Wacky Wrestling Theory 03.19.09: Is Owen Hart Still Alive?

This theory was inspired by the 411 commenter with the classiest name on the site, Big Fat Fag.

Conspiracy theories are everywhere in America. The JFK assassination, Area 51, Men walking on the moon, 9/11. Whenever someone tries to challenge the perceived realities of these events, they are considered wacky and insane. Yet, is it crazy to think that maybe Chris Brown and Rihanna orchestrated their domestic abuse scandal in order to dominate the global headlines? Years after his death, there were Elvis sightings all over America. Rapper 2pac released an uncanny number of new albums after his murder. Hell, even Eddie from Eddie and the Cruisers eventually made a triumphant return after his staged demise.

Often fans and conspiracy theorists have speculated that some deceased celebrities are really still alive, and often the reason for their masquerade has been to escape, or at least play with, the attention of the media. If there was one wrestler who always talked about retiring young, it was Owen Hart. He was often quoted as saying he wanted to spend time raising his children and not as a journeyman wrestler. Yet, we all know that the lure of the pro-wrestling business never lets anyone truly retire, unless they are physically incapable or clinically demented. With the exception of having any medical calamity, could Owen Hart have devised a fake death in order to escape from the pressures and commitments of the wrestling industry? Although completely ‘crazy’ and hypothetical, let’s entertain this wacky theory for a moment.

First off, there was the re-introduction of the Blue Blazer character. Seems just as odd now as it did then. Why bring back the goofy gimmick as a pre-Hurricane super-hero persona for Owen when he was perfectly fine as a tag team heel along with Jeff Jarrett at the time? Could it have been a first step in a plan to ‘kill off’ Owen Hart symbolically without actually killing the man physically? By re-introducing the Blue Blazer image, Owen’s original WWF gimmick, it acts as a device by which the body of Owen can have the illusion of death while also symbolically bringing Owen’s career full circle in some ways. If a fake body dressed in the Blue Blazer outfit was what really fell from the rafters on that horrible day, then it was the Blue Blazer that technically died and not Owen. This news can effectively shield Owen’s immediate family, and specifically his children, from the idea that Owen had died and thus does not scar their early memories. Owen then could have then disappeared into the Canadian wilderness, the European mountains, or even undergone facial reconstruction, in order to surgically remove himself from the public eye.

I believe that it’s possible Vince McMahon ‘murdered’ Owen Hart. Bret Hart was a global superstar, the backbone of the WWF, a McMahon loyalist, and a fierce inspiration to a passionate locker room back in the mid nineties. There is no doubt that Vince believed Bret was going to be a huge part of the future of the WWF since he signed him to a lifetime contract. Bret was not just a wrestler; he was family to the McMahons, and almost like a son to Vince. The future of the WWF was firmly family friendly and pure, traditional athletic theatrics for the next 20 years with Bret as the conscience of the company, that is, until WCW started to play dirty. Desperate, Vince had to look toward the techniques of the controversial ECW in order to fight back and win some ratings. This didn’t sit well with conservative Bret Hart. And thus, in a moment of Shakespearean tragedy come to life, Vince had to betray Bret in the worst possible way, in the middle of the ring, tarnishing the sanctity of pro-wrestling symbolism, and do it live on pay-per-view from Canada. Afterwards, Vince tried to put on a brave face, but the decision must have been heartbreaking. There can be no doubt that Vince put his business above his friendship and he must have felt incredible guilt over what happened that day. Then there was the problem of what to do with Owen, since there was no way Vince could let a top star like Owen go to WCW as well, so his contract remained intact. To Owen’s credit, he worked hard and continued with his high level output for the rest of his career in the WWF. But it is often cited that Owen saved money and worked hard so that he could retire early to be with his kids. Did Owen go to Vince and ask for an elaborate way out of the business, and did Vince oblige out of guilt over his past with Bret? We know that Vince is capable of such deception, that’s his specialty. This conspiracy would have to happen at the highest level, with only a few who would know about it. Yet, to essentially ‘kill’ a wrestler in order to let them retire from the business is not a feat out of the range of Vince McMahon’s skill.

Truthfully, how can we believe anything that we see on WWE television? The imagery of Randy Orton and Kane both burning the Undertaker alive in caskets, as well as Hollywood Hogan crashing a Mac Truck through an ambulance with The Rock inside, are all much more violent and mortal than the idea of Owen falling from the rafters. The Rock and Undertaker were unscathed from their predicaments, because they wanted to be, but what if a wrestler wanted to be presumed dead. All of the tools and symbolism are already in place for a pro-wrestling company to put this over on the audience, that’s what they do. So many times we’ve been light heartedly fooled by the trickery on TV that a wrestler is ‘dead’ or near death, or that horrible crimes are being committed, and we accept it as reasonable fun. And strangely, unlike recent high profile wrestling deaths from Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero, Owen has been effectively forgotten. Benoit was overwhelmingly and glaringly cut-out of all WWE content, inadvertently calling attention to his past performances, while Eddie was tributized for over a year on WWE television, with wrestlers who still do moves that incite ‘Eddie’ chants from the crowd. On the other hand, Owen who was arguably as equal to either man in star power, has been quietly ignored. Thus Owen Hart, and the Blue Blazer, are not brought up in conversation, either canonically or within the fandom. Could this be a part of the conspiracy to hide that Owen is really alive? I truly hope that this is the case, and that the wacky rumors of Owen’s ghost haunting the Kemper Arena are not true:

In my opinion, Owen Hart was one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. His death in 1999 was a terrible day in my life, a shock so great that I do not want to accept the reality. If I have to make up a wacky theory to keep some hope that Owen did not suffer, and that he is happily in a log cabin in the European woods, cooking breakfast for his kids, then so be it. Although ask yourself this, is the warped history that the WWE promotes any indication of the manipulation they are capable of on a large scale? Be careful readers. The Owen Hart conspiracy may just be a wacky theory but are you sure you know the whole truth?