Calgary wrestling royalty airing dirty laundry in duelling attacks
Members of the Hart family, Calgary’s pro-wrestling royalty, are having a public throw-down about why the late Owen Hart hasn’t been added to the WWE Hall of Fame.
Owen Hart, the younger brother of former WWE champion Bret (The Hitman) Hart, died in 1999 when he fell more than eight storeys while being lowered into the ring during a wrestling match.
Nearly 20 years later, Hart said on CBS Sports’ In This Corner podcast that his late brother’s widow “has done more to erase my brother Owen’s memory than she ever did to remember him,” putting some of the blame on her for why Owen hasn’t been entered into the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame.
“I think it really bothers me that the fans that loved Owen so much didn’t get a chance to remember him. You do these kind of things for people who are here, left to remember them,” Hart said, calling his brother’s widow “obtuse” and “square-headed.”
But Martha Hart, Owen’s widow, calls Bret’s comments “reckless, irresponsible and clearly untrue.”
“You know, Bret has been making similar comments over the years, but just recently I’ve noticed his comments have become ruder and he’s more brazen,” she said.
She says Bret has made the comments because she has refused to work with the WWE on licensing rights for Owen’s image.
“But I am firm in my belief that the WWE was responsible for Owen’s death. As a result, I cannot and will not support any efforts by the WWE to profit from Owen’s memory,” she said in a statement.
Martha says her family’s focus is instead on The Owen Hart Foundation, which she says has raised more than $4 million for scholarships, low-income housing programs and a memorial fund at the Alberta Children’s Hospital.
She called Bret’s comments “disrespectful and cruel.”
Martha said the work of Owen’s namesake foundation means “not only is he remembered, but in his name he’s helped so many people.
“So I don’t appreciate these terrible comments, especially when it’s about something so ridiculous, about putting Owen into the hall of fame,” Martha said.
Owen died after falling during a stunt at the Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Mo., on May 23, 1999.
Martha said she and Bret were close after Owen’s death. But she says there has been a falling out with the other members of the Hart family after she sued the WWE following Owen’s death.
“I wan’t nothing to do with the WWE in any regard,” she said.