Owen Hart

Real name: Owen James Hart
Height: 5’11”
Weight: 227 lbs.
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Date of birth: May 7, 1965
Date of death: May 23, 1999
Pro debut: May 30, 1986
Trained by: Stu Hart
Finishing move: Sharpshooter

Biography

– Hart had many great matches in Stampede, the Calgary based territory owned by his father Stu, and had a great feud with Mike Shaw (Bastian Booger).
– Together with Ben Bassarab, he became International Tag Team champion. Owen also showed his skills in singles competition by winning the British Commonwealth Mid Heavyweight title.
– Hart was voted Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Rookie of the Year in 1987.
– On May 27, 1988, Hart defeated Hiroshi Hase for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title in Japan.
– Hart debuted in the WWF as the Blue Blazer, dawning a hood and cape.
– Hart left the WWF for tours in Mexico, Canada, Japan, and Europe.
– Hart lost the Blue Blazer mask to El Canek on May 29, 1991.
– On September 21, 1991, Hart pinned Takayuki Iizuka in Philadelphia, PA.
– Hart returned to the WWF, where he joined his brother-in-law, Jim Neidhart, in the New Foundation. When Neidhart left the company, Hart formed a new team called High Energy with Koko B. Ware.
– His new gimmick became “The Rocket” Owen Hart and he was sent to Memphis to beat Papa Shango to win the USWA title. He dropped the title two weeks later to his current tag team partner, Jeff Jarrett.
– Hart started feuding with his older brother Bret, wanting to be recognized as an equal to Bret.
– At WrestleMania X, Owen and Bret had a classic match, which went back and forth. Owen was victorious, but at the same event, Bret became WWF Heavyweight Champion for the second time, which made Owen even more jealous.
– Owen defeated Razor Ramon (Scott Hall) to become in the 1994 King of the Ring. After the win, Owen adopted the gimmick the “King of Harts.”
– Bret and Owen squared off at the 1994 SummerSlam for the WWF title inside a cage. The elder Hart prevailed.
– Hart vs. Hart was voted the Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Feud of the Year for 1994
– In 1995, Owen aligned himself with the master of the tennis racket, Jim Cornette. Hart teamed with Yokozuna to defeat the Smoking Gunns for the WWF Tag Team belts.
– After winning a Slammy in 1996, he dubbed himself the Slammy Award Winning Owen Hart, sporting the trophy.
– Owen switched managers, and aligned himself with Clarence Mason, and started teaming with another brother-in-law, The British Bulldog. The duo captured the WWF tag team titles on September 22, 1996, by defeating the Smoking Gunns.
– Following a lose to Crush (Brian Adams), The Bulldog fired Mason.
– Owen met the Bulldog in the finals to crown the first ever European Champion. Davey Boy was victorious.
– Owen challenged the British Bulldog to a European title match on “Raw.” Bret intervened, and made the two realize the family needed to reunite. The trio reformed the Hart Foundation.
– In April 1997, Owen defeated Rocky Maivia to win the Intercontinental title.
– Steve Austin challenged Owen for the IC title at the ’97 SummerSlam. Austin won the match and the title, but in the process, was injured when Owen nailed Austin with a piledriver.
– With Austin injured, the IC title was declared vacate. Owen won the title back at “Badd Blood” by beating Faarooq.
– After the infamous double cross at the 1997 Survivor Series, Owen felt betrayed by the way his brother was treated, and threatened to quit. Hart was promised a raise and push to remain in the WWF.
– Owen won the European title on January 26, 1998, on “Raw.”
– He turned heel, turning on Ken Shamrock in a tag team match against Rocky Maivia and Mark Henry. The youngest Hart joined the Nation of Domination.
– Owen defeated Shamrock in a submission match fought in Stu Hart’s family Dungeon at “Fully Loaded.”
– At the “Raw” tapings in East Lansing, Michigan on September 29, 1998, Owen announced his “retirement” after he “injured” Dan Severn with a piledriver.
– Hart reprized the role of the Blue Blazer on the October 12, 1998, episode of “Raw,” attacking both Shamrock and Steve Blackman.
– At the end of 1998, Owen formed a tag team with Jeff Jarrett, managed by the lovely Debra McMichael.
– The night after the Royal Rumble ’99, Hart and Jarrett defeated Shamrock and the Big Bossman to win the WWF Tag Team title.
– Hart was voted into the GERWECK.NET Hall of Fame on June 1, 2007.