A little admin note for Owen:
“One for love. One for truth. One for me, one for you. Where we once were divided, now we stand united. We stand as one… undivided.”
The words of one of Owen’s favorite artists (and mine for that matter) ring true every time I watch the Hart Foundation. Today, as I see photos and messages and all the love pouring in from our social media wrestling universe, I think the song is also true for us self professed “Owenites”. We are undivided in our continuing love for a man so unique, he stands as one of the best of all time. With wrestlers coming and going at an immense rate we sometimes forget. However, wrestling has never forgotten Owen Hart.
Here I sit, proud of Kris and I’s little piece of Owen heaven! Sure we’ve had a rough past year with losing a chunk of our gallery in the server move and having the site go down for a while, but we aren’t going anywhere. To celebrate our beloved prankster we will be posting a new album to the gallery, each and every day of May (And well of course beyond that too). This is a way to not only re-build what we lost but re-live some of Owen’s greatest moments.
Owen has touched my life for years now, a model for how to be a great honest person and a loyal friend. Someone who made me smile when I was sad through some of the worst of my life experiences. I changed my twitter handle when I re-joined it a few years back to “theowenhartfan” because I had become known as “the Owen fan” in my circle of wrestling friends. Why? Because he’s simply one of the most versatile wrestlers in the business. To me a great wrestler is the guy/girl who can do it all: wrestle a great match that isn’t predictable, doesn’t rely on the same five moves of doom, can talk the talk, and has a real personality/character. That is why Owen is one of the greatest of all time.
When I was in college this year we were told to write a “feature” on anyone or anything we wanted. Being me, I chose Owen Hart. The following piece is the simple feature I wrote. I want to say thank you to my dear friend Jason for spending an afternoon on the phone with me, your impressions forever make me laugh.
So, I hope you all enjoy the feature and maybe laugh a little!
~Admin Ash (@theowenhartfan)

A dose of “Hart and soul”
~By Cassidy Ash (April 2014)

The crowd emits a passionate roar, as the lights shine bright, witnessing an absolute spectacle. They watch and become enthralled in a world of sweat, athleticism and strength. This is a world where careers are made; stories are told and only the best rise above, to deserve the adulation of millions. That world is professional wrestling and that once in a lifetime person was Owen Hart.

Sometimes the measure of success in the wrestling industry isn’t just about making the main event, grabbing a world title belt or making the most money. Once in a while, someone will break that boundary and stand out from the pure quality of who they are as a person. Owen never won the most titles. He wasn’t the main event guy throughout his career and he wasn’t the top wage earner.

What he did have was an endless and vibrant personality. He was in possession of the rare gift to bring happiness to others, through his sense of humour and helpful, caring nature.
Owen’s reputation as the most genuine person in wrestling has reached far beyond his life with us. In 1999, during the “Over the Edge” pay per-view event, the worst accident in wrestling history took his life. A rigging failure led to his fly-in entrance from the arena catwalk, becoming a free-fall that would end his time, but never end the memories.

His values were instilled while growing up as part of Calgary’s famous Hart family. Family patriarch Stu Hart pioneered the Alberta wrestling scene by developing his own promotion called Stampede Wrestling in 1948. He and his wife Helen would go on to raise 12 children, the youngest being Owen.
“Owen was a really special member of the family, in the sense that he had really high ideals and was loved by everyone from the time he was a baby,” said Bret Hart (Owen’s older brother) in a 2010 interview with World Wrestling Entertainment.

Owen and several of his brothers would make their start in wrestling through the Stampede Promotion. “It’s kind of an art, going out and performing. I’d like fans to remember me as a guy who would go out and entertain them, give them quality matches, and not just the same old garbage every week,” said Hart in a 1997 interview with Wrestling Observer Magazine.

Owen would join the mecca of pro-wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation, in 1988. His lively prankster personality followed him wherever he went. Whether he was in a match or backstage, his co-workers were kept on their toes with his playful jokes, which in wrestling are known as “ribs”.
“He was one of those guys who no one would ever say anything bad about. They all loved him…he was just so funny,” said fellow wrestler Chris Jericho during a 2012 interview with WWE.

However, as quickly as he could be funny, he could be the confidant of a friend in need or the helping hand to an upcoming younger wrestler.
One person who remains forever touched by Hart’s kindness is Canadian comedian Jason “Sensation.” Jason was an excited fan, waiting in line at a WWF meet and greet. When it was his turn to approach Hart and his tag-team partner at the time, Davey Boy Smith, Jason began doing voice impersonations of various wrestlers on the roster.

An amused Hart would bring Jason backstage to meet the other wrestlers and company executives. “I kept telling him that he was an angel, because this was a dream come true. You’re such an angel; but he just kept walking leading the way,” laughs Jason. Soon enough, Jason would be hired by the WWF and would become involved in some amusing segments.

Jason’s character would appear on the show mimicking Hart’s voice and mocking Hart’s tough “black hart” character. One day, Owen’s character had enough of the games and stormed down to the ring to punish his adversary. Jason recalls this moment clearly; “When he put me in that sharpshooter (Hart’s signature submission wrestling hold), he put the pressure on for just a split second and when he took it off, I kept right on screaming! I did not want that pressure back on again!”

When they weren’t at odds on television, Hart took to making sure Jason received some of his signature humour. “One time JBL (wrestler John Bradshaw Layfield) came over and grabbed me, basically giving me a wedgie. He told me not to ever call his hotel room again and I was so confused.”
Later, Jason would find out Owen was randomly calling wrestlers’ rooms early in the morning, waking them up. When confronted, Owen would tell them he never made any phone calls so it must have been “that impersonator, that kid”.

Jason also remembers Hart as, “literally the sweetest person I’ve ever met.” He recalls a time where Hart ran back to an autograph signing after it was already over; to make sure a young fan in a wheelchair (who wasn’t able to make it up the stage earlier) got an autograph and a hug.
To this day, fans are still able to enjoy Hart’s career through footage, photos and stories. He is one of the few that is regularly talked about, despite his passing.

When fans were asked to describe Hart in one word, they chose: hilarious, heroic, genuine, brave, inspiring and selfless. “You don’t forget someone who left such an unmistakable impact on the world while he was in it,” says Kris Allen, a long-time wrestling fan.
One of Owen’s lasting quotes is from a documentary about him (made in 1999), “Walking along one day, being a good person and it doesn’t guarantee you anything.”

By embracing life, with a heartfelt kindness and brightening the lives of others with his unmistakable humour, Owen Hart has been guaranteed a legacy of smiles reaching beyond his imagination. A kind Hart lives on as a golden memory in the hearts of those who knew him.