Owen Hart: Greatest KOTR

[No Count Pup]

Every time I hear about the King of the Ring tournament the first person who comes to mind is Owen Hart. Who can forget his coronation when he dubbed himself the King of Harts? It was borderline Shakespearean.

Owen didn’t need to play up the regalities like King Mabel, King Booker, and Macho King. He used the accomplishment to brandish his credentials. Before KOTR he could lay claim to (A) kicking Bret’s leg from under his leg, and (B) pinning Bret at WrestleMania. After beating Tatanka, 1-2-3 Kid, and Razor Ramon he could lay claim to (C) seizing the KOTR crown.

The King of Harts capitalized on those feats big time, putting on a blue cage classic with Bret at SummerSlam. He got tons of buzz at Survivor Series, tricking the Hart matriarch and sabotaging his brother’s title reign in one fell swoop.

In some ways Owen can be compared to Razor Ramon. Both guys were content with making their midcard honors something special. When Razor was Intercontinental Champion and Owen was King of the Ring they carried themselves as main eventers.

There were greats like Triple H, Brock Lesnar, and Stone Cold who won the tourney. But they didn’t carve their legacies from it like Owen did. HHH floundered in the aftermath until he glommed onto HBK. Lesnar didn’t change his character one iota from his win. And though Austin had that 3:16 quote, being king was inconsequential to his persona.

Owen Hart was the MVP of 1994. That’s the bar every KOTR winner should aspire to reach.

What are your thoughts? Was Owen the greatest King of the Ring in history?

 

[THTRobtaylor]

No. Sorry but no...

Owen is a memorable King Of The Ring, but his run as "The King Of Hearts" didn't last more than a few months. He was then put into the tag title picture with Yoko and later Davey.

It's not a knock on him but Owen and Bret were arguably "old school" KOTR holders, when the title was given to a mid or upper midcard talent who wasn't really going to get much else at that time. Guys like Haku, Harley Race, Jim Duggan had the title of King, but the tourney was being won by guys like Ted DiBiase, Don Muraco and Bret who held it the last "non PPV" year in 1991 and retained in 1993...

Owen was an attempt to combine the win with the title of King, and it didn't work for him. At best it added a tiny bit of spice to the feud with Bret, but he was due that title shot at Summerslam without the tourney win.

When you're looking at King Of The Ring, then the real "greats" are guys who actually parlayed that into a major, sustained singles push where King was their "first achievment", or guys who were able to reinvigorate their career through it.

Randy Savage is a top candiate, he did a lot with being King but in reality it was a "booby prize" once Hogan had the title back, King Booker totally reinvented himself and got another main event run and title from it he wouldn't have gotten otherwise and Edge is definitely up there, as his career trajectory was ever upwards (Christians too) but injury probably stops it being the best... Regal could have been if not for the suspension... he was going on to win the title and as GM/King he was on the cusp of something fantastic...

On balance Austin is probably the greatest King Of The Ring because everything about his win was memorable, the speech he made and the outcome from it. The tournament itself had found it's groove by then, Owen winning it seemed un-needed... had he won it in 1997, facing Davey in the finals...different story. But in 1994 Bam Bam, Lex Luger, Razor, Tatanka or especially 1-2-3 Kid could have done so much more with that opportunity... the win over Bret was enough, and KOTR just showed Vince didn't have that much faith in Owen.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I agree with the OP. Owen was probably my favorite "King" of all time. Much like the "Slammy Award Winning" Owen Hart, the "King of Hart's" was the type of gimmick that was right up Owen's alley. He was great at taking something that would be ridiculous or boring with some people, and making it fun and memorable. The King gimmick was pretty lame on a lot of people. On Owen, it was fun.

 

[SoulTrain4]

Owen Hart & Booker T are tied for second with the Macho King being #1.

Stone Cold didn't even make the Summerslam card the next month, he was in a pre-show match with a washed up Yokozuna. So it's definitely NOT Austin.

I don't like the KING gimmick because it's hard to take it seriously...besides it only works for heels.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

Owen Hart & Booker T are tied for second with the Macho King being #1.

Stone Cold didn't even make the Summerslam card the next month, he was in a pre-show match with a washed up Yokozuna. So it's definitely NOT Austin.

I don't like the KING gimmick because it's hard to take it seriously...besides it only works for heels.

Haha, it's definitely not Austin? The Austin 3:16 speech and millions of t-shirts sold alone make him the greatest KOTR winner. And that's probably the most famous moment the event has ever had either.

Have you ever watched the Yokozuna match? Do you know why it was on the pre-show? Because they had rigged the ropes to do a ropebreak stunt at the end of the match. They literally couldn't have put that match anywhere else on the card other than 1st, or else no one before them would be going off the ropes.

Immediately after this he ended up in one of his career defining feuds with Bret Hart and Brian Pillman. He is without a doubt the greatest King of the Ring winner of all time. With second place belonging to Macho Man Randy Savage, who was probably the most established guy at the time of winning it and used the win to help his heel turn and get better heat.

 

[OYDK]

I think Randy Savage and Stone Cold are the two greatest KOTR's of all time. Both were launched to superstardom shortly after winning the event and really made the KOTR feel important. After winning the tourney Randy had a good run as the Macho King before turning face at the behest of the fans, and forming the Mega Powers. He won the WWF title shortly after. Austin basically became Stone Cold Steve Austin at the KOTR. He introduced the Stunner in that tournament and coined the term "Austin 3:16". A year and a half later, he was the WWF Champion and one of the most popular superstars of all time.

Owen was a good king and and he built well off of his victory, but it didn't make him a bona-fide star like it did others. It didn't really do anything for Owen as he was already feuding with Bret before he became the King of Harts. His victory was mostly used as a tool in their program, not because Owen was getting this gigantic push from the machine.

Honorable mention goes to King Booker and Bret Hart. Two guys who also built really well off of their KOTR victories.

 

[No Count Pup]

Owen was a good king and and he built well off of his victory, but it didn't make him a bona-fide star like it did others. It didn't really do anything for Owen as he was already feuding with Bret before he became the King of Harts. His victory was mostly used as a tool in their program, not because Owen was getting this gigantic push from the machine.

Well said. Allow me to make a few more points.

I think the standard that gets applied to KOTR winners is if they don't win a world title they are disappointments. Owen had a glass ceiling over his head that he couldn't break. Vince McMahon had a choice to make at the end of 1994. He could have easily put the WWE Title on Owen. But Vince placed his bets on Diesel. Stars like HBK, Lex Luger, and Razor Ramon were put on the backburner. Even Bret had to feud with the likes of Bob Backlund, Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yankem, and Hakushi. 1995 was a down year.

Owen was passed over in a highly political era. Not much he could do about that. That's why I don't feel that the absence of a world title diminishes his KOTR run. Owen introduced what a true KOTR winner should be to the "New Generation." It's part of his legacy.

I get what you mean overall. I am not saying that you claimed a world title was needed to validate a KOTR win. But your post made me want to add these points. Thanks for weighing in.

 

[bioshock]

No. Sorry but no...

Owen is a memorable King Of The Ring, but his run as "The King Of Hearts" didn't last more than a few months. He was then put into the tag title picture with Yoko and later Davey.

It's not a knock on him but Owen and Bret were arguably "old school" KOTR holders, when the title was given to a mid or upper midcard talent who wasn't really going to get much else at that time. Guys like Haku, Harley Race, Jim Duggan had the title of King, but the tourney was being won by guys like Ted DiBiase, Don Muraco and Bret who held it the last "non PPV" year in 1991 and retained in 1993...

Owen was an attempt to combine the win with the title of King, and it didn't work for him. At best it added a tiny bit of spice to the feud with Bret, but he was due that title shot at Summerslam without the tourney win.

When you're looking at King Of The Ring, then the real "greats" are guys who actually parlayed that into a major, sustained singles push where King was their "first achievment", or guys who were able to reinvigorate their career through it.

Randy Savage is a top candiate, he did a lot with being King but in reality it was a "booby prize" once Hogan had the title back, King Booker totally reinvented himself and got another main event run and title from it he wouldn't have gotten otherwise and Edge is definitely up there, as his career trajectory was ever upwards (Christians too) but injury probably stops it being the best... Regal could have been if not for the suspension... he was going on to win the title and as GM/King he was on the cusp of something fantastic...

On balance Austin is probably the greatest King Of The Ring because everything about his win was memorable, the speech he made and the outcome from it. The tournament itself had found it's groove by then, Owen winning it seemed un-needed... had he won it in 1997, facing Davey in the finals...different story. But in 1994 Bam Bam, Lex Luger, Razor, Tatanka or especially 1-2-3 Kid could have done so much more with that opportunity... the win over Bret was enough, and KOTR just showed Vince didn't have that much faith in Owen.

Well actually it turned him into the top heel of 1994, he went on to headline Summerslam is a classic cage match for the WWF title against Bret, played a big role at Survivor Series and Royal Rumble. Don't blame Owen but if Vince wasn't so inlove with the past - Backlund, and the future - Diesel oh and the size of Diesel, then Owen would of had his time, and would of been a champion.

But in 1994, which wasn't a good year, and neither ways 95, Owen was a bright spot as a heel.

 

[SoulTrain4]

[quote="CrucifiedRaven]
Haha, it's definitely not Austin? The Austin 3:16 speech and millions of t-shirts sold alone make him the greatest KOTR winner. And that's probably the most famous moment the event has ever had either.

Have you ever watched the Yokozuna match? Do you know why it was on the pre-show? Because they had rigged the ropes to do a ropebreak stunt at the end of the match. They literally couldn't have put that match anywhere else on the card other than 1st, or else no one before them would be going off the ropes.

Immediately after this he ended up in one of his career defining feuds with Bret Hart and Brian Pillman. He is without a doubt the greatest King of the Ring winner of all time. With second place belonging to Macho Man Randy Savage, who was probably the most established guy at the time of winning it and used the win to help his heel turn and get better heat.
[/quote]

Wrong again. Stop trying to use Austin's success later as the basis for your answer. Austin literally did nothing for months after winning the KOTR, the first match with Bret was in November he won the KOTR in June. He didn't make the SummerSlam card and was in the opening match of Buried Alive against HHH. I don't even remember what he did after that but there was a 5 month difference between him winning the KOTR and then beginning any sort of credible main event run.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Well actually it turned him into the top heel of 1994, he went on to headline Summerslam is a classic cage match for the WWF title against Bret, played a big role at Survivor Series and Royal Rumble. Don't blame Owen but if Vince wasn't so inlove with the past - Backlund, and the future - Diesel oh and the size of Diesel, then Owen would of had his time, and would of been a champion.

But in 1994, which wasn't a good year, and neither ways 95, Owen was a bright spot as a heel.

He wasn't the top heel for more than a 2 month period between KOTR and Summerslam. That Backlund was given that title to job rather than Owen proves it. Doesn't make it right of course... had Owen been the one to take the title and job it to Diesel on PPV/RAW in 8 seconds, then NUCLEAR heat and Diesel would have been far better placed... Diesel needed the Iron Shiek and he got Bob Backlund... Owen would have been that "Sheik" for Diesel and there's little disputing that.

But Vince didn't see it in him, which means the KOTR push ultimately failed/wasn't needed like I said.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

He wasn't the top heel for more than a 2 month period between KOTR and Summerslam. That Backlund was given that title to job rather than Owen proves it. Doesn't make it right of course... had Owen been the one to take the title and job it to Diesel on PPV/RAW in 8 seconds, then NUCLEAR heat and Diesel would have been far better placed... Diesel needed the Iron Shiek and he got Bob Backlund... Owen would have been that "Sheik" for Diesel and there's little disputing that.

But Vince didn't see it in him, which means the KOTR push ultimately failed/wasn't needed like I said.

You're not really giving credit to the insanely good job Backlund did getting his "Crazy Bob" character over.

It wasn't a case of Vince didn't see 'it' in Owen. It was a case of Backlund earning what he got by doing an incredible job.

Besides, that was only ever meant to be a quick title run to solidify Diesel as the new top guy. Owen was younger and figured into their plans for years afterwards. Backlund was older and on his last run. Getting the title is a reward for Bob and it doesn't hurt him when he loses it in seconds only a couple of days later. A younger guy like Owen could have potentially been ruined by that (see Tommy Rich as an example).

 

[THTRobtaylor]

I agree... one of my favourite promos ever is Bob in Philly with the horse carriage and cheesesteak... I am sure it was that promo that turned Vince on to it.

I don't think Owen would have been ruined... it would have translated his heat from Bret to Diesel... he could have spent the next year trying to get it off Diesel in some way, teaming up with Shawn against Diesel and Bret for example... while it was a nice reward/payback for Bob (for his earlier good turn in dropping the belt) it killed Owen NOT to win that title... after that he was midcard for life regardless.

 

[Messiah]

94 was a weak year anyway. If they didn't have the Harts and Michaels it would of been a lot worse. Owen was used properly when he turned on his brother but that didn't last for very long, for whatever reason he was underutilized most of his career, probably because he didn't give a shit about his spot on the roster. He was just happy to be there, i'm sure he wanted to be the best inside that ring but his positioning on the card meant nothing to him.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I agree... one of my favourite promos ever is Bob in Philly with the horse carriage and cheesesteak... I am sure it was that promo that turned Vince on to it.

I don't think Owen would have been ruined... it would have translated his heat from Bret to Diesel... he could have spent the next year trying to get it off Diesel in some way, teaming up with Shawn against Diesel and Bret for example... while it was a nice reward/payback for Bob (for his earlier good turn in dropping the belt) it killed Owen NOT to win that title... after that he was midcard for life regardless.

I don't think losing the title like Backlund did would have done Owen any favors.

Keep in mind, that even though it was his last run, it's not like Backlund was done after he lost to Diesel. He still competed throughout 1995, just slowly moving his way down the card. He had to deal with fans chanting "8 seconds" at him in reference to losing to Diesel. It's not like he was going to go on much longer anyways, but he lost a lot of his heat by getting beat like that.

So in that respect, who would you rather something like that happen to if you're Vince? A guy like Backlund, or a guy like Owen? For the title transition they had planned, you use someone like Backlund every single time over someone who if nothing else, you need to keep looking strong to help carry the workrate on your shows.

If that had been Owen, he'd have kept hearing those "8 seconds" chants for a long time. It would have buried him just as much as Shawn Michaels "nugget" remark buried him as a legit main event challenger (beginning of the Blackhart run). Sure he'd have been a champion, but would anyone have looked at it as being anything but a curse to him? Again, I reference Tommy Rich. How much did being NWA champ for 5 days benefit his career? Keep in mind that before Rich won the title, he was arguably the most over star in the country (as hard as that may be to believe).

No, they did Owen a favor by putting the title on Backlund. Where they didn't do him a favor though, is by having Bret/Backlund at Wrestlemania for the blowoff. With Owen being the catalyst for Bret losing the title, the heat was on him for Bret to get revenge. They never really did a blow off to that though, which didn't help Owen's status at all. Another show stealing performance with Bret at Wrestlemania... and he would have been perfectly positioned to be a strong heel challenger to Diesel... who desperately needed some that year. He doesn't win the title of course, but he easily could have helped Diesel have a stronger run as champ.

 

[Waylon Mercy]

I think Owen did more with his Slammy Awards than with the King of the Ring title. He wore those titles, and held those trophies like no other before or after. When I think of the "Slammies", I'll always remember Owen.

 

[No Count Pup]

Where they didn't do him a favor though, is by having Bret/Backlund at Wrestlemania for the blowoff. With Owen being the catalyst for Bret losing the title, the heat was on him for Bret to get revenge. They never really did a blow off to that though, which didn't help Owen's status at all. Another show stealing performance with Bret at Wrestlemania... and he would have been perfectly positioned to be a strong heel challenger to Diesel... who desperately needed some that year. He doesn't win the title of course, but he easily could have helped Diesel have a stronger run as champ.

I agree with the above.

WrestleMania 11 was an odd card. Owen vs. Bret would have been a major upgrade. But WWE wanted to get use out of Yokozuna so they teamed him with a Hart.

Sure Owen was capable of more. But he worked with better material than Bret, Razor, Taker, Luger, Backlund, Jarrett, and Bulldog. And he delivered at the biggest show of the year. So who was the breakout star of 1995? Mabel. Very strange year.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

Wrong again. Stop trying to use Austin's success later as the basis for your answer. Austin literally did nothing for months after winning the KOTR, the first match with Bret was in November he won the KOTR in June. He didn't make the SummerSlam card and was in the opening match of Buried Alive against HHH. I don't even remember what he did after that but there was a 5 month difference between him winning the KOTR and then beginning any sort of credible main event run.

Actually, no you are wrong again. Just because he didn't main event SummerSlam and lose like the flopped Mabel the year before doesn't mean the KOTR didn't propel him. Instead of using KOTR to build a short-term challenger for SummerSlam like they did with Owen Hart and Mabel the two previous years, they slowly built up the KOTR winner to be a star like they'd done with Bret Hart in 1993. It was a long-term approach.

Again like I said the Austin 3:16 speech alone is the most famous moment in the history of the event. And you don't know what Austin was doing until November? I'll tell you.

August 1996:
I already told you why the Yokozuna match wasn't on the main card. They rigged the ropes to break.
A week and a half after SummerSlam, Austin called out Bret Hart for the first time on Superstars at the end of August 1996. This is an in-ring promo also featuring Brian Pillman, planting the seeds of BOTH feuds.

September 1996:
He was involved in a tournament for the vacant Intercontinental Championship throughout the month, which he was DQ'd from. After which is when more Pillman in-ring promos would happen, notably one with Pillman and Owen Hart, furthering the Bret Hart feud. This is the "Shitman" promo. He was also popular enough to be on the cover of RAW Magazine this month.

October 1996
Defeats Triple H in a great IYH match. Bret Hart comes back and accepts Austin's challenge. Austin isn't happy with Pillman's enjoyment of Bret Hart returning. Austin breaks Pillman's ankle. Promo "via satellite" on RAW where him and Bret Hart go back and forth. Basically the build to Austin vs Hart is in full effect throughout the month, and Austin/Pillman is also about to hit a boiling point.

November 1996
Pillman's got a gun segment happens. First match with Bret Hart happens at Survivor Series.

Basically the feud with Bret Hart kicks off right after SummerSlam and builds all the way to Survivor Series and then into WrestleMania.

 

[K Web V3]

bottom line, Owen was a talent. ive always been a big fan of Bret(my all time fave) buti always felt Owen had much more skill on the mic, and god he was a great heel. As a kid n Bret fan, i LOATHED Owen. Couldnt stand the jealous little brother of my favorite wrestler. Owen should have become champion at least once imo. Maybe Vince didnt want two Harts in the main event? But Owen made everything work. whether it was as High Energy with Koko B.Ware, being brets lil bro, the jealous heel brother....his teams with bulldog n yoko were great, and he even worked well with the Nation. Owen needs to be in the HOF

 

[stonecoldownsyou]

Owen Hart was stale.

Stone Cold was better KOTR.