Jason Sensation Recalls Backstage Heat In WWE

Jason Sensation recently reflected on his journey to WWE during the Attitude Era, including how Owen Hart helped him get his foot in the door, the memorable Nation of Domination parody segment, and why his impressions eventually began upsetting some wrestlers backstage.

During an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Sensation explained that he originally hoped to break into WWE in a role similar to Howard Finkel or “Mean” Gene Okerlund. However, an encounter with Owen Hart and The British Bulldog at a meet-and-greet in Ottawa ended up changing his career.

On how Owen Hart helped him get backstage in WWE:

“Yeah, so I had this dream growing up. Maybe I could somehow get in as the next Howard Finkel or the next Mean Gene, just somehow find a way because I loved it, I idolized it, I ate, slept, and breathed it. After going to broadcasting school, I was able to get a demo and started sending it in to WWE Canada.”

Sensation recalled attending the event with tickets purchased by his girlfriend at the time, where he had the opportunity to meet Hart and Bulldog. After demonstrating his impressions of both wrestlers, Hart invited him backstage to entertain the rest of the locker room.

“I was like, ‘Guys, guys, I could do any voice, any impression!’ I started to do voices, and you could see almost the glare in Owen’s eye; his mind was rolling when he had this mischievous childlike glare in his eye. He was like, ‘Hey, can you do the Bulldog?’ I was like, ‘British Bulldog, I have the power!’ They’re laughing their heads off, and Bulldog was like, ‘Can you do Owen?’ I’m like, ‘I’m a Slammy Award winner, whoa!’ And they were just enjoying it.”

Although most of the wrestlers enjoyed his impressions, Hart eventually sent him to perform one for George “The Animal” Steele, who was working as an agent at the time.

“Jason, you gotta give your best George. You gotta get right into it and show the tongue.”

Sensation recalled Steele’s reaction being considerably less enthusiastic.

“Who the f*ck is this guy in? Get him out of here!”

The incident resulted in Sensation being thrown out of the dressing room, with Hart having disappeared by the time he realized he had been the victim of a rib.

However, the experience also introduced him to WWE Canada’s Carl De Marco, who would eventually begin using Sensation for promotional appearances after receiving his audition videos and seeing him entertain crowds with his impressions.

On portraying Owen Hart during the Nation of Domination parody segment:

“They dressed me up backstage, actually, wrapping me in caution tape. I didn’t even know what was going on most of the time, but yeah, this big rubber nose. I don’t even know how it stayed on this whole thing. It was just unbelievable. I’ll never forget.”

Sensation explained that the segment was particularly ironic because Hart had originally been responsible for helping him gain access to WWE.

“We were kind of hidden, dressing up. We weren’t in front of anybody, and when we came out backstage, everyone was ribbing Owen. He was not enjoying it. It was like this guy opened the door for me, and now it’s his impressions being used against him. But it was what got me hired. It was such an original voice, and everyone loved Owen so much that it was like we’ve got to get him to do Owen right away. It was like a big thing for them.”

On helping Vince Russo write lines for the Owen Hart parody:

“Some of them, actually. I was backstage with Vince Russo while he was writing this segment; he was writing most of it. It was amazing the way he wrote everything out, and I just remember him writing everything in those days. He was really brilliant in what he did, and he could sit there and just come up with these lines right away.”

Sensation recalled Russo asking him to contribute one additional joke for the segment, which led to a memorable line about Hart’s oversized nose.

“He was like, ‘I need one more, bro. I need one more line for Owen. Help me, Jason.’ Were both sitting there and I’m feeling such pressure. I’m like, ‘I got it. If anyone smells what The Rock is cooking it’s me! Look how big my nose is!’ ‘Bro, that’s perfect!’”

On backstage heat over his impressions and a warning from Road Dogg:

“Yeah, I felt like that was going. I heard it from the office guys a couple of times, and even Road Dogg came to tell me himself, ‘I come out there and [said] ‘Oh, you didn’t know,’ and you’ve already done it. You’ve already got the big pop out of the crowd.’”

According to Sensation, Road Dogg warned that performing other wrestlers’ signature lines before they appeared could eventually create problems with the locker room.

“This is going to piss the boys off. It’s going to eventually, you’re taking everybody’s gimmick, and you’re using them and with the crowd at first.”

While Sensation never confirmed whether wrestlers formally complained about his performances, he believed there had been discussions about his impressions taking away from their reactions.

“I never found out for sure, but I had a strong feeling I’d heard some rumblings about it that possibly there were guys going up saying he’s hosting the shows at the beginning of events, and he’s using all our gimmicks and taking our pops.”