Owen Hart

At 34 years old, Owen Hart has this physical status:

Owen James Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a Canadian–American professional and amateur wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

He received his most success in the WWF, where he wrestled under both his own name and the ring name The Blue Blazer. A member of the Hart wrestling family, he was born in Calgary, Alberta, the youngest of 12 children of Stampede Wrestling promoters Stu and Helen Hart.

Among other accolades, Owen was a one-time USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion, a two-time WWF Intercontinental Champion, a one-time WWF European Champion, and a four-time WWF World Tag Team Champion, as well as the 1994 WWF King of the Ring.

He headlined multiple pay-per-view events for the WWF, and was widely regarded as one of the company's best in-ring performers.Hart died on May 23, 1999, due to injuries suffered following an equipment malfunction and subsequent fall from the rafters of Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, during his ring entrance at the WWF's Over the Edge pay-per-view event.

Early life

Owen was born on May 7, 1965, in Calgary, Alberta into the Hart wrestling family and was the youngest child of Stu and Helen Hart. He grew up in a household with eleven older siblings: Smith, Bruce, Keith, Wayne, Dean, Ellie, Georgia, Bret, Alison, Ross and Diana.

He was of Greek descent through his maternal grandmother and Irish through his maternal grandfather. His father was mainly of Scots-Irish descent, but also had Scottish and German ancestry.

Because his mother, Helen, was born in New York, Hart was a dual citizen of Canada and the United States.

Personal life

He met Martha Joan Patterson in 1982. They married on July 1, 1989 and had two children together: Oje Edward Hart (born March 5, 1992) and Athena Christie Hart (born September 23, 1995).

On May 28, 2011, Hart was inducted into the Legends Pro Wrestling "Hall of Fame" by Jack Blaze in Wheeling, West Virginia at their "LPW Hart & Soul Tour" event. The award was accepted by his brother-in-law Jim Neidhart, who was also inducted that night.

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Professional wrestling career

Hart first gained wrestling experience at a high school wrestling division, where he met his wife, Martha. Wrestling was not Hart's first choice for a career; Martha wrote in her book Broken Harts, Owen attempted to find a satisfying life outside of wrestling. Owen is portrayed as saying that "during his time in the University, he wrestled incognito (under a mask) as the original British Bulldog in WWE Home Video "Owen Hart of Gold." Then, after graduating from the University, he wrestled as "Bronco" Owen Hart at Royal Albert Hall in London, England. Hart was trained in his father's Hart Dungeon and spent time in England with Max Crabtree's Joint Promotions in matches that were broadcast on ITV's World of Sport. He stayed with Stampede for the next two years, honing his skills. Hart teamed with Ben Bassarab in 1986 and lifted the Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship. Hart's in-ring skills and team's success earned him the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Rookie of the Year Award in 1987. He and Bassarab lost the tag team championship, and he and Johnny Smith and Dynamite Kid feuded with Johnny Smith and Dynamite Kid.

Hart branched out to Japan in 1987, where he competed for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) on several tours. He wrestled Keiichi Yamada in NJPW, both before and after he debuts the Jushin Liger gimmick. Hart defeated Hiroshi Hase in the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on May 27, 1988, becoming the first non-Japanese wrestler to win the title. His reign would come to an end just a month later, as he lost the title to Shiro Koshinaka on June 24, 1988.

Hart's success in Japan and Stampede's close relationship with the World Wrestling Federation resulted in him signing with the company in 1988. The WWF chose Owen instead of promoting him as Bret Hart's younger brother, a masked "superhero" gimmick that matched his high-flying style. The Blue Blazer (initially The Blue Angel) joined the WWF, with his early appearances seeing him defeat Terry Gibbs, Steve Lombardi, and Barry Horowitz. The Blue Blazer made his pay-per-view debut at Survivor Series 88, collaborating with The Ultimate Warrior, Brutus Beefcake, Jim Brunzell, Sam Houston against The Honky Tonk Man, Greg Valentine, Outlaw Ron Bass, Bad News Brown, and Dangerous Danny Davis. By Valentine, the Blazers had been ruled out of the game, but his team carried on to win the competition. He continued to wrestle in the midcard, securing enhancement skills but often falling short of other top talent; he lost to Ted DiBiase on March 11, 1989, the main event XX in the Main Event XX was won by Mr. At WrestleMania V., it's all good.

Hart left the WWF to tour the world shortly after WrestleMania, with and without the Blue Blazer gimmick. He returned to Stampede before it shuts down in December 1989. Hart lost the Blue Blazer mask in a mascara-to-browning match against Mexican wrestler El Canek in 1991 and does not use the gimmick again until 1998.

He has since returned to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). In 1990, he moved to Germany and worked with the Catch Wrestling Association.

On March 16, 1991, Hart appeared on Wrestling's self-titled TV show, the first of five TV matches he participated in, none of which were against preliminary talent, such as Mark Kyle. Ricky Morton appeared with him in one of the battles.

Hart had been discussing labor talks with WCW, but the contract was never reached, because Owen was unable to relocate himself and his family to the company's Atlanta headquarters. Rather, he signed with the WWF for the second time. The Hart Foundation, which included brother Bret and real-life brother-in-law Jim Neidhart, had split up; Bret decided against a singles career, while Neidhart was used sparingly. Neidhart recovered from a storyline fracture, he joined Owen Owen to form The New Foundation, which was founded in the United Kingdom. With the Beverly Brothers, Owen and Neidhart first feuded. They then had their first pay-per-view match at the Royal Rumble in January 1992, where they defeated The Orient Express. Neidhart left the WWF shortly afterward, and Hart went out on a short career as a singles wrestler, with a winless match against Skinner at WrestleMania VIII. Hart was teamed up with Koko B. Ware shortly after WrestleMania to form the team known as High Energy. At the Survivor Series, where they lost to The Headshrinkers, they had just one pay-per-view match as a team. Hart was quietly dropped at the start of 1993, with the team being dropped in a singles role. Owen sustained a knee injury in 1993 against Bam Bam Bigelow in a match taped for Superstars, which kept him sidelined for almost two months.

Owen stood by his brother's side and fought against Lawler in the United States Wrestling Association, where the bulk of the WWF talent were deemed the heels in 1993, when Bret Hart's feud with Jerry Lawler erupted. Owen was crowned the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship from Papa Shango. Owen's involvement in the WWF vs. the USWA feud was cut short in 1993 after he suffered a knee injury in the summer of 1993 and was forced to withdraw from the contest for a brief period of time.

In the fall of 1993, Hart first returned to the WWF ring, just at a time when Bret's rivalry with Lawler was briefly put on hold. At Survivor Series, Bret, Owen, and their siblings Bruce and Keith were supposed to face Lawler and his crew. However, Lawler was unable to attend the performance, and as a result, he was unable to attend WWF television. Shawn Michaels was recalled as the lawman was upgraded. Owen and Bret inadvertently crashed into each other, causing Owen to be booted from the team. Owen turned up after the game and had a tense match with Bret, while Keith, Bruce, and Stu tried to calm things down. Owen walked out of the ring to boos, while his brothers and father watched in disdignation, and mother Helen cried at ringside. Owen sent a letter to his brother the following night using the pink and black tights, sunglasses, and Sharpshooter finisher. Owen, who was furious about being in Bret's shadow, threatened his brother, who turned down. Rather, the brothers seemed to reunite by the holidays.

Bret made amends with Owen by working with him on a regular basis. And at the WWF Tag Team Championship, Bret even gave the two teams a shot. At the Royal Rumble in January 1994, they faced the Quebecers for the title. Both brothers were fine, but when Bret hurt his knee (kayfabe) and was unable to track Owen for a long time, the younger Hart became ill. Owen screamed as Bret's knee injury ended the match, and then walked away, berating Bret on the Titantron shortly after, as Bret was being assisted backstage. This is his first run as a heel. An infuriated Owen accused his brother of being selfish and holding him down after the incident. Owen admitted that it felt good to see his brother being killed. At WrestleMania X, where Owen sprucefully pinned his older brother. Bret triumphed the WWF Championship later in the evening, while Owen stood around and watched in glee as Bret celebrated in the ring. Owen defeated Razor Ramon in the finals with an elbow drop to the back and with an assist from Jim Neidhart. Owen ditched "The Rocket" nickname and adopted the phrase "The King of Harts" after the victory.

Owen and Bret feuded with each other in singles and later in tag team matches (with Bret being joined by the returning British Bulldog). Two key matches took place in this feud: first, they steel cage match in Bret's co-main tournament, which Bret won. Dave Meltzer gave this match a five-star rating later this year. Owen won and was proclaimed WWF Champion on August 17 and was proclaimed WWF Champion; Bret took the title after being refused to continue due to interference. Owen delivered the most damaging blow to his brother when he conned his own mother Helen to leave Bret for the weekend. To Bob Backlund, Bret lost the WWF Championship. When Owen interfered in the match between Bret and new champion Diesel, he barred Bret from winning the WWF Championship at the Royal Rumble in 1995. Bret and Owen clashed once more in the weeks after the Royal Rumble, Bret and Owen clashed with Bret notably defeating his brother, putting an end to their feud for the time being.

Owen recovered from Bret's defeat by winning the WWF Tag Team Championship from the Smoking Gunns at WrestleMania XI. Owen, who had been accompanied by a "Mystery Partner," had challenged the Gunns to a championship match; the partner turned out to be former world champion Yokozuna. Owen appointed Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji as his interim managers after the win, who had already had Yokozuna. The team defended the title for five months before losing them to Shawn Michaels and Diesel at In Your House 3. They would briefly hold the title when the belts were returned to them before the Smoking Gunns regained the honor. Owen and Yokozuna will continue to compete and play well into the year's end.

Owen's brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith resigned in 1995 and joined the Camp Cornette family. The two brothers in law began to partner more and more during the summer of 1996, many with Vader, who was also a member of Camp Cornette. Owen gained a Slammy Award for injuring Shawn Michaels and began using the phrase "Slammy Award Winner" and the "King of Harts" for several months, despite the fact that he never used his cast on his right forearm during his matches and later used it as a weapon.

Bulldog and Hart received a pay-per-view shot at In Your House 10 in September 1996. After beating the Smoking Gunns, Owen and Bulldog were left with the gold. Clarence Mason conned Jim Cornette into signing over the new champions' contracts. However, signs of dissatisfaction began to emerge, but signs of dissatisfaction began to emerge. On a rare occasion where this was evident was at the Royal Rumble, when Hart mistakenly dismissed Bulldog. They miscommunication in matches against Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon, and Bulldog fired Mason after losing a match to Crush that was also managed by Mason after the Rumble, something that didn't go well with Hart. The newly launched WWF European Championship was another point of contention between the two teams; both men advanced to the finals to crown the first champion, with Bulldog emerging victor.

The rivalry between the two teams boiled over after retaining the tag team title against the Headbangers after disqualification on the 1997 edition of Monday Night Rawl. Hart, an enraged boy, has vowed to face Bulldog's European champion the next week. The match was scheduled for March 31; on the night, the two teams went at it with such ferocious that some thought the tag team champions had finally broken away; Bret Hart, the newest turned heel, appeared on ringside and called the match off at a tumultuous moment. Bret appealed to both Owen and Bulldog, discussing the importance of family. They decided to put aside their differences and join Bret in the new Hart Foundation, an anti-American stable that also included Hart in-law Jim Neidhart and Hart family friend Brian Pillman.

Owen pinned Rocky Maivia to victory his first WWF Intercontinental Championships after establishing the Hart Foundation. The Hart Foundation held every WWF title other than the WWF Championship, confirming their domination of the federation. Owen had a blast but the British Bulldog lost the WWF Tag Team Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels on May 26, 1997. He and Austin soon became rivals.

Since Michaels canceled his half of the championship due to an injury, Owen and Bulldog have a second shot at regaining the tag team championships. The two teams qualified for the vacant titles on July 14, 1997, the 1997 edition of Raw. Dude Love, who declared himself to be Austin's partner and helped him beat Hart and Bulldog for the tag team championship, was revealed to be Austin's best friend.

Hart was expected to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Austin in a "Kiss My Ass" match, in which Hart put the trophy up against Austin, where he had to kiss his buttocks if he lost. During the game, Hart botched a piledriver and dropped Austin on the top of his head, injuring his neck. Austin captured the Hart Cup that evening but was forced to forfeit the title due to the injury. Despite the fact that the whole situation was an accident, the WWF decided to make it part of the storyline as Owen began wearing a T-shirt patterned after Austin's "Owen 3:16/I Just Broke Your Neck." Hart then advanced to a tournament to crown a new champion.

Hart fought his way into the finals of the tournament to crown the next Intercontinental Champion, and Faarooq will face Faarooq at Badd Blood: In Your House. Owen beat Faarooq with Austin's assistance. Austin continued his fight against Hart for the title when he returned but would not encourage Faarooq or someone else to beat him. Austin wished to win the Intercontinental Championship twice after Hart failed to qualify for the Bad Blood and Survivor Series in Montreal. The Montreal Screwjob took place later that night. Bret left the WWF after Survivor Series and Jim Neidhart were given prompt dismissal from their jobs and moved to WCW. Owen was the only Hart family member of the WWF due to his contractual obligations.

Hart was not seen or heard on WWF until he made a surprise appearance after Shawn Michaels retained his rank following a disqualification defeat to Ken Shamrock at In Your House: Where he assaulted Shawn Michaels. Hart has now a fan favorite, but with a new edgy, antisocial outlook, Hart became known as "The Lone Hart" and "The Black Hart." Owen was feud with D-X and challenged Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship on December 29, 1997: When Triple H intervened in order to save Michaels' title, the Hartshooter had Michaels trapped in the Sharpshooter, giving Hart the victory by disqualification. He later took the European championship from Triple H, but not in a way. Goldust disguised himself as Triple H in an effort to swerve Hart, but Commissioner Slaughter ruled him to be a valid replacement. Hart sustained a kayfabe ankle injury while watching Triple H on ringside, bringing Owen in an exciting impromptu title match and reclaims the trophy. Chyna interfered when the referee wasn't looking, and while Triple H was distracting the referee, she grabbed Hart on the left knee with a baseball bat, picked him up and led him right back to the ring, where Triple H put Hart in a reverse ankle lock to his injured right leg.

Hart turned on Shamrock, "snapping" his ankle and "biting his ear" in the process, becoming a heel four weeks after WrestleMania's WrestleMania match against Mark Henry and Rocky Maivia (later known as The Rock), becoming a heel once more. Hart became the co-leader of The Kingdom of Domination after the assault on Shamrock, stating that "enough is enough, and it's time for a change." Since Hart joined DX, the country's first big feud has emerged. The Nation of Domination was parodied during this feud. The impersonation was complete, with an actor dressing up as Hart and yelling the word "I am not a nugget" in response to Shawn Michaels' description of Owen as a nugget of feces in a toilet bowl that, no matter how many times Michaels flushed, was impossible to get rid of; Hart's nickname, "nutget," became a derisive term that followed him for the remainder of his career. When Shamrock recovered from injury and set about getting revenge on Hart, Hart's participation in the DX feud was suspended. Both the two teams have split up on pay-per-view, but no one has ever agreed on a particular match.

Hart remained with the country throughout the year until the country's unstable dissolved. He partnered with Jeff Jartt after SummerSlam. Debra Jarrett, Hart's boss, was in their corner. A storyline was attracted at the time that Hart was supposed to have an on-screen romance with Debra, but Owen denied it.

Hart "accidentally injured" Dan Severn during a match, Hart appears to have left the WWF. The angle blurred the boundaries between reality and "storyline" when playing off Hart's legitimate injury on Austin the year before. Despite being aware who was under the mask, the Blue Blazer appeared in the WWF as soon as Hart "quit" was revealed. Unlike the first run of the story, the Blazer was now an overbearing, self-righteous heel who treated the Attitude Era WWF with disdain. Hart and Jartt made the storyline parodydoutput. Hart was not the Blazer, as he was unveiled in the Blue Blazer. They both appeared next to a man wearing the Blue Blazer mask in a later attempt to prove that neither Hart nor Jartt were the Blazer; however, it was clear that a black man was underneath the mask (Hart's former tag team partner Koko B. Ware). Hart and Jartt defeated Ken Shamrock and The Big Boss Man for the WWF Tag Team Championship on January 25, 1999, in the midst of the Blue Blazer angle. At WrestleMania XV, the pair defended the belts against Test and D'Lo Brown. On the (pre-taped) episode of Raw that aired on April 5, 1999, they lost the titles to Kane and X-Pac. Hart and Jarrett then continued to work together until Hart's death in May at the Over the Edge pay-per-view festival.

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