Wrestling: 5 Biggest Talking Points From Talk Is Jericho With Martha Hart

Ahead of Vice Media’s Dark Side of the Ring season two finale covering Owen Hart, his widow Martha joined the Talk Is Jericho podcast to discuss his life further.

Clocking in at an hour and 32 minutes, Martha and Chris Jericho reflected on Owen’s legacy in wrestling, the impact he had on everyone’s lives and foreshadowed some elements that will be detailed on Tuesday’s episode. Here are the major talking points.

How Dark Side of the Ring Happened

Martha mentioned receiving numerous partnership inquiries from people and organizations regarding Owen Hart but turning many of them after researching and discovering connections to WWE.

Dark Side of the Ring co-producer, Evan Husney reached out to Martha through the Owen Hart Foundation. Martha compiled a list of questions for him to answer and was pleased with all of his responses, so much so that she and her son Oje met Husney to discuss the project further over dinner in Calgary.

Martha considered her time working with Vice Media on the project to be emotionally relieving and found value in their ability to tell Owen’s story in a way that she had always hoped for.

The partnership will be extending beyond the Owen Hart episode itself as Martha noted her and the Dark Side of the Ring team are working to put out t-shirts for Owen’s fans as there’s currently an absence of merchandise.

Wrestling Wasn’t Owen’s Original Career Choice

Martha and Owen both attended the University of Calgary, the latter on a wrestling athletic scholarship. Owen eventually became disenchanted with amateur wrestling but had aspirations—physical education, firefighting, and working as a customs agent among them—straying from the family path of becoming a professional wrestler.

In Calgary especially, wrestling was a popular pastime for its residents as there weren’t many entertainment options available at the time besides the Canadian Football league. However, its home promotion Stampede Wrestling began to struggle significantly thanks to Vince McMahon obliterating the existing territories.

Desperately needing new stars to keep the family business running, Owen’s older brother Bruce propositioned him to step into a wrestling ring. Primarily to help his father, Owen accepted the offer and began working irregularly outside of his studies.

After an issue with one of Owen’s required classes halted him from immediately continuing his education, he decided to pursue wrestling full-time.

Owen, A One-Of-A-Kind Person

An elite prankster, Owen had a knack for drawing joy and fury through his all-in-good-fun antics. Owen riled up his father Stu via a prank call imitating one of his old rivals to challenge him to a fight and Martha recalled having to plead with Owen for him to not pull jokes on her anymore only to receive an “I’ll try”.

Both Martha and Chris highlighted multiple examples of Owen’s warmness towards fans and human beings in general. One particular act of kindness saw Owen let a homeless man stay in his hotel room along with his leftover pizza as “The King of Harts” was checking out early, on the condition that the man agreed not to break anything.

Particularly known for his travel methods, Owen would often give away his wrestling gear to avoid being held up at the airport because of a checked bag. Martha noted Owen’s habit of only packing enough for two carry-on’s left him often having to borrow Jeff Jarrett’s clothes for interviews and public appearances as they were both the same size.

Chris Jericho mentioned Owen teaching him not to rush as the latter would always get to the airport 20 minutes early in order to relax. Owen’s tendency to accept rides from fans and stay at their homes during trips was also touched upon, with Jericho mentioning that fans constantly badgered other wrestlers with similar offers after his death.

A reputable family man, it’s common knowledge that Owen was looking to wind down his wrestling career fairly early. In his spare time, Owen refurbished old bikes—building one for Martha from scratch—and wished to start a bike shop when he was done with wrestling.

The Harts’ international travels and a potential partnership

Martha brushed upon her journeys with Owen outside of the US and Canada as they traveled just about anywhere together when possible.

Mexico was regarded particularly rough—despite the kindness of the wrestlers and promoters—as Martha mentioned it was commonplace for fans to spit on wrestlers and even bring knives to the shows. As lucha libre fans were specifically hostile to non-native wrestlers, Owen received a few slashes during his time there.

Grueling travel aside, Martha had overwhelmingly positive memories of Japan. By contrast of Mexico, Martha felt safe walking through Japan at all hours of the day and remarked on New Japan Pro Wrestling’s excellent treatment of Owen.

When asked by Jericho about the idea of collaborating with New Japan to commemorate Owen’s legacy, Martha revealed she would be open to representing her husband if someone reached out.

Given how few public celebrations for Owen have happened since his untimely passing, such a partnership would be a welcome venture.

The Ugly Legal Battle Following Owen’s Death

Feeling WWE was responsible for Owen’s death, Martha filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the organization which sparked bad blood not only between those parties but also created dissension within the Hart family. To this day, Martha has had little to no direct contact with the Hart family since the debacle.

Even though Martha’s suit was about Owen’s death and not his contractual obligations, she revealed suing the WWE outside of its Connecticut home-base—where they’d otherwise avoid punitive damages—resulted in a countersuit from the organization for breach of contract. The legal battle got heated to the point that the appointed judge was needed for depositions to ensure they wouldn’t descend into madness.

WWE’s frequent attempts to delay the case caused agitation so Martha’s lawyer suggested presenting the company with a dollar amount that would accrue interest the more they tried to stall. Martha initially balked at the idea that this heated battle over her husband’s preventable demise was about money rather than accountability but later relented, using the remaining proceedings as fuel to kick-start The Owen Hart Foundation.

Martha’s recollection of her memories with Owen brought tremendous light to the incomparable mark he left on the wrestling industry and the people that had the pleasure of knowing him personally. The Owen Hart edition of Dark Side of the Ring airs this Tuesday on Vice TV.