Kurt Angle vs Owen Hart (lost footage of professional wrestling match; 1999)

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Kurtanglevsowenhart1.jpg

Kurt Angle about to perform a powerslam on Owen Hart.

Status: Lost

On 10th May 1999, during a taping of WWF Shotgun Saturday and before a live WWF Raw is War, professional wrestlers Kurt Angle and Owen Hart faced each other in a dark match. Occurring prior to Angle's television debut at WWF Survivor Series that same year, the match convinced Hart and others that Angle would be a future world champion.

Background

Kurt Angle began his professional wrestling career in August 1998, signing for the WWF.[1] The WWF who had notably been interested in Angle since he won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 1996 Summer Olympics despite having to nurse a broken neck.[1] After training under Dory Funk Jr,[1] Angle began wrestling in dark matches from April 1999 onwards.[2] These included facing competitors like Brian Christopher, Barry Houston, Meat, and Matt Hardy.[2] As dark matches are generally recorded but not televised,[3] Angle would ultimately make his official televised debut at the 1999 Survivor Series, defeating Shawn Stasiak.[4] As Angle competed in dark matches, Owen Hart was involved in a storyline where he re-introduced the superhero Blue Blazer gimmick but claimed not to be him, while also teaming with Jeff Jarrett.[5]

The Match

The encounter between Angle and Hart occurred before the 10th May 1999 edition of Raw is War, and filmed before Shotgun Saturday.[6] An account from DDT Digest's Ringside Report provides details of the match.[6] Even back then, Angle utilised the Medal theme, noted as originally used by The Patriot,[6] and would eventually become iconic as fans chanted "you suck" during its beats.[7] The Report also noted how Hart had regressed from being an upper-card Intercontinental Champion to performing in dark matches.[6]

Angle initially gained control of the match, including by performing a Northern Lights suplex. Hart prevented Angle from achieving a leapfrog however, stopping the rookie with a powerbomb. Hart performed a submission on his opponent, only for Angle to counter with a powerslam. Later, Hart got up to the top turnbuckle, only to get crotched, enabling Angle to perform a superplex for a 2-count. However, Angle halted Hart's momentum with a side belly-to-belly suplex. Nevertheless, Hart achieved the pinfall victory thanks to a spinning heel kick.[6]

DDT Digest's Aldo reviewed the match, stating that Angle was acceptable in this encounter but required additional polish before he could be showcased on television. He deemed the fight as a "cookie-cutter Nitro or Thunder match".[6] Backstage however, Hart was impressed with Angle's performance, proclaiming to others that Angle would be a future world champion.[8] This would prove true when Angle would win his first WWF Championship by defeating The Rock at the 2000 No Mercy event,[9] the first of his 13 world championship reigns.[10] Angle himself praised Hart during the first episode of The Kurt Angle Show, believing the match was "incredible" due to how Hart carried himself throughout it.[11] He concluded by deeming Hart as "one of the best".[11] This would be the only instance of Kurt Angle facing Owen Hart, as 13 days after the match occurred, Hart would pass away following an accident at the 1999 Over the Edge event.[8][11]

Availability

While Angle's dark matches were not intended to be televised, a few have been publicly released. However, no footage of his match with Hart is currently publicly available, with just a single photo of Angle executing a powerslam being viewable.[12] With matches like Bret Hart vs Tom Magee and The Last Battle of Atlanta being found, Pro Wrestling Stories has deemed the Angle-Hart match as "Wrestling’s Current Holy Grail".[11]

However, the website noted the chances of the match resurfacing is slim, especially with Peacock's acquisition of the WWE Network focusing more on ensuring the media meets NBC's standards and practices rather than releasing new material. Further, rumours the match would be released during Angle's return to WWE in 2017 came to nothing, especially with Angle having been released from the company in 2021.[11] Additionally, Hart's widow Dr Martha Hart has refused to allow WWE to profit off Owen's name again following his death,[13] which could also impact the possibility of the match's release on legal grounds.

Gallery

Videos

Dark match between Kurt Angle and Meat.

Dark match between Kurt Angle and Barry Houston.

Dark match between Kurt Angle and Brian Christopher.

Dark match between Kurt Angle and Matt Hardy.

Something to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard discussing the match.

See Also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Legacy of Wrestling detailing Angle signing for the WWF. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cagematch listing Angle's dark match results. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
  3. ↑ Online World of Wrestling defining "dark match". Retrieved 22 Feb '22
  4. ↑ Olympic Hero: Pro Wrestler Kurt Angle noting Angle's first televised match. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
  5. ↑ Online World of Wrestling detailing Hart's career during this time period. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 DDT Digest detailing the match. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
  7. ↑ Songfacts detailing "Medal", Kurt Angel's theme song. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Bleeding Cool detailing the match and its significance. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
  9. ↑ Sportskeeda detailing Angle winning his first world championship. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
  10. ↑ WWF Old School noting Angle's 13 world championship wins. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Pro Wrestling Stories detailing the match, and deeming it "Wrestling’s Current Holy Grail". Retrieved 22 Feb '22
  12. ↑ Kurt Angle providing a photo of the match in a Twitter post. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
  13. ↑ Video Games Chronicle noting Dr Martha Hart refusing to allow WWE to profit off Owen's name, which could impact the release of the match. Retrieved 22 Feb '22
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