New Japan Pro Wrestling
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI Editor's Award (1999)
[*]PWI Feud Of The Year (1994) vs. Bret Hart
[*]PWI Rookie of the Year (1987)
[*]Ranked him #10 of the 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1994[
[*]Ranked him #84 of the 100 best tag teams of the PWI Years with Davey Boy Smith in 2003
[*]Ranked him #66 of the top 500 singles wrestlers of the "PWI Years" in 2003
Stampede Wrestling
Stampede British Commonwealth Mid Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
[*]Stampede Wrestling International Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Ben Bassarab
[*]Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
[*]Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame
United States Wrestling Association
- USWA Unified World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
World Wrestling Federation
WWF European Championship (1 time)
[*]WWF Intercontinental Championship (2 times)
[*]WWF Tag Team Championship (4 times) with Yokozuna (2), The British Bulldog (1), and Jeff Jarrett (1)
[*]King of the Ring (1994)
[*]Slammy Award for Squared Circle Shocker (1996)
[*]Slammy Award for Best Bow Tie (1997)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards
5 Star Match (1994) vs. Bret Hart in a cage match at SummerSlam
[*]Best Flying Wrestler (1987, 1988)
[*]Feud of the Year (1997) with Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, Davey Boy Smith, and Brian Pillman vs. Steve Austin
Why Owen?
- He never got boring. When you look back at the years he he had wrestled in, there were the wrestlers who had crowds standing on their feet each and every night and the one's who didn't. It is easy for anybody to perfect or get good in one style and stick to it, going the "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" path but Hart wanted to give the fans a show every night and he did just that. His athleticism was something he'd show off at one point or another, in every match but that wasn't everything. He'd try jumping off the top rope some days and others you'd see him stay on the ground and dominate his opponent with his submission arsenal that he shared with his brother or maybe he'd expose you thoroughly using only his technical skills. He had so many things to choose from and I think it is really what put him apart from many other wrestlers in his day and age. Another thing I always saw in Owen that he probably learned in the Dungeon was his wrestling smarts. He knew just when to turn on Yokozuna after two tag titles together and the same with his brother, he knew what to do to get the crowd on his side and he knew what to do to make them hate him. He rarely ever needed to be carried and so he rarely was, and I think that is what made one of my favourite all time matches (Owen vs Bret) so good. Neither of them needed to worry about helping the other do anything, they were so efficient on their own and you could always just see that chemistry between them.
Finishing Maneuvers
- The Sharpshooter is a move that I feel a lot of the younger fans think is lame or not cool enough but it inflicts just as much pain as any, ask anyone on Bret and Owen's list of who they have tapped out and they'll tell you. Unless it was a jacked up monster that they were applying it too, with more than average leg strength, you were done for. It took a little bit of time to actually get locked in and it does leave the victim a bit of a window to find a way out but once it's in, good luck getting out. There were still rope breaks but Owen still had brains and I have no doubts that Stu instilled on him the fact that he needs to keep his opponent isolated when putting on an submission because even the most brainless of wrestlers have learned this in someway or another. All Owen needs is your legs, a lot less needs than a Shattered Dreams or something like a Frog Splash. Those are just off the top of my head, nobody that I'm trying to "target" with that.
- Rarely do you see the Reverse Piledriver used anymore and the closest thing to it is the Tombstone, if that says anything about its effectiveness. Instead of dropping to your knee's, you'd drop to a sitting position and it can seriously eff you up when it's hit. It did some real bad things to Stone Cold's neck but I still refuse to blame this all on Owen, it was how that version was supposed to be done but Stone Cold's neck was already in a pretty serious condition and just because he was the one who delivered the last straw, shouldn't be why you don't give him your vote. Wrestlers on the heavyweight side of things usually ruled this out and Owen never tried, he wasn't going to make that mistake. But against anyone a little bigger or a little smaller than Owen, it would end you and there was no getting up unless you were on a very steady push or if you were just booked to be some kind of superhero or phenom like 'Taker. Usually this could be a case for worrying but Owen has the Sharpshooter right there to back him up, and if he wasn't able to make any impact on big men, he wouldn't have beaten Yokozuna would've he?
Reputation
- Everyone back in the locker room, loved and adore Owen Hart. Even just hearing from friends vague descriptions of the speeches some wrestlers made, it is beyond sad, the fact that he passed without so many new fans of the sport being able to watch him do what he did best. Every child fan in those days loved Owen Hart and so did every teenager or adult, he was that kind of guy. He saved his money because he wanted to retire early, it sounds stupid but you have to imagine that it'd be a lot harder than it looks and if it was easy, legends like Flair or Sting wouldn't still be performing. You didn't get a guy more loved or respected in the ring or out of it, and if you are at least even the tiniest bit of an Owen Hart fan, you'll know that he would trump just about everyone in this category. He also never left the WWF once he got in and even though this sounds simple and not worth noting, there are so many icons that have or did jump from company to company to company. Owen never did, not once.
Recommendations
- I won't blame any of you if you haven't seen much of Owen's work or if you were unfortunately born a little late and didn't get to see some of his greater matches but I will blame you if you don't take some time to try and track some of these matches down and subconsciously vote Nash in the upcoming round. Even if it is just one of them, youtube and google video searches are you're friend, you're amazed what they can provide.
Owen Hart versus Vader One Night Only; Sept. '97- The Quebecers versus Bret and Owen Royal Rumble; Jan. '94
- Rick and Scott Steiner versus Bret and Owen WWF Wrestlefest; '94
- Steve Austin versus Owen Summerslam; Aug. '97
- Shawn Michaels versus Owen In Your House; '96
- Owen and British Bulldog versus HBK and Steve Austin RAW; May '97
- British Bulldog versus Owen RAW; May '97
- Goldust, Ken Shamrock, The Legion of Doom and Steve Austin versus Brian Pillman, Jim Neidhart, British Bulldog, Owen Hart and Bret Hart Canadian Stampede; July '97
- Owen versus Bret Summerslam; August '94 *One of the best Steel Cage matches ever!*
- Owen versus Bret Wrestlemania X; March '94
No matter what, you will see me bending backwards trying to put Owen over the "talent" that Kevin Nash apparently has and I'm going to need some people behind me, I can't take it on alone! Are you with me? You're either with us, or against us and we shall take no prisoners. The Kevin Nash will never know what's going to hit them, now let's get me some followers. Whether you're a Canadian boy like me or American, young or old and a huge Owen or Hart fan or not, Owen has just about everything Bret does and this leaves no reason for him to go a lot further this year! On we will soon go, onto the battlefield, let's show our undeniable backing of the man who should never be looked over again!
That was as motivational as I'll get but seriously, Bret and Owen are too similar for them to be far apart when it comes to placing, and I'm going to work my butt off to get something sock rocking for when voting opens but I need every one of you with me.