Tony Khan reveals how the Owen Hart Cup came to be
In an interview with Josh Martinez for Z100 New York, Tony Khan revealed that it was due to Chris Jericho's strong relationship with Martha Hart that they could create the Owen Hart Cup.
Khan said Jericho had spoken to him about finding a way to honor Owen Hart in AEW, leading to the idea of 'The Owen,' which he believes will become a significant trophy in pro wrestling.
“During the pandemic, being stuck at home, I spent a lot of time building relationships with people all over the world, and Chris Jericho is a big relationship builder too and he spent a lot of time building relationships. And he had built this really good relationship with Martha Hart, and they had gotten to know each other and he introduced me to her and said that he thought it would be great if we work together to honor Owen somehow. And I had this idea for an Owen Hart Cup. In movies, they have the Oscars, and in TV, the Emmys and so forth, so I thought it’d be really cool if there was ‘The Owen’ in wrestling and that would be a trophy that everybody could win. So, I’m very excited to talk more about The Owen soon. Without revealing all the details, The Owen will be a very important trophy in wrestling," Tony Khan said. (H/T eWrestlingNews.com)
Given that Martha Hart agreed to this venture, considering the frosty relationship she has with WWE, fans of Owen Hart are more than grateful to see Tony Khan's commitment to honoring the late, great pro wrestler's legacy.
Tony Khan says he talked to Martha Hart for over a year
In an interview with Busted Open, Tony Khan stated that his conversations with Martha Hart took over a year, and both sides have put a lot of thought into their partnership.
He believes that the Owen Hart Cup will be a great opportunity to celebrate the Canadian pro wrestling legend's life.
“This is going to be a tremendous event." Tony Khan continued, "It’s a great partnership with Martha Hart and the Owen Hart foundation... I talked to Martha about this for over a year on a regular basis. She put a lot of thought into it, and we put a lot of thought into it... You can’t say enough great things about the legacy of Owen Hart, how much it means to so many of us, and what a great opportunity this is to celebrate his life. We’ve had this in the works for a long time.”
While there's no specific start date for when this tournament will begin, it'll probably happen sooner rather than later.