WrestleZone recently spoke with WWE Hall of Famer and current AEW commentator/interviewer Mark Henry about the upcoming Owen Hart Memorial tournament, with the World’s Strongest Man also discussing the late Hart’s incredible legacy left on the wrestling world. Highlights are below.
How one tournament would not have been enough to celebrate the legacy of Owen Hart:
“One tournament wouldn’t have been enough. Owen was a special guy, he added a levity and education to pro wrestling and was a really good wrestler. I’ve never heard anybody say anything bad about him. Never. He said, ‘Mark, that’s who you want to be.’
Says he will always think about Owen anytime a prank is played:
“You ever play a joke on one of your friends? That was an everyday thing for Owen. Every time that I hear somebody would get a joke played on them, I get to think about Owen. It’s an ‘Owen’ to me, to see someone get joked or get ribbed. Owen was never painful or hurtful, he just wanted everybody to get a good laugh and realize you gotta enjoy this. There’s only so much time in-between and you need to enjoy it. True wrestling fans love Owen because they smile and laugh when they’d hear his name and it wasn’t laughing at him, but with him, and that’s the important thing in our business, to latch on to people that care and have the same views as you. I think that’s why the pro wrestling world is so connected together because we all know that we’re all fans at the end of the day.”
On the relationship between Martha Hart and Tony Khan
“This tournament is blessed by his wife, Martha, and his family. She did not want Owen’s name to be marred or to be minimalized just to make money. If there’s money that’s going to be raised for charitable things, it should go where the family deems it go. I’m very happy that the family found Tony Khan and that Tony Khan found the Hart family because it’s near and dear to my heart and it’s an even bigger plus for me, joining the company and knowing that that was a possibility.”