Royal Rumble (1994) was the seventh annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on January 22, 1994 at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island. The main event was the Royal Rumble match, a battle royal in which wrestlers enter the ring at regular intervals. Lex Luger and Bret Hart were named co-winners after they simultaneously eliminated each other.^[2]

The undercard featured a Casket match for the WWF Championship, in which Yokozuna successfully defended the title against The Undertaker.^[1] In addition, The Quebecers beat Bret and Owen Hart to retain the WWF Tag Team Championship and Razor Ramon successfully defended his Intercontinental Championship.^[1]

Background[link]

The first televised match of the pay-per-view was supposed to be Ludvig Borga vs. Tatanka. The two were engaged in a feud that began prior to Survivor Series 1993. Tatanka was undefeated in the WWF since his debut in 1991.^[3] Borga ended this streak on the October 30, 1993 edition of WWF Superstars (taped on September 28, 1993), when he hit Tatanka with a steel chair while the referee was distracted.^[3] As a results of storyline injuries from this attack and the beating he suffered afterward at the hands of Borga and Yokozuna, Tatanka was forced to miss the main event match at Survivor Series.^[4] Although Tatanka defeated Borga by disqualification on the December 20, 1993 edition of Monday Night Raw,^[5] the bitterness between the two remained.

Borga suffered a legitimate ankle injury, however, and was replaced by Bam Bam Bigelow.^[6] Although the substitution took place shortly before the event, Bigelow and Tatanka also had a heated rivalry. In 1993, Bigelow cut Tatanka's dyed red hair as an insult to his Lumbee heritage.^[3] The two faced each other as part of a six-man match at SummerSlam 1993, but the feud continued even after Tatanka's team emerged victorious.^[7]

Bam Bam Bigelow replaced Ludvig Borga in a match against Tatanka.

Razor Ramon and Irwin R. Schyster (I.R.S.) began feuding prior to SummerSlam 1993 because of an angle in which Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and I.R.S.) teased Ramon about losing to the 1-2-3 Kid, a newcomer to the WWF.^[8] The rivalry heated up when I.R.S. stole Ramon's gold chains while Shawn Michaels had Ramon distracted.^[9][10] Ramon and I.R.S. agreed to settle the feud at Royal Rumble 1994 with Ramon's Intercontinental Championship on the line.

At Survivor Series 1993, Owen Hart was eliminated from the “Hart Brothers vs. Shawn Michaels and His Knights” elimination match due to miscommunication within the Hart team. Bret Hart was walking along the ring apron when Owen ran into him, causing Owen to lose his focus and be pinned by Michaels.^[11] After the match, Owen interrupted his brothers’ victory celebration to verbally attack Bret.^[11] He demanded a match with Bret to settle the dispute. Bret refused, and the brothers reunited over the Christmas holidays.^[2][12] They decided to focus their energy on taking the tag team title from the Quebecers. Their plan was temporarily put on hold when Marty Jannetty and the 1-2-3 Kid won the belts,^[13] but the Quebecers won a rematch the following week,^[14] guaranteeing that the Harts would get their title shot.

The rivalry between Yokozuna and The Undertaker began at Survivor Series 1993. Yokozuna, who was pushed as an unstoppable monster,^[15] was unable to inflict any serious damage on The Undertaker when the two faced each other in an elimination match. Yokozuna slammed The Undertaker’s head into the steel steps leading up to the ring, but The Undertaker was unharmed.^[16] Later, Yokozuna used his finishing move, the Banzai Drop, on The Undertaker. When he tried to repeat the move, however, The Undertaker became the first wrestler to sit up after the move, surprising Yokozuna and his managers.^[16] The Undertaker was granted a title shot, but Jim Cornette, Yokozuna’s American spokesperson, included a clause in the contract that The Undertaker would not get a rematch if he lost.^[17] Paul Bearer, The Undertaker’s manager, included a clause stating that the confrontation would take place in a Casket match. In the following weeks, it was revealed that Yokozuna had a fear of caskets.^[18] The Undertaker used this knowledge to gain a psychological advantage going into the match. On one occasion, Paul Bearer brought the casket to the ring to intimidate Yokozuna. When Yokozuna approached the casket to face his fear, the Undertaker popped out to scare Yokozuna.^[17]

Lex Luger wanted to participate in the Royal Rumble match, as the winner was scheduled to get a title shot for the WWF Championship at WrestleMania X. The contract he had signed for his title shot at SummerSlam 1993, however, stated that he would not receive a rematch if he failed to win the title.^[19] A compromise was reached, allowing Luger to compete. Yokozuna's manager, Mr. Fuji, was allowed to bring in two wrestlers, Genichiro Tenryu and The Great Kabuki to hurt Luger's chances of winning.^[15]

Event[link]

In a dark match before the broadcast, the Brooklyn Brawler defeated Jim Powers.^[1] The Brawler used a swinging neckbreaker to get the victory.^[21] As the pay per view broadcast began, Vince McMahon announced that Ted DiBiase would be his commentary partner for the evening.^[8][22]

The first televised match was between Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow. Bigelow tried to attack Tatanka before the bell, but Tatanka moved.^[12] The two fought back and forth, and Bigelow gained momentum after Tatanka missed a crossbody from the top turnbuckle.^[12] Bigelow used his weight to keep the advantage, sitting on Tatanka and later using a bear hug to wear him down.^[12] After the two hit each other with simultaneous crossbodies, Tatanka began a war dance.^[12] Bigelow kicked Tatanka in the back of the head to regain the advantage but missed a moonsault attempt from the top rope,^[12] allowing Tatanka to perform a crossbody from the corner and get the victory.^[23]

This match was followed by the Tag Team Championship match. The match started slowly, but both teams soon began brawling in the ring.^[12] The Harts focused on Pierre, but Jacques was eventually able to tag in to rescue him.^[12] After Pierre regained the advantage, Owen tagged in and took control of the match.^[12] He applied the Sharpshooter to Jacques, but Pierre broke the hold.^[12] Bret tagged in but fell out of the ring and kayfabe hurt his knee when the Quebecers' manager pulled on the ropes.^[12] The Quebecers focused on Bret's knee until Bret regained the advantage and attempted to apply the Sharpshooter. He was not able to stand, however, so the referee stopped the match and awarded the victory to the Quebecers.^[23] After the match, Owen yelled at Bret for not tagging out of the match. He then turned on Bret by kicking his injured leg and leaving him lying in the ring.^[24]

Next came the match between Irwin R. Schyster and Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship, for which Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon took over the commentary roles. The match began with a brawl between the two, and Ramon got the early advantage.^[12] Schyster eventually threw Ramon over the top rope and attacked him on the floor.^[12] I.R.S. kept control of the match for quite a while, applying a reverse chinlock while using the ring ropes for additional leverage.^[12] After Ramon escaped the hold, he was able to perform a fallaway slam on Schyster.^[12] He then used an Irish Whip to throw Schyster into the corner, but the match turned around with a ref bump when referee Joey Marella was in the way and was kayfabe knocked unconscious.^[20] Shawn Michaels ran to the ring with his fake Intercontinental belt and hit Ramon with it, and Schyster helped revive Marella to count the pinfall.^[20] I.R.S. appeared to win the title, but referee Earl Hebner cam to the ring and explained the situation to Marella.^[12] When Michaels' belt was discovered in the ring, the match was restarted.^[12] Ramon simply grabbed Schyster, who was standing on the second turnbuckle celebrating, and performed the Razor's Edge for the victory.^[20]

The Undertaker lost a Casket match against Yokozuna.

Howard Finkel then announced that the Casket Match would be next. He explained that there would be not countouts or disqualifications, and that the first wrestler to get his opponent in the casket and close the lid would win the match. Yokozuna had great difficulty inflicting any serious damage on The Undertaker, but it was soon revealed that Mr. Fuji had arranged for several wrestlers to get involved on Yokozuna's behalf. Crush, the Great Kabuki, Genichiro Tenryu, and Bam Bam Bigelow interfered,^[23] but The Undertaker was able to fight back until Mr. Fuji stole The Undertaker's urn from Paul Bearer.^[23] Yokozuna opened the urn, and smoke poured out.^[25] Meanwhile, Adam Bomb, Jeff Jarrett, The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu) and Diesel then came to the ring to help Yokozuna.^[23] Eventually, Yokozuna and his allies were able to shut The Undertaker in the casket to end the match. They locked the casket and pushed it down the aisle until smoke started coming out of the casket.^[23] The Undertaker appeared on the video screen at the end of the aisle, vowing to return.^[12] The casket was shown exploding on the screen, although the casket in the arena did not explode.^[23] After the explosion was shown, a person resembling The Undertaker was seen rising up to the ceiling of the Civic Center. This role is rumored to have been played by Marty Jannetty.^[21][23]

Before the Royal Rumble match began, commentator Vince McMahon announced that WWF President Jack Tunney had shortened the interval between entrances from the traditional two minutes to 90 seconds due to time constraints.^[20] Kamala was supposed to compete in the match, but he was replaced by Virgil.^[23] Ludvig Borga could not compete due to his ankle injury and was replaced by Kwang, a newcomer to the WWF.^[6] In addition, the 1-2-3 Kid was replaced by Thurman “Sparky” Plugg (later renamed Bob “Spark Plugg” Holly), who was also making his debut.^[23] Bastion Booger was scheduled to be the twenty-fifth participant, but he did not appear for unknown reasons; Vince McMahon stated that he did not appear because he did not "feel good".^[23][26]

Diesel eliminated seven wrestlers from the Royal Rumble match.

As the Royal Rumble match began, it was revealed that Scott Steiner was the first participant and his former rival Samu had drawn the number two position.^[26] Early in the match, Diesel tied a WWF record by throwing out seven consecutive wrestlers.^[26] He was ultimately eliminated by a group of wrestlers. Shawn Michaels was involved in this elimination, although the inconclusive camera angle led to speculation as to whether he was helping eliminate Diesel or trying to save him.^[12] Although Diesel wrestled as a heel at the time, his performance earned him applause from the crowd.^[12]

Several ongoing feuds came into play during the match. Crush and his former friend, Randy Savage fought each other until Crush eliminated Savage.^[12] Bam Bam Bigelow and Doink the Clown also faced each other during the match. Doink had annoyed Bigelow with a series of pranks in late 1993,^[27] and the feud was supposed to be settled at Survivor Series 1993, but the team of “Doinks” that Bigelow fought was just The Bushwhackers and Men on a Mission dressed up as clowns.^[28] When they met in the Royal Rumble, Bigelow quickly eliminated Doink.^[12] The Royal Rumble match also saw an old feud rekindled. Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty, former tag team partners as The Rockers, traded a series of punches when Jannetty entered the match and Michaels ultimately eliminated Jannetty from the match.^[12]

The match ended when Lex Luger and Bret Hart simultaneously eliminated each other.^[2] Two referees argued about who had landed first while several inconclusive camera angles were broadcast.^[29] Eventually, WWF President Jack Tunney came to the ring and had Finkel announce that both men would be considered winners.^[29] The situation regarding the title shot at WrestleMania X, which was to be given to the winner, remained unresolved until the following week on Monday Night Raw.^[30]

Aftermath[link]

Ludvig Borga did not return to the WWF after his ankle healed,^[21] so there was no closure to his feud with Tatanka. The feud between Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow was also soon forgotten. In the summer of 1994, both wrestlers joined Ted DiBiase’s Million Dollar Corporation.^[31] The two eventually formed a tag team and unsuccessfully challenged for the WWF Tag Team Championship.^[32]

The feud between Razor Ramon and I.R.S. ended shortly after the Royal Rumble. On the January 31, 1994 edition of Monday Night Raw, the 1-2-3 Kid stole Ramon's chains back from I.R.S., bringing the feud to an end.^[30] Shawn Michaels’ attack on Razor Ramon increased the hostility between the two. The debate over the true holder of the Intercontinental Championship was settled at WrestleMania X in a ladder match with both belts suspended above the ring.^[33] This ended the feud between Michaels and Ramon, although Ramon continued to feud with Michaels’ friend Diesel.^[34]

Owen Hart demanded a match against Bret Hart, which Bret repeatedly refused.^[2] This situation was complicated because of Bret co-winning the Royal Rumble. Jack Tunney decided that both Bret Hart and Lex Luger would get title shots at WrestleMania X, but that they would each wrestle two matches at the event.^[2] Lex Luger won a coin toss televised on Monday Night Raw and won the chance to face Yokozuna first.^[2] If he had lost the toss, he would have wrestled Crush before facing Yokozuna.^[30] Under the rules set forth by Tunney, Bret was required to wrestle Owen in the opening match at WrestleMania.^[2] Owen won the match, but Bret came out of WrestleMania with the WWF Championship after Yokozuna dropped the title to him.^[35][36] This led to an extended feud between the two that saw Jim Neidhart return to the WWF to side with Owen and Davey Boy Smith to make a comeback to take Bret’s side.^[37]

Several of the events during the Royal Rumble match led to feuds and pay-per-view matches later in 1994. The uncertainty surrounding Shawn Michaels’ assistance in eliminating Diesel from the Royal Rumble foreshadowed the split between the two at Survivor Series 1994.^[12] Diesel’s performance in the Royal Rumble, however, played a large role in helping him become the first wrestler to win the WWF’s Triple Crown in one calendar year.^[34] Meanwhile, Crush and Randy Savage faced each other in a Falls Count Anywhere match at WrestleMania X to settle their feud,^[35] and Doink and his midget sidekick Dink faced Bigelow and his kayfabe girlfriend Luna Vachon in a mixed tag match.^[35]

The Undertaker did not appear in the WWF for several months after his loss to Yokozuna. In reality, he was given time off to allow a back injury to heal.^[6] During his absence, the WWF promoted his return by showing video clips of people who claimed to have seen The Undertaker.^[38] Ted DiBiase claimed to have brought The Undertaker back to the WWF, but Paul Bearer informed him that DiBiase’s Undertaker was an impostor.^[31] Paul Bearer claimed to have located the true Undertaker,^[31] which led to a match at SummerSlam 1994 between DiBiase’s Undertaker (portrayed by Brian Lee) and Paul Bearer’s original Undertaker.^[39] After defeating the false Undertaker, Bearer's Undertaker got revenge against Yokozuna by winning a Casket match at Survivor Series 1994. To help prevent outside interference, Chuck Norris was brought in as a guest referee.^[40]

Results[link]

Royal Rumble entrances and eliminations[link]

A new entrant came out approximately every 90 seconds.

References[link]

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

• Official 1994 Royal Rumble website
• Results at Online World of Wrestling
• Review of Royal Rumble 1994

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

Owen James Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999)^[1] was a Canadian professional and amateur wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and most notably, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), where he wrestled under both his own name, and ring name The Blue Blazer. A member of the Hart wrestling family, Hart was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada the youngest of 12 children to Stampede Wrestling promoter and WWE Hall of Famer Stu Hart and Helen Hart.

Among other accolades, Hart was a one-time world champion: a one-time USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion; a two-time WWF Intercontinental Champion; one-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion; one-time WWF European Champion and four-time WWF World Tag Team Champion. He was also the winner of the 1994 WWF King of the Ring. Hart has been cited by a number of peers as one of the WWF's greatest professional wrestlers.^[2][3][4]

Hart died on May 23, 1999 when an equipment malfunction occurred during his entrance from the rafters of Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, U.S., at the WWF's Over the Edge pay-per-view event.

Professional wrestling career[link]

Training and independent circuit (1986–1988)[link]

Hart first gained wrestling experience in the amateur wrestling division at high school, through which he met his wife, Martha.^[5] Wrestling was not Hart's first choice for a career; as Martha explained in her book Broken Harts, Owen tried numerous times to find a profitable living outside of wrestling.^[6] As those attempts were unsuccessful, Hart was trained in his father's Hart Dungeon and made his professional debut in 1986 for his father’s federation, Stampede Wrestling. He remained with Stampede for the next couple of years while honing his skills. During 1986, Hart teamed with Ben Bassarab and won the Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship.^[7] The success of the team and Hart's in ring skills earned him Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Rookie of the Year Award in 1987. After he and Bassarab lost the tag team title,^[7] he feuded with Johnny Smith and Dynamite Kid.

In 1987, Hart branched out to Japan where he wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) on several tours. In NJPW, he wrestled Keiichi Yamada both unmasked^[8] and later under the Jushin Liger gimmick. On May 27, 1988, Hart defeated Hiroshi Hase for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.^[7]

World Wrestling Federation (1988-1989)[link]

Hart's success in Japan and Stampede’s working relationship with the World Wrestling Federation led to Hart signing with the company in the fall of 1988. He debuted at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in August 1988 under a mask called the Blue Angel. Instead of promoting Owen as Bret Hart’s younger brother, the WWF decided to create a masked "superhero" type gimmick for him known as The Blue Blazer. The Blazer was eliminated at Survivor Series,^[9] lost to Ted DiBiase on the March 11, 1989 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event,^[10] and was defeated by Mr. Perfect at WrestleMania V.^[11]

Return to independent circuit (1989-1991)[link]

Shortly after WrestleMania, Hart left the WWF to tour the world both with and without the Blue Blazer gimmick. He also returned to Stampede, until it shut down in December 1989. In 1991, Hart lost the Blue Blazer mask in a mascara contra mascara match against Mexican wrestler El Canek, thus bidding farewell to the Blue Blazer gimmick.^[12]

World Championship Wrestling (1991)[link]

Owen debuted in World Championship Wrestling's self-titled TV show on March 16, 1991, the first of five TV matches he competed in, all of which were against preliminary talent. One of the bouts saw Owen team with Ricky Morton.^[13]

Return to World Wrestling Federation[link]

The New Foundation (1991–1992)[link]

Hart had been engaged in contract discussions with WCW but the deal was never struck, as Owen was not willing to move himself and his family to the company's headquarters in Atlanta.^[6] Instead, he signed with the WWF for a second time. In the WWF the popular Hart Foundation, composed of his brother Bret and real-life brother-in-law Jim Neidhart, had split up; Bret set out on a singles career while Neidhart was used sparingly. When Neidhart returned from a storyline injury, he joined Owen to form a team known as The New Foundation.

Owen and Neidhart first feuded with the Beverly Brothers. They then had their only pay-per-view match at the Royal Rumble in January 1992 where they beat The Orient Express.^[14] Neidhart left the WWF shortly afterward, and Hart set out on a very short run as a singles wrestler, including a match at WrestleMania VIII against Skinner.^[15] Shortly after WrestleMania, Hart was teamed up with Koko B. Ware to form the duo known as High Energy. They had only one pay-per-view match as a team, at the Survivor Series where they lost to The Headshrinkers.^[16] The team was quietly dropped at the start of 1993 with Hart starting a singles career.

Feud with Bret (1993–1995)[link]

Owen's feud with his brother Bret, won the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Feud of the Year award and garnered praise from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter for their steel cage match at SummerSlam.

In the middle of 1993, when Bret Hart’s feud with Jerry Lawler ignited, Owen stood by his brother’s side and fought against Lawler in the United States Wrestling Association where most of the WWF talent were considered the heels. Owen won the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship from Papa Shango.^[7] Owen’s participation in the WWF vs. USWA feud was cut short when he suffered a knee injury in the summer of 1993 and was forced to take some time away from the ring.

Hart returned to the WWF ring in the fall of 1993, at a time when Bret’s feud with Lawler was temporarily sidetracked. Bret, along with Owen and their brothers Bruce and Keith, were scheduled to face Lawler and his team at Survivor Series. However, Lawler was unable to make it to the show, and as a result could not appear on WWF television. Lawler was replaced with Shawn Michaels. During the match Owen and Bret inadvertently crashed into each other, causing Owen to be eliminated from the team. Owen showed up after the match and had a heated confrontation with Bret, while Keith, Bruce and Stu tried to calm things down. This confrontation resulted in Owen leaving the ring to boos while his brothers and father watched in dismay and mother Helen cried at ringside. The following night Owen adopted the pink and black tights, sunglasses and Sharpshooter finisher to send a message to his brother. Owen, angry with being in Bret's shadow, challenged his brother which Bret declined. Instead the brothers seemed to reunite by the holidays.

Owen Hart adorned his attire with the nickname The King of Harts after winning the 1994 King of the Ring.

Bret tried to make amends with Owen, teaming with him on a regular basis. Bret even secured the two a shot at the WWF Tag Team Championship. They faced the Quebecers for the title at the Royal Rumble in January 1994. Initially everything was fine between the brothers, but when Bret hurt his knee (kayfabe) and was unable to tag Owen in for a long period of time, the younger Hart got frustrated. When the referee stopped the match due to Bret's damaged knee, Owen snapped; he kicked his brother in the knee and then walked off, berating Bret on the Titantron shortly after as Bret was being helped backstage. This started his run as a heel.^[17] After the act an infuriated Owen accused his brother of being selfish and holding him down. Owen admitted that it felt good to take out his brother. The two brothers faced off for the first time at WrestleMania X, where Owen cleanly pinned his older brother. Later in the evening, Bret won the WWF Title while Owen stood by and watched in jealousy as Bret celebrated in the ring.^[18] Owen won the King of the Ring Tournament with Jim Neidhart’s help.^[19] After the victory, Owen took the nickname “The King of Harts."

Owen and Bret feuded throughout the summer of 1994, clashing many times both in singles and later in tag team matches (with Bret joined by the returning British Bulldog). Two matches stand out in this feud: first, their Steel Cage match at SummerSlam for Bret's WWF Championship, which Bret won.^[20] This match later recevied a 5-star rating from Dave Meltzer. The second was a lumberjack match on August 17 that Owen initially won and was announced as WWF Champion; Bret won the match after it was ordered to continue due to interference.^[21] At the Survivor Series, Owen struck the most damaging blow against his brother as he conned his own mother Helen to throw in the towel for Bret. The ploy cost Bret the world title to Bob Backlund.^[22] Owen also prevented Bret from regaining the title at the Royal Rumble in 1995 when he interfered in the match between Bret and new champion Diesel.^[23] In the weeks after the Rumble, Bret and Owen clashed again with Bret soundly defeating his brother, thus putting an end to their feud for the time being.

Owen rebounded from the loss to Bret by winning the WWF Tag Team title from The Smoking Gunns at WrestleMania XI.^[7] Owen, who was joined by a "Mystery Partner", had challenged the Gunns to a title match; the partner turned out to be former world champion Yokozuna.^[24][25] After the victory Owen took Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji as his managers, who already managed Yokozuna. The team defended the title for 5 months until they lost them to Shawn Michaels and Diesel at In Your House 3. They would briefly hold the title a second time when the belts were handed back to them^[26] before the Smoking Gunns regained the title.^[7] Owen and Yokozuna would continue to team off and on until the end of the year.

Team with The British Bulldog (1996–1997)[link]

In 1995, Owen's brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith turned heel and joined the Camp Cornette stable. During the summer of 1996 the two brothers in law started to team up more and more, sometimes alongside Vader who was also a member of Camp Cornette.^[27] Owen was also a color commentator for the 1996 King of the Ring (exhibiting clear partisan support for Vader and Smith) and during this time wore a cast on his right forearm for several months, feigning a nagging injury to subsequently use his cast as a weapon during his matches.

In September 1996, Bulldog and Hart earned a pay-per-view shot at the tag team title at In Your House 10.^[28] Owen and Bulldog left with the gold after defeating the Smoking Gunns.^[7][29] They also left with a new manager as Clarence Mason had conned Jim Cornette into signing over the contracts of the new champions. Signs of dissension, however, slowly started to show. One occasion where this was evident was at the Royal Rumble when Hart accidentally eliminated Bulldog.^[30] After the Rumble, Bulldog fired Mason, something which did not sit well with Hart. Another bone of contention between the two was the newly created WWF European Championship; both men had fought their way to the finals to crown the first champion with Bulldog coming out as the victor.^[7]

After retaining the tag team title against the Headbangers by disqualification on the March 24, 1997 edition of Monday Night Raw, the tension between the two bubbled over. An incensed Hart demanded a shot at Bulldog’s European title the next week.^[31] The match was booked for March 31; on the night, the two went at it with such intensity that many thought the tag team champions had finally gone their separate ways. Then in a shocking moment, the recently turned heel Bret Hart appeared at ringside and stopped the match. Bret appealed to both Owen and Bulldog, talking about the importance of family.^[32] They agreed to put their differences aside and join with Bret to form the new Hart Foundation, an anti-American stable that also included Hart in-law Jim Neidhart and Hart family friend Brian Pillman.

The Hart Foundation (1997)[link]

After forming the Hart Foundation, Owen quickly gained singles gold of his own as he pinned Rocky Maivia to win his first WWF Intercontinental Championship.^[7][33] This meant that the Hart Foundation held every WWF title except the World title, cementing their dominance over the federation. It was not all success for Owen, though, as he and the British Bulldog lost their tag team title to Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels on May 25, 1997.^[7] He began feuding with Austin shortly thereafter.

Owen and Bulldog got a second chance at regaining the tag team titles after Michaels vacated his half of the championship due to an injury. On the July 14, 1997 edition of Raw the two entered a tournament and won to face Austin and a partner of his choice that evening for the vacant titles. That partner turned out to be Dude Love, who declared himself to be Austin's partner and helped him defeat Hart and Bulldog for the tag team championship.

Hart in 1997

At SummerSlam in August, Hart was to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Austin in a "Kiss My Ass" match, where Hart put the title up against Austin having to kiss his buttocks if he lost. During the match, Hart botched a piledriver and dropped Austin on the top of his head, injuring his neck.^[34] Austin won the title from Hart that evening,^[7] but due to the injury was forced to vacate the title. Although the entire situation was an accident, the WWF decided to make it part of the storyline as Owen began wearing a t-shirt patterned after Austin's that read "Owen 3:16/I Just Broke Your Neck". Hart was then entered into a tournament to crown a new champion.

Hart fought his way to the finals of the tournament to crown the next Intercontinental champion and was set to face Faarooq at In Your House: Bad Blood. Owen beat Faarooq with Austin’s help.^[35] Afterward, Austin explained that he wanted to beat Hart for the title when he returned and would not allow Faarooq or anyone else to beat him. After Hart retained the title twice by disqualification between Bad Blood and Survivor Series in Montreal, Austin got his wish and defeated Hart for the Intercontinental Championship again.^[7][36] Later that night, the Montreal Screwjob took place. Bret left the Federation after the event and both the British Bulldog and Jim Neidhart were granted quick releases from their contracts to jump to WCW. This left Owen as the only Hart family member remaining in the WWF, due to his contractual obligations. Unlike Smith and Neidhart, Vince McMahon did not grant Owen a release from his contract and Owen remained with the company. He was skeptical about returning to WCW anyway, as he was not confident that the organization would use him correctly. Bret has said that the biggest reason Owen did not make the move was because WCW president Eric Bischoff was unwilling to match his WWF contract.^[37]

The Black Hart and Nation of Domination (1997–1998)[link]

Hart was not seen or mentioned on WWF programming until he made a surprise appearance after Shawn Michaels retained his title following a disqualification loss to Ken Shamrock at In Your House: D-Generation X where he attacked Michaels. Now a fan favorite, but with a new edgy, antisocial attitude, Hart became known as "The Lone Hart" and also "The Black Hart".^[38] Owen had a feud with DX and challenged Shawn Michaels for the WWF Championship on the December 29, 1997 edition of Raw: Hart had Michaels locked in the sharpshooter when Triple H interfered in order to save Michaels' title, giving Hart the victory by disqualification.^[39] He later won the European title from Triple H, although not directly.^[40] Goldust dressed up as Triple H in an attempt to swerve Hart, but Commissioner Slaughter considered him to be a legitimate replacement.^[7][40] Hart later suffered a kayfabe ankle injury during a match involving Triple H. When Hart joined the commentary at ringside, Triple H managed to draw Owen into an impromptu title match and regained the title. Chyna interfered while the referee wasn't looking and while Triple H was distracting the referee, she struck Hart behind the left knee with a baseball bat, picked him up and threw him back into the ring where Triple H put Hart in a reverse ankle lock to his injured right ankle to win the Europeon Championship under referees discretion in controversial fashion. ^[7]

Owen Hart in the final years of his life.

Four weeks after WrestleMania, during a tag team match with Ken Shamrock against D'Lo Brown and Rocky Maivia (later known as The Rock), Hart turned on Shamrock, "snapping" his ankle and "biting his ear" in the process.^[41] After the attack on Shamrock, Hart became the co-leader, with The Rock, of the Nation of Domination, claiming that “Enough is enough and it’s time for a change". The Nation’s first big feud after Hart joined was against DX. It was during this feud that D-Generation X parodied the Nation of Domination. The imitation was complete with Jason Sensation dressing up as Hart and coining the phrase “I am not a nugget"; this was in response to Shawn Michaels referring to Owen as a nugget of feces sticking to the side of a toilet bowl, and no matter how many times Shawn Michaels flushed, it kept sticking around and he was unable to get rid of it. "Nugget" became a derisive term that followed Hart for the rest of his career. Hart’s participation in the DX feud was sidetracked when Shamrock returned from injuries dead set on getting revenge on Hart. The two split a pair of specialty matches on pay-per-view,^[42][43] but nothing was ever conclusively settled between them.

Teaming with Jeff Jarrett (1998–1999)[link]

Hart remained with the Nation throughout the year until the stable slowly dissolved. After SummerSlam, he teamed with Jeff Jarrett. Hart and Jarrett had Jarrett's manager Debra in their corner. During this time a storyline was proposed that Hart was supposed to have an on-screen affair with Debra, something which Owen turned down.^[6]

After a match in which Hart "accidentally injured" Dan Severn, Hart seemingly quit the WWF.^[44] Playing off the legitimate injury Hart had inflicted on Austin the year before, the angle blurred the lines between reality and "storyline". Yet as soon as Hart "quit", the Blue Blazer appeared in the WWF claiming to in no way be Hart despite it being very obvious who was under the mask. Unlike the first run of the character, the Blazer was now an overbearing, self-righteous heel who treated the edgy Attitude Era WWF with disdain. Hart and Jarrett ended up making the storyline comical. To prove that Hart was not the Blazer, he showed up beside the Blue Blazer, who was a masked Jarrett. In a later attempt to prove that neither Hart or Jarrett was the Blazer, they both appeared next to a man in the Blue Blazer mask; however, it was obvious that a black man was under the mask (Hart's former tag team partner Koko B. Ware).^[1] On January 25, 1999, in the midst of the Blue Blazer angle Hart and Jarrett defeated Ken Shamrock and The Big Boss Man for the tag team title.^[7][45] They continued to team together until Hart's death in May during the Over the Edge pay-per-view event.

Personal life[link]

He met Martha Joan Patterson in 1982.^{[citation needed]}They married on July 1, 1989, and they had two children. Oje Edward Hart was born on March 5, 1992 and Athena Christie Hart was born on September 23, 1995.^{[citation needed]}

On May 28, 2011- Owen was inducted into the Legends Pro Wrestling "Hall of Fame" by Jack Blaze in Wheeling, WV at their "LPW Hart & Soul Tour" event. The award was accepted by his brother-in-law Jim Neidhart who was also inducted that night.

Death[link]

On May 23, 1999, Hart fell to his death in Kansas City, Missouri during the Over the Edge pay-per-view event.^[46] Hart was in the process of being lowered via harness and grapple line into the ring from the rafters of Kemper Arena for a booked Intercontinental Championship match against The Godfather. In keeping with the Blazer's new "buffoonish superhero" character, he was to begin a dramatic entrance, being lowered to just above ring level, at which time he would act "entangled", then release himself from the safety harness and fall flat on his face for comedic effect—this necessitated the use of a quick release mechanism. It was an elaboration on a Blue Blazer stunt done previously on the Sunday Night Heat before Survivor Series in 1998.^[44] Many suspected the harness was made for lowering small tools to carpenters, not for any human being. Hart fell 78 feet (24 m) into the ring, landing chest-first on the top rope, approximately a foot from the nearest turnbuckle, throwing him into the ring.^[47]

Hart had performed the stunt only a few times before and was worried about performing the stunt at Kemper due to the height involved. Hart's wife Martha has suggested that, by moving around to get comfortable with both the harness and his cape on, Hart unintentionally triggered an early release. Television viewers at home did not see the incident or its aftermath—at the moment of the fall, a pre-taped vignette was being shown on the pay-per-view broadcast as well as on the monitors in the darkened arena. After, while Hart was being worked on by medical personnel inside the ring, the live event's broadcast showed only the audience. Meanwhile, WWF television announcer Jim Ross repeatedly told those watching live on pay-per-view that what had just transpired was not a wrestling angle or storyline and that Hart was hurt badly, emphasizing the seriousness of the situation.^[48] Hart was transported to Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, where several attempts to revive him were made, until he died from his injuries; some believe he died in the ring.^[49] He was 34 years old. The cause was later revealed to be internal bleeding from blunt chest trauma. ^[50]

Controversy and lawsuit[link]

The WWF management controversially chose to continue the event.^[51] Later, Jim Ross announced the death of Hart to the home viewers during the pay-per-view, but not to the crowd in the arena.^[52] While the show did go on, it has never been released commercially by WWF Home Video. In the weeks that followed, much attention was focused on the harness Hart used that night, especially on the "quick release" trigger and safety latches. When someone is lowered from the rafters in a harness, there are backup latches that must be latched for safety purposes.

Three weeks after the event, the Hart family sued the WWF over how dangerous and poorly planned the stunt was, and that the harness system was defective.^[53] After over a year and a half into the case, a settlement was reached on November 2, 2000, which saw the WWF give the Hart family $18 million.^[54][55][56] The manufacturer of the harness system was also a defendant against the Hart family, but they were dismissed from the case after the settlement was reached.^[53][54] Martha used millions of the settlement to establish the Owen Hart Foundation.^[57] Martha wrote a book about Hart's life in 2002 called Broken Harts: The Life and Death of Owen Hart.^[6]

In his DVD set Bret "Hit Man" Hart: The Best There Is, The Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be, Bret said that he wishes he had been with the WWF the night Owen's accident happened, as he would have discouraged Owen from performing the stunt.^[58]

[edit] Raw is Owen

Raw is Owen is the name given to a special live episode of WWF Raw is War that aired on May 24, 1999, the night after Hart's death. It was broadcast live from the Kiel Center in St. Louis.^[4] It featured shoot interviews from his fellow wrestlers.^[4][59] According to Raw Exposed (a special that aired before the first Raw airing on its return to USA Network on October 3, 2005), WWF management gave all wrestlers on the roster the option of working or not. Nevertheless, ten matches were booked with no angles.

The show began with all the wrestlers, managers, referees and agents of the WWF (except WWF Champion The Undertaker and Kane) standing on the entrance ramp; Vince, Linda, and Stephanie McMahon were at the front of the ramp. Howard Finkel called for a ten-bell salute. Hart's former Nation of Domination comrades were emotional, most notably Mark Henry, who read a poem that he wrote in memory of Hart. A tribute video narrated by Vince then played on the Titan Tron.^[60] Throughout the broadcast, personal thoughts on Hart in the form of shoot interviews with various WWF Superstars were played. Before the first commercial break, such thoughts were aired from Mick Foley and Bradshaw. Foley noted that Hart was his son's favorite wrestler and had proudly gotten a haircut like Owen's, although he also said his son did not quite understand that "nugget" was not a term of endearment.^[61] Bradshaw talked about how Hart spent less money on the road than most wrestlers because he wanted to retire early and spend time with his family. Owen's friend and Nation of Domination partner The Rock also made a short speech before engaging in a short match against Val Venis. The broadcast ended with Steve Austin coming out for a special salute to Hart by climbing the turnbuckle and performing his famous beer guzzling routine, and leaving one beer in the ring 'for Owen'. The only notable absence from this show was The Undertaker as he decided to visit his real-life good friend, Bret Hart.

The tribute show scored a Nielsen ratings score of 7.2, making the highest rated show in Raw history. Shawn Michaels, in his Heartbreak and Triumph autobiography, notes that "Owen is the only guy you could have a 2-hour show for, and no-one would say a bad word about him." The next day, WWF taped the episode of Raw for May 31, 1999. During that show, Jeff Jarrett defeated The Godfather to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship,^[7] the title Hart was booked to win for a third time at Over the Edge. Jarrett screamed Hart's name as the belt was handed to him.

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • As Owen Hart
    • Bridging Northern Lights suplex – Early career;^[62] Used as a regular move from 1994–1999
    • Missile dropkick^[1] – Early career;^[62] Used as a regular move from 1994–1999
    • Reverse piledriver,^[1] sometimes while kneeling^[1] – 1997–1999
    • Sharpshooter^[1]
  • As The Blue Blazer
    • Diving splash^[63]
    • Moonsault^[63]

• Signature moves
  • Belly to belly suplex^[1]
  • Diving elbow drop^[1]
  • Diving headbutt^[1]
  • Dragon sleeper^[1]
  • Gutwrench suplex^[1]
  • Jackknife pin^[1]
  • Leg-feed enzuigiri^[1]
  • Leg grapevine^[1]
  • Spinning heel kick^[1]
  • Superkick^[1]

• With Jim Neidhart
  • Rocket launcher

• Managers
  • Jim Cornette^[64]
  • Clarence Mason
  • Debra
  • Bret Hart
  • Mr. Fuji

• Nicknames
  • "The Rocket"^[1]
  • "The King of Harts"^[1]
  • "The Black Hart"^[1]
  • "The Lone Hart"^[1]
  • "The Two-Time Slammy Award Winner"^[1]

• Entrance themes
  • World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
    • "Superhero (V1)" As Blue Blazer
    • "Rocket"
    • "Enough Is Enough"
    • "Enough Is Enough (Nation)" Used While Part Of The Nation Of Domination
    • "Blackhart (V1)"
    • "Blackhart (V2)"
    • "Country Rock Theme" Used While Teaming With Jeff Jarrett
    • "Superhero (V2)" As Blue Blazer

Championships and accomplishments[link]

Hart won every major championship in the WWF, except for the WWF Championship he is seen holding here.

• Legends Pro Wrestling
  • Inducted into the LPW Hall of Fame (5/28/11)

• New Japan Pro Wrestling
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[65]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Editor's Award^[66] (1999)
  • PWI Feud of the Year^[67] (1994) vs. Bret Hart
  • PWI Rookie of the Year^[68] (1987)
  • PWI ranked him #10 of the 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1994^[69]
  • PWI ranked him #84 of the 100 best tag teams of the PWI Years with Davey Boy Smith in 2003^[70]
  • PWI ranked him #66 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003^[71]

• Stampede Wrestling
  • Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[72]
  • Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ben Bassarab^[73]
  • Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship (2 times)^[74]
  • Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame^[75]

• United States Wrestling Association
  • USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[76]

• World Wrestling Federation
  • WWF European Championship (1 time)^[40]
  • WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times)^[33][35]
  • WWF World Tag Team Championship (4 times) – with Yokozuna (2),^[25][26] The British Bulldog (1),^[29] and Jeff Jarrett (1)^[45]
  • King of the Ring (1994)
  • Slammy Award for Squared Circle Shocker (1996)¹
  • Slammy Award for Best Bow Tie (1997)^2[77]

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

¹Awarded to Shawn Michaels for collapsing but Hart accepted the award for himself.
²After he presented the Award, Hart never awarded it to any of the possible candidates and instead stole it for himself.

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Professional wrestling portal

• Deaths in sports
• Hart wrestling family
• List of unusual deaths

References[link]