Interesting....I have two teenage children who both watch WWE, as do many of their friends. Before that a decade ago my nephew in his teens in the early 2000s with many of his friends were big WWE fans. I can tell you the following by being VERY IN TOUCH with todays youth and being a wrestling fan for over 30 years myself....
None of the kids associated with my two teens or any of the kids I come across that are wrestling fans through my work (restaurant manager at a Country Club) know anything about Owen Hart, they don't remember because his midcard career was over before they were born and he has been a non entity on WWE programs ever since. They didn't know who Nick Bockwinkle was when he died last week and actually asked me if I remembered him and Bockwinkle's career was three times as long and five times as great as Owen's was. Now these kids don't have a huge association with past stars such as Hogan, HBK, Flair, etc but they are aware of them since WWE still markets their appearances and merchandise and celebrates their careers. They wouldn't know Owen Hart if he landed in their laps.
Oh and I assume you ask every kid that walks through your
COUNTRY CLUB RESTAURANT (sorry don't think everyone noticed you blatantly putting it out there big shot) how they feel about Owen Hart huh?, I'm a 25 year old man. All my little cousins and siblings watch WWE as well, similar to your children and their friends. Every single one of them knows who Owen Hart is. Every single one of them has at least heard of people like Gorilla Monsoon and Nick Bockwinkle. If you're kids and their friends don't know who Owen Hart is, at the least by researching up on how he died, than I'd argue they're not really big fans are they? How could you be a teenage wrestling fan and not know who Owen Hart is? I just don't buy this at all. You're trying to convince me that if I went up to your son and asked him who Owen Hart was, he'd have no clue. And if that's the truth than I'd deduce that he's the most casual of fans and not a good example for this topic..
When I was a kid wrestling was at its peak in popularity and acceptance nationally in the 1980s. NWA wrestling on TBS was the most watched program on all of Cable TV, our market in Pittsburgh aired close to 20 hours of wrestling TV each week between WWE, NWA/WCW, AWA, World Class and for awhile UWF. I was a huge fan, soaking up any info on the industry I could. Yet even though I had a vague awareness of past stars long retired I knew very little. I was aware of Buddy Rogers mainly because of his ties to Ric Flair, ditto Superstar Graham vs Hulk Hogan. Verne Gange wasn't a 9 time World Champ to me he was Greg Gagne's dad who used to wrestle. Fritz Von Erich wasn't the evil foreign language speaking villain of the 60s he was Kerry Von Erich's dad. I knew Curt Hennning, not Larry "The Axe" Henning and had no idea Tully Blanchard's dad was ever involved in wrestling even though I could have quoted you verbatim the dates and opponents vanquished for all of Tully's major title wins. And I was about as much a "Super Fan" as there was.
Yes, there was also no internet when you were a kid which makes this whole point null. If we didn't have a magical device that allows us to find any information or the answer to any question in the world, than I would say it's understandable for your 13-15 year old son not to have heard of past wrestlers before. But if him and his friends are big fans, wouldn't they WANT to learn about the legends and eras of the past? I mean, if they're not huge fans of wrestling that's fine, but you can't argue that all teenagers are that casual about it. It's more likely that a wrestling fan has heard about Owen Hart than not? Disagree?
I do know that today's kids have a vague awareness of Reid Flair, one thanks to all the mainstream media coverage surrounding his death (and linking him with his dad) and also because its fairly recent.
Was there? I don't remember hearing ANYTHING on the death of Reid Flair. Did they cover it on TMZ or MTV or some other program related to teenagers? Or was it just a passing mention on news channels that most kids wouldn't be caught dead watching?
I'm sure there are younger fans who are aware of the careers of departed and retired wrestlers long out of the public eye. I am also sure since I'm raising wrestling fans and interact with their friends on a regular basis that this type is fan is a tiny fraction minority of the millions watching WWE each week. You are probably a big enough fan that you know who Reid Flair's MOTHER is (Elizabeth, Ric's 2nd wife and longest marriage lasting 20 years), and in fact likely have seen her numerous appearances at wrestling shows in the 80s & 90s supporting Ric. And how many other teenage fans do you think know that, have seen that, or even care ? They may have respect for Flair alongside some other WWE legends through WWE's continued efforts to burnish their legacies post retirement but that is it.
1. I don't know who Reid's mother is.
2. You can't be
sure because I just gave you a completely opposite scenario. My relatives and their friends know all about a lot of dead wrestlers and they seem to be even younger than your kids. Whereas some kids might be uninterested in the past, a lot of others will thirst for that knowledge. All depends on how big a fan you are I guess.
As for the internet - its great, if you care - Again, how many 13 year olds are avidly going online to research the careers of dead wrestlers never mentioned on RAW ??? You seem to think its a huge amount, maybe YOU ARE DOING THAT (makes me wonder why you don't go outside and play with your friends once in awhile) but the overwhelming vast majority.....NO they are not.
If a 13 year old is a person interested in wrestling, than yeah I think it would make sense for them to look up interesting moments and wrestlers in history. Isn't that what a fan does? Becomes knowledgeable about his interest? Or are they the ones who spend all their time on social media and playing video games? I mean, if a 14 year old wrestling fan can't remember Owen Hart than that's fine, but I wouldn't necessarily call that person an avid fan.
And don't fucking patronize me guy, I'm 25 years old. I stopped "playing" with my friends a long time ago. If you're kids are still "playing" with their friends at 14, I'd suggest that says more about them than me.
As for Reid, younger fans would have a better idea about him, at least that he existed and how he died, because it was so much more recent. I doubt they have a huge understanding of his career, his title runs in Japan, etc (those aspects were only covered in a fraction of the news reports on his death but as a die hard fan I assume you know all about his over seas success). I doubt they have much more than a vague concept of who he is really, but that's probably more than that age group has for Owen.
That's the whole point. I DON'T know about Reid's wrestling career. I'm a hardcore fan and I don't know shit about Reid Flair, so how the hell is a casual fan supposed to know about him? Owen Hart is more synonymous with wrestling than Reid Flair, I don't know why you're arguing with me about this.
I'm honestly surprised they haven't done a Miss Elizabeth documentary. Maybe they don't think OD'ing on pain killers is as marketable as dying while performing in the ring. I can only imagine what Jerry Lawler merchandise we would have gotten has his in ring heart attack a few years ago been fatal.
The thing you don't seem to understand is that people have WANTED AN OWEN DVD FOREVER. How many people clamor for a Miss Liz DVD? Just no logic used.
