The Scariest Night In WWE History | Tales From Backstage
Owen Hart had experienced a challenging time with the company post-Montreal Screwjob. It goes under-reported to this day that the former 'King Of Harts' was in reality the biggest victim of what happened to his brother at Survivor Series 1997. Bret Hart's night might have represented a career low, but at least he had an enormous contract from the WCW to cushion the blow. Shawn Michaels had to live with the burden of the lie and the complete lack of trust from the locker room hastened his spiral into personal hell, but injuries took him off the road and out of the locker room within four months. Meanwhile, Vince McMahon didn't suffer at all - a black eye was quickly replaced by black ink, as the company rocketed towards a new boom on the strength of his brand new heel persona opposing Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Owen Hart, meanwhile, was on an island that that didn't look or feel worth inhabiting. He too was somebody angry with McMahon, but a natural comparison with Austin did him no favours, discounting the widely-known scuttlebutt that 'The Rattlesnake' had no interest in working with him again after the events of SummerSlam '97. Increasingly popular heels Michaels and Triple H referring to him as a "nugget" (un-flushable excrement) of the Hart Family and World Wrestling Federation didn't help, nor did his total lack of political power and subsequent cycling down the card in favour of several brand new red hot midcarders grabbing opportunities with both hands.
His joining of the Nation Of Domination in May 1998 might have scanned as a gag at his expense, but it was in fact crucial in confirming the revitalised post-Michaels D-Generation X as babyfaces for a stable war that dominated the summer months and sought to elevate The Rock and Triple H as their respective leaders. The workrate end was held up mostly by Hart, who regularly partnered with a still-developing 'Great One' and wrestled several high end singles matches with X-Pac in pleasing do-overs of their New Generation belters half a decade earlier. In a different time, this could have been his slot for years, but months passed like minutes during the Attitude Era, and within literally a month of the Nation informally disbanding, Owen was cast as an unravelling wreck prone to injuring his opponents and questioning his place in wrestling. This eventually morphed into him reviving The Blue Blazer as the character battled with his sanity and sanctity, as well as remaining in tag action alongside Jeff Jarrett that - while typically excellent - included an element that led many to believe he was back in the mask and cape as punishment rather than a prize.
By 1999, Jarrett had found his own Attitude Era voice, and said voice mostly just told people not to piss him off before he smashed them in the head with a guitar. The former 'Double J' also happened to be an angry chauvinist pig, generating heat whenever he exerted control over manager Debra, who was a babyface-by-default to the jock/teen/collegiate dude-bro douchebag crowds. Per lots of rumours from the time, Owen had repeatedly turned down a creative push for him to get romantically involved with the former Mrs McMichael. It wasn't the first time his character felt against the grain of the times, but Hart had lived-in experience of how this sort of thing could go - Shawn Michaels "Sunny Days" remark at his brother Bret's expense in 1997 caused tremendous tumult in that household, and Owen chose his principles and integrity over facing those kind of problems in service of a stupid television show. Though The Blue Blazer had been a bumbling oaf months earlier as part of Owen's on-screen breakdown, this latest revisiting of the gimmick saw him playing the saccharin "good guy" amidst a roster full of antiheroes. He just happened to cheat anyway, making the superhero aesthetic all the lamer. Think Kurt Angle extolling the virtues of milk and abstinence, decked out in even more blue and red.
Even when trying to find something positive to say about such a pronounced downgrade, the truth inconveniently outs. Owen Hart's last televised match should have been so much more than a nothing doubles affair buried deep in a typically overloaded edition of Monday Night Raw, but it wasn't. He donned the costume he'd also wear for his last moments on earth, tagged with Jeff Jarrett one last time against Val Venis and The Godfather has fans chanted "we want puppies" towards Debra (who was the WWE Women's Champion and the women that accompanied Godfather to the ring. That was enough to distract Jim Ross and especially Jerry Lawler from calling much of the action, unaware as they were that this would be the last chance they'd ever get when it came to the former 'Rocket'. They instead chose to promote SummerSlam based on the prospect of more puppies, while the audience flipped the bird indiscriminately. It was hard to judge who cared less. In that respect, it was the polar opposite of what was to follow on Sunday. Low risks, low stakes. Not the terms you'd typically attach to a stunt that ultimately ended and person's life.
As everybody would come to know, that's what happened at Over The Edge.
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