Is Owen Hart's Wife Keeping Him Out of the WWE Hall of Fame?

I've been trying to keep my tongue in check on this particular subject, but I've reached my breaking point after the last week. I have said for a long time that one of the biggest injustices of the modern wrestling era was the fact that Owen Hart never held the WWF Championship before his untimely death in 1999 in Kansas City at the now infamous Over The Edge event.

For those of you who never got the chance to see Owen Hart in action, I highly recommend you to check out some YouTube clips of the youngest of the Hart clan in action. A very brief background on Owen will reveal that he was the 1994 WWF King of the Ring (one year after his brother Bret won it), multi-time WWF Tag Team Champion, I-C Champion, and European Champion. As a matter of fact, the only championhip that was never held by the self-proclaimed King of Harts was the WWF Championship.

After Owen died, there was a lingering issue of whether or not his name would ever see the prestigious WWE Hall of Fame. There might have been a chance of that happening after his legendary brother Bret was inducted a few years back. However, all hope may have been shattered because of his wife, Martha Hart.

There seems to be a brewing issue between Martha and the WWE. According to an article from the Slam! Wrestling website, Martha filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Vince McMahon following Owen's tragic death. The lawsuit was eventually settled, and everybody thought the issue was taken care of and over with. Yeah, right.

Recently, news broke that Martha was on the attack yet again. This time, her complaint is over WWE using Owen's image and likeness. She seems to think that it creates some sort of an association between her and the company, which she had made clear there is none. Connecticut political website Courant.com has details of the the newest lawsuit here. The response from WWE basically stated that since Owen was under contract at the time of his death, they had full right and legality to use any and all images and likenesses as they see fit, and they were doing so in a way that was not putting any negative effect on Owen or his family name.

Hey Martha, you're making a couple of huge mistakes here. One, you're keeping Owen from being remembered for his legacy by pretty much blackballing any opportunity to have him inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Secondly, you are sheltering your children from understanding and appreciating the legacy of Owen and everything he meant to this business.

I have proudly called myself a professional wrestler for 10 years, and I am very glad to say that both Bret and Owen were tremendous influences on my career. Allowing the WWE to use his image in no way associates you with the organization. You weren't the one who stepped in the ring every night and gave your life for the business. You gave your love to the man that lived to peform in front of millions of people every night to make a living and support his family.

Now granted, none of us will ever truly know the full circumstances of the lawsuit or all the details. We are only privy to what the media and the internet gives us. However from a personal standpoint and someone who has had the utmost respect for Owen and the privilege of meeting him on a couple of occasions, I think you are creating the biggest injustice of all by beating this whole issue to death. As a wrestler, as well as a longtime fan of the Hart family, and an even bigger fan, let this whole diasaster rest. There are countless fans worldwide who remember Owen everything he stood for. And in a time and age where wrestling often has a bad reputation for various reasons, the memory of Owen and his legacy will live on and his presence will sorely be missed. As WWE Hall of Fame inductee Jim Ross would say, "That's my story folks, and I'm sticking to it."