Can't believe it's been 25 years since Owen passed. I was left stunned, wandering aimlessly around the house that night then was glued to the dirtsheets in the following days. Off the top of my head the only other death that comes close was Benoit.





RIP

Hot Box Era, so I was watching the PPV for free live. I remember they did a Blue Blazer interview, then seemed like they were having technical difficulties, as that same interview aired a second time immediately after. Turns out they were stalling in the aftermath of what happened. Then I think they cut to JR, who had the horrible task of explaining what happened, with the added horror of the era making him have to reiterate that this wasn't a shocking storyline, but a genuine accident that was veering towards tragedy. Then I remember they cut to a backstage interview where a shellshocked Jeff Jarrett and Debra had to cut a promo going into the next match, as they both fought back tears. It was immediately obvious that continuing the show was absolutely fucking insane and we didn't even know Owen was dead yet. Vince, just an absolute piece of shit. 

I had Social Studies first period that year and everyone was talking about it just before class started the next day. I also vividly remember girls in class, who weren't wrestling fans, watching Raw is Owen and talking about having cried watching it the day after. 

Possibly lost in time, but Craig Kilborn made a tasteless joke about the accident the next night (I only remember the punchline was about a fictional wrestler named "White Turtleneck" surviving while Blue Blazer did not). Wrestling fans wanted to murder Craig Kilborn after that. 

Just a surreal period of time. Of all the What Ifs we do, most of which are just fun tweaks of storylines, little alternate histories where something could have been a little better than it really was, the most significant What If might just be: What If Vince let Owen quit WWF after the Montreal Screwjob like Owen wanted? He's probably still be alive. 

I watched Hitman Wrestling With Shadows on Tubi recently for the first time in a while and always gives me the biggest goosebump chills when Bret talks in that doc about his injury against Dino Bravo and his fear of dying from an accident in the ring and everybody thinking it was a fake angle.

It was pretty unforgivable that the PPV went on and I always thought it was really really bad taste that they put it on the WWE Network/Peacock, to this day I have never watched the show and don't care to.

I remember hearing the news about it while sleeping with the TV on and thinking that I dreamt it, thinking I had a dream that Owen Hart died at he PPV last night, then getting on the school bus and finding out it really happened.

Was watching at my cousin's. He had a hot box like Kilgore. Owen falling to his death was a punch to the gut. I was numb for the rest of the show. Numb the next day as well. No death had hit me that hard up to that point. Owen wasn't just another wrestler for me. He was one of my tippy top tier guys. And he died on a show I was watching. That hurt. Raw Is Owen was what it needed to be. Hate to say it, but I'm numb to wrestler deaths death in general nowadays so none of the later wrestler deaths hit me half as hard as Owen's had. That was for me, a wrestling obsessed weirdo, what the JFK assassination was for my mom. EDIT: For the 2+ years between Owen's death and 9/11.

May 24, 2024 1:28:42 GMT Baker said:

Was watching at my cousin's. He had a hot box like Kilgore. Owen falling to his death was a punch to the gut. I was numb for the rest of the show. Numb the next day as well. No death had hit me that hard up to that point. Owen wasn't just another wrestler for me. He was one of my tippy top tier guys. And he died on a show I was watching. That hurt. Raw Is Owen was what it needed to be. Hate to say it, but I'm numb to wrestler deaths death in general nowadays so none of the later wrestler deaths hit me half as hard as Owen's had. That was for me, a wrestling obsessed weirdo, what the JFK assassination was for my mom.

There were so many deaths during that period, it's impossible for me to determine whether it made Owen's death easier to process, or if after losing so many guys, and then Owen in the most brutal fashion of them all, it just made it worse in an accumulation of it all. I'm leaning towards the latter. None of us knew Owen, but that was a really fucking traumatic thing for us all to experience.

I used to record the PPVs on VHS, since they aired in the middle of the night here on Sky Sports. Then before school in the morning, I would quickly fast forward through the show, stopping at appropriate points. That way I had the gist of what went down and could talk about the big happenings on the schoolyard. I was 11.

It was definitely apparent that this was a big deal and not a part of the show, given that it was being talked about on the UK morning news shows.

I cannot say that it had a particular effect on me at the time, perhaps because of the distance and my age. These were TV stars that I had never seen in the flesh and had never expected I would ever see.

I expect the impact would have been much bigger if I had seen Owen Hart wrestle live before or even if I had been to an American wrestling show. That makes them more tangeable. Even though it is where you would expect to see them (a wrestler at a wrestling show), maybe it is like seeing a teacher outside of school for a kid. They are much more of a real person now. Back then, I thought these big American wrestlers must all be minted and would clearly have fresh attire for each and every match.

I'm sure I must have returned to the VHS recording after that first proper full watch through that I would've done after returning from school on the Monday, but it cannot have been many times. It was not as if a poor quality show would deter me (the number of times I must have rewatched Armageddon 1999 would be frightening) but there was clearly no enjoyment to be had from any aspect of that show after the fact.

And of course the show should have been stopped. Is continuing with the show Vince's most carny moment?

Owen died when I was a fan less than a year and obviously his booking then made him a scrub in my eyes. Despite not being a fan then (appreciate him more in history) I think I cried one night. Didn't even do that for Eddy who I was much more attached to when he died.

And to answer the question we're all thinking. 2024. That was the last time I clicked an "OWEN FALL FOOTAGE" video and tricking myself into thinking some 300k video is showing the actual turnbuckle bomb. Like sometimes the brain is just FOOLED.

The whole must go on, is Vince carny enough to continue the show if it's Shane? Always remember that being a sticking point. Continued the show but would've shut it down if it was a MeekMahn. Interesting that this was a "major" show that had a wwf title change on it that can't be referenced.

The inventor of the sharpshooter. Bret perfected Owen's move in ways he never could. RIP.

Me and my little brother always appreciated Owen since Mania X, I think my little brother could really relate to him being in my shadow that way that's still an issue with him and me to this day we split up a year ago after trying to work together and clashed constantly because of that. Never was a fan of him being the nugget or any of that bullshit in real time or the Blue Blazer, still to this day think 1999 WWF was the drizzling shits and everything going on with Owen was a big part of that negativity I have towards that era. I do remember being weirded out by how the WWF fans shit on him every week were suddenly crying over him that night on Raw, first taste of fickle masses. 

As a movez guy, Owen won me over pretty early during the genie pants era because he did that top rope sitout backflip reversal out of an arm bar. Anybody doing something that cool was going to become one of my guys. If he was wrestling on Superstars, I'm paying attention just to see that spot alone. 

The gutsy underdog little brother into one of the most obnoxious heels of all time is one of the great transformations of all time. And the Bret-Owen program is just a masterclass in long term storytelling (in '94 alone, the fact that they went full circle and back together in '97 is just icing on the cake).

I must say, and forgive me for what I've done, but I lost a little interest in him during 95/96. I'd probably be more into that period now. In real time, though, it just seemed a little sameness, and he was usually linked up with people I didn't give a shit about (Cornette, Yoko, and so on). But I never turned on Owen.

The Black Hart run out of the Screwjob is one of those things that was a bigger deal in my memory then when I rewatched it 10 years ago or whenever. In my mind, it really felt like Owen was taking the next step towards the top for a couple weeks there. And by WrestleMania 14, it was already over. And then from that point forward he's booked like absolute shit until the tragedy. 

As if I can resist the urge to rewrite my paean to Owen's career...

Took a while for Owen to get over with me. Baggy pants Owen was the wrestler on the roster I was most likely to forget existed. He was a glorified jobber and an even bigger dork than his boring brother. But he leveled up real quick...

Survivor Series '93 he becomes interesting for the first time. Royal Rumble '94 he becomes a Baker Guy. Wrestlemania X he shocks the world to become a legit star. By KOTR he's my favorite wrestler and a legit main eventer. Went from zero to hero in 7 months. What a legend. I only wish he had dethroned the Sharpshooter thief at Summerslam '94.

Loved that Owen picked Yoko as his partner just because he had once defeated Bret for the WWF Championship. That's a level of petty I can get behind. They had a neat dynamic with Yoko doing the work and Owen taking all the glory. Vintage Owen. Only thing that hurts them is Sid & The Kid did the same gimmick better in the very same calendar year. Speaking of 1995, my man ended it by concussing Michaels and beating Diesel. Talk about ending the year in style.

Owen's push died down after IYH February '96, but this was still peak Camp Cornette, and Owen found ways to stay interesting with the Slammy Award Winner and Cast gimmicks. Then the dream team of Owen & Davey had a nice 8 month run with the straps. Should have put the belts on them 4-6 months earlier tbh.

1997 Owen was beautiful. Loved how Owen never went crawling back to Bret the way I always imagined he would. Nope. Bret came crawling to Owen! Beautiful. Then the black sheep of the Hart Family redeems himself once and for all by pinning that lousy, stinking, good fer nothin' Stone Cold Steve Austin in Calgary to cap off the greatest match of all time. Then came the Screwjob.

Which led to vengeful badass babyface Owen! Hell yeah! I'd have paid ALL THE DIMES for a high-profile Owen/HBK title match. But politics, the rise of Austin, and admittedly lukewarm responses (maybe Owen had been too good a heel from 94-97?) killed my dream of seeing Owen dethrone Michaels. Before long Owen couldn't even beat stupid HHH. *sigh*

Owen seemed terribly out of place from Wrestlemania XIV on. Owen joining the Nation was weird and dumb. The Blue Blazer stuff was dumber still. The Jarrett team was great on paper but never fully clicked imo. Much as I loved them, both those guys seemed like out of place relics at the time. Don't get me wrong. I still *liked* Owen during his final year. But it had more to do with the years of good will he had built up than anything he was doing in 98-99. Still, Survivor Series 93 to Wrestlemania 98 is one heck of a 4 year+ run.

May 26, 2024 3:25:14 GMT Neo Zeed said:

I do remember being weirded out by how the WWF fans shit on him every week were suddenly crying over him that night on Raw

Maybe weird, but totally understandable. 

And then there's my friend Will. Pretty sure I've told this Craig Kilbornesque story before, but not as much as I've repeated my History With Owen story, so I will tell it once more. Will was an Owen hater. Just couldn't stand the nugget. At Over The Edge '99 Will allegedly said something like "God, I hate Owen Hart. Hope he dies." Then he did. I knew Will at the time, but we didn't become good friends until 2000. That's when he told me the story. I took it with a grain of salt. BUT sometime later his friend or cousin (I was never sure which) Mike, who I didn't care for, was hanging out with us one night. We must have been talking wrestling because at some point Mike blurted out to Will something like "Hey, remember that time you killed Owen Hart?" This I can confirm.

May 27, 2024 1:04:21 GMT Baker said:

And then there's my friend Will. Pretty sure I've told this Craig Kilbornesque story before, but not as much as I've repeated my History With Owen story, so I will tell it once more. Will was an Owen hater. Just couldn't stand the nugget. At Over The Edge '99 Will allegedly said something like "God, I hate Owen Hart. Hope he dies." Then he did. I knew Will at the time, but we didn't become good friends until 2000. That's when he told me the story. I took it with a grain of salt. BUT sometime later his friend or cousin (I was never sure which) Mike, who I didn't care for, was hanging out with us one night. Me must have been talking wrestling because at some point Mike blurted out to Will something like "Hey, remember that time you killed Owen Hart?" This I can confirm.

I think everyone alive in the '90s understands it was the most edgelord era in the history of the world, so that's something someone would absolutely say and not mean it. 

I remember Andre's death vaguely when I was 10. Owen's death was the 1st wrestling-related death that stuck with me. I remember crying mainly because I felt horrible for Jeff Jarrett. Even then, as a casual fan, I could tell Jeff loved Owen.