Owen Hart is a man who will left us all way too soon...

Owen was a proud family man, a loving husband, a caring father, son, brother, friend and hero to many. Fans all around the world often enjoyed watching him perform in the squared circle whether he was a playing the role of a super hero, a babyface or a cowardly heel that would actually back up his trash talking in the ring and prove that he was one of the all time greats. He made an everlasting impression on this thing we all love called "Professional Wrestling" and we should never forget him. Every year on this day I have made it a point to remind everyone of the tremendous person we lost.

The date was May 23rd, 1999. Ten years ago today. The wrestling world lost a likely future world champion and a highly respected human being both inside the ring and out. We all know the tragic story of that unfortunate night so I don't want to relive that terrible scenerio. I just simply want to remind everyone that its been a decade since he passed away and that he is still sorely missed by many especially myself. I am one of only a few people that has always believed with all of my heart that if he were still alive today that he already would have been a multiple time world champion. He was simply that good to me and many others! He was often times too good to be true. I used to be blown away at some of his incredible matches and the way he did things in the ring. He was a very charismatic showman with a excellent knowledge of this buisness having come from the Hart Family Dungeon. To the best of my knowledge everyone of his peers had nothing but the utmost respect for him as a man and a wrestler. The wrestling world would be much different if he were still alive today, no doubt about it! Need anymore convincing about how great he was? His T-shirt says it all...

Below is a list of championship titles he has held and some of his other unique accomplishments, so for me its not hard to imagine him ever holding a world title after taking a brief look at this list.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship

Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship

Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship

Stampede Wrestling Hall of Famer

USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship

WWF European Championship

WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times)

WWF Tag Team Championship (4 times)

King of the Ring (1994)

Slammy Award for Squared Circle Shocker (1996)

Slammy Award for Best Bow Tie (1997) (my personal favorite)

PWI Rookie of the Year (1987)

PWI ranked him #10 of the 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1994

PWI ranked him #84 of the 100 best tag teams of the PWI Years with Davey Boy Smith in 2003

That is an impressive career in my mind, you can see why he is seen by many as a bonified legend in wrestling history. I hope you take the time today to check out some of Owen's videos on Youtube or wherever you can find them. If you haven't ever seen him wrestle, you don't know what your missing so take a minute and watch some his greatest matches like WrestleMania 10 where he cleanly beat his brother Bret "Hitman" Hart to open the show or The Canadian Stampede p.p.v. in front of his hometownn crowd in Calgary where Owen got the pinfall win for the Hart Foundation team of Bret, Owen, British Bulldog, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and Brain Pillman against the seemingly unstoppable crew of The Road Warriors, Ken Shamrock, Goldust, and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

There are so many great matches and fun memories that he provided, and not enough room on this article to point out even half of them. Let's all hope that the WWE will honor Owen someday soon and put him into the Hall of Fame where he belongs. He left behind quite a legacy and it deserves to live on forever. If Owen were alive today, this is what I envision him looking like...

If you have anything to say about this article or Owen Hart, please check out the new forum "The Gathering of the Wood" on the message boards here: http://s14.zetaboards.com/Wrestling_Insanity/forum/3000863/ and post your thoughts and comments. And follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/ClubWWI

I hope you all have a good Memorial Day weekend and to everyone out there that read this please know that   OWEN WAS NOT A NUGGET!