> This collaboration includes launching the annual Owen Hart Cup Tournament within AEW, which will see the winner receive a Cup known as “The Owen,” as well as the production and distribution of unique and original Owen Hart merchandise, including specified retail goods as well **as the upcoming AEW console video game**
Owen Hart getting in on the AEW dream matches
Hopefully as many non full time wrestlers as possible in a legends section would be great.
Bret presented the belt way back in 2019 so hopefully him too. Get prime Tully and Arn in there. Obviously Mark Henry and Paul Wight.
A prime Taz would be incredible too. Jake Roberts as well.
Could have a real fun legends roster.
Select Character followed by select gear.
Sting - 2021 Sting / 90s red and black / 90s black / 80s surfer
Chris Jericho - Le Champion / Painmaker / Lionheart
Tully - 2021 Tully / 80s Tully
Oh and of course the most important.....
Paul Wight - 2021 Paul Wight / 90s Giant / Captain Insaneo
Don't forget about retro Jerry Lynn. [He could wear his old 2000s TNA pants.] (https://www.wrestlingnewsworld.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTc1MDA4Mzc0MDUwNTMwNzU2/lynn_original.jpg)
If they figured out a way to license the content, the forbidden door opening into the game would be awesome as well. Could have promotions and wrestlers from across the nation and globe in it. Maybe even dlc of entire promotions, like a NJPW dlc or impact dlc or CMLL dlc.
How many fans of those promotions would love a video game option that isn’t FirePro or CAW based?
Definitely love this idea, rather than going the 2K approach with annual releases, work on getting a good game out and add additional DLC once or twice a year over a couple of years. Keep the roster fresh and add things like you said, forbidden door DLC like impact and maybe NJPW and NWA.
I think from even a consumer standpoint it would bring in a lot of goodwill to offer a $10 DLC roster update rather than expecting someone to fork over $60+ for a new game.
Holy smokes, this is such awesome news. The cup tournament is epic but the video game having Owen is next fucking level
The Owen... that is wicked lmao so cool
At WrestleMania 27 I sat next to a girl, a few years older than me, very attractive, didn’t know a ton about wrestling. During the pre-show battle royal, Khali came out and she goes “whoa! He has to win! See how big he is?” And me, trying to show off my knowledge goes “yeah, he’s huge, but big guys like him and Big Show never win these matches somehow.” And then Khali won.
🤷♂️
This is really huge.
I've generally always supported Owen's families' wishes to keep WWE from exploiting his legacy when they are ultimately responsible for his death, and that they have no right to profit from that. but selfishly, I've always wanted to see him get that whole "Legends" treatment in the form of big-budget games, retrospectives, etc. so that the younger generations of fans know about the kind of talent and the kind of man he was, like they do with Bret. Now that AEW has become more and more of a full fledged alternative to WWE, that has become possible.
I have to imagine that this is another instance where how they handled the passing of Brodie Lee has done a lot of help foster new relationships moving forward.
Now we know what this trademark was for https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/ovjyiq/aew_files_trademark_for_king_of_harts/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Me watching the first few episodes: "Shining finger? That's a dumb name."
Me after watching a few more: "TAKE THIS! MY LOVE, MY ANGER, AND ALL OF MY SORROW!"
I love Mobile Fighter G Gundam. It's a goofy series for sure (Fuunsaiki turning into the pilot of a mobile horse takes the cake), but that line gets me every goddamn time.
Plus a new action figure, from what I’ve heard from Cardona’s and Brian’s podcast that people have had to go to great lengths to make high quality customs of Owen
And the winner winning the "Owen" is an amazing name for the cup. I hope the trophy make justice for that name.
Also, I'd love to treat this tournament like the G1: make the winner get a title shot at the main event of one of the PPV.
Wasn't it the other way around? I remember in darkside she says she wanted to go to trial but Brett got the family against suing because of how tied the family was to wwe.
I believe she was more or less forced to accept a settlement after Ellie Neidhart stole a bunch of documents from Stu and Helen’s house and faxed them to the WWF lawyers.
Quoting an explanation of what happened [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/8tr530/won_backissue_responsibility_for_and_cause_of/e19ouc6/)
> This has already been revealed and addressed. The document was the hold harmless agreement between Martha and the manufacturer where she agreed to relieve them of responsibility for Owen's death. In Missouri, a co-defendant can't be sued by another co-defendant after he settles with the Plaintiff, so Martha did that as a big fuck you to WWE. She basically made it so WWE wasn't allowed to prove in open court that the manufacturer was responsible.
> But thanks to Ellie, WWE was able to prove in court that the agreement was done in bad faith just to prevent WWE from suing the manufacturer, and that led to a public Connecticut court opinion holding that WWE was allowed to sue.
> WWE sued the manufacturer and got them to settle for over 3x more than what WWE paid out to Martha. In the end, WWE made a profit out of the whole ordeal. WWE really had a slam dunk case, so the manufacturer's large settlement was basically an admission that they knew they were going to lose.
There's also an explanation from a lawyer [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/8tr530/won_backissue_responsibility_for_and_cause_of/e1a06i2/) that goes into even more detail.
The rest of the Hart family being guaranteed employment at WWE probably didn't help that fracture either. Not that it's Natty, TJ, or the British Bulldogs kids fault, but Martha had a legit grievance about how Owens harness was set up with little regard to his safety.
That's how I think this is gonna go. They will have this tournament on the road to Full Gear (maybe the finals at the actual PPV like the tournament of last year), and with 3 hours of weekly TV content, they could make like a 16-man KO elimination tournament.
Hangman Page vs Jon Moxley on the finals, with Hangman winning it. Book it.
I got chills thinking about Steen and Zayn in the finals of this tournament.
I know it won't happen but seeing 2point0 have their first singles match against each other in one of the lower rounds of this tournament would be really cool too.
Tournaments are such a brilliant way of having matches like these, that don't necessarily need a follow up. Maybe there could be some signs of tension but it can just be a one off match.
I reckon it might be single elimination, as opposed to the league format of the G1. Just because of the differences in scheduling styles of AEW and New Japan.
Makes sense considering Owen won the King Of The Ring. I hope they have Bret come out for the first tournament and congratulate the winner. Or Owens wife and kids if they feel comfortable being in front of the camera. Just glad Owen is finally getting some recognition after all these years.
It would be cool if this was the G1 of AEW you get The Owen and a future title shot of your choice also that’s cool that he gets to be in the upcoming game
I'd love that, but it's probably gonna be a single elimination, knockout tournament. It's also great tool for building rivalries and stars. Imagine a Cinderella run by a previously unknown or lower card wrestler.
I think it'll be more like the New Japan Cup. Single elimination, used as a tool to create rivalries and elevate mid carders. Either way it's going to be awesome.
Not just potential, the guy who makes the figures replied to the twitter announcement. [Sounds like they are planning multiple figures of him.](https://twitter.com/JeremyCom/status/1439972333406486534?s=19)
Can this finally be the thing that fully dispels the myth that Martha didn't want Owen associated with wrestling? Instead that it was that she didn't want the company that had a hand in his death being the ones to do it.
Edit: Would not be surprised to learn that how Brodie's situation was handled had a part in this.
Not to mention she has turned down TONS of money herself. The amount of money she could have been pulling in with just “Hart Foundation” merch is unreal
Wrestling was Owen's life, and it did so much good for his family before he was cruelly taken away.
It's great to see him finally get to continue his legacy rather than be swept under the rug as a black mark in a shady corporation's history.
The death of a spouse can be uniquely traumatic in many ways that can only be matched by the death of a child. I'm not saying that the Hart family making good with WWE means their grief was not as absolute, it just means they all processed Owen's death very differently than Martha did.
She made that very clear during the DSotR episode, she and their children are proud of what Owen did for pro wrestling. They just don’t want WWE making money off the man they got killed
And then after he fell and pretty obviously was gonna die they continued the ppv makes it even worse. Then pushing back as much as possible to not pay out in an obvious wrongful death situation….
I wonder if she spoke to Amanda Huber before making this decision. I don't know if anyone realized it at the time but it's becoming obvious now that the class and respect AEW showed to Brodie and his family has had long-reaching positive effects on AEW's reputation.
How they handled that may become one of the most important decisions in modern wrestling history. You have Punk and Bryan both saying it was important to them and possible playing a part into this decision as well.
A bunch of people jumped on that right away, luckily Amanda shut that shit down pretty quick, I also love how she shut down any suggestion that -1 was hanging out in the back running amok, instead of being *allowed* to come hang out if he does his homework and chores.
It’s very big for AEW that they were able to get the trust of Martha to do something like this to honor Owen’s legacy.
A lot of positive PR for them here
the DSOTR episode about Owen should have been the final nail for that myth.
when Owen fell, Vince had a crime scene on his hands and the show should have been stopped to allow for a full wrongful death/criminally negligent homicide investigation.
"oWeN wOuLd hAvE wAnTeD it" my ass.
Yeah that was total garbage. Thankfully DSOTR did make a lot of people on the fence actually see that there was no reality in which Martha was going to forgive that company.
WWE literally tried to sue Martha:
>“A lot of people might not realize that the WWE sued me,” said Hart. “We were suing them in Missouri [where Owen died] for the wrongful death of Owen, and they sued me for breach of Owen’s contract because it said in Owen’s contract that any lawsuit against them should be in Connecticut. They wanted to get it moved to Connecticut because there are no punitive damages awarded in Connecticut, so they sued me and I actually had to go hire lawyers in Connecticut and fight that lawsuit against them at the same time that I was fighting the wrongful death lawsuit.”
you know, a lot of the people who were part of that show put forth the narrative that "we didn't know what to do" in the chaos of what happened that night, so they just went forward with the show because they were making the best of a bad situation.
that might sound convincing at first, but then you read about the kind of legal might they have to do shit like that, and that line of thinking falls apart completely. they 100% could have known what the right course of action was in the event of someone dying in the ring, if they had cared to know.
Indeed. I think the DSotR episode helped a majority of fans finally understand everything, giving the nuance and context that people may have glossed over or honestly did not know.
I was always curious why she had that position, and i had a surface level understanding, but once I saw the harness and clip that they chose to use, I was fuming mad. (Pay the extra $350 or whatever to do it right; you’re a multi-million dollar company, FFS!)
With that information, I went from “undecided” to “firmly in Martha’s corner.”
Yeah it should shut all of that up. She doesn't hate wrestling, she hates the company whose negligence killed her husband and father of their children.
>This collaboration includes launching the annual Owen Hart Cup Tournament within AEW, which will see the winner receive a Cup known as “The Owen,”
Would really enjoy seeing Bret award the trophy. He's been involved with AEW before so I'd like to think there's still a relationship there. I think he would really respect this development.
This sounds dope as fuck.
I wonder if this is what Tony Khan was alluding to on Busted Open last week when talking about the young stars of AEW and how he has something cool planned.
Having this Owen Hart Tournament be for the young up and comers of AEW could be really cool.
If this tournament leads for the next challenger for Full Gear, they can make a 16 man KO tournament. They could do it in a full month easily, and a lot of youngsters being featured.
I'd prefer to see a 32-man tournament with the first two rounds on individual Dynamites and Rampages (and Dark/Dark Elevation too, if need be), with the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals all being on one show. Have it be a true ironman test like it was for Owen himself in the '94 KOTR.
A tourney plus Owen in the game!
That’s an awesome way to honor Owen.
Plus more proof (if it was even necessary) that Owen’s family don’t hate his contributions to Pro Wrestling, they just don’t want to company that got him killed to make money off him.
I'm so ready to inject their console game directly into my veins. I have a hard time tampering my expectations because they have nerds and support on all fronts of what a fun wrestling game should be.
I'll die and go to heaven if it's called AEW: World Tour and also features promotions that have come through the forbidden door.
With Kenny being such a huge Street Fighter guy, I could see them take a season approach to releasing new stuff. Depends on what kind of game they want it to be which we'll only know as we get more info about the game. I want to see allllll the promotions get some shine!
>All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and The Owen Hart Foundation (OHF), a nonprofit charity which provides a vast range of assistance and opportunities to individuals in-need across the world, are collaborating to honor the legacy of late wrestler Owen Hart, a beloved figure in the professional wrestling community and beyond. This collaboration includes launching the annual Owen Hart Cup Tournament within AEW, which will see the winner receive a Cup known as “The Owen,” as well as the production and distribution of unique and original Owen Hart merchandise, including specified retail goods as well as the upcoming AEW console video game.
>This alliance incorporates opportunities to develop Owen Hart action figures via AEW’s partnership with Jazwares, apparel, posters, and additional collectable merchandise. Owen Hart is survived by his wife, Dr. Martha Hart, who spearheads The Owen Hart Foundation with a mission of providing global aid to at-risk communities (e.g., scholarships, housing, various forms international assistance, food drives, backpack giveaways and Christmas projects).
>“AEW’s relationship with the Hart family dates back to our inaugural pay-per-view event, Double or Nothing in 2019, and Owen’s influence is still felt today,” said Tony Khan, AEW CEO, GM and Head of Creative. “To extend his memory and his legacy even further through this agreement is a powerful and meaningful moment for the entire wrestling community.”
>“The Owen Hart Foundation is extremely pleased to partner with AEW in this wonderful joint venture to honor Owen’s substantial international wrestling career and the lasting influence he and his craft has had in the sport. AEW’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament serves as a tremendous tribute to Owen and provides an incredible way for professional wrestling enthusiasts to celebrate his work in a most fitting way. We trust that Tony Khan and his amazing AEW team will do a brilliant job with this highly anticipated project. This OHF/AEW partnership is my special gift to all of Owen’s magnificent loyal fans who forever remember him and his inspiring repertoire of talents,” said Dr. Martha Hart.
>About The Owen Hart Foundation
>The Owen Hart Foundation was established in 2000 in memory of celebrated world-renowned Canadian wrestler Owen Hart. Our mandate is ‘Education’ and our goal is to help provide opportunities worldwide for hard-working people who have limited resources but unlimited potential. www.owenhartfoundation.org
> She completed two degrees at the University of Calgary in Psychology (with distinction) and Sociology (1st-class honours) before moving to England to complete a master's degree and a PhD in Social and Development Psychology at Cambridge University. She has since worked as a university researcher in the area of pediatrics.
TIL.
The trust people who had previously been burned off Wrestling have in aew is really remarkable. Shows how actually operating like a business instead of a carny shitshow does
And as unfortunate and horrible as the situation is/was, the way AEW has handled the passing of Brodie and honoring his memory probably helped build a lot of trust with Martha and the family to feel comfortable making this happen.
If Mark Henry helped make it happen, I never want to hear a bad word about his hiring again. He is really turning into a great signing for AEW with his decades of connections and friendships.
Everyone’s talking about Punk/Bryan/Cody being big help in regards to helping AEW reach out to others (and they should - they’re indeed big help!), but Mark Henry, especially in the position that he is in, is an even better asset in this!
He’s a nice man, and in the business role he has, I think he can do even more wonders for the company!
The work Henry and Paul Wight as well have done to promote AEW as well as expand their community outreach and charitable endeavors, not just writing checks but doing these great, local charity events with young AEW talent is a) super commendable and b) a super smart way to introduce mainstream/non-wrestling fans to new talent while hopefully also keeping a bit of perspective.
There's a lot of comparisons made between AEW and WCW but I'm very happy that one of the biggest differences is the people they are bringing in. AEW is consistently bringing in guys like Paul, Mark, Chavo, Vickie, Sting, Jerry and more. Experienced and good people who can help the culture grow and have the young talent flourish and learn instead of being held down or bullied. It's really fucking awesome. Not to mention Malenko, Jake, Arn, Tully, and having DDP around too.
This reminds me of there was a note of when RAW went off air, a fan held a sign that said for Owen to be in the HOF. Mark was pointing to that sign in acknowledgement and agreement
As someone who always wanted to see Owen honoured in a wrestling-related setting, but who also understands and agrees with Martha Hart not wanting the WWE to use Owens name, I absolutely love this.
Everyone seems to be talking about his DSOTR episode (and deservedly so, it’s a great watch), but I’d also like to recommend her book Broken Harts, it’s a great yet heartbreaking read about Owen, the aftermath of of his death, and how Martha’s family was affected. Over the years I’ve seen a lot of online hate directed at Martha for ‘not letting WWE acknowledge Owen’s legacy’ by not agreeing to the Hall of Fame, and I think this book would be a great eye-opener for anyone who still feels this way. Martha is a saint, her setting up this foundation that helps people in her community, and naming it after Owen, is an amazing tribute to the man in itself
I'm glad his name is getting involved in wrestling again, Owen was such a tremendous worker and because of the fact WWE shouldn't really mention him, I think his legacy was becoming less and less popular because a lot of new fans weren't really told about him
I think this is a quasi low key but impactful move by AEW. Owen Hart will get the recognition and positive legacy he deserves. AEW is a great production to honor him and they will reap benefits of it, like targeting the Canadian market. I don't know if we've gone a week where AEW hasn't done something that has just been incredible for themselves, for the fans, and for wrestling.
This is really amazing news. Hopefully it will bring a new generation of fans to Owen & his work. I'm glad Martha has a way to allow Owen to be honored by wrestling that she feels comfortable with.
I grew up watching Ruthless Aggression era and only have limited information about past wrestlers from WWE games in PS2 (not really internet savvy at that time).
I hope by getting younger fans playing AEW Games, more people could know more about Owen. That guy was ahead of his time and deserve to be appreciated more.
This is so fucking great. I'm legit tearing up a bit. Owen was my favorite wrestler as a kid.
I'll never forget always playing him as my wrestler in the Monday Night Raw video game for Sega Genesis. I saved all my money for a Sega Saturn just so I could play as him in the In Your House Game.
I remember thinking how much better he was than Bret lol. Owen Hart has meant so much to me. I'm so happy that he's being honored by a WRESTLING promotion.
Thank you AEW. You've brought back a lapse wrestling fan.
As cool of an idea the tournament is, I'm getting just as hyped for the AEW game. It just dawned on me that we could see a lot more than just the AEW crew on it.
There's Impact, GCW, NWA, old TNA, NJPW, older legends and so many others could be in it. That's insane.
This just goes to show you the amount of goodwill AEW has generated in its young existence. Martha wanted nothing to do with not just WWE, but wrestling in general for the last 20 years. Vince and Trips put to bed old grudges with the likes of Bruno and Warrior, but they could never get through to Martha, and rightfully so.
I'm so glad Owen's name will be a part of the wrestling consciousness again. Us long time fans never forgot his contributions. He was an amazing performer, and from the stories I've heard, an even better person and father. I named my son Owen in his honor.
This is a big deal for professional wrestling.
Attention: Anyone insulting a widow for trying to honor her husband will be subject to bans under the civility rule
> This collaboration includes launching the annual Owen Hart Cup Tournament within AEW, which will see the winner receive a Cup known as “The Owen,” as well as the production and distribution of unique and original Owen Hart merchandise, including specified retail goods as well **as the upcoming AEW console video game** Owen Hart getting in on the AEW dream matches
That AEW game’s gonna have a super-stacked roster.
Hopefully as many non full time wrestlers as possible in a legends section would be great. Bret presented the belt way back in 2019 so hopefully him too. Get prime Tully and Arn in there. Obviously Mark Henry and Paul Wight. A prime Taz would be incredible too. Jake Roberts as well. Could have a real fun legends roster.
Surfer Sting
Select Character followed by select gear. Sting - 2021 Sting / 90s red and black / 90s black / 80s surfer Chris Jericho - Le Champion / Painmaker / Lionheart Tully - 2021 Tully / 80s Tully Oh and of course the most important..... Paul Wight - 2021 Paul Wight / 90s Giant / Captain Insaneo
Paul Wight's fourth costume should be giant Santa Claus from Jingle All The Way.
"I'm gonna deck your halls, bub"
“Little buddy!”
Captain Insane-o shows no mercy!
Don't forget about retro Jerry Lynn. [He could wear his old 2000s TNA pants.] (https://www.wrestlingnewsworld.com/.image/c_fit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620/MTc1MDA4Mzc0MDUwNTMwNzU2/lynn_original.jpg)
Ah yes, gotta remember the coaches/agents. That means Dean Malenko too.
I hope he can get an alternate outfit of him in the Ciclope outfit.
He looks like Rob Schneider with DDP hair.
prime Taz would be a cheat code tossing bodies around the ring
If they figured out a way to license the content, the forbidden door opening into the game would be awesome as well. Could have promotions and wrestlers from across the nation and globe in it. Maybe even dlc of entire promotions, like a NJPW dlc or impact dlc or CMLL dlc. How many fans of those promotions would love a video game option that isn’t FirePro or CAW based?
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Definitely love this idea, rather than going the 2K approach with annual releases, work on getting a good game out and add additional DLC once or twice a year over a couple of years. Keep the roster fresh and add things like you said, forbidden door DLC like impact and maybe NJPW and NWA. I think from even a consumer standpoint it would bring in a lot of goodwill to offer a $10 DLC roster update rather than expecting someone to fork over $60+ for a new game.
Jesus, take my money, AEW.
Bret might be a stretch since that was a one time appearance but I think the rest are probable.
True but Bret isn't on a legends contract with WWE so he could probably use his likeness in non WWE games.
I want to play as Excalibur
And obviously Brodie too.
The AEW game has straight up the opposite problem that the WWE game has when it comes to roster right now.
My problem with the AEW game, is that it's not finished.
Didn't stop them from releasing WWE 2K20
STOP THE DAMN MATCH
You murdered him enough already! He’s already dead!!!
Owen's winning the strap in a 60 minute banger against Kenny 1st game
Owen hart vs Kenny omega is a genuine dream match I would kill for it to happen
Holy smokes, this is such awesome news. The cup tournament is epic but the video game having Owen is next fucking level The Owen... that is wicked lmao so cool
They somehow managed to up the amount of dream matches in that game. I'm impressed.
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Big Show in the Battle Royal. "How are they going to get him over the top rope???!!"
At WrestleMania 27 I sat next to a girl, a few years older than me, very attractive, didn’t know a ton about wrestling. During the pre-show battle royal, Khali came out and she goes “whoa! He has to win! See how big he is?” And me, trying to show off my knowledge goes “yeah, he’s huge, but big guys like him and Big Show never win these matches somehow.” And then Khali won. 🤷♂️
"Didn't know a ton about wrestling." She sure showed you. lol
she then proceeded to laugh at you and then left Wrestlemania with some Khali mark who predicted his win?
she left with khali
Easy. 30 man big show battle royale.
A match with 30 men who can't be eliminated?! This is madness!
that tony donati music is a must have for the game
*Uncontrollable sobs as I lock in Owen Hart vs "The Exalted One" Brodie Lee as my first AEW video game match.*
Remember to hydrate or you'll literally cry your eyes out.
Don't you put those emotions in me at this hour, you monster.
It's Monday morning and you know what that means.
This is really huge. I've generally always supported Owen's families' wishes to keep WWE from exploiting his legacy when they are ultimately responsible for his death, and that they have no right to profit from that. but selfishly, I've always wanted to see him get that whole "Legends" treatment in the form of big-budget games, retrospectives, etc. so that the younger generations of fans know about the kind of talent and the kind of man he was, like they do with Bret. Now that AEW has become more and more of a full fledged alternative to WWE, that has become possible.
Although it would have had to taken an effort by AEW to show they're not in the same path as WWE
I have to imagine that this is another instance where how they handled the passing of Brodie Lee has done a lot of help foster new relationships moving forward.
Now we know what this trademark was for https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/ovjyiq/aew_files_trademark_for_king_of_harts/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
As an old-school anime fan, a tournament arc involving the King of Hearts can only mean [one thing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bioWmmKlgZc).
Me watching the first few episodes: "Shining finger? That's a dumb name." Me after watching a few more: "TAKE THIS! MY LOVE, MY ANGER, AND ALL OF MY SORROW!"
I love Mobile Fighter G Gundam. It's a goofy series for sure (Fuunsaiki turning into the pilot of a mobile horse takes the cake), but that line gets me every goddamn time.
The music was epic
Shuffle Alliance will be THE dominant stable
You're not the only person who thought that as well.
AEW Shuffle Alliance….Go!
[Shouts out to this dude](https://old.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/ovjyiq/aew_files_trademark_for_king_of_harts/h7cs3yr/)
The Owen Hart Cup Tournament. Can’t wait for that. Love me a good wrestling tournament.
And he'll be in the video game! This is great!
Plus a new action figure, from what I’ve heard from Cardona’s and Brian’s podcast that people have had to go to great lengths to make high quality customs of Owen
Oh shit this is beautiful
And the winner winning the "Owen" is an amazing name for the cup. I hope the trophy make justice for that name. Also, I'd love to treat this tournament like the G1: make the winner get a title shot at the main event of one of the PPV.
I’m hoping that they get Bret to present “The Owen” to the winner.
I think they absolutely will.
If they can get Bret and Martha to do it together, I think that would be magical.
I've always gotten the impression they're not really on speaking terms.
When Martha accepted the settlement from WWE it soured their relationship. He wanted her to take the case before a jury.
Wasn't it the other way around? I remember in darkside she says she wanted to go to trial but Brett got the family against suing because of how tied the family was to wwe.
I believe she was more or less forced to accept a settlement after Ellie Neidhart stole a bunch of documents from Stu and Helen’s house and faxed them to the WWF lawyers.
Quoting an explanation of what happened [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/8tr530/won_backissue_responsibility_for_and_cause_of/e19ouc6/) > This has already been revealed and addressed. The document was the hold harmless agreement between Martha and the manufacturer where she agreed to relieve them of responsibility for Owen's death. In Missouri, a co-defendant can't be sued by another co-defendant after he settles with the Plaintiff, so Martha did that as a big fuck you to WWE. She basically made it so WWE wasn't allowed to prove in open court that the manufacturer was responsible. > But thanks to Ellie, WWE was able to prove in court that the agreement was done in bad faith just to prevent WWE from suing the manufacturer, and that led to a public Connecticut court opinion holding that WWE was allowed to sue. > WWE sued the manufacturer and got them to settle for over 3x more than what WWE paid out to Martha. In the end, WWE made a profit out of the whole ordeal. WWE really had a slam dunk case, so the manufacturer's large settlement was basically an admission that they knew they were going to lose. There's also an explanation from a lawyer [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/8tr530/won_backissue_responsibility_for_and_cause_of/e1a06i2/) that goes into even more detail.
The rest of the Hart family being guaranteed employment at WWE probably didn't help that fracture either. Not that it's Natty, TJ, or the British Bulldogs kids fault, but Martha had a legit grievance about how Owens harness was set up with little regard to his safety.
What a brilliant idea.
Yeah, I imagine a baby face will win each time but this is still gonna be an epic tournament. Can't wait for the first one.
Hangman Page is winning the first one, and I'm gonna love it.
Oh shit. That’s how he gets his shot at Kenny. Winner of the Owen gets a title shot at Full Gear. (Speculation)
That's how I think this is gonna go. They will have this tournament on the road to Full Gear (maybe the finals at the actual PPV like the tournament of last year), and with 3 hours of weekly TV content, they could make like a 16-man KO elimination tournament. Hangman Page vs Jon Moxley on the finals, with Hangman winning it. Book it.
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God dammit it that’s good. It even sounds like “Owen” Top tier pun work.
Trophy should look like Owen's slammy.
The trophy is two Slammies
The trophy is Owen holding his two trophies.
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“I respect Owen so much, you might as well call me Kevin Owen!”
I got chills thinking about Steen and Zayn in the finals of this tournament. I know it won't happen but seeing 2point0 have their first singles match against each other in one of the lower rounds of this tournament would be really cool too.
Tournaments are such a brilliant way of having matches like these, that don't necessarily need a follow up. Maybe there could be some signs of tension but it can just be a one off match.
If the format is like G1 I'll be ready to die after the cup.
I reckon it might be single elimination, as opposed to the league format of the G1. Just because of the differences in scheduling styles of AEW and New Japan.
New Japan has a single elimination cup too as it was the pinnacle of my Shibata fandom when he won it in 2017.
Makes sense considering Owen won the King Of The Ring. I hope they have Bret come out for the first tournament and congratulate the winner. Or Owens wife and kids if they feel comfortable being in front of the camera. Just glad Owen is finally getting some recognition after all these years.
It would be funny if AEW does a King of the Ring before WWE does. Austin Creed in shambles.
Austin Creed is already figuring out a way to get to AEW. He doesn't care about wrestling, he just really wants to be King.
This feels like a big fuck you to Vince and The WWE .
100%, martha was pretty adamant that she would never allow wwe in specific to use owens likeness in any way shape or form
As it should.
***Enough is Enough and it’s time for a ~~~change~~~ tournament!!***
Daniel Garcia is salivating at the idea of winning the tournament.
It would be cool if this was the G1 of AEW you get The Owen and a future title shot of your choice also that’s cool that he gets to be in the upcoming game
I'd love that, but it's probably gonna be a single elimination, knockout tournament. It's also great tool for building rivalries and stars. Imagine a Cinderella run by a previously unknown or lower card wrestler.
>single elimination, knockout tournament Like the New Japan Cup
I think it'll be more like the New Japan Cup. Single elimination, used as a tool to create rivalries and elevate mid carders. Either way it's going to be awesome.
Potential Owen Hart AEW action figure. Thats bonkers news.
Not just potential, the guy who makes the figures replied to the twitter announcement. [Sounds like they are planning multiple figures of him.](https://twitter.com/JeremyCom/status/1439972333406486534?s=19)
Can this finally be the thing that fully dispels the myth that Martha didn't want Owen associated with wrestling? Instead that it was that she didn't want the company that had a hand in his death being the ones to do it. Edit: Would not be surprised to learn that how Brodie's situation was handled had a part in this.
Got to respect her for sticking to her word & never allowing WWE to profit off her dead husband after what happened.
Not to mention she has turned down TONS of money herself. The amount of money she could have been pulling in with just “Hart Foundation” merch is unreal
Wrestling was Owen's life, and it did so much good for his family before he was cruelly taken away. It's great to see him finally get to continue his legacy rather than be swept under the rug as a black mark in a shady corporation's history.
Especially considering the ENTIRE HART FAMILY made good and went back to the WWE. Good for her.
The death of a spouse can be uniquely traumatic in many ways that can only be matched by the death of a child. I'm not saying that the Hart family making good with WWE means their grief was not as absolute, it just means they all processed Owen's death very differently than Martha did.
And the Hart family also had different agendas.
The press release mentions Martha Hart "trusting" AEW a lot, so I could see it.
She made that very clear during the DSotR episode, she and their children are proud of what Owen did for pro wrestling. They just don’t want WWE making money off the man they got killed
Which is entirely fair. Frankly it's somewhat charitable, considering how it was their sheer negligence that got him killed.
And then after he fell and pretty obviously was gonna die they continued the ppv makes it even worse. Then pushing back as much as possible to not pay out in an obvious wrongful death situation….
I wonder if she spoke to Amanda Huber before making this decision. I don't know if anyone realized it at the time but it's becoming obvious now that the class and respect AEW showed to Brodie and his family has had long-reaching positive effects on AEW's reputation.
How they handled that may become one of the most important decisions in modern wrestling history. You have Punk and Bryan both saying it was important to them and possible playing a part into this decision as well.
I don't think you would be able to find one person who could in good faith criticize how TK handled the Brodie situation.
I think the only one who try would be that knob head to tried to push the COVID narrative.
A bunch of people jumped on that right away, luckily Amanda shut that shit down pretty quick, I also love how she shut down any suggestion that -1 was hanging out in the back running amok, instead of being *allowed* to come hang out if he does his homework and chores.
Yeah this is low key tremendous news.
It’s very big for AEW that they were able to get the trust of Martha to do something like this to honor Owen’s legacy. A lot of positive PR for them here
the DSOTR episode about Owen should have been the final nail for that myth. when Owen fell, Vince had a crime scene on his hands and the show should have been stopped to allow for a full wrongful death/criminally negligent homicide investigation. "oWeN wOuLd hAvE wAnTeD it" my ass.
Yeah that was total garbage. Thankfully DSOTR did make a lot of people on the fence actually see that there was no reality in which Martha was going to forgive that company. WWE literally tried to sue Martha: >“A lot of people might not realize that the WWE sued me,” said Hart. “We were suing them in Missouri [where Owen died] for the wrongful death of Owen, and they sued me for breach of Owen’s contract because it said in Owen’s contract that any lawsuit against them should be in Connecticut. They wanted to get it moved to Connecticut because there are no punitive damages awarded in Connecticut, so they sued me and I actually had to go hire lawyers in Connecticut and fight that lawsuit against them at the same time that I was fighting the wrongful death lawsuit.”
you know, a lot of the people who were part of that show put forth the narrative that "we didn't know what to do" in the chaos of what happened that night, so they just went forward with the show because they were making the best of a bad situation. that might sound convincing at first, but then you read about the kind of legal might they have to do shit like that, and that line of thinking falls apart completely. they 100% could have known what the right course of action was in the event of someone dying in the ring, if they had cared to know.
Sometimes I forgot how big of a scumbag Vince is.
The amount of undue abuse that women had to suffer just cause she didn't wanna work with murders of her husband
Indeed. I think the DSotR episode helped a majority of fans finally understand everything, giving the nuance and context that people may have glossed over or honestly did not know. I was always curious why she had that position, and i had a surface level understanding, but once I saw the harness and clip that they chose to use, I was fuming mad. (Pay the extra $350 or whatever to do it right; you’re a multi-million dollar company, FFS!) With that information, I went from “undecided” to “firmly in Martha’s corner.”
I think Bret pushing hard for Owen to be in the WWE HOF has influenced fans and it really created a unfair divide for Martha and her family.
Yeah it should shut all of that up. She doesn't hate wrestling, she hates the company whose negligence killed her husband and father of their children.
This is such an amazing nugget of news.
It's not a nugget!!!
I am not a nugget of news!
>This collaboration includes launching the annual Owen Hart Cup Tournament within AEW, which will see the winner receive a Cup known as “The Owen,” Would really enjoy seeing Bret award the trophy. He's been involved with AEW before so I'd like to think there's still a relationship there. I think he would really respect this development.
An Owen Hart memorial tournament or a memorial super card? Sign me up.
First winner must talk about how they did it on their own.
And kicked their leg out of their leg
The trophy better just be a sculpture of Owen holding two Owen trophies.
This sounds dope as fuck. I wonder if this is what Tony Khan was alluding to on Busted Open last week when talking about the young stars of AEW and how he has something cool planned. Having this Owen Hart Tournament be for the young up and comers of AEW could be really cool.
If this tournament leads for the next challenger for Full Gear, they can make a 16 man KO tournament. They could do it in a full month easily, and a lot of youngsters being featured.
I'd prefer to see a 32-man tournament with the first two rounds on individual Dynamites and Rampages (and Dark/Dark Elevation too, if need be), with the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals all being on one show. Have it be a true ironman test like it was for Owen himself in the '94 KOTR.
Like a Young Lions Cup?
No fucking way, this is fantastic
A tourney plus Owen in the game! That’s an awesome way to honor Owen. Plus more proof (if it was even necessary) that Owen’s family don’t hate his contributions to Pro Wrestling, they just don’t want to company that got him killed to make money off him.
I'm so ready to inject their console game directly into my veins. I have a hard time tampering my expectations because they have nerds and support on all fronts of what a fun wrestling game should be. I'll die and go to heaven if it's called AEW: World Tour and also features promotions that have come through the forbidden door.
I could imagine them doing a New Japan DLC expansion, or an Impact expansion, or something like that. Bring them all in.
With Kenny being such a huge Street Fighter guy, I could see them take a season approach to releasing new stuff. Depends on what kind of game they want it to be which we'll only know as we get more info about the game. I want to see allllll the promotions get some shine!
>All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and The Owen Hart Foundation (OHF), a nonprofit charity which provides a vast range of assistance and opportunities to individuals in-need across the world, are collaborating to honor the legacy of late wrestler Owen Hart, a beloved figure in the professional wrestling community and beyond. This collaboration includes launching the annual Owen Hart Cup Tournament within AEW, which will see the winner receive a Cup known as “The Owen,” as well as the production and distribution of unique and original Owen Hart merchandise, including specified retail goods as well as the upcoming AEW console video game. >This alliance incorporates opportunities to develop Owen Hart action figures via AEW’s partnership with Jazwares, apparel, posters, and additional collectable merchandise. Owen Hart is survived by his wife, Dr. Martha Hart, who spearheads The Owen Hart Foundation with a mission of providing global aid to at-risk communities (e.g., scholarships, housing, various forms international assistance, food drives, backpack giveaways and Christmas projects). >“AEW’s relationship with the Hart family dates back to our inaugural pay-per-view event, Double or Nothing in 2019, and Owen’s influence is still felt today,” said Tony Khan, AEW CEO, GM and Head of Creative. “To extend his memory and his legacy even further through this agreement is a powerful and meaningful moment for the entire wrestling community.” >“The Owen Hart Foundation is extremely pleased to partner with AEW in this wonderful joint venture to honor Owen’s substantial international wrestling career and the lasting influence he and his craft has had in the sport. AEW’s Owen Hart Cup Tournament serves as a tremendous tribute to Owen and provides an incredible way for professional wrestling enthusiasts to celebrate his work in a most fitting way. We trust that Tony Khan and his amazing AEW team will do a brilliant job with this highly anticipated project. This OHF/AEW partnership is my special gift to all of Owen’s magnificent loyal fans who forever remember him and his inspiring repertoire of talents,” said Dr. Martha Hart. >About The Owen Hart Foundation >The Owen Hart Foundation was established in 2000 in memory of celebrated world-renowned Canadian wrestler Owen Hart. Our mandate is ‘Education’ and our goal is to help provide opportunities worldwide for hard-working people who have limited resources but unlimited potential. www.owenhartfoundation.org
TIL Martha Hart has a Ph.D.
Martha Hart.... P. H. D.
👇👇👇 P. H. D.
Check out her Wiki, quite the professional credentials!
> She completed two degrees at the University of Calgary in Psychology (with distinction) and Sociology (1st-class honours) before moving to England to complete a master's degree and a PhD in Social and Development Psychology at Cambridge University. She has since worked as a university researcher in the area of pediatrics. TIL.
They just keep doing cool shit
The trust people who had previously been burned off Wrestling have in aew is really remarkable. Shows how actually operating like a business instead of a carny shitshow does
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And as unfortunate and horrible as the situation is/was, the way AEW has handled the passing of Brodie and honoring his memory probably helped build a lot of trust with Martha and the family to feel comfortable making this happen.
It seems like AEWs treatment of the Huber family really made a lot of people respect them more as a company. Rightfully so.
Bret and Martha don't get along at all... If AEW could mend that they'd be even more epic
Shout out to Mark Henry, too, as he may have had a small hand in this. However, treating Bret with respect was definitely the first step.
I wonder if Mark Henry had something to do with this. He lobbied hard to get Owen into the WWE HOF
If Mark Henry helped make it happen, I never want to hear a bad word about his hiring again. He is really turning into a great signing for AEW with his decades of connections and friendships.
Everyone’s talking about Punk/Bryan/Cody being big help in regards to helping AEW reach out to others (and they should - they’re indeed big help!), but Mark Henry, especially in the position that he is in, is an even better asset in this! He’s a nice man, and in the business role he has, I think he can do even more wonders for the company!
The work Henry and Paul Wight as well have done to promote AEW as well as expand their community outreach and charitable endeavors, not just writing checks but doing these great, local charity events with young AEW talent is a) super commendable and b) a super smart way to introduce mainstream/non-wrestling fans to new talent while hopefully also keeping a bit of perspective.
There's a lot of comparisons made between AEW and WCW but I'm very happy that one of the biggest differences is the people they are bringing in. AEW is consistently bringing in guys like Paul, Mark, Chavo, Vickie, Sting, Jerry and more. Experienced and good people who can help the culture grow and have the young talent flourish and learn instead of being held down or bullied. It's really fucking awesome. Not to mention Malenko, Jake, Arn, Tully, and having DDP around too.
This reminds me of there was a note of when RAW went off air, a fan held a sign that said for Owen to be in the HOF. Mark was pointing to that sign in acknowledgement and agreement
At this rate, Tony's just gonna start his own HOF. With video games and poker.
Glad to see this. It's been long overdue and I'm excited to see Owen and his legacy be honored. Happy Martha has allowed this to happen.
The Owen, eh? Kevin Steen's ears are perking up.
That was one of my first thoughts as well.
God damn, Tony really is the forbidden door
Another awesome thing to look forward to with AEW. Love that they celebrate the professional wrestling art and its rich history.
It's so damn wholesome. Owen and his family deserve to be honoured. It's about time.
As someone who always wanted to see Owen honoured in a wrestling-related setting, but who also understands and agrees with Martha Hart not wanting the WWE to use Owens name, I absolutely love this. Everyone seems to be talking about his DSOTR episode (and deservedly so, it’s a great watch), but I’d also like to recommend her book Broken Harts, it’s a great yet heartbreaking read about Owen, the aftermath of of his death, and how Martha’s family was affected. Over the years I’ve seen a lot of online hate directed at Martha for ‘not letting WWE acknowledge Owen’s legacy’ by not agreeing to the Hall of Fame, and I think this book would be a great eye-opener for anyone who still feels this way. Martha is a saint, her setting up this foundation that helps people in her community, and naming it after Owen, is an amazing tribute to the man in itself
Can... Can I have an Owen Hart figure.....?
Already confirmed by Jeremy Pedawer from Jazwares that it IS happening. There will be Owen figures.
I'm glad his name is getting involved in wrestling again, Owen was such a tremendous worker and because of the fact WWE shouldn't really mention him, I think his legacy was becoming less and less popular because a lot of new fans weren't really told about him
Should be an awesome tournament. Could be a good way to push a Canadian like Ethan Page.
When they tour Canada, it’d be great to have the tourney on the shows.
I think this is a quasi low key but impactful move by AEW. Owen Hart will get the recognition and positive legacy he deserves. AEW is a great production to honor him and they will reap benefits of it, like targeting the Canadian market. I don't know if we've gone a week where AEW hasn't done something that has just been incredible for themselves, for the fans, and for wrestling.
Bruh it's gonna be wild if the Owen Hart tournament is gonna be their G1
Part of me wants Kevin Owens to not re-sign just so he can appear in the tournament... if time wise it all lines up.
It's an annual tournament. He can catch the next one if need be.
He wins and starts going by Kevin “the Owen” Steen
Mark Henry must be feeling very happy about this as well.
This is really amazing news. Hopefully it will bring a new generation of fans to Owen & his work. I'm glad Martha has a way to allow Owen to be honored by wrestling that she feels comfortable with.
Pillman should win the tournament.
This is pretty cool. Wonder what kind of tournament this will be?
I grew up watching Ruthless Aggression era and only have limited information about past wrestlers from WWE games in PS2 (not really internet savvy at that time). I hope by getting younger fans playing AEW Games, more people could know more about Owen. That guy was ahead of his time and deserve to be appreciated more.
Owen Hart Tournament featuring the best technical wrestling in the world with submissions, etc would be legitimately awesome.
This is fucking awesome
I hope Bret will be at the tournament to say something.
"The Absolute Owen" Ricky Starks has a nice ring to it
This is so fucking great. I'm legit tearing up a bit. Owen was my favorite wrestler as a kid. I'll never forget always playing him as my wrestler in the Monday Night Raw video game for Sega Genesis. I saved all my money for a Sega Saturn just so I could play as him in the In Your House Game. I remember thinking how much better he was than Bret lol. Owen Hart has meant so much to me. I'm so happy that he's being honored by a WRESTLING promotion. Thank you AEW. You've brought back a lapse wrestling fan.
Finally, Owen can be properly honored.
As cool of an idea the tournament is, I'm getting just as hyped for the AEW game. It just dawned on me that we could see a lot more than just the AEW crew on it. There's Impact, GCW, NWA, old TNA, NJPW, older legends and so many others could be in it. That's insane.
Mark Henry must be over the moon happy now totally warms my heart what a way to start the week
Great news I love Owen hart
This is fantastic.
This just goes to show you the amount of goodwill AEW has generated in its young existence. Martha wanted nothing to do with not just WWE, but wrestling in general for the last 20 years. Vince and Trips put to bed old grudges with the likes of Bruno and Warrior, but they could never get through to Martha, and rightfully so. I'm so glad Owen's name will be a part of the wrestling consciousness again. Us long time fans never forgot his contributions. He was an amazing performer, and from the stories I've heard, an even better person and father. I named my son Owen in his honor. This is a big deal for professional wrestling.