There are very few moments in life when you hear news that makes you visibly shake so badly that you have to stop what you are doing and sit down and absorb what you have just been told. Whatever you were doing is halted as the emotions and shear enormity of what happened fills you with an overwhelming feeling of loss and heartbreak. That is exactly what happened to me this morning when I heard about the death of Owen Hart.

I did not have a chance to see the pay-per-view last night (of all the ones to miss) but from what I heard, Owen Hart was being lowered to the ring when the cable he was on snapped, and he fell anywhere from 50 to 80 feet to the canvas and was killed. He was only 33 years old.

To all of us, wrestlers are larger than life, immortal if you will. Sure they get hit on the head with chairs, thrown through tables and pummeled by their opponents, but in the end, they get up and walk away – Owen Hart was not that lucky.

Whenever there is a tragedy like this, in any sport, it makes everyone stop and ask why. Why Owen? He was at the height of his career, a former Intercontinental Champion, a recent WWF Tag Team Champion with Jeff Jarrett, and an integral part of the WWF’s storyline. Despite the fact that his brother Bret went to WCW, Owen was doing a great job of showing the world that he could survive in the WWF without Bret. In addition to his ring accomplishments, Owen was a tremendous athlete. Having been trained in the “dungeon” by his father Stu, Owen could execute wrestling moves better than almost anyone. From his dropkicks to the sharpshooter, Owen was a wrestler’s wrestler.

And now he’s gone.

The reason the news of Owen’s death hit me so hard was because I had the pleasure of interviewing Owen on several different occasions, the most recent being May 19, 1997 at a WWF card at Madison Square Garden. I interviewed Owen as well as the Rock, the Legion of Doom – and Brian Pillman – for Hole In The Wall. There is nothing better than meeting a celebrity and learning that he or she is a genuinely nice person. When Owen came on the set for the scheduled interview, that became apparent right away. Introducing himself to everyone, being patient as we prepared the cameras, and even laughing and cracking a few jokes as the interview was conducted.

That is how I remember Owen, and every time I saw him after that, being in person or on TV, that is how I saw him, and now, whenever I think of Owen Hart, that is what I’ll remember. I’ll remember the person he was, the athlete he was, and the champion he was.

Take care Owen, you will be missed.