One of WWE’s most memorable Attitude Era segments almost looked completely different, and Jason Sensation has now confirmed that Chyna was originally supposed to play Owen Hart in DX’s famous Nation of Domination parody. The plan changed after Chyna made it clear she wasn’t interested in the role.
Speaking during an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Sensation looked back at the segment that helped make him a recognizable part of WWE programming. While most people remember him wearing the ridiculous oversized nose and impersonating Owen Hart alongside DX, that wasn’t how WWE originally intended to introduce him.
When Van Vliet brought up the longstanding rumor that Chyna was initially supposed to portray Owen Hart, Sensation immediately confirmed it. He explained that his original role would have been to appear as himself rather than dress up as one of the wrestlers.
“That’s true. That’s true. And she was just not into that. What the segment was going to be, just me as myself. That was going to be my introduction day as Jason Sensation.”
Sensation explained that the initial concept involved DX members dressing as the wrestlers they were parodying while he handled the impressions. Instead of becoming Owen Hart himself, he would have interviewed the performers and supplied the voices as they went through the segment.
“And they were all going to be dressed up and Chyna was going to be Owen and I was going to be going to interview them and then taking back the mic and doing an impression of each one. They were just going to have costumes on. I was going to do all the voices.”
However, Chyna wasn’t willing to play Owen Hart because she believed the character didn’t fit her presentation. Sensation said Vince Russo agreed with her objection, and the creative team ultimately decided to put Sensation in the Owen Hart costume instead.
“And Chyna was like, ‘I’m not doing Owen. It doesn’t fit with my character.’ Russo agreed with her and then, perfect, we’ll get Jason to do Owen. This is perfect. So they switched the whole thing and that’s where he wrote the lines at the time.”
That decision completely changed Sensation’s involvement in the segment. Instead of being introduced as an impressionist interviewing the disguised DX members, he became one of the central figures in the parody.
Sensation also explained that Russo wrote most of the segment, although he contributed some of the jokes himself. One of his additions was the line about being able to smell what The Rock was cooking because of Owen Hart’s enormous fake nose. Jerry Lawler also helped by giving him additional nose jokes before he went out.
The segment became one of Sensation’s defining WWE moments, and his Owen Hart impression remains closely associated with the Attitude Era. Considering how differently things were originally planned, Chyna’s refusal ended up giving Sensation the opportunity that defined his WWE career.
What do you think about Chyna refusing to portray Owen Hart in the DX parody, and would the segment have worked as well with the original plan? Share your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.
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