Is Martha Hart ruining the legacy of Owen Hart?

[President Evil]

This may have been discussed before, but I would like to know whats your opinion on this.

Owen Hart was one of the very best technical and gifted wrestlers there ever was, and Im honestly not saying that because he is deceased. He was very entertaining in the ring, he had it all, the look, mic skills, wrestling ability, funny. Many people have said he was better in the ring than Bret and I agree.

I understand what Martha must have gone through with Owens death, and the way he died. WWF was at a very crazy time, women coming down the ring with only 10% of clothing, and wrestlers performing crazy stunts in the ring. And Owen had no choice but to oblige to a stunt that he really didnt want to do. He had said no to other ideas, so he didnt want to push his luck.

It has been documented that Martha Hart is not permitting WWE to release footage, packages, and memorabilia of Owen Hart, I understand her point, perfectly. But the way I see it, by this happening, the legacy of Owen Hart is minimizing little by little. Martha has to understand that WWE is not doing this for the money (at least not in Owens case) its more to pay tribute and respect to the man. WWE has grown up, they have cleaned up their act, they care now for the well-being of wrestlers. They should release a dvd set on Owen, so the new generation of fans can get to know what a great, kind man, he was, in the business and out of the business. From what I understand Bret is siding with WWE on this issue.

Also goes without mentioning..Hall of fame.

But none of this will happen as long as Martha has her say.

 

[x24hrs2livex]

This may have been discussed before, but I would like to know whats your opinion on this.

Owen Hart was one of the very best technical and gifted wrestlers there ever was, and Im honestly not saying that because he is deceased. He was very entertaining in the ring, he had it all, the look, mic skills, wrestling ability, funny. Many people have said he was better in the ring than Bret and I agree.

I understand what Martha must have gone through with Owens death, and the way he died. WWF was at a very crazy time, women coming down the ring with only 10% of clothing, and wrestlers performing crazy stunts in the ring. And Owen had no choice but to oblige to a stunt that he really didnt want to do. He had said no to other ideas, so he didnt want to push his luck.

It has been documented that Martha Hart is not permitting WWE to release footage, packages, and memorabilia of Owen Hart, I understand her point, perfectly. But the way I see it, by this happening, the legacy of Owen Hart is minimizing little by little. Martha has to understand that WWE is not doing this for the money (at least not in Owens case) its more to pay tribute and respect to the man. WWE has grown up, they have cleaned up their act, they care now for the well-being of wrestlers. They should release a dvd set on Owen, so the new generation of fans can get to know what a great, kind man, he was, in the business and out of the business. From what I understand Bret is siding with WWE on this issue.

Also goes without mentioning..Hall of fame.

But none of this will happen as long as Martha has her say.

A scorned woman is really hard to negotiate with. WWE should put Owen in the HOF and he should have his own DVD set.

He was right up there with Bret in terms of in ring ability, maybe even a little better seeing as how he did some high flying stuff.

 

[Million Dollar Dream]

Who are we to decide. Her husband died in a tragic accident in the ring that he apparently didn't even want to do in the first place. It's hard to say that if we weren't in her shoes that we wouldn't feel negatively against wwe.


HOWEVER That did happen so long ago that Martha should have let it go by now and took a tip from Bret Hart see that he pushed his hatred aside and moved on. Like someone already mentioned she is a woman so they tend to be more emotional then men anyways.

 

[Ryyu]

Honestly, Owen was better than Bret, he had much more personality, And I loved Bret. Its a shame, but you can't blame her for holding a grudge. From what Bret said in his book she never liked Wrestling and was constantly trying to get Owen to quit. The fact that a botched wrestling gimmick cost her her Husband added to this will probably cause a lot more hate than can ever be made up for. Added to this the Hart and Soul stuff that happened and I doubt it.

Would love Owen to get a HoF induction mind, would be nice, hell she could probably request a "best of Owen" DVD if the lions share of the money went to the Owen Hart Foundation. Would be good press for the WWE, what with Owens death being second only to you know who murdering his etc in terms of black marks in the companies history. But its doubtful.

Oh well, a man can dream.

 

[depp312]

To me it doesn't affect his legacy in any way. What he did in wrestling and the mark he left can never be taken away. Fans will always remember his matches with Bret at WrestleMania X and SummerSlam 1994, his post-Survivor Series 1997 feud with Michaels and HHH, and everything in-between. Anything Martha does only affects how people will view her. But then again, she did lose her husband. The fans and the wrestling world lost a true athlete and entertainer, the Hart family lost a family member, but she lost her husband. You can't blame her for anything. His legacy is intact. If he were to never get inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, that doesn't change the accomplishments he did. If there is never a DVD released on him by the WWE, that does not take away from his promo skills and matches. Those things will allow a new generation to understand who Owen Hart was and what he has done, and it will let the older generation honor him, but Martha isn't affecting his legacy.

 

[natlee75]

@depp312 That's true for the fans who were alive and watching wrestling while Owen was alive. There are plenty of fans now and there will be plenty of fans in the future who either weren't alive when Owen was still around or weren't watching the product.

If nobody in the sports industry were ever allowed to show photos of Babe Ruth, talk about Babe Ruth, show video footage of Babe Ruth, show his memorabilia, etc. and so forth... if MLB was never able to induct him into the Hall of Fame... how much of a legacy would he have today? None of the fans would know who he is, who he was, what he accomplished, etc.

 

[President Evil]

Martha has to understand accidents happen, yes the way it happened was extremely wrong, but he was just doing his job, he was doing what was asked and expected of him. What he was doing, was what was bringing food to the table, currently at the time, that was his career. In this one case, WWE would be more than willing to do something special for Owen without keeping a penny.

Not to make things sound materialistic, but if newer generations of fans, or aspiring wrestlers would like to know Owen and learn from him, they'd have to go to youtube, or watch some old WWF tape. Just recently they were able to squeeze a bit of Owen in the last 2 Bret dvds.

Many of us may never understand what Martha feels, but on the same side of the coin she doesnt understand how important Owen is to us. We don t see him as an object that just performs for us, we see him for the kind person and family man that he was. And THAT we can learn from.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

In the end, is really is her choice if see want her children to know about Owen being a wrestler. Sure it's sad that we are not going to be able to see some of Owen greatest matches on a DVD compilation or see him get inducted in the Hall of Fame or even be part of a videogame or get a action figure. But in the end it'S her choice and not the fan or the hart family as say anything about it. This matter was resolve between Martha and Vince and until Martha decided that she wants her Husband to be remember as a great wrestler (which i doubt will happen), then we just have to deal with it.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

Although I wish she would be a little more lenient in regards to Owen, I think that its not disrespectful to celebrate her husbands accomplishments inside the ring and personally hate the fact that such a great talent as Owen is getting the Benoit treatment (as in completely overlooking his professional career) when in all honesty he shouldn't be. Many fans fondly remember Owen and I know we would all love to see a DVD or even show some of his matches on Vintage Collection.

With that said I can't blame her at all. Just remember she LOST her husband to a stupid ass stunt concocted by a former employee of WWF, she has every right to be upset and bitter about it, how would you feel if your husband/wife got killed at work because of some stupid shit that should have NEVER happened, I'm sure a lot of you would hold a grudge for life against that company. WWE cost Martha the love of her life, something very few people truly find, personally I would be upset too. At the end of the day even though I would love to see me some Owen Hart on a DVD or something I can totally understand why Martha wouldn't want that.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

I think it's obvious that she's ruining his legacy but she doesn't care. Like a person said earlier, Martha hated wrestling and wanted him to quit while he was alive so much more do you think she hates wrestling now after it killed him? I wish we could see Owen get in the HOF, I wish we could've been given an Owen DVD, I wish we could see Owen vs. Bret '94 as a SummerSlam rewind one of these years, but Martha doesn't give a damn about wrestling or its fans. She couldn't care less if we miss Owen because she misses him and thinks she misses him more than anyone else (which may be true) so she's just hogging everything to her self. I guess you can't blame her, but I'd love to smack some forgiveness into her

 

[XgringolocoX]

This is just not our call folks. Losing a spouse is something none of you has had to deal with. While I don't agree wth Owen Hart not being in the HOF,nor having his career celebrated on DVD, it just not my place to bash Martha. Bret can, Owen was his brother.
While it would be great to give full public recognition to Owen with a HOF nod and such, HIS LEGACY IS BEING KEPT ALIVE! How? Right here. We still remember him and celebrate himfor being a great pro wrestler and by all accounts a wonderful human being. Owen lives on through his fans, like us, that grew up watching him. I will always remember and miss Owen Hart.

 

[ECW Sandman]

Martha Hart needs to understand like another poster put accidents happen in life do you think widows of fallen solders, police officers or fighter fighters are going to blame the people he/she worked for no they did what the loved to do just like Owen did he loved wrestling he loved performing for the fans. Okay we get it Martha is still bitter that she lost her husband in a freak accident its been 12 years sense his death but holding on to the feelings that she has ( and I know this is going to piss people off ) is not going to bring Owen Hart back his legacy lives on in the hearts and minds of people who watched him in the late 80's and 90's in the WWF He will never be forgotten and Yes Owen Hart for The WWE Hall Of Fame he deserves its, Bret and Stu are in it put Owen in there as well Martha should not have no say in it if Bret wants him in the hall they should just put him in the hall with out question.

 

[Braxton11]

Wow, SJ Maximus

So much wrong with that paragraph. The word fan (derivitive of the word fanatic) has never been more appropriate for you. It is scary that you said that "she thinks she misses him more." Do you miss him more than her? That is just creepy. Yeah she just needs to get over all this huh because at the end of the day a man needs his DVD sets am I right? I'm going to go ahead and bet you are still the president of the Chris Benoit fan club too.

 

[justinept]

Many of us may never understand what Martha feels, but on the same side of the coin she doesnt understand how important Owen is to us. We don t see him as an object that just performs for us, we see him for the kind person and family man that he was. And THAT we can learn from.

------

That's exactly what Owen was to us. He was an object that performed for us. He didn't tuck me in at night. He didn't put food on my table. He was there for my enjoyment, to be watched as a performer. That was his job. And to say otherwise is ludicrous.

What the hell did you really learn from Owen Hart? I'm not saying that he wasn't a good father, husband, brother or son - in fact, all the wrestlers that knew him seem to agree that he was all those things. But if you learned how to love and appreciate your family from watching Owen Hart matches, then something is wrong.

I will say, I don't believe you meant this line. Instead, I think you were grasping at straws to try and rationalize why Martha Hart should allow the release of an Owen Hart DVD. That being so, I think it's obvious that you REALLY don't understand what Martha feels. If you did, you'd probably understand that she doesn't - and really shouldn't - care about what Owen meant to any of us. She lost her husband and her kids lost their father. All any of the fans lost was a performance act. If she doesn't want to subject herself or her kids to reliving the details of her husband's death, then who the hell are you or any of us to tell her she should? Just accept it and move on.

She couldn't care less if we miss Owen because she misses him and thinks she misses him more than anyone else (which may be true) so she's just hogging everything to her self. I guess you can't blame her, but I'd love to smack some forgiveness into her

Wow. She might miss him more? What's your favorite Owen Hart memory? Is it Summerslam '94 against Bret? Maybe you liked his match at WrestleMania X with Bret? Personally, mine was a non-televised match he had with Davey Boy Smith. They worked the match in slow motion. Hilarious.

As fond as that memory is, though - I don't think it holds a candle to ANY of the memories that Martha Hart has of him. Memories like the first time they met... their first date... the day he proposed to her... their wedding day... the birth of their children ...

I mean, seriously... She might miss him more? Are you out of your f*cking mind? How many times do you think she has gone an entire day without thinking of him at least once since he died? Probably none.

...and you think, just because you've thought about him a few times in the last 10 years, that your level of grief comes close to comparing with hers? I'd love to smack some sense into you.

 

[President Evil]

To Justinept-

Are you married? Are you a father? Because I am.

What I tried to say is, take for example Owen Hart, He was on the road perhaps 300 days a year. With a grueling schedule, and punishing his body in the ring, having to witness the real turmoil between his brother and the company, STILL, above ALL THAT, he was a mans man. Still put his family priority #1 and did what he had to do to provide for his family. THAT I can learn from.

Do you get any of that?

 

[Braxton11]

To Justinept-

Are you married? Are you a father? Because I am.

What I tried to say is, take for example Owen Hart, He was on the road perhaps 300 days a year. With a grueling schedule, and punishing his body in the ring, having to witness the real turmoil between his brother and the company, STILL, above ALL THAT, he was a mans man. Still put his family priority #1 and did what he had to do to provide for his family. THAT I can learn from.

Do you get any of that?

Married, father of two here. What you point out is commendable on Owen. All sources seem to indicate he was a hell of a guy. Still, at the end of the day if you learned to put your family as your #1 priority because of Owen Hart's shining example then that is concerning.

 

[S.J. Maximus]

Wow. She might miss him more? What's your favorite Owen Hart memory? Is it Summerslam '94 against Bret? Maybe you liked his match at WrestleMania X with Bret? Personally, mine was a non-televised match he had with Davey Boy Smith. They worked the match in slow motion. Hilarious.

As fond as that memory is, though - I don't think it holds a candle to ANY of the memories that Martha Hart has of him. Memories like the first time they met... their first date... the day he proposed to her... their wedding day... the birth of their children ...

I mean, seriously... She might miss him more? Are you out of your f*cking mind? How many times do you think she has gone an entire day without thinking of him at least once since he died? Probably none.

...and you think, just because you've thought about him a few times in the last 10 years, that your level of grief comes close to comparing with hers? I'd love to smack some sense into you.

I wasn't talking about myself smartass I'm talking about her family - yeah they were married but Bruce, Smith, Keith, Bret, Ellie, Diana and the other siblings still living today have none Owen longer than Martha has, how do you know if Martha misses him more than they do? That was my point, I'm not an idiot and clearly I'm not trying to compare my love for Owen with hers, I'm comparing hers with his siblings/parents/children. Why is it fair that she gets to make all of the decisions about his legacy? I guarantee you if it was up to Bret (who I personally think was closest with Owen) we would've seen Owen in the HOF years ago and a DVD would've probably been released around WM 26. Is it fair that Martha doesn't share his legacy with us, the other Harts, or anybody else? It's well documented that she hates the other Hart siblings, so that's what I was referring to.

So next time, before you 'smack some sense' into someone, maybe you should get some sense of your own and understand what they're saying

 

[S.J. Maximus]

Wow, SJ Maximus

So much wrong with that paragraph. The word fan (derivitive of the word fanatic) has never been more appropriate for you. It is scary that you said that "she thinks she misses him more." Do you miss him more than her? That is just creepy. Yeah she just needs to get over all this huh because at the end of the day a man needs his DVD sets am I right? I'm going to go ahead and bet you are still the president of the Chris Benoit fan club too.

Did I say "she thinks she misses him more than I do" ? Can you please tell me if I did because if I did then that's creepy but I clearly said that she thinks she misses him more than anyone else in the world. Anything can sound bad out of context which is clearly what you did with my post but if you don't understand let me help you out because it seems like you're a little slow:

Martha may or may not miss Owen more than Owen's brothers, sisters, parents, and children.

It is impossible to actually say who misses him the most because they all miss him alot.

I don't think it's fair for her to have all the say on his legacy when there are people (Bret, Ellie, Bruce, Smith, Ross, Keith, Diana, Oje etc.) who loved him just as much as Martha did.

Do you understand now? Or do you need me to help you break it down again little guy

 

[triplehd]

What would be the ramifications if Vince puts him in the hall and has brett to induct him?

Does Vince need Martha's permission for to induct Owen?

 

[DeathClutch]

Hard question to answer. As their is two answers and a lot of emotion involved.

From a fans prespective sure she's really dumping on his legacy, at least allow him and the fans to bask in his glory at one of the Hall of Fames.
What happened to him is/was tradgic and very preventable and should NEVER happened. The Hart family have moved on to some degree with WWE but that is their choosing.

Martha's prespective, they've taken away the love of her life, her childrens father. Owen worked ungodly rota to make money and retire early to be with his family yet mere 3 years before he'd retire his life was taken away. And Martha can't find it in her heart to allow Owen to be recgonized for his achievements and the good stuff he did in WWE, which is a shame for Owen as I'm sure from what I've read and heard Owen would have enjoyed his moment on the hall of fame stage, family and friends going over stories and ribs he pulled over his career.

It's a great shame and maybe when Owen's children are adults they'll allow their Dad to be recgonized for the good stuff he did and not allow his death to be the last footage of Owen.

 

[RicoLen]

Owen Hart was one of the very best technical and gifted wrestlers there ever was, and Im honestly not saying that because he is deceased. He was very entertaining in the ring, he had it all, the look, mic skills, wrestling ability, funny. Many people have said he was better in the ring than Bret and I agree.

Not to be argumentative, but I always thought they were just too close to call. They each had their pluses and minuses from each other but in the end they were so close you might as well just call them equals and be done with it. I have no doubts that Owen would have been the face of the company instead of John Cena and probably had the more illustrious career than Bret. But Bret was the older brother, he did it first, and that's always harder, because the younger brother can very easily see all sides of what their big brother is going through and make corrections and get better results. As the youngest of 4 boys in my own family I know first hand. Bret did the hard work, and Owen would have benefited the most.

It has been documented that Martha Hart is not permitting WWE to release footage, packages, and memorabilia of Owen Hart, I understand her point, perfectly. But the way I see it, by this happening, the legacy of Owen Hart is minimizing little by little. Martha has to understand that WWE is not doing this for the money (at least not in Owens case) its more to pay tribute and respect to the man. WWE has grown up, they have cleaned up their act, they care now for the well-being of wrestlers. They should release a dvd set on Owen, so the new generation of fans can get to know what a great, kind man, he was, in the business and out of the business. From what I understand Bret is siding with WWE on this issue.

I think the easy solution is for the WWE to tell Martha to pick her charity and have proceeds from those sales go to her charity of choice.

You may scoff at that, but it's really the divider here. Does WWE REALLY want to pay tribute to Owen or do they want to profit off him? If they want to pay tribute they can donate to charity, if they want to profit off his death, they won't.

 

[fuzz69]

Owen was a excellent technical wrestler honestly only a few superstars could hold a light to him when he wanted to go 100%. Owen was both good in the ring and out was a good father,a good husband,good son, and like we said phenomal wrestler. Owen didnt want to perform the stunt and if he didnt want to i dont think he should of had to. I think Vince Russo should of found other ways to be creative instead of makin him come down from the ceiling of the arena. The harness should of been checked properly and they should of known before hand if something goes wrong he dies and i bet that never went through their mind. It should of been went over with a fine tooth comb to make sure it was safe. Wwe knows they did wrong and yes they probably want to carry on his legacy with things like dvds and action figures and i agree with that totally but if his wife aint going to let them there is nothing they can do. Yes his wife didnt want him in wrestling but should respect the fact that was his passion and true love and in wrestling accidents do happen thats a risk u take with about any job. Owen dont need to be just blocked out of the company now cause he was a big part of it for a long time the kids today need to no about the life and death of owen hart they need to no how big of a star and athlete he was and how much pride in it but also need to know the risk he took for the company that led to his death and could show all wrestling is not fake. I think they should be able to make the action figures and make the dvds even make a dvd of owen and brett rivalry like they are doing with hbk/brett or stone cold/the rock and i think they should make a scholorship in his name and give it to a few people coming out of highschool or college that looks like they would have a promising future in front of them in wrestling.

 

[Braxton11]

Did I say "she thinks she misses him more than I do" ? Can you please tell me if I did because if I did then that's creepy but I clearly said that she thinks she misses him more than anyone else in the world. Anything can sound bad out of context which is clearly what you did with my post but if you don't understand let me help you out because it seems like you're a little slow:

Martha may or may not miss Owen more than Owen's brothers, sisters, parents, and children.

It is impossible to actually say who misses him the most because they all miss him alot.

I don't think it's fair for her to have all the say on his legacy when there are people (Bret, Ellie, Bruce, Smith, Ross, Keith, Diana, Oje etc.) who loved him just as much as Martha did.

Do you understand now? Or do you need me to help you break it down again little guy

Why yes, yes I do understand now that you actually took the time to expound on your first post. Would've been nice the first go around. Why is it that there is all of this outrage from the IWC but somehow no one from the actual Hart family members themselves. (Someone fill me in if they actually have, I haven't seen anything to date) Could it be becuase they actually decided to respect her decision? Truth is we will never know and it is up to them. It is crazy how wrestling fans that are complete strangers to the Hart family think that Vince and Bret should just say screw it and let him in against her wishes just so the fans can have their precious DVD collection.

Oh and S.J. Maximus, I am going to have to give you the obligatory "internet tough guy talk award" for calling me little and slow.

 

[AnthonyM4]

I'm on Martha's side on this one. She always felt that wwe was no good and wished Owen would leave just so she can be around him more. According to her book, he would have left but he needed the money because they were building a new house. Anyway, because of the stunt they made him do(a real stupid one, who cares if Vince tested it himself?!) he's dead and she feels it's all their fault. He likely would have gotten fired or buried if he didn't go along with it.

I think it's a shame some diehard fans would wish she would bury the hatchet with wwe just so they can have their precious dvd collection and be in that joke of a hall of fame.

 

[multiverseman.com]

Yeah I'm with her on this.

What's a legacy if it's controlled and mass marketed by the people who killed you?

BTW Haha @ WWE having cleaned up their act. They have more moral blood on their hands than any corporation outside the tobacco industry. The sexual harrassment, the encouragement of steroids and drugs, the mistreatment, misuse, lies and utter disrespect. They pretended to "clean up" to get Linda into Congress and because they thought it would be profitable.