Owen Hart

Owen James Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999)^[1] was a Canadian professional wrestler. He competed for many professional wrestling promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) where he was most well known. While in the WWF, Hart competed under his real name and the ring name The Blue Blazer. He was a member of the Hart wrestling family and was the youngest of 12 children of Stampede Wrestling promoter and WWE Hall of Famer Stu Hart and Helen Hart.

Owen Hart
Born	(1965-05-07)May 7, 1965[1] Calgary, Alberta, Canada[1]
Died	May 23, 1999(1999-05-23) (aged 34)[1] Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Owen Hart[1] Owen James[1] Blue Angel The Blue Blazer[1] The Rocket[1] The King of Harts[1]
Billed height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Billed weight	227 lb (103 kg)[2]
Billed from	Calgary, Alberta, Canada Parts Unknown (as the Blue Blazer)
Trained by	Stu Hart [1]
Debut	May 30, 1986[1]

He was a one time WWF European Champion, two time WWF Intercontinental champion, four time WWF Tag Team champion and was the 1994 King of the Ring.

Death

Hart died on the night of May 23, 1999, while performing a stunt which involved him being lowered to the ring from the rafters, the cape he was wearing with his Blue Blazer gimmick got stuck in the release hatch of the cord he was trying to yank it out but when he did the release hatch released and he fell 78 feet down into the ring landing on the top rope (this happened during the 1999 Over the Edge.)

The next WWF Raw was a two hour special tribute show to Hart called Raw is Owen, It featured remembrance matches and shoot interviews with fellow wrestlers. They tolled the bell ten times (known as a ten bell salute) in memory of Hart.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • As Owen Hart
    • Bridging Northern Lights suplex – During his early career; Hart used it as a signature move from 1994 to 1999
    • Missile dropkick – During his early career; Hart used it as a signature move from 1994 to 1999
    • Reverse piledriver, sometimes while Hart was kneeling – 1997–1999
    • Sharpshooter
  • As The Blue Blazer
    • Diving splash
    • Moonsault

• Signature moves
  • Belly to belly suplex
  • Diving elbow drop
  • Diving headbutt
  • Dragon sleeper
  • Gutwrench suplex
  • Jackknife pin
  • Leg grapevine
  • Multiple kick variations
    • Leg-feed enzuigiri
    • Spinning wheel
    • Super

• With Jim Neidhart
  • Rocket launcher

• Managers
  • Jim Cornette
  • Clarence Mason
  • Debra
  • Bret Hart
  • Mr. Fuji

• Nicknames
  • "The Rocket"
  • "The King of Harts"
  • "The Black Hart"
  • "The Lone Hart"
  • "The Two-Time Slammy Award Winner"

• Entrance themes
  • "Hallucination" by Carlos Alomar (NJPW; 1987–1991)
  • "High Energy" by Jim Johnston (1992–1997)
  • "Enough Is Enough"(Black Hart) by Jim Johnston (1997–1999)

Championships

• Legends Pro Wrestling
  • He was inducted into the LPW Hall of Fame on May 28, 2011.

• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[3]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Editor's Award (1999)
  • Feud of the Year (1994) (vs. Bret Hart)
  • Rookie of the Year (1987)
  • He was ranked #10 of the 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1994.^[4]
  • He was ranked #66 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003.
  • He was ranked #84 of the 100 best tag teams of the PWI Years with Davey Boy Smith in 2003.

• Stampede Wrestling
  • Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[5]
  • Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship (1 time) (with Ben Bassarab)^[6]
  • Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[7]
  • Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame^[8]

• United States Wrestling Association
  • USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[9]

• World Wrestling Federation
  • WWF European Championship (1 time)^[10]
  • WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times)^[11][12]
  • WWF World Tag Team Championship (4 times) (with Yokozuna (2),^[13][14] The British Bulldog (1),^[15] and Jeff Jarrett (1))^[16]
  • King of the Ring (1994)^[17]
  • Slammy Award for Squared Circle Shocker (1996)¹
  • Slammy Award for Best Bow Tie (1997)^2[18]

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • 5 Star Match (1994) (vs. Bret Hart in a cage match at SummerSlam)^[19]
  • Best Flying Wrestler (1987, 1988)
  • Feud of the Year (1997) (with Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, Davey Boy Smith, and Brian Pillman vs. Steve Austin)

¹The Slammy was awarded to Shawn Michaels for collapsing but Hart accepted the award for himself instead.

²After he presented the Award, Hart did not award it to any of the possible candidates and instead stole it for himself.