Jason Sensation made his WWE debut in 1998 during a memorable D-Generation X segment involving The Nation of Domination. He portrayed Owen Hart in the famous parody. However, his journey into professional wrestling began years earlier.
During an appearance on Chris Van Vliet’s “Insight” podcast, Sensation explained how his impressions caught the attention of wrestling legends. He also recalled how Owen Hart brought him backstage and how former WWF Canada president Carl DeMarco eventually helped him secure opportunities. Sensation said:
“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. But actually, just rewind that a little bit.”
“When I was with my first girlfriend, my first love, Terri, she got me a front-row ringside ticket to the Corel Centre for a wrestling show in Ottawa, and there was a backstage meet-and-greet, and I had a ticket for that as well. Lo and behold, it was two of my favorite wrestlers: the late great Owen Hart and the late great British Bulldog. It was my first time really up close and personal with wrestlers; I just kind of went nuts, like a huge fan. I butted the whole line, started grabbing their belts, freaking out.”
“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.”
Sensation reveals Owen Hart’s hilarious backstage prank. Sensation’s impressions immediately caught Owen Hart and British Bulldog’s attention. Both wrestlers enjoyed his ability to imitate their voices. Owen then offered him an opportunity to enter the dressing room. The former WWE star added:
“Owen’s like, ‘I’m gonna bring you in the back tonight. I’m gonna get you to do impressions back here.’ It was like a dream come true to go in the dressing room. Sure enough, he kept his word. We’re walking down the hall of the dressing room, and I remember just being in awe, like Owen, you’re really one of my favorites, and you’re doing something really good for me here. But he wasn’t even looking at me; his mind was just rolling. How was he going to use me to rib the boys at this point?”
“So he brought me backstage, started getting me to do all of the boys’ impressions right to their faces. Most of them were getting a kick out of it. But I guess then when it was time for the matches to go back on, he sent me to George the Animal. He’s like, ‘Jason, you gotta give your best George. You gotta get right into it and show the tongue.’ I’m like, all right. George was an agent then. George the Animal Steele. I went up and started his impression, and he lost it. ‘Who the f*ck is this guy in? Get him out of here!’ He kicked me out of the dressing room. So it was Owen’s rib. I was like Owen! He was gone. But in the midst of that, I met Carl De Marco, which was the Canadian president.”
An encounter with Bret Hart put him on WWE’s radar. Despite the dressing-room incident, Sensation’s WWE ambitions remained alive. He continued sending demonstration videos to the company. Another opportunity arrived when Bret Hart returned to Canada after winning the championship.
Sensation managed to appear on camera while entertaining fans with his impressions. Carl DeMarco recognized him from their earlier encounter. That connection helped Sensation move closer to getting regular opportunities with WWE. He continued:
“I started sending in videos after the National Institute of Broadcasting School, just sending videos all the time, and then when Bret Hart came to the airport when he won the belt, and they had cameras at the airport, and the fans all greeted him during the Attitude Era, the beginning of it when they were doing the Canadian-American feud. Yeah, so I was there. I showed up, and I somehow popped on the camera for Raw as one of the fans doing impressions. I just shot off so many impressions, and I was getting the crowd going.”
“Carl was there, and it was like, oh yeah, I remember you. I got your videos, so to speak. I remember Owen Hart introducing us. So from there, Carl De Marco started bringing me out to do things. The next time was Bret Hart came, and he was signing autographs, and I went out to meet Bret with my brothers, and when Carl De Marco and his assistant saw me, they were like, ‘Jason, take this megaphone, entertain this huge lineup.’ So I was doing impressions, entertaining them, and then got to meet Bret Hart, and I guess Carl was like, hey, I can use this guy?”
WWE’s former Canada president finally helped turn Sensation’s dream into reality. DeMarco eventually found a way to use Sensation’s talent beyond entertaining fans. The opportunity came through WWE merchandise promotions in Toronto. Sensation was invited to perform impressions during the company’s shopping network appearances.
Jason Sensation described the experience as an internship. He also credited DeMarco for supporting him after years of trying to break into the wrestling business. That assistance became an important step toward his eventual WWE debut. He said:
“Yeah, I was just gonna say it was almost like an internship. So then, when they were doing some Home Shopping Network connection in Toronto, where they would bring in guys from the Fed in to sell products from WWE and WWE merchandise, Carl De Marco was like, let’s get Jason on doing these impressions during these things. So that’s when I really started to do stuff with them, and like I owe Carl a lot. He did a lot for me after years of pushing. But once he saw my talent and felt like he could utilize it, he did a lot to help me.”
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