History Wrestling / OwenHart

-->--'''Owen Hart's [=CatchPhrase=]'''

* [=CatchPhrase=]: Well, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! AND IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE!

I snapped. I was a victim! Well, ENOUGH! IS ENOUGH!''\\

-->--'''Owen Hart's CatchPhrase'''

Owen has never been forgotten by the fans: even a quick mention of his name can bring crowds to start a lengthy "Owen!" chant, and every year, fans clamor for WWE to fully recognize his legacy with either a DVD set, a WWE Hall of Fame induction (you can sometimes see "Owen for HOF" signs at WWE events), or both. WWE, to its credit, has mostly respected the wishes of Martha (who wants nothing to do with WWE) - unlike the rampant exploitation of Eddie Guerrero's name and likeness, or the [=Unpersoning=] that Chris Benoit got following his death, WWE has only sparingly used footage of Owen on WWE programming/[=DVDs=], such as ''Royal Rumbles'' and ''[[Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} WrestleManias]]'' he just happened to have matches in. Owen will always be remembered as a loving family man, a great all-around wrestler/performer, and one of the funniest people in the wrestling business.

** Just being made fun of in general; when [[Wrestling/{{DGenerationX}} DeGeneration X]] was doing a parody of the Nation of Domination, Owen stormed to the ring and beat the guy who was doing an impression of him, a Canadian wrestler named Jason Sensation, to a bloody pulp.[[note]]When DX did their parody of Wrestling/TheCorporation, this is the guy who mocked Shawn Michaels as "Commisioner [=HBGay=]".[[/note]]

* CatchPhrase: Well, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! AND IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE!

** StylisticSuck: A very subtle version, going by what Wrestling/MickFoley wrote in his first book. Mick described a match Owen had with Marc Mero where Mero hit Owen with a shoulder tackle as Owen came off of the ropes, and, instead of taking the standard flat back bump, Owen slowly fell as if he was a tree. He also did a slow, heavy stomp toward Mero into a hiptoss that was more like an ankle roll. Mick wondered if he was having a bad night until he saw Davey Boy Smith cracking up at it, and Mick realized that, while Owen ''was'' deliberately stinking up the joint, he was doing it to amuse the other wrestlers, since they were the only ones who would have been able to pick up on it.

** Prior to the Hart Foundation, was in Camp [[Wrestling/JimCornette Cornette]], with Wrestling/{{Yokozuna}} (later replaced by Wrestling/{{Vader}}) and the British Bulldog.

* TokenWhite: During Owen's stint in the Nation; he was the only white guy in a stable where everyone else ([[Wrestling/DwayneJohnson the Rock]], D-Lo Brown, Kama Mustafa and Wrestling/MarkHenry) was an AngryBlackMan.

I snapped. I was a victim! Well, ENOUGH! IS ENOUGH!''\\

Owen has never been forgotten by the fans: even a quick mention of his name can bring crowds to start a lengthy "Owen!" chant, and every year, fans clamor for WWE to fully recognize his legacy with either a DVD set, a WWE Hall of Fame induction (you can sometimes see "Owen for HOF" signs at WWE events), or both. WWE, to its credit, has mostly respected the wishes of Martha (who wants nothing to do with WWE) - unlike the rampant exploitation of Eddie Guerrero's name and likeness, or the {{UnPerson}}ing that Chris Benoit got following his death, WWE has only sparingly used footage of Owen on WWE programming/[=DVDs=], such as ''Royal Rumbles'' and ''[[Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} WrestleManias]]'' he just happened to have matches in. Owen will always be remembered as a loving family man, a great all-around wrestler/performer, and one of the funniest people in the wrestling business.

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: To Wrestling/BretHart during Owen's heel run in the mid-90s.

* BerserkButton: He hated being called a "nugget". Coined by Wrestling/ShawnMichaels after Wrestling/BretHart, Jim Neidhart and the British Bulldog had left for WCW, and Shawn called him "that one last stinky nugget that just won't go down the commode".

** StylisticSuck: A very subtle version, going by what Wrestling/MickFoley wrote in his first book. Mick described a match Owen had with Marc Mero where Mero hit Owen with a shoulder tackle as Owen came off of the ropes, and, instead of taking the standard flat back bump, Owen slowly fell as if he was a tree. He also did a slow, heavy stomp toward Mero into a hiptoss that was more like an ankle roll. Mick wondered if he was having a bad night until he saw Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith cracking up at it, and Mick realized that, while Owen ''was'' deliberately stinking up the joint, he was doing it to amuse the other wrestlers, since they were the only ones who would have been able to pick up on it.

----

Owen's life came to an end on May 23, 1999 at the WWE pay-per-view ''Over the Edge''. At the time, Owen was in his Blue Blazer gimmick - the Blue Blazer being a pastiche of superhero-type wrestlers - and at ''Over the Edge'', his entrance was to involve rappelling down from the rafters to a few feet above the ring, then end up falling on his face as he released himself from the harness. Unfortunately, the harness holding Owen malfunctioned, and he fell down into the ring, hitting his chest on the turnbuckle. He was declared dead just minutes later, after being carried out of the ring.

''Over the Edge'' [[TheShowMustGoOn continued after Owen's death]], with legendary WWf commentator Wrestling/JimRoss informing the viewers that Owen Hart had, indeed, died as a result of the fall; the news was not relayed to the crowd attending the event, though. ''Over the Edge'' [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes has never been released on home video in any format]], and the event name was retired after that show. The next night, ''Raw is War'' held a special tribute show that came to be known as ''Raw is Owen'' - the WWF tossed out angles and feuds for a single night and allowed wrestlers to compete in matches to honor Owen, while wrestlers and other WWF personalities relayed stories about Owen in prerecorded interviews (this show would lay the template for the two shows honoring Wrestling/EddieGuerrero following his death, and a similar show would be put on for Wrestling/ChrisBenoit on the day of his death, before the terms of his death became apparent). A few months later, when ''WCW Monday Nitro'' came to the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri (where Owen had died), Bret Hart (who had jumped ship to WCW from the WWF following the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob in late 1997) wrestled in a tribute match against Chris Benoit, who Bret had handpicked to be his opponent that night.

''Over the Edge'' [[TheShowMustGoOn continued after Owen's death]], with legendary WWE commentator Wrestling/JimRoss informing the viewers that Owen Hart had, indeed, died as a result of the fall; the news was not relayed to the crowd attending the event, though. ''Over the Edge'' [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes has never been released on home video in any format]], and the event name was retired after that show. The next night, ''Raw is War'' held a special tribute show that came to be known as ''Raw is Owen'' - the WWF tossed out angles and feuds for a single night and allowed wrestlers to compete in matches to honor Owen, while wrestlers and other WWF personalities relayed stories about Owen in prerecorded interviews. (This show would lay the template for the two shows honoring Wrestling/EddieGuerrero following his death, and a similar show would be put on for Wrestling/ChrisBenoit on the day of his death, before the terms of his death became apparent.) A few months later, when ''WCW Monday Nitro'' came to the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri (where Owen had died), Bret Hart (who had jumped ship to WCW from the WWF following the Wrestling/MontrealScrewjob in late 1997) wrestled in a tribute match against Chris Benoit, who Bret had handpicked to be his opponent that night.

Owen's widow, Martha, and the rest of the Hart family sued WWE due to the accident, and eventually, WWE settled for $18 million (which was distributed amongst the Hart family members). Recently, due to footage of Owen being used in WWE [=DVDs=] (specifically, a 2010 DVD set centered around the Hart family), Martha has filed another lawsuit against WWE.

Owen has never been forgotten by the fans: even a quick mention of his name can bring crowds to start a lengthy "Owen!" chant, and every year, fans clamor for WWE to fully recognize his legacy with either a DVD set, a WWE Hall of Fame induction (you can sometimes see "Owen for HOF" signs at WWE events), or both. WWE, to its credit, has mostly respected the wishes of Martha (who wants nothing to do with WWE) - unlike the rampant exploitation of Eddie Guerrero's name and likeness, or the {{UnPerson}}ing that Chris Benoit got following his death, WWE has only sparingly used footage of Owen on WWE programming/[=DVDs=], such as ''Royal Rumbles'' and ''[[Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}} Wrestlemanias]]'' he just happened to have matches in. Owen will always be remembered as a loving family man, a great all-around wrestler/performer, and one of the funniest people in the wrestling business.

'''Owen James Hart''' (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a professional wrestler best known for his work in [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} the World Wrestling Federation]], though he also wrestled for Stampede Wrestling, Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling, and (for a brief period) [[Wrestling/{{WCW}} World Championship Wrestling]]. He held the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/ic.html Intercontinental]], [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwf-eu-h.html European]], and [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-t.html WWE World Tag Team Championships]], won two Slammy Awards (one of his trademark accomplishments), and was the 1994 King of the Ring. He was also part of the storied [[WrestlingFamily Hart family]] - one of WWE Hall of Famer Stu Hart's many children, he was the brother of WWE Hall of Famer Wrestling/BretHart and the brother-in-law of both [[Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith]] and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Owen was slated to win the Intercontinental Championship the night that he died. Wrestling/TripleH has gone on to claim in interviews that the gimmick of "The Game" was originally going to be Owen's.
** During his feud with Bret, Owen was booked to win the world title off his brother before that was canceled.
*** In his first book Chris Jericho mentions that Owen was one of the main reasons he became a wrestler and wanted little else but to be one-part of the Tag-Team Champions with Owen. But, Owen died after Jericho had signed with the WWF/E, but before he had made his debut.
**** Owen disliked the method of entrance he used as the Blue Blazer, but went along with it because it was his job and he wanted to do it properly. The amount of times he'd done it successfully raised his confidence somewhat. Vince said that Owen had the choice and that he wouldn't have been forced to do it (which is probably not totally true, as Vince is known for firing wrestlers for not doing as he says, often viewing them as disposable). If Vince did not have this reputation, Owen would probably have told him no, and he wouldn't have had to do it, thus, he would probably be alive today.

*** Aside from not being particularly funny ([[HypocriticalHumor HHH in a segment making fun of the size of someone's nose]]), Sensation's version didn't even ''look'' like Owen, looking more like the love child of Creator/AndyWarhol and Adam Bomb.

* TokenWhite: During Owen's stint in the Nation; he was the only white guy in a stable where everyone else was an AngryBlackMan.

* CatchPhrase: Well, ENOUGH IS A ENOUGH! AND IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE!

* RealMenWearPink

* NoSale: Wrestling/MickFoley recounts in his first book a particularly hilarious use of this by Owen. While in a tag team against his brother Bret, Owen was put in the Sharpshooter and just laid there, not selling it. Bret cranked it back and Owen still wasn't selling, even mocking how it wasn't hurting him. Eventually, Bret cranks it back one last time and Owen suddenly starts selling it like it's the worst pain in his life. His tag partner, his brother-in-law the British Bulldog, was thoroughly amused as usual.

!!'''Tropes associated with Owen Hart include:'''

** StylisticSuck: A very subtle version, going by what Wrestling/MickFoley wrote in his first book. Mick described a match Owen had with Marc Mero where Mero hit Owen with a shoulder tackle as Owen came off of the ropes, and, instead of taking the standard flat back bump, Owen slowly fell as if he was a tree. He also did a slow, heavy stomp toward Mero into a hiptoss that was more like an ankle roll. Mick wondered if he was having a bad night until he saw Wrestling/DaveyBoySmith cracking up at it, and Mick realized that, while Owen ''was' deliberately stinking up the joint, he was doing it to amuse the other wrestlers, since they were the only ones who would have been able to pick up on it.

'''Owen James Hart''' (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a professional wrestler best known for his work in [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} the World Wrestling Federation]], though he also wrestled for Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and (for a brief period) [[{{WCW}} World Championship Wrestling]]. He held the Intercontinental, European, and Tag Team Championships, won two Slammy Awards (one of his trademark accomplishments), and was the 1994 King of the Ring. He was also part of the storied [[WrestlingFamily Hart family]] - one of WWE Hall of Famer Stu Hart's many children, he was the brother of WWE Hall of Famer BretHart and the brother-in-law of both "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart.

''Over the Edge'' [[TheShowMustGoOn continued after Owen's death]], with legendary WWE commentator JimRoss informing the viewers that OwenHart had, indeed, died as a result of the fall; the news was not relayed to the crowd attending the event, though. ''Over the Edge'' [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes has never been released on home video in any format]], and the event name was retired after that show. The next night, ''Raw is War'' held a special tribute show that came to be known as ''Raw is Owen'' - the WWF tossed out angles and feuds for a single night and allowed wrestlers to compete in matches to honor Owen, while wrestlers and other WWF personalities relayed stories about Owen in prerecorded interviews. (This show would lay the template for the two shows honoring EddieGuerrero following his death, and a similar show would be put on for ChrisBenoit on the day of his death, before the terms of his death became apparent.) A few months later, when ''WCW Monday Nitro'' came to the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri (where Owen had died), BretHart (who had jumped ship to WCW from the WWF following the MontrealScrewjob in late 1997) wrestled in a tribute match against ChrisBenoit, who Bret had handpicked to be his opponent that night.

Owen has never been forgotten by the fans: even a quick mention of his name can bring crowds to start a lengthy "Owen!" chant, and every year, fans clamor for WWE to fully recognize his legacy with either a DVD set, a WWE Hall of Fame induction (you can sometimes see "Owen for HOF" signs at WWE events), or both. WWE, to its credit, has mostly respected the wishes of Martha (who wants nothing to do with WWE) - unlike the rampant exploitation of EddieGuerrero's name and likeness, or the {{UnPerson}}ing that ChrisBenoit got following his death, WWE has only sparingly used footage of Owen on WWE programming/[=DVDs=], such as ''Royal Rumbles'' and ''[[WrestleMania Wrestlemanias]]'' he just happened to have matches in. Owen will always be remembered as a loving family man, a great all-around wrestler/performer, and one of the funniest people in the wrestling business.

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: To BretHart during Owen's heel run in the mid-90s.

* BerserkButton: He hated being called a "nugget". Coined by ShawnMichaels after BretHart, Jim Neidhart and the British Bulldog had left for WCW, and Shawn called him "that one last stinky nugget that just won't go down the commode".
** Just being made fun of in general; when DGenerationX was doing a parody of the Nation of Domination, Owen stormed to the ring and beat the guy who was doing an impression of him to a bloody pulp.
* BlondGuysAreEvil: In his heel run.

* FatalMethodActing / DeathByFallingOver / DeathFromAbove
* FatAndSkinny: When he was tagging with Yokozuna. They're the heaviest tag team champions in WWE history...despite the fact that Owen was a cruiserweight (though a borderline one at 227). This is especially impressive when you consider that Wrestler/{{Kane}} and TheBigShow have both been part of a champion tag team.

* LightningBruiser / JackOfAllStats: A great high-flyer, sensational technical wrestler and a pretty good brawler who could throw out amazing power suplexes. Possibly one of the most well-rounded wrestlers ever.

* NoSell: MickFoley recounts in his first book a particularly hilarious use of this by Owen. While in a tag team against his brother Bret, Owen was put in the Sharpshooter and just laid there, not selling it. Bret cranked it back and Owen still wasn't selling, even mocking how it wasn't hurting him. Eventually, Bret cranks it back one last time and Owen suddenly starts selling it like it's the worst pain in his life. His tag partner, his brother-in-law the British Bulldog, was thoroughly amused as usual.
** He apparently did this to DwayneJohnson in a match in Germany during the latter's [[TheScrappy Rocky Mavia]] stint. Throughout the match, a 4vs4 tag team match featuring TheUndertaker, Bret and the British Bulldog, Owen was the subject of repeated attacks against his leg with him rolling around in pain. Then Rocky comes in and starts kicking away at his leg.. with Owen just sitting there with a bored look (he even waves to the audience).

** Was also in the Nation of Domination for a time.
* RedBaron: The Blackhart.

* VillainousBreakdown: His catchphrase was coined after having one at Unforgiven 1998, when he was cheated by TripleH and Chyna one too many times, even saying he was "sick of this [[PrecisionFStrike bullshit]]".
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Owen was slated to win the Intercontinental Championship the night that he died. TripleH has gone on to claim in interviews that the gimmick of "The Game" was originally going to be Owen's.

-->''Owen didn't die due to a heart problem likely brought on by the excessive steroid abuse; he didn't overdose on the popular combination of alcohol and pain pills; he didn't die by any fault of his own. Owen James Hart died because he was a company man, a pawn in [[MondayNightWars a ratings battle that had already been over for a long time]].''\\

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: His 'Hi-Energy' theme which he used for many years sounds a bit like "Girls Just Want To Have Fun". It's really just an instrumental re-edit of "I Want To Be A Hulkamaniac"

--''[[WrestleCrap RD Reynolds]], '''The Death of WCW'''''

Owen has never been forgotten by the fans: even a quick mention of his name can bring crowds to start a lengthy "Owen!" chant, and every year, fans clamor for WWE to fully recognize his legacy with either a DVD set, a WWE Hall of Fame induction (you can sometimes see "Owen for HOF" signs at WWE events), or both. WWE, to its credit, has mostly respected the wishes of Owen's widow (who wants nothing to do with WWE) - unlike the rampant exploitation of EddieGuerrero's name and likeness, or the {{UnPerson}}ing that ChrisBenoit got following his death, WWE has only sparingly used footage of Owen on WWE programming/[=DVDs=], such as ''Royal Rumbles'' and ''[[WrestleMania Wrestlemanias]]'' he just happened to have matches in. Owen will always be remembered as a loving family man, a great all-around wrestler/performer, and one of the funniest people in the wrestling business.

* DeadArtistsAreBetter: Owen Hart is adored by many wrestling fans, because of the tragedy of his death.

''Over the Edge'' [[TheShowMustGoOn continued after Owen's death]], with legendary WWE commentator JimRoss informing the viewers that OwenHart had, indeed, died as a result of the fall; the news was not relayed to the crowd attending the event, though. ''Over the Edge'' [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes has never been released on home video in any format]], and the event name was retired after that show. The next night, ''Raw is War'' held a special tribute show that came to be known as ''Raw is Owen'' - the WWF tossed out angles and feuds for a single night and allowed wrestlers to compete in matches to honor Owen, while wrestlers and other WWF personalities relayed stories about Owen in prerecorded interviews. (This show would lay the template for the two shows honoring EddieGuerrero following his death, and a similar show would be put on for ChrisBenoit on the day of his death.) A few months later, when ''WCW Monday Nitro'' came to the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri (where Owen had died), BretHart (who had jumped ship to WCW from the WWF following the MontrealScrewjob in late 1997) wrestled in a tribute match against ChrisBenoit, who Bret had handpicked to be his opponent that night.

'''Owen James Hart''' (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a professional wrestler best known for his work in [[{{WWE}} the World Wrestling Federation]], though he also wrestled for Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and (for a brief period) [[{{WCW}} World Championship Wrestling]]. He held the Intercontinental, European, and Tag Team Championships, won two Slammy Awards (one of his trademark accomplishments), and was the 1994 King of the Ring. He was also part of the storied [[WrestlingFamily Hart family]] - one of WWE Hall of Famer Stu Hart's many children, he was the brother of WWE Hall of Famer BretHart and the brother-in-law of both "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart.

* FatAndSkinny: When he was tagging with Yokozuna. They're the heaviest tag team champions in WWE history...despite the fact that Owen was a cruiserweight (though a borderline one at 227). This is especially impressive when you consider that {{Wrestler/Kane}} and TheBigShow have both been part of a champion tag team.

* [[{{Memes/ProfessionalWrestling}} Memetic Mutation]]: "...and that's why I kicked your leg out of your leg!"

** He apparently did this to DwayneJohnson in a match in Germany during the latter's [[TheScrappy Rocky Mavia]] stint. Throughout the match, a 4vs4 tag team match featuring TheUndertaker, Bret and the British Bulldog, Owen was the subject of repeated attacks against his leg with him rolling around in pain. Then Rocky comes in and starts kicking away at his leg.. with Owen just sitting there with a bored look (he even waves to the audience).

* RedBaron: The Blackhart.

*** In his first book Chris Jericho mentions that Owen was one of the main reasons he became a wrestler and wanted little else but to be one-part of the Tag-Team Champions with Owen. But, Owen died after Jericho had signed with the WWF/E, but before he had made his debut.

* TheJimmyHartVersion: His 'Hi-Energy' theme which he used for many years sounds a bit like "Girls Just Want To Have Fun". It's really just an instrumental re-edit of "I Want To Be A Hulkamaniac"

* LightningBruiser / TheMario: A great high-flyer, sensational technical wrestler and a pretty good brawler who could throw out amazing power suplexes. Possibly one of the most well-rounded wrestlers ever.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor

-->''Well [[ThisIsSparta ENOUGH! IS ENOUGH!]] And it's time for a CHANGE!''

* FatAndSkinny: When he was tagging with Yokozuna. They're the heaviest tag team champions in WWE history...despite the fact that Owen was a cruiserweight. This is especially impressive when you consider that {{Wrestler/Kane}} and TheBigShow have both been part of a champion tag team.
** In all fairness, Owen was pretty heavy for a cruiserweight at 227.
*** In all technicality, Owen wouldn't be a cruiserweight at 227 - He'd be a borderline heavyweight. (The traditional limit being 220.)
**** Emphasis on 'borderline'. The 220-230 weight limit has traditionally been a gray area between the cruiserweights and the 'true' heavyweights (one storyline involving Edge and Christian involved one of them trying to make weight for Cruiserweight title shot, and Mick Foley told them the limit was 225,) and where a wrestler in this range performed usually depended on booking as well as that particular wrestler's style.

** He apparently did this to DwayneJohnson in a match in Germany during the latter's [[TheScrappy Rocky Mavia]] stint. Throught the match, a 4vs4 tag team match featuring TheUndertaker, Bret and the Brittish Bulldog, Owen was the subject of repeated attacks against his leg with him rolling around in pain. Then Rocky comes in and starts kicking away at his leg.. with Owen just sitting there with a bored look (he even waves to the audience).