, really had it's impact and took it's toll on a lot of fans. It wasn't like the Guerrero or Pillman deaths where they happened in hotel rooms, it was on the actual PPV, live! And although it wasn't shown (for obvious reasons), it didn't change the fact that it happen, and how nearly everyone who watched and listened on as we found out he fell, that he was on his way to the hospital, and then how we found out that he died as a result. It was definitely a strange feeling.

Austin/Undertaker and Rock/HHH put on awesome matches that night too, but unfortunately, the crowd was still in shock to be able to fully appreciate it, and the commentary team weren't able to keep up. I still love those two matches from that PPV, but not as much as i miss Owen's matches though.

DM_7 · 24-05-2009 02:13AM

Just had a look at the match v HBK feb 18, In your House, really good match, the snot rocket while HBK was on the ground was genius, how could you not dislike that? Owens Enziguri looked fantastic then and it still looks great now. Great commentary by Jerry "Owen invented the camel clutch".

cena · 24-05-2009 02:16AM

i can't believe its ten years. was in in first year when that happened. i came home and my mother told me about it. i had it taped but the vcr eat up the tape. just told my mother its ten years she can't get over it

ShawnRaven · 24-05-2009 02:21AM

cena wrote: »

i can't believe its ten years. was in in first year when that happened. i came home and my mother told me about it. i had it taped but the vcr eat up the tape. just told my mother its ten years she can't get over it

Most people i reminded couldn't believe it either, and it was almost the five year anniversary of it when RAW came back to Ireland in 2005 too, and then, we couldn't believe it was five years then!

Yup, time flies, yet planes crash?

grames_bond · 24-05-2009 07:47AM

ShawnRaven wrote: »

Dunno about the PPV should have ending, but Vince sure as hell shouldn't have paraded everyone out the following night on RAW with zero time to grieve. It looked tacky and tasteless, despite what Vince's best intentions may have been, it just reeked of "desperation for ratings".

Time doesn't do that show much justice either, it really looks tacky, say by comparison to Eddie's tribute show they did in 2005.

yeah i agree while the "raw is owen" show had good intentions and all, even back then to me it seemed as a ratings grabber, and with a 7.2 (one of the highest in raw history) it certainly worked! and i really dont care about "he has to stay in character" i think taker should have been on the ramp with the rest of the superstars...but thats just my own personal gripe!

seanybiker · 24-05-2009 07:55AM

10 years already. I remember watching it live. That was a sad day. Horrible to watch. I remember jeff jarret telling deborah to shut up while it came through that he died.

fatal · 24-05-2009 10:21PM

10 years already!?!?Time sure flies. Although I've had the opportunity to watch the PPV,I never have nor have any intentions to.
Although I wasn't Owens biggest fan when I was younger, after watching many of his matches and promos, I can only imagine how good a wrestler he would have been if he was still around today.His death the first time that I came to realise how cruel death can be.

RIP Blue Blazer aka Owen hart:(

owen hart 10 years on.

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