Owen Hart - One Year On

 I thought that now would be a good time to look back on the tragic events of one year ago - the tragic death of Owen Hart.

Wrestling has lost many starts over the past year or so - Rick Rude, Louie Spiccoli, Bobby Duncum Jr, and Gorilla Monsoon, to name but a few.

However, Owen's death hit home because we saw the events played out as they actually happened, from the fatal fall to when Jim Ross broke the news to the world.

My personal views, written a few days after the events, were published a few months back, but now, a year on, how has Owen's death affected the wrestling world?

Certainly, the dramatic high flying, ceiling to ring entrances are now a thing of the past. This was an obvious thing. The Hart family filing a lawsuit against the WWF was also obvious. But what was sad was the fact that his brother, Bret "Hitman" Hart seemed to use the tragic events to further his own career. It also caused a rift with his brother-in-law, Davey Boy Smith, who openly criticised Bret's view that because of Owen's death, the WWF should be brought to it's knees. As far as I know, the two haven't spoken in nearly a year.

But what should the WWF, and the wrestling world in general, do to commemorate Owen's death, one year on?

With the re-introduction of the Slammy awards this year, perhaps a new award could be given - the Owen Hart Lifetime Achievement award, which could be awarded to either a current or recently retired WWF superstar. If this were to happen, Mick Foley would be my first choice for this award.

Then, Owen should be inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame. Owen did it all in his time in the WWF - tag-team champion, European champion, Intercontinental champion, King of the Ring - Owen did it all, and came close several times to capturing the big gold.

My final idea would probably never happen. An Owen Hart memorial card could be held. In years past, other memorial events have been held, where stars from several organisations have come together to pay various tributes. It would be nice if stars from the WWF, ECW, WCW , from all over the world could put together their personal and political differences, and come together to pay a tribute to Owen. No storylines, no backstage backstabbing, just great wrestling action. The event itself could be held in Calgary, and the ticket, merchandising, and pay-per-view revenue could be donated to a charity chosen by the Hart family.

Out of my three ideas, the first and third ones probably won't happen. I really do hope the second one does, because Owen deserves nothing less.