Owen Hart Cup

In September 2021, AEW announced the establishment of the Owen Hart Cup, an annual tournament to honor the legacy of Owen Hart, a prominent wrestler during the 1980s and 1990s who died at the WWF Over the Edge pay-per-view in 1999. The tournament was established in collaboration with The Owen Hart Foundation.[1] On December 17, AEW revealed that there would be both a men's and women's version of the tournament,[2] and the respective winners would receive a trophy called "The Owen Cup" [1] and reports have speculated that Championship belts modeled after the old Stampede Wrestling North American Championship will be awarded to the winners. Based on the Hart Family pink and black, the Women's winner will get a pink belt and the Men's winner will be awarded a black belt. It was also confirmed that the tournaments would begin in May, culminating with the finals at Double or Nothing.[3] In deciding why there would be both a men's and women's tournament, Tony Khan likened it to Wimbledon, which also has both men's and women's tournaments.[4]

On the April 26, 2023, episode of Dynamite, Khan announced that the 2023 tournament's opening ceremony would occur at that year's Double or Nothing PPV. He also said that tournament matches would happen in Owen's home country of Canada at the Forbidden Door PPV, and the tournament would conclude in Owen's hometown of Calgary, Alberta, on the fifth episode of AEW Collision that will be held on July 15.[5] For 2023, both the men's and women's tournaments featured an eight wrestler field, and wrestlers from AEW partner promotion New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) also participated.[6]