Owen Hart will never be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame because his wife, Martha, doesn’t want him to be celebrated by the company responsible for his tragic death.
Martha Hart recently spoke with Justin Barrasso for Sports Illustrated and commented on the potential Hall Of Fame induction of Owen, a question that comes up by fans and those in the business each year. Hart added that WWE had been so disrespectful to their family and said “no, never” to her late husband’s WWE Hall Of Fame status.
Hart spoke ahead of the Dark Side Of The Ring season finale that covers Owen’s death, noting that “they did an exceptional job telling the story, and it’s actually the story I hoped would be told.” She added that she is happy the fans will have a chance to celebrate Owen’s life and who he was behind the scenes.
“Owen really loved his fans,” said Hart. “He loved his fans more than the people he worked for, and he spent a lot of quality time with his fans. It wasn’t an ‘us and them’ mentality. He enjoyed getting to know them as people.”
While a WWE Hall Of Fame induction does not look likely, Owen Hart was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall Of Fame last year.
Martha was also a recent guest on Talk Is Jericho and she spoke about the lawsuits over Owen’s accidental death at the WWF Over The Edge pay-per-view on May 23, 1999. Hart says she was sued by WWE for breach of her late husband’s contract, noting she wasn’t sure she’d ever get justice for her husband’s death so she created it herself with the foundation in his name.
“No matter how this thing ends, [I decided] I am going to start the Owen Hart Foundation. It was just this insight that was instant and it was like it uplifted me. I was like ‘I don’t care how this ends because I know what I’m doing with it.’ That’s how the evolution of my thought process got me to the point where I could settle the case. Before, I looked at settlement as failure. I wanted that to be in court and I wanted accountability, but then I realized I wasn’t going to get the justice that I was looking for legally so I was going to create my own justice.”
Recommended viewing: Dark Side Of The Ring Season 1
