Me and my friends were discussing future hall of fame inductees and my friends agreed I brought up an interesting point. Does Owen Hart's wrestling career deserve a hall of fame induction? Was he anything more than a lower mid card wrestler? The only good matches he ever had was with Bret and Bret carried him the whole way in every match they had. What about Owen hurting Stone Cold on a lazy botched pile driver? If not for Owen's lazy work Stone Cold would have never had a serious neck injury and would still be going strong today. Owen didn't even have the integrity to visit Stone Cold in the hospital. What about Owen's goofing off in the ring? Bret said in his book that Owen would purposely have a bad match just for fun. So Owen would stink up a match on purpose for his own amusement in front of paying fans. Doesn't sound like a hall of fame wrestler to me. Furthermore, people always try to blame WWE for Owen's accident but maybe Owen deserves some of the blame. He could have been up there goofing off as usual. Do you guys think Owen's wrestling career deserves a hall of fame induction?
Does Owen Hart Really Deserve To Be In The Hall Of Fame?
- Thread starter thestud77
- Start date
George Steele's Barber
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Yes, he's been dead for years and you and your "friends" are still talking about him. That is the sign of an amazing professional wrestler.
steve storm
Dark Match Winner
he certainly deserves to be in the HOF more than others. he was a multiple tag team champ, ic champ and european champ. do guys like the bushwackers deserve to be going in? rikishi? koko b ware? the list goes on of guys who prob don't deserve to be in but are so on that basis owen definetely deserves to go in also. as for his "bad matches" i'm pretty sure most of them would have been done at house shows and not on televised or ppv shows. and he wasn't the only one to do this or have fun at house shows. and if u want to see him in a great match that bret didn't "carry him" in then watch the match between him and the british bulldog davey boy smith to crown the very first european champion and i'm pretty sure he would have been the one "carrying" davey boy in that match so he was certainly not a bad wrestler in my opinion.
berlinbrawler
Lovable Curmudgeon
Man, this keeps coming up over and over. I shall give my patented answer I always give for all and any questions regarding whether someone deserves to be in the Hall of Fame:
Koko B. Ware is in the Hall of Fame. If Koko is in, __________ deserves to be in as well. Case closed.
There is an insanely long list of names that can fill in that blank spot, and Owen Hart, a multiple teag team and intercontinental champion, King of the Ring and headliner of Summerslam sure as freakin' hell is on that list. Why is there even a debate?
As for calling him a sloppy and lazy worker - that's just stupid. Yes, there was the thing with Steve Austin. But building your case that he was a bad wrestler on that one accident is pathetic. Oh and assuming he caused his own death because he was such a klutz - classy. Real classy. Makes no sense, either, seeing as he was one of the most technically gifted athletes of his age (that's not an opinion, that's an undeniable fact if you just look at his matches). Obviously such a man could also be a clumsy oaf, right? And he did have those "bad" matches, to amuse himself and his colleages, not out of laziness, by the way.
Koko B. Ware is in the Hall of Fame. If Koko is in, __________ deserves to be in as well. Case closed.
There is an insanely long list of names that can fill in that blank spot, and Owen Hart, a multiple teag team and intercontinental champion, King of the Ring and headliner of Summerslam sure as freakin' hell is on that list. Why is there even a debate?
As for calling him a sloppy and lazy worker - that's just stupid. Yes, there was the thing with Steve Austin. But building your case that he was a bad wrestler on that one accident is pathetic. Oh and assuming he caused his own death because he was such a klutz - classy. Real classy. Makes no sense, either, seeing as he was one of the most technically gifted athletes of his age (that's not an opinion, that's an undeniable fact if you just look at his matches). Obviously such a man could also be a clumsy oaf, right? And he did have those "bad" matches, to amuse himself and his colleages, not out of laziness, by the way.
Even if this wasn't the case and the WWE HOF was filled with just the elite of the elite, I would still say Owen Hart would eventually deserve to get in.
And yes, his death has a lot to do with it.
Owen literally gave his life for the WWE. He died for that company. Not figuratively, but literally. That alone is enough to be a Hall of Famer in any company you work for.
Plus, the fact is... Owen was a great wrestler. Sure he was never World Champion, but he still main evented pay-per-views, had fantastic matches, and always got good reactions from the crowd. All that plus the fact that he died doing something for the company and the fans that he didn't even want to do... he'd be 100% deserving to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Jack-Hammer
YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!!!!
Well, as has been pointed out, there are people in the WWE HOF who aren't what most will think of as genuine "all time greats." However, if the HOF was only for those that most WWE fans would think of as the very greatest of the great, then there really aren't many more names to be added anyhow. Savage is going in this year, Hogan's been in for 10 years, Sammartino's been inducted, Buddy Rogers, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Andre, Harley Race, Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, Dusty Rhodes, etc. Of the wrestlers that most would probably view as being an "all time great", the handful that are yet to be inducted include Lou Thesz, The Rock, The Undertaker and a couple of others. If you're someone who believes that only THE very top guys should be in the HOF, you might as well just close it off once those last few names are added.
For someone to have a HOF career, in my eyes, they've had to deliver meaningful contributions to WWE and/or pro wrestling in general as well as being genuinely memorable, mostly in a positive way. In the case of Owen Hart, while I do believe that some fans have definitely overblown or overhyped his career since his death, particularly considering how tragic and unexpected it was, he was also someone who had a memorable career. While some of his career success did stem from the fact that he was Bret Hart's little brother, Owen Hart was a very solid and consistent part of WWE's mid-card, tag team and upper mid-card picture and participated in a number of memorable feuds and matches for most of his time in WWE.
As someone else mentioned, here we are today nearly 16 years after his death still talking about him. As I alluded to, his death was tragic and unexpected, he was only about 3 weeks into his 34th birthday, but his death wouldn't have had such a major impact if he wasn't popular not only with the boys & girls in the locker room, but with fans as well. The memorial show held the night after he died, the May 24, 1999 episode of Raw, titled "Raw is Owen" was the 3rd most watched episode of Raw in history. I still remember how utterly devastated Jeff Jarrett was when giving his interview, he was extremely close with Owen and they'd won the tag team titles together early in '99 and he was so torn up and sobbing so hard that he could barely string two words together at times.
As I said earlier, I do think that Owen's career and greatness has been exaggerated to some degree by fans due in part to nostalgia and the fact that Owen is still looked at as one of the ultimate "What if?" scenarios. Like I said, he was only 34 and he potentially had a lot of years left in wrestling.
As far as Owen going into the HOF by himself instead of simply as a member of the Hart Family, it's unlikely to happen anytime soon. Owen's wife Martha is still extremely, extremely bitter towards WWE and would probably raise all kinds of hell if word ever got out WWE was even considering inducting him by himself. Not that I think she's wrong for still feeling angry, but I do think it's a bit misplaced. For instance, not too long after Bret Hart resumed a relationship with WWE back in 2010, she sued WWE for using photos and footage of Owen as part of a Hart Family DVD compilation, she's railed against any member of the family that's had anything to do with WWE, she even sued her sister in law Diana Hart for a book she wrote back in 2001. While I think Owen deserves to be in the HOF himself, I doubt it's worth it to WWE considering the shit storm that Martha would cause.
For someone to have a HOF career, in my eyes, they've had to deliver meaningful contributions to WWE and/or pro wrestling in general as well as being genuinely memorable, mostly in a positive way. In the case of Owen Hart, while I do believe that some fans have definitely overblown or overhyped his career since his death, particularly considering how tragic and unexpected it was, he was also someone who had a memorable career. While some of his career success did stem from the fact that he was Bret Hart's little brother, Owen Hart was a very solid and consistent part of WWE's mid-card, tag team and upper mid-card picture and participated in a number of memorable feuds and matches for most of his time in WWE.
As someone else mentioned, here we are today nearly 16 years after his death still talking about him. As I alluded to, his death was tragic and unexpected, he was only about 3 weeks into his 34th birthday, but his death wouldn't have had such a major impact if he wasn't popular not only with the boys & girls in the locker room, but with fans as well. The memorial show held the night after he died, the May 24, 1999 episode of Raw, titled "Raw is Owen" was the 3rd most watched episode of Raw in history. I still remember how utterly devastated Jeff Jarrett was when giving his interview, he was extremely close with Owen and they'd won the tag team titles together early in '99 and he was so torn up and sobbing so hard that he could barely string two words together at times.
As I said earlier, I do think that Owen's career and greatness has been exaggerated to some degree by fans due in part to nostalgia and the fact that Owen is still looked at as one of the ultimate "What if?" scenarios. Like I said, he was only 34 and he potentially had a lot of years left in wrestling.
As far as Owen going into the HOF by himself instead of simply as a member of the Hart Family, it's unlikely to happen anytime soon. Owen's wife Martha is still extremely, extremely bitter towards WWE and would probably raise all kinds of hell if word ever got out WWE was even considering inducting him by himself. Not that I think she's wrong for still feeling angry, but I do think it's a bit misplaced. For instance, not too long after Bret Hart resumed a relationship with WWE back in 2010, she sued WWE for using photos and footage of Owen as part of a Hart Family DVD compilation, she's railed against any member of the family that's had anything to do with WWE, she even sued her sister in law Diana Hart for a book she wrote back in 2001. While I think Owen deserves to be in the HOF himself, I doubt it's worth it to WWE considering the shit storm that Martha would cause.
I loved Owen, I saw a lot of myself in Owen. He was an underdog that got a lot of crap and was constantly trying to prove everyone wrong. I was DEVASTATED when Owen passed away. There are a lot of people that I admired who have passed away in my lifetime but the two biggest were Robin Williams and Owen Hart.
Certainly the tragedy of it all left a major impact, certainly my young age influenced it's impact too, but there was something about Owen that was easy to connect to. His struggle was real, he was the Daniel Bryan of his time, trying his damndest to be seen as a top card athlete while being treated like a midcarder. Even though he was rarely ever mixing it up in the main event, pretty much every fan knew what was going on with Owen at any given time. Whether it be his involvement with the Hart Foundation, when he turned on Bret, when he became the King of Hearts, when he became the 'nugget' and always received the loudest chants out of anyone in the Nation of Domination, he was a star. He was a star in every imaginable way.
Tragic passing or no tragic passing, Owen Hart had a Hall of Fame career, he was a rare talent that would have been huge if he came up during this era. It is unfortunate that people who didn't grow up watching him only remember him for the Austin injury and the accident that took his life. Go check out some of his old stuff, especially a lot of his tag team work, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Certainly the tragedy of it all left a major impact, certainly my young age influenced it's impact too, but there was something about Owen that was easy to connect to. His struggle was real, he was the Daniel Bryan of his time, trying his damndest to be seen as a top card athlete while being treated like a midcarder. Even though he was rarely ever mixing it up in the main event, pretty much every fan knew what was going on with Owen at any given time. Whether it be his involvement with the Hart Foundation, when he turned on Bret, when he became the King of Hearts, when he became the 'nugget' and always received the loudest chants out of anyone in the Nation of Domination, he was a star. He was a star in every imaginable way.
Tragic passing or no tragic passing, Owen Hart had a Hall of Fame career, he was a rare talent that would have been huge if he came up during this era. It is unfortunate that people who didn't grow up watching him only remember him for the Austin injury and the accident that took his life. Go check out some of his old stuff, especially a lot of his tag team work, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
JoeFromTomsRiver
Championship Contender
Had Owen Hart not died, I think there is a good chance he would have won a WWE Championship. I'm not sure that his body of work up until his death is really HOF worthy, but I think he was a HOF-calibur performer. The fact that he died in the line of duty puts it over the top for me and I would like to see Owen be inducted.
FromGlasgow
Championship Contender
From what Ive heard from others its Martha that appears to be preventing any mention of Owen in the WWE, Personally I would love to see him recieving his place he has earned in the hall of fame and for his fans it would be a nice end to his career but considering she lost her husband and father to her kids in part due to the WWE I can't blame her for being angry at the company, I know it all wont completely go away but time heals so who knows hopefully someday in the future he can go in maybe his kids would be glad of him being inducted eventually if not for the sake of the WWE but for his legacy he made in wrestling and his fans.
JoeyJoeJoe
Championship Contender
He was a crucial part of the WWE with a number of classic feuds and matches that spanned multiple eras. Multiple time tag team champion, Intercontinental champion, King of the Ring winner. Match of the year with his brother Bret at Wrestlemania X. Classic follow up steel cage match at Summer Slam. Great feuds with Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin. I think many WWE Hall of Famers don't have the credentials that Hart has, and I'm not just talking Koko B. Ware.
rmp0012002
Championship Contender
He would have gotten in had he not passed away on his wrestling credentials alone but since he died in the ring he should have been inducted years ago, regardless of how his family felt about the situation.
SoulTrain4
Pre-Show Stalwart
He won everything except the Royal Rumble and WWE Championship so he definitely deserves entrance.
Even if Owen were alive today that would be true. He, along with HBK, X-PAC/1-2-3 Kid, and a few others were the core performers for the WWF New Generation, he was always a featured performer and it wasn't until the Attitude Era that his importance started to diminish and that was because he refuse to participate in stupid storylines he disagreed with personally.
If you are older than 25 and been watching wrestling since the early 90s, late 80s this isn't even a debate.
And yeah KOKO B WARE deserves to be in there too. No matter what the haters say.
Even if Owen were alive today that would be true. He, along with HBK, X-PAC/1-2-3 Kid, and a few others were the core performers for the WWF New Generation, he was always a featured performer and it wasn't until the Attitude Era that his importance started to diminish and that was because he refuse to participate in stupid storylines he disagreed with personally.
If you are older than 25 and been watching wrestling since the early 90s, late 80s this isn't even a debate.
And yeah KOKO B WARE deserves to be in there too. No matter what the haters say.
Creepy Old Man
Championship Contender
A laughable thread. Owen held the IC, European and tag titles and won the King of the Ring back when those things mattered. He was a viable contender to the WWF Championship at any time, even though he never won it (he was USWA Champion, though). Although not a regular headliner, he was occasionally placed in pay-per-view main events and always delivered.
On top of all that, he was a phenomenal in-ring performer, the Daniel Bryan of his time. He should be in the Hall of Fame and would have been long ago, had his wife not tried to erase his career for her own incredibly selfish reasons.
On top of all that, he was a phenomenal in-ring performer, the Daniel Bryan of his time. He should be in the Hall of Fame and would have been long ago, had his wife not tried to erase his career for her own incredibly selfish reasons.
OYDK
King Of The Ring
Another non-sensical post from a poster who, I would bet my checking account, didn't even watch wrestling when Owen Hart was competing. Look, if you just heard about Owen Hart not apologizing for breaking Stone Cold's neck, which I get the strange feeling this post is based off of, you need to get over it.
It's real easy for me to say something along the lines of, well why does Mr Perfect belong in the HOF, or Jake the Snake? I mean, really weren't they just "lower-midcarders", who never won the main strap? This is what you sound like.... an uninformed, ignorant wrestling fan, who doesn't understand the concept of popularity and consistency. Owen Hart was probably the best in-ring talent in the WWE from 96-99, and was a huge factor in the development of wrestlers such as Stone Cold, The Rock, and HHH. He feuded with all the major talents on the roster (Bret, Austin, Shawn, HHH,, Rock, Shamrock, etc.) held a bunch of championships, and had his career cut down many years early. He was a European Champion, IC Champion, Tag Champion, KOTR winner, 3 time Slammy award winner, and by all accounts should have been a WWE Champion one day, and that's just his accomplishments in the Fed.
He was also relatively over for the majority of his career which you would know if you had ever watched one of his matches.
As for your reasoning as to why Owen doesn't constitute a HOF worthy wrestler... you sound like a real party animal.... So he used to screw around in the ring, who cares? Every story that includes Owen and his antics are always told in a positive light. Even Taker has said that it was tough to stay in character during an Owen Hart match because the stuff he pulled was so damn funny. Also, he wasn't lazy when he hurt Austin, just careless. Yes that was his fault, but now he shouldn't go in the Hall because he hurt somebody? Newsflash, people get hurt in wrestling all the time. Lastly, as for you blaming Owen for his death... ...... ....
It's real easy for me to say something along the lines of, well why does Mr Perfect belong in the HOF, or Jake the Snake? I mean, really weren't they just "lower-midcarders", who never won the main strap? This is what you sound like.... an uninformed, ignorant wrestling fan, who doesn't understand the concept of popularity and consistency. Owen Hart was probably the best in-ring talent in the WWE from 96-99, and was a huge factor in the development of wrestlers such as Stone Cold, The Rock, and HHH. He feuded with all the major talents on the roster (Bret, Austin, Shawn, HHH,, Rock, Shamrock, etc.) held a bunch of championships, and had his career cut down many years early. He was a European Champion, IC Champion, Tag Champion, KOTR winner, 3 time Slammy award winner, and by all accounts should have been a WWE Champion one day, and that's just his accomplishments in the Fed.
He was also relatively over for the majority of his career which you would know if you had ever watched one of his matches.
As for your reasoning as to why Owen doesn't constitute a HOF worthy wrestler... you sound like a real party animal.... So he used to screw around in the ring, who cares? Every story that includes Owen and his antics are always told in a positive light. Even Taker has said that it was tough to stay in character during an Owen Hart match because the stuff he pulled was so damn funny. Also, he wasn't lazy when he hurt Austin, just careless. Yes that was his fault, but now he shouldn't go in the Hall because he hurt somebody? Newsflash, people get hurt in wrestling all the time. Lastly, as for you blaming Owen for his death... ...... ....
Heartbreak_Kid_707
Championship Contender
The second poster said he deserved it because he's been dead 15 years and were still talking about him...really?
Really? That's what your gonna go with? Really??
People don't get in the HOF just because their dead. He was a good worker and I'm sorry he died, but he didn't have the credentials to be a HoF guy...alot a lot more ahead of him..
Really? That's what your gonna go with? Really??
People don't get in the HOF just because their dead. He was a good worker and I'm sorry he died, but he didn't have the credentials to be a HoF guy...alot a lot more ahead of him..
Creepy Old Man
Championship Contender
Also worth mentioning that Steve Austin broke Masahiro Chono's neck with the exact same move in 1992. "Eerie" absolutely does not cover it. As you said, though, accidents happen in sports (entertainment) and don't disqualify wrestlers from the Hall of Fame.
enviousdominous
Behold my diction
AHEM!!
Opinions of Owen Hart and the HOF aside, I'm glad someone got us reminding ourselves about why Owen was a living legend. I think that he deserves to be in the HOF, but I'm sure someone not from my generation would have a difficult time relating to that.
I could yarn together some fancy sentences to help promote my opinion, or I could honor our short attention spans with a clip of one of my favorite Owen Hart matches. Enjoy:
[YOUTUBE]8XOydI3_NXE[/YOUTUBE]
Opinions of Owen Hart and the HOF aside, I'm glad someone got us reminding ourselves about why Owen was a living legend. I think that he deserves to be in the HOF, but I'm sure someone not from my generation would have a difficult time relating to that.
I could yarn together some fancy sentences to help promote my opinion, or I could honor our short attention spans with a clip of one of my favorite Owen Hart matches. Enjoy:
[YOUTUBE]8XOydI3_NXE[/YOUTUBE]
Jonyboyuk2
Getting Noticed By Management
Oh absolutely Owen should go in to the WWE hall of fame. But that is down to his family.
Owen deserved it from the matches he gave us. He had excellent bouts with Bulldog, bret, Shawn, Austin and the Rock. You should track down his matches when he was called "The Rocket" - and his matches as part of High Energy were eventful.
Owen deserved it from the matches he gave us. He had excellent bouts with Bulldog, bret, Shawn, Austin and the Rock. You should track down his matches when he was called "The Rocket" - and his matches as part of High Energy were eventful.
Mustang Sally
Sells seashells by the seashore
Owen was an excellent ring technician and surely deserves HOF induction. I've been one of the folks who has used the "If they let guys like Koko B. Ware in...." argument.....but more as an indicator that a Hall of Fame for a sports entertainment company's deciding to honor some people and not others is as pre-scripted as the results of their athletic "competition." In other words ....what's the difference? It's show business.
After all, what are Rikishi's credentials for entry? Smothering people with his rear end? Does anyone want to hold Rikishi's career up against Owen Hart?
I found Owen's "family feud" program with Bret to be one of the most riveting series ever. The match between them at WM, shockingly won by Owen, was a truly fine exhibition of wrestling, not entertaining. The inevitable re-uniting of the two brothers and subsequent program with the family as a unit proved to be some of the best material ever offered by WWE, imo.
No, Owen never won the world title. Still, he's a hall of fame wrestler if ever there was one.
After all, what are Rikishi's credentials for entry? Smothering people with his rear end? Does anyone want to hold Rikishi's career up against Owen Hart?
I found Owen's "family feud" program with Bret to be one of the most riveting series ever. The match between them at WM, shockingly won by Owen, was a truly fine exhibition of wrestling, not entertaining. The inevitable re-uniting of the two brothers and subsequent program with the family as a unit proved to be some of the best material ever offered by WWE, imo.
No, Owen never won the world title. Still, he's a hall of fame wrestler if ever there was one.
Dysturbed
Under the radar
Did you and your friends talk about the fact that the WWE HOF isn't the pro wrestling HOF, meaning that criteria for getting in is a lot different? You can make a case for him not being worthy of the Pro Wrestling HOF which has a more extensive process for getting in, but being in the WWE HOF is primarily a matter of them wanting the person in and that person or their family agreeing to it. That isn't to say that being in isn't an honor for those who are.
Based on that alone, anything that you said against it pretty holds little water, not because you're opinions aren't valid, but because WWE doesn't always even hold it to the standards that you and a lot of others do. On the other hand, the points that most people made in this thread do show why he is worthy of being in the WWE version of the HOF.
In a hall of fame that has Koko B Ware, the Bushwackers, Rikisihi, and a celebrity wing- you're asking if Owen Hart should be in it??? Wow! Owen definitely deserves it for his epic feud with his brother plus winning almost every title except the wwe world title. Thing is wwe is not getting Martha's blessing for it and rightfully so. Oh well.
So a few weeks back I met Bret hart and the first question I asked him was when is Owen going into the hall of fame and he said without hesiststion 2016 for sure so there it is ppl and for the fact that he deserves it or not that's a dumb question he does deserve it he is 1994 King of the ring winner ( yes back then it ment something ) and that launched him into headlining multiple ppv with Bret for the world title including a classic cage match at summerslam 1994 he won the Ic title 3-4 times and tag title bout 5 times with three different partners he was the European championship I believe 2 times not sure could be wrong he is a second generation star and was part of two of the biggest factions in WWF history the hart foundation and NOD and he was known as a nitorious ribber (prankster) and if idiots like koko beware and drew carrey can be in the hall of fame why not one of the great of his time
CrucifiedRaven
The Evenflow Effect
Yes, he 100% does.
4x Tag Team Champion
2x Intercontinental Champion
1x European Champion
1x King of the Ring winner (1994)
There's no World Championship there, but it's still a very impressive resume of accomplishments. Not to mention headlining with Bret Hart throughout the summer of 1994 challenging for the World Championship.
Considering the standard they have set for Hall of Famers, Owen Hart is definitely above Rikishi, The Bushwackers, Koko B. Ware, etc.
4x Tag Team Champion
2x Intercontinental Champion
1x European Champion
1x King of the Ring winner (1994)
There's no World Championship there, but it's still a very impressive resume of accomplishments. Not to mention headlining with Bret Hart throughout the summer of 1994 challenging for the World Championship.
Considering the standard they have set for Hall of Famers, Owen Hart is definitely above Rikishi, The Bushwackers, Koko B. Ware, etc.
gmanversion1
Occasional Pre-Show
For sure.
Owen was one of the best technical wrestlers ever. Before his death I thought he was a future world champ.
In Owen's situation, who would you ask? Blood family like Bret would say put him in, but his widow would say no.
Owen was one of the best technical wrestlers ever. Before his death I thought he was a future world champ.
In Owen's situation, who would you ask? Blood family like Bret would say put him in, but his widow would say no.
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