Should WWE mention the anniversary

[Slickster 0]

*laughs in spite of himself*

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

That's a nice f'n tombstone.

*resists urge to say the stupid insenstive joke*

 

 

ah fuck it...

 

here goes...

 

"Yep, it's the only one he ever got right"

Eh....it's kinda funny, but not an out loud funny. And very tasteless. For shame...(snickers)

[Jobber of the Week 0]

They shouldn't. USA and others keep trying to force Hart documentaries out the door, including one on that ass Martha and how she "brought Vince McMahon to her knees." Yeah, like Vince was really being the villain to the Harts in the aftermath of Owen's death.

 

Acknowledging the death is opening themselves up to cheap shots that people will sling around after the movie. Just moving on and keeping their chin up will let them sail above the shitstorm.

[AlaskanHero 0]

When did Owen die? The 23rd or the 29th?

[Slickster 0]

5/23/99 (29th was a Saturday).

[Jebus 0]

can you say what picture that is? I know it's owen duh but from where...

You can find the same picture that's on the tombstone in WWF magazine (circa 96)...it has Owen holding his Slammy award.

[Use Your Illusion 0]

Why aren't I hearing about Retrospectives on Curt Hennig's Death or Brian Pillman???

 

Its just Owen Hart is so memorible because of the events that surround his death. All the legal battles, and bad blood that already existed with the Hart family and the McMahons rekindled.

Or we leave him to rest as we do every other wrestler who's death date comes up on the Caladar

Um, I think it's more that Owen didn't have a role in his own death, as it was totally unexpected. From what I know, he never did any drugs or drank excessively either.

 

UYI

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

Why aren't I hearing about Retrospectives on Curt Hennig's Death or Brian Pillman???

 

Its just Owen Hart is so memorible because of the events that surround his death. All the legal battles, and bad blood that already existed with the Hart family and the McMahons rekindled. 

Or we leave him to rest as we do every other wrestler who's death date comes up on the Caladar

Um, I think it's more that Owen didn't have a role in his own death, as it was totally unexpected. From what I know, he never did any drugs or drank excessively either.

 

UYI

Exactly. Owen was a model employee something that most of these guys were definetly NOT.

[Guest ravman77]

Slightly off topic but there could be no greater tribute to Owen than getting a nice DVD release of whichever King of the Ring he did commentry on. That used to crack me up, with him ranting about Jake,Shawn etc. Awesome work, even if the PPV was poor.

 

God bless Owen.

[Guest Choken One]

1996.

 

He really could have had a great post-wrestling career as a Commentator.

 

Poor PPV?

 

**** MATCH (Mero.Austin)...***1/4 Main event...Historical Promo from Austin...Brian Pillman's first PPV apperence...Owen's Commentary...Lawler's hilarious introduction before his squashing to Warrior...

 

that was a pretty good show.

[MixxMaster 0]

well, I would be surprised if they DIDN'T mention it in some way. It of course would be better if they went all out and did a big video vignette, but I'm not holding my breath on that.

By the way, don't know if anyone else has seen this, but here's an Owen Hart tribute page, with pics taken at the PPV before and after he fell. May be disturbing for some.Owen Hart Tribute

[SuperJerk 0]

If they released an Owen DVD, they'd probably have to rerecord commentary since he worked heel and most of the play-by-play usually bad mouthed him.

 

Since I live in Kansas City, I have to hear about Owen's death pretty much everytime someone says the word "wrestling". I'm sure the people of Montreal can relate.

 

I'm not trying to be a prick about it, but it seems like every wrestling fan I run into claims they were there that night. Its liking Woodstock or something.

[Markme123 0]

I don't know how many people have read this already, but it is a funny, interesting read:

 

Today is a sad anniversary. I think I wrote you once about how Jan & I were Owen's "posse" here in Ohio. Since 1994, whenever Owen & WWE came to Ohio, Jan & I always picked him up from the airport, took him to workout, took him to eat, and took him to the arena. He'd get us tickets up close at ringside, and then we'd take him to his hotel. Whenever Owen came to Columbus, he'd spend the night at our place. He was our closest friend in all of the wrestling business

 

We first met Owen in Indianapolis a couple of hrs after WrestleMania 1992, in front of a downtown Indy steakhouse. He was with Martha, who was carrying the newborn son, Oje. It was cold, and Martha was trying to put her coat on while juggling Oje with Owen. As we walked by, we offered to help as Martha got her coat on. Jan & I introduced ourselves, and we had a 5-10 minute conversation about wrestling, Owen's matches in Japan, particularly the May 1991 match with Jushin Liger where Liger finished Owen with a DDT from the top rope, and Owen legit jammed his neck. Both Owen & Martha seemed flattered that we didn't come off as mark fans, and simply admired Owen's skill. Plus, since Jan's a nurse & that fact came up in the conversation, Martha & Jan talked "newborn baby" stuff. As the conversation ended, Jan & I wrote our name, address & phone number on a card & gave it to them, indicating the typical "if you're ever in Columbus, give us a call" phrase…never knowing what the next few years would bring. Martha saw we had a camera around our necks, and offered to take a photo of Jan & I with Owen.

 

In the summer of 1994, Owen began his feud with Bret. Early that summer, we got a late night phone message that started "Jan,…Chris,…this is Owen,…Owen Hart. I'm coming to Ohio this week, and I wanted to know if you could do me a favor…" As it turned out, WWE was coming to the Cincinnati Gardens, and Owen wanted to know if we could pick him up from the Greater Cinci Airport (actually located in northern KY, about 15 miles from downtown Cinci). When we met him there, he explained how he & Bret traveled everywhere together, but since they were feuding, he had to travel with someone else. He remembered meeting us in Indy, and decided to call us. That night, he got comps from either Dave Hebner or the local marketing rep (for years it was the infamous "other" Brett Hart…the WWF marketing person), and we sat ringside. After the show, we took Owen to an Outback Steakhouse for dinner, and a friendship was born.

 

That's how it went for years. In Ohio, we'd get a call about a week before the show from Owen, and make arrangements for getting him at the airport, we'd take him to the building, and he'd get us ringside seats (unless we'd already bought front rows on our own. P.S.: We ALWAYS bought tickets on our own for Ohio shows, but once, Owen wanted us to pick him up for a Detroit show, another time for a Pittsburgh show, and another time for a Wheeling WV show. Those times, we let Owen comp us seats for the night). In Columbus, repeat the process, except he'd stay at our place. In exchange, Owen would always ask us to make anti-Owen signs for him, and as a "thank-you", Owen would always find us at ringside, start jawing with us, and rip up our signs. We picked him up for numerous shows during these 5 years, and EVERY TIME, Owen would find us, start jawing with us, and rip up our signs! He did it in Ohio for 3 or 4 TV tapings, but most notably, he ripped the signs on camera at Anaheim for WrestleMania 1996, and in Cleveland for SummerSlam 1996.

 

The last time we spoke with Owen was on a Sunday morning in March 1999, when we picked him & Jeff Jarrett up at the Cincy Airport, when they needed a ride to Dayton's Nutter Center for a live Sunday Night Heat (a show where WWF's satellite signal was knocked out, and that night's Heat show never aired!) We led a caravan of about 6 WWF cars trying to find a restaurant that wasn't packed with Sunday post-church traffic. After no success, we decided to go work out, then make the 1 hr. drive to Nutter Center. One of our great Owen stories happened here, as we exited the airport. We drove our Mustang convertible, not expecting a 2nd wrestler as passenger. Owen & I were jammed in the front seat, and Jan & Jeff were jammed in the back (Jeff reading back issues of the Observer that we'd always brought for Owen to read when he did his cardio on the bike at the gym). Three or 4 times as I exited the airport parking lot, I kept bumping the car's gearshift into neutral when I put my foot on the brake…making me look stupid in front of Owen & Jeff. Jeff & Jan kept looking at me weird the whole time. Owen was oblivious…constantly fidgeting with my radio trying to find a country station. I was a little pissed, both at the gearshift thing, plus I'd found a good country station for Owen, and I couldn't figure why he kept changing it? As it turned out, every time I stopped to look in both directions trying to avoid on-coming traffic…Owen would mess with the radio with one hand, but sneakily slip the gearshift in neutral with the other. When I put on the gas…nothing…just creeped into the intersection. HE GOT ME!! We never knew until Jeff let us in on the rib in July of 1999 when we spoke with Debra & Jeff backstage before a Columbus Raw. Jeff & Owen never knew that we didn't know. Jeff said that Owen would have loved it, knowing he'd ribbed us for 6 months without us knowing!!

 

Dayton's stories aren't over. After we worked out & started for Dayton from Cinci, we realized we'd get to the arena about 90 minutes late for TV check-in. Jan & I both knew it when Owen & Jeff farted around at the gym…just taking their time. We tried to move them along, but we didn't want to push. So we knew all along that we'd get them there late. Anyway, when we got close, Owen & Jeff started going over rehearsed stories with us…coaching us on how to explain things to Pat Patterson. You know, typical stuff (plane arrived late, church traffic was heavy, packed places to eat, bad construction traffic, etc…) Finally, I convinced them that THE TRUTH was the best answer (all restaurants packed with post-church people, workout took too long), and we settled on telling Pat the truth. Well…we get to the Nutter Center, and Owen & Jeff insist on going to meet Pat first. We open the doors and Pat is about 10 feet inside the doors…waiting, and pissed. He asks where the hell we were & why were we late. Without missing a beat, Owen speaks up & says that "The plane arrived right on time, but Jan & Chris were late. Then they got lost trying to find the gym. After we worked out, they locked their keys in the car & we had to wait for AAA. Then we couldn't find a restaurant where they wanted to eat & we gave up looking. We said we're going to be late for TV & Pat is going to be mad. So this time it wasn't our fault…it was theirs". Pat shouted at us to wait right there & not move for a few minutes, and that he had a few words for us after he & Vince had a private meeting with Owen & Jeff. It was in front of the whole crew, so we were a bit embarrassed at being scolded. After about 10 minutes, Pat returned, along with Kevin Dunn, Shane McMahon, Sgt. Slaughter, and about 8-10 wrestlers (Austin, D-Lo, Snow, Foley, Meanie, HHH, Chyna, and some others). Pat proceeded to tell us in front of everyone about how important it was to be on time. Dunn explained the whole process on how wrestlers need to be at TV on time to do pre-tapes, go over spots in the ring if needed, etc. Slaughter explained that when someone isn't on time, that it messes others up, and that us not arriving screwed up the people Owen & Jeff were working with that night. Here we were in our neon colors…feeling about 2 inches tall & completely humiliated after a 5 minute dress-down. After Pat told us it was time to leave the backstage area, he stormed back to us & said he had one more thing to add. It was "Congratulations, you've just been a victim of an Owen Hart rib".

 

GOT US AGAIN!! Owen clued everyone in on everything. Since we had the neon colors on & everyone knew us anyway, Owen got everyone to go along with the rib. It was pretty damn good, as every one was in tears with laughter. We were stunned, but we started laughing…knowing we'd been nabbed, but good!

 

He got us. Again. Here are a few more Owen stories:

 

Mania 1996, Anaheim: Owen & I had a mutual friend in Butler PA, who was both a PWI photographer for Bill Apter, and an owner of a tuxedo shop. His name is John Pithers, and John had fitted Owen's tux for the 1995 Hall of Fame dinner in Philly during KOR weekend. Owen knew he was getting a Slammy Award during Mania weekend, so he wanted John to do his tux again. John kept Owen's measurements, and tailored a tux with a pink bowtie. John UPS'ed the tux to us, and we flew the tux with us to Anaheim. We took the tux to Owen's room and chatted with Owen, Martha, Oje, and saw the newborn daughter, Athena. Owen wore the tux the next night as he won a Slammy, pink bowtie & all. When Owen came out for his Mania match, he sees us, and rips the signs. Unfortunately, the camera went to a high shot, but you can still see Owen with our signs, but from about 75 feet up.

 

May 1997, Columbus: We're with Owen at a World Gym in Cols before a Sunday house show, and we're waiting while he's in the tanning booth. Suddenly, Jeff Jarrett & Sean Waltman come in to work out. They were with WCW, and they'd done a house show in Cinci on Sat night, and were traveling to Cleveland for a Nitro. We'd been wearing the neon colors for a few years & had become recognizable around the wrestling word because of them, so they both recognized us from WWF TV. Sean remembered us from his 1st WWF stint & as we talked, we told them that Owen was with us & was tanning. They got an idea & snuck up on the room Owen was in, then suddenly burst through the door, yelling & screaming and scaring the shit out of a naked Owen!!

 

July, 1998, Springfield OH: We're having dinner with Owen at a Bob Evans outside of Springfield, prior to a Dayton Nutter Center house show. I excuse myself to the restroom, while Owen & Jan pay the bill. As I come out, Owen is going out the door with a shit-eating grin on his face…looking back at me. When I get to the door, the manager asks me, "Excuse me, are you really Stone Cold's brother?" In my best impromptu Texas drawl, I say, "Well hell yes, but don't tell anyone…", and I hurry out the door…while Owen is practically on the ground with laughter. As it turned out, one of the restaurant workers recognized Owen & told everyone. As Owen & Jan got to the register, the manager asked Owen if he had any good inside wrestling scoops. Owen said "No, but if you want all of the real scoops, ask Stone Cold's brother, Luke Warm, when he comes out of the rest room". Got me again.

 

May 1998, Cincinnati: It was Owen's birthday, so after a Sat show, we took Owen to dinner at an Outback Steakhouse, Owen's favorite place. As we eat, a gentleman & his daughter come to our table & ask for an autograph. The only thing they had was a kiddie's placemat, used for coloring. The only thing they had to write with was a crayon. So Owen took the crayon & happily signed the placement. When they left, the conversation turned to most unusual thing Owen ever had signed. He said it was a tie between a banana and a belly of a Chihuahua dog that Debra signed at the same time. It was in San Jose, and they were for the same person. After the 2 things were signed, the woman unpeeled the signed banana, gave it to the dog to eat, and kept the peel as a souvenir.

 

3 weeks later in Columbus, Sunday house show: We'd called Owen in advance of this show, offering to pick him up, but the WWF schedule that week didn't allow Owen to stay with us. So we didn't have Owen, as Owen got a ride with former WWF staffer Matt Miller from Cleveland. After Matt dropped Owen off, Matt had tickets for the final round of the PGA's Memorial Tournament, and told Owen he'd meet him back at the Cols Convention Center arena after the tournament ended. Owen worked 3rd or 4th that night, and as he came out we saw him looking for us & our signs. As he comes up to us, he grabs the signs, and AS HE'S RIPPING UP THE SIGNS, he says "Matt Miller hasn't made it back. Can you wait for me in the back?" Jan & I are stupefied, and say "HUH???" Owen grabs another sign, and as he rips it, he repeats "Matt Miller hasn't made it back. Can you wait for me in the back?". I finally figure out what's going on, and once again, in my best "pissed off fan wanting a fight mode", I answer "Oh, so you want me in the back, OK, I'll see you in the back after the show, I'll see your ass after the show in the back!!!" Owen winks at me, and says "OK". Jan & I look at each other and ask "What the f**k just happened here?". So after the show, we see Al Snow & tell him what's up. He knows Matt's not there & he gets us backstage. We wait for Owen & just as Owen's comes to meet us with his luggage, Matt Miller finally arrives. He didn't realize that it would take him almost 3 hrs to make a 45 min drive, after 30,000 golf fans simultaneously leave Muirfield Village Golf Club after the tournament's finish.

 

And finally...

 

Same night as the autograph story, May, 1998, during the Cinci house show : The best Owen story we have. After getting him, the Cinci Gardens were having an autograph signing to benefit Brian Pillman's family. We hang with Owen as he signs for a couple of hrs, and promoter Brett Hart tells all of us we have 2nd row ringside seats next to the entrance aisle. Owen tells security that he works in the 3rd match, and that as soon as the match is over, to escort Jan & I backstage so we can leave together after he showers & dresses. Owen leaves the autograph session, and leaves us with Brett & the security guard. By this time, the Cinci Garden's doors have opened, so we all go to our seats. Suddenly the guard says, "Wait here while I find you some seats" So we stand in the aisle like a couple of goofs, waiting to figure out which 2nd row seats were sitting in. The guard returns with 2 steel folding chairs and says "You know , it's pointless sticking you in 2 seats when your leaving after 3 matches. Just take these chairs & I'll put you right here". "Right here" was INSIDE THE GUARD RAIL, around the corner of the entrance aisle, next to 2 empty chairs & the bell. We say "Here?", and he says, "yeah, right here. I'm security, and it's OK with me". We say, "OK", and sit down. After a minute, Howard Finkel & Tony Garea come to us, sit down in the other 2 chairs, look at us……and say "Hi guys, how's it going?" We figured they were going to bust us, but instead, they act as if we're supposed to be there…neon colors & all! Owen's match was a Nation of Domination 6-man tag match, with him, D-Lo Brown, Mark Henry, Ron Simmons, The Rock, Kama (Charles Wright) all involved. Remember, we had a big plastic sign tube with signs for Owen to rip, but I never removed them from the tube figuring that if we were inside the rails, we had to act as if we were part of the show…not as fans. Owen comes out and looks for us in ringside seats, and never sees us. He goes up on ALL 4 TURNBUCKLES, and looks for us in the 2nd row…somewhere. He's even on the turnbuckle right over us, NEVER SEEING US SITTING 6 FEET BELOW HIS NOSE!! The match starts, and after about 3 minutes, everyone starts brawling everywhere. Owen goes to the floor to brawl, and eventually comes to our corner where were sitting. He suddenly stops, and breaking kayfabe & yells, "What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be in the 2nd row!" In my best "pissed off fan wanting a fight mode", I yell "They decided the best way to hook us up with you after the match was to put us here at ringside!!!!" Meanwhile, Finkel & Garea are in stitches with laughter. Owen says, "Did you bring any signs?" I yell "Yes, they're here under our chairs so they wouldn't get in anyone's way". Owen replies "They don't belong there, hurry up & get them out so I can rip them up" Owen starts brawling with Simmons & walks away. Meanwhile, I set the land speed record for removing signs from a tube & get them out. Owen quickly returns, takes one sign, slowly read it, rips it, and throws the pieces in my face. Then he grabs Jan's sign, reads it, rips it, and tosses all the pieces in Jan's face. The whole thing takes about 40 seconds right in the middle of the match, and now the fans are in stitches with laughter. As we try to gather the pieces & get them out of the way so no one slips on them, Mark Henry & D-Lo come by. They see the signs, and begin picking up the signs, trying to put the pieces back together sympathetically for us. Then they start to read the signs, they get mad, and throw all of the pieces in our faces a 2nd time. By now, Finkel & Garea are in convulsions on the floor with laughter!! Wondering what the commotion is about, Rock & Kama come over to us & begin brawling 2 feet from where we're sitting. Rock looks me dead in the eye & says "MOVE". Jan turns to me & asks, "What did Rock say?" She's asking the question to no one, because as soon as Rock said "Move", I sprinted down the entrance aisle out of harm's way! Rock picked up my chair & hit Kama 3 or 4 times with it, bending the hell out of it. Then Simmons came over & physically moved Jan off of her chair & beat the hell out of Rock with it. By that time, Jan had joined me in the aisleway. We waited for about a minute while the chair-swinging stopped, and went back to sit down. But when we saw the chairs & how bent they were, we decided to have a little fun, so we did a Laurel & Hardy pantomime about trying to sit in chairs that were bent like pretzels. By watching us look like fools trying to sit in the beaten chairs, the fans started laughing, the wrestlers kayfabed & began laughing out loud, and Garea & Finkel were still on the floor doubled in laughter!!!! Eventually, the match ended, we went to the back, got Owen, and took him to dinner on his birthday. The absolutely best Owen story ever with us!!

 

Jan & I still miss him so much. A couple of times, Owen called me at work to make arrangements. As a result, I still have his phone number from the old house in my Rolodex. We feel him with us today…as we feel that Chris & Eddie as respective champions mean that he is still with WWE. Chris has his wrestling technical skill, and Eddie has his funny charisma & your goofy sense of humor. When we see Chris wrestle, we see Owen wrestling. When Eddie cracks us up during a promo, we see Owen making us laugh again. We will never forget our little buddy.

 

Thanks Dave for letting us bear our souls on this day of remembrance,

 

Chris & Jan Kazmerzak

 

WreslingObserver.com

[Guest Choken One]

that was an incredible read.

[Jebus 0]

Yeah, I read it earlier today. Funny, I always wondered how close the infamous "neon" fans were with the wrestlers (they even appeared in some backstage skits).

 

Owen stories are always great to read and this was no exception.

[Guest I Got Banned for Sucking]

WWE should mention Owen's death. Giving their full support is not exactly insulting, and I'd love to see a video package for him aswell.