What Happened to Owen Hart?

By CelebPaid Editorial Team · 8 min read

Owen Hart.Image via Wikimedia Commons

The Rise to Fame

Owen James Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a Canadian-American professional 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 most of his success in the WWF, where he wrestled under both his own name and the ring names The Blue Angel and The Blue Blazer.

A member of the Hart wrestling family, he was born in Calgary, Alberta, the youngest of twelve children of Stampede Wrestling promoters Stu Hart and Helen Hart. Among other accolades, Hart 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 King of the Ring. He headlined three pay-per-view events for the WWF.

Hart died on May 23, 1999, during WWF's Over the Edge pay-per-view. During his entrance from the rafters of Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, the equipment that was lowering him to the ring malfunctioned and he fell to his death in front of a live audience.

Early life

The Peak Years

Owen was born on May 7, 1965, in Calgary, Alberta the youngest of 12 children to Canadian-born father Stu and American-born mother Helen Hart of the Hart wrestling family. His siblings included Smith, Bruce, Keith, Dean, Bret, Ross and Diana.

Hart's family background was 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.

Hart maintained dual American-Canadian citizenship.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1983–1987)

What Changed

Hart first gained wrestling experience in the amateur wrestling division at high school, through which he met his wife, Martha. Hart continued amateur wrestling for the Dinos at the University of Calgary. He placed 4th at the 1984 Canada West championships in the 76 kg weight class. Wrestling was not Hart's first choice for a career; as Martha explained in her book Broken Harts, Owen tried numerous times to find a profitable living outside of wrestling. Owen is quoted as saying, in the WWE Home Video "Owen Hart of Gold" that "during his time in the University, he wrestled incognito (under a mask) as the original British Bulldog. Then, after he graduated from the University, he wrestled as "Bronco" Owen Hart at Royal Albert Hall in London, England. As those attempts were unsuccessful, Hart was trained in his father's Hart Dungeon and worked for his father's federation, Stampede Wrestling and wrestled in England for Max Crabtree's Joint Promotions in matches that got broadcast on ITV's World of Sport and the later standalone wrestling program including a 1987 loss to former champion Marty Jones for the vacant World Mid-Heavyweight Championship.

In August 1986, Hart teamed with his brother-in-law, Ben Bassarab, to win his first title, the Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship, from the Masters of Disaster (Duke Myers and Kerry Brown). They held the titles until October 1986, when they lost to the Viet Cong Express. In October 1986, Hart defeated Les Thornton for the British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship. In January 1987, Hart briefly became a double champion by defeating Makhan Singh for the Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Championship; he lost the title back to Singh later that month. In April 1987, Hart won the title back from Singh; he lost it back to Singh the following month. In August 1987, Hart lost his British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship to Gama Singh. Hart received Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Rookie of the Year Award for 1987.

Hart had worked with Japanese wrestler Hiroshi Hase during Hase's foray to Stampede Wrestling in 1986-1987, leading to Hart receiving publicity from the Japan wrestling media. Following lobbying from Hase, in August-September 1987, Hart made his first appearances in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as part of its "Sengoku Battle Series". In his debut bout, he and Mark Rocco lost to Keiichi Yamada and Keiji Muto in Tokyo's Korakuen Hall. During the tour, he primarily teamed with Rocco or Dick Murdoch. On September 17, he unsuccessfully challenged IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Kuniaki Kobayashi. Unlike many other gaijin wrestlers, Hart exclusively wrestled as a babyface in NJPW.

Hart returned to NJPW in January-February 1988 to compete in the inaugural Top of the Super Juniors round-robin tournament during its "New Year Golden Series". He placed fourth out of 12 wrestlers with 39 points. In May-June 1988, he returned to NJPW to take part in the "IWGP Champion Series". On May 27, 1988, he defeated Hiroshi Hase in Sendai to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship; the win made him the first non-Japanese wrestler to win the title. Following a single successful defence against Keiichi Yamada, he lost the title to Shiro Koshinaka on June 24 in Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium. In his final match of the tour, he defeated Yamada by disqualification in the Nagoya Rainbow Hall in front of more than 10,000 spectators.

Hart's success in New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Stampede Wrestling's working relationship with the World Wrestling Federation led to Hart signing with the company in the summer of 1988, following a pair of dark matches in March 1988. Instead of promoting Owen as Bret Hart's younger brother, the WWF decided to create a masked "superhero" type gimmick for him which played to his high-flying style. In July 1988, he began wrestling for the WWF as "the Blue Angel", with his early appearances seeing him defeat the likes of Terry Gibbs, Steve Lombardi, and Barry Horowitz. In August 1988, his ring name was tweaked to "the Blue Blazer".

Where Owen Hart Is Now

The Blue Blazer made his pay-per-view debut at Survivor Series '88, teaming with Ultimate Warrior, Brutus Beefcake, Jim Brunzell, and Sam Houston against The Honky Tonk Man, Greg Valentine, Outlaw Ron Bass, Bad News Brown, and Dangerous Danny Davis. The Blazer was eliminated by Valentine, but his team went on to win the match. He continued to wrestle in the midcard, defeating enhancement talent but often falling short against other name talent; he lost to Ted DiBiase on the March 11, 1989 Saturday Night's Main Event XX and was defeated by Mr. Perfect at WrestleMania V.

Hart left the WWF in June 1989.

Hart returned to Stampede Wrestling in July 1989, swiftly beginning a feud with Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Champion Larry Cameron and vying with opponents including Dynamite Kid, Gama Singh, and Johnny Smith. He remained with the promotion until it closed down in December 1989.

Return to NJPW (1989–1991)

Hart returned to New Japan Pro-Wrestling for a fourth tour of Japan in August-September 1989 as part of its "Bloody Fight Series". Teaming with Pat Tanaka, he took part in the #1 Contender's League round-robin tournament to determine the number one contenders to the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Hart and Tanaka placed sixth out of seven teams. On his final night of the tour, Hart unsuccessfully challenged IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Naoki Sano.

Legacy

In January 1990, Hart returned to NJPW for a sixth tour as part of its "New Spring Gold Series", taking part in a tournament to determine the number one contenders to the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. Hart defeated Black Tiger and Hiro Saito before losing to eventual winner Jushin Thunder Liger. He returned in June-July 1990 as part of NJPW's "Burning Wave" series; during this tour, he lost to Pegasus Kid at the "New Kokugikan Densetsu ~ New Japan Pro Wrestling Explosion" event in Tokyo's Ryōgoku Kokugikan on June 26. He returned to NJPW once more on September 30, 1990 at the Antonio Inoki 30th Anniversary Memorial Festival event in the Yokohama Arena, teaming with Miguelito Pérez in a loss to Kengo Kimura and Osamu Kido; he went on to wrestler several more matches for NJPW in October 1990 as part of its "Fighting Spirit" series.

Hart made his final tour of Japan with NJPW in April 1991 as part of its "Explosion Tour", competing in the second annual Top of the Super Juniors round-robin tournament. He placed second out of 10 competitors, with wins over wrestlers including Dave Finlay, Flying Scorpio, and Pegasus Kid and losses to wrestlers including Negro Casas and Norio Honaga. He wrestled his last match for NJPW on April 28, 1991, losing to eventual tournament winner Jushin Thunder Liger.

In March 1990, Hart (wrestling as "the Blue Blazer") made his debut with the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association (UWA), teaming with Enrique Vera and Villano III to defeat Black Power, El Signo, and the Killer in the Toreo de Cuatro Caminos in Naucalpan. He returned to the UWA in November 1990, unsuccessfully challenging Villano III for the WWF Light Heavyweight Championship on November 18.

Hart made a further appearance with the UWA in February 1991, teaming with El Texano and Gran Hamada to defeat Los Brazos in Mexico City. He returned once more in May 1991; on May 19, he lost to El Canek in a mascara contra mascara match in Naucalpan. As a result, Hart did not wear the Blue Blazer mask again until 1998. he made his final appearances for the UWA in September 1991, unsuccessfully challenging El Canek for the UWA World Heavyweight Championship on September 3 in Pachuca.

In July to August 1990, Hart wrestled in Europe for the Catch Wrestling Association (CWA) as part of its "Catch World Cup" series. In his first match, in Vienna, Austria, he teamed with Tony St. Clair to defeat Cannonball Grizzly and Fit Finlay. Over the following weeks, he faced opponents such as Salvatore Bellomo, Rambo, and Dave Taylor. In one bout, he and St. Clair lost...

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