Follow the family?

[BTLion1990]

I was just wondering, when Bret got screwed at Survivor Series and subsequently left for WCW should Owen, Bulldog and Anvil have requested their releases on the spot. I especially think Owen being his brother should have left whether he went to WCW, Japan or ECW or just wrestling wildnerness. Bulldog probably could fall into the category also, having married into the family whereas Anvil should've walked just for being a family friend and teaming with Bret for most of his career.

I'm just wondering what you guys think about the topic?

 

[legendkiller1979]

Owen did request his release. Everything I've heard says that Owen hated everything that was going on in the WWF at the time. He died because he didn't think he could tell Vince no another time as he had already said no to so many other ideas. Shawn Michaels claims in his book that Owen had no desire to leave which is interesting but everybody else says that Owen was miserable and definitely wanted out.

 

[Dream Machine]

If I remember correctly Anvil and Bulldog did get their release and followed Bret to WCW, which led to them being buried while Hart succeeded.

As for Owen, he had asked and WWE said no to him, which I think was the best move because Owen was easily more marketable, if handled correctly, and was not nearing the end of his prime like Bulldog and Anvil were. God knows WWE really dropped the ball with Owen because this could have catapulted him into main eventing and led to him being in the upper mid card/main event level for the rest of his career.

But with Owen's wife not liking wrestling to begin with, I cannot see him going overseas, ECW or the indys to make less money then he could get with WWE or WCW

You could make the argument, he probably would still be alive today, but that is somebody nobody saw or would have ever predicted happening to anyone in any federation.

Truthfully, Owen had to get away from Bret to get out of his shadow and going to WCW would not have helped him in the long run because I can not see him getting a serious push there.

 

[Dimice121976]

According to the Hart and Soul DVD, Bret says that Owen was a bit weary of what was going on in WCW and what would happened there. The only bad thing about Owen's post Survivor Series run until the Blue Blazer stuff happened, was that he never got a big TV or PPV match vs HBK. Other than that, and again i say up until the Blue Blazer, his post Bret run was pretty good actually. He never would of had that good of a run in WCW. Again, according to the dvd it seems that he knew this.

 

[Mustang Sally]

He died because he didn't think he could tell Vince no another time as he had already said no to so many other ideas.

Yes, I read that, too. Apparently, Owen had just turned down an "affair with Debra" role and wound up walking into the program that cost him his life. Had he gone through with the "affair" angle, he wouldn't have died in the manner he did. So, there are different ways of looking at it.

When a person is no longer part of WWE, we tend to speak of them in glowing terms. But as I remember it, Owen wasn't beloved by wrestling fans; we all appreciated how well he could work a match and we admired his technical proficiency, but Owen didn't truly start getting major attention until he started the program with Bret. He was a good wrestler and did well in supporting roles, but he wasn't anyone to build the company around.

Still, after Bret left, WWE looked for ways to feature Owen; it could hardly be said they left him high and dry. When Bret was blaming Vince McMahon for everything but the fall of Rome, he never expressed the opinion that WWE was at fault for Owen's death. If anything, he might have felt that his brother would still be alive had Bret stayed in WWE. I don't think he blamed Vince for not letting Owen follow his family.

 

[vampirek]

Still, after Bret left, WWE looked for ways to feature Owen; it could hardly be said they left him high and dry. When Bret was blaming Vince McMahon for everything but the fall of Rome, he never expressed the opinion that WWE was at fault for Owen's death. If anything, he might have felt that his brother would still be alive had Bret stayed in WWE. I don't think he blamed Vince for not letting Owen follow his family.

Well Bret has gone on record stating that if he was in the WWF at the time, the angle would never have happened and would have convinced his brother not to do the stunt. Saying that Bret had hindsight when saying this, Vince himself would be saying he wouldn't have made Owen do the stunt if he knew the risks. End of the day it was a terrible accident, one that should never have happened. Whoever was responsible for the stunt in terms of safety was at fault, but under law because Owen was a employee of the WWE and the accident happened during work, then legally WWE are to blame, vicious liability
Funnily enough, had Owen not died he would have won the IC title that night so it wasn't like he was stuck in the low card jobbing out he was still relevant and so hated by the fans as a heel. Although not concrete, there was a rumour the whole plot was similar to what the Hurricane would become years later, that being he would use the Blue Blazier character, everybody would know it was Owen but would never admit it and would also still wrestle as Owen Hart. Owen Hart would then become 'The Game' Owen Hart... but we all know where that name went to after his death.

Owen Hart would have become a World Champion, he just suited the model of what the WWE was to become, he had history with HHH, Austin and Rock so it would have been easy for him to be thrown into the mix and that with The Game name would have made him go to that extra level. The only reason why he wasn't granted his release, is because Vince saw the potential. With Neidhart, he wasn't any use by this time in his career and Bulldog to me at that time had become stale.

 

[gers09]

Owen did request his release. Everything I've heard says that Owen hated everything that was going on in the WWF at the time. He died because he didn't think he could tell Vince no another time as he had already said no to so many other ideas. Shawn Michaels claims in his book that Owen had no desire to leave which is interesting but everybody else says that Owen was miserable and definitely wanted out.

I heard that too and i think he there was no way Owen wanted to stay in WWE after what happened if he did he was betraying Bret.

But how can you say He died because he didn't think he could tell Vince no another time sounds like your saying he killed him self so he didn't need to say no to Vince. You can't say it either Owen's or Vince's fault he died in a freak accident

 

[McCoy]

yea it was basically just an accident more like a freak accident like gers09 said and owen had already turned down alot of gimmicks including an affair with debra like someone said earlier


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[XgringolocoX]

This is how I've heard it, mostly from Bret Hart in his book, or interviews.
After the screw job both Davey and Jim wanted out immediately and we given thier releases. Owen asked Bret if he should also jump ship. Bret told him that WCW wasn't interested in giving Owen more or even the same as he was making in WWE. Add to this that Bret has said that Owen was looking to get out of the business in a few years due to the travel and being away from his family. Staying in the WWE and making his money was the best option at that time for Owen to be able to stay home with his wife and kids. I'd imagine it had to have been ackward for Owen in the dressing room after Montreal.
As yes, this was an accident. Vince didn't cause this to fuck with Bret.

 

[Klown_Karnage]

According to the interview with Bret that I heard (Wrestlecast Podcast), Bret was still attempting to get Owen to join him on WCW. However, when that happened, he got an immediate phone call from Vince and others threatening legal action. I don't know why, given the way that the WWF used Owen, but they were very keen on keeping him and willing to get the lawyers involved if necessary.

That whole mess was a strange situation and what happened after was nothing short of tragic and stupid. From the interview I heard, I think that Bret (to some extent) blames himself for not being there to tell Owen "don't do it, it's not worth it, you don't need to do this stunt."

I suppose with one of pro wrestling's biggest tragedies, there will always be a huge pile of woulda-coulda-shouldas.

 

[Mr. HD]

I read somewhere that Owen was scared of the height in the Kemper Arena and told Vince he didn't want to do it, Vinny wasn't hearing it.

Also, I read that Vince knew that the harness was meant for small tools for carpenters and couldn't support a Human Body. Apparently, nobody told Owen that.

Sad, sad tragedy. Shame how a great man lost his life.

 

[realoldskoolfan]

why didn't WCW just do a reboot of the Hart Foundation when those guys came over from WWF? they were the 2nd hottest heel stable at the time (behind nWo). would have been a hell of alot better than anything they ever did with Bret or the rest of them anyways.

looking back, makes me think Bischoff had no clue what to do with Bret from the get go,he just signed him for the sake of signing him and sticking it to Vince.