Owen Hart

[The Crock]

Owen Hart was an excellent wrestler. He was a multiple time champion in the WWE(F) holding belts such as the Intercontinental Championship, and he was the 1994 King of the Ring. Tragedy struck at Over the Edge on May 23, 1999, as Owen infanously fell to his death. Due to his untimely passing he never truly experienced everything he could have in the wrestling business. Many people say that Owen would have eventually been the WWE(F) Champion, while others disagree, so my main question to you is this: Was Owen Hart truly championship material, and would he have ever gotten the belt?

I've always loved Owen Hart, he was one of my favorite wrestlers as a kid. Owen was a hard worker and one of the best in the world. There is no doubt in my mind that he was championship material and that he deserved to hold the WWE(F) Championship. Now, with all that being said, would he have ever gotten the belt? I say... No. It's not a matter of whether or not Owen was good enough, but around the end of his life he was already nearing the end of his career. Owen was a family man, he loved the business, he died for it, but he was going to retire. I don't think that with him being the Blue Blazer they would have been able to put the belt on him. On top of that, I think Vince was still angry with Bret and that whole situation would have played a huge part in that.

Owen Hart was one of the best ever. RIP.

 

[safeco1999]

Owen Hart, wrestling and build wise, was similar to The Miz. In todays age, he might've had a run with the belt for a short period, but back then, title reigns meant something, so that's why many guys back then didnt win the title.

To be honest, I never saw Owen as a prototypical "WWE Champion". Great IC belt material, though.

 

[Chris Jericho Markaholic]

Its a Shame a guy Like Owen Hart Never Got His Chance To Be A World Champion This Guy Was A Great Talent And A Excellent Wrestler, He Held The Tag And Ic Titles and Was the King Of The Ring 1994 ,Truly Championship Material

I Think He Would Have Been A Great World Champion And Death Came Too Soon For Him

I don't think that with him being the Blue Blazer they would have been able to put the belt on him. On top of that, I think Vince was still angry with Bret and that whole situation would have played a huge part in that.

True as if He Was Going To Get A World Title Push He Had To Be The King Of Harts As The BLue Blazer Wasnt Going To Get It Done

 

[Tattooed Jesus]

Owen was an amazing talent but I definitely think he hit his career ceiling as IC Champion. I don't think after everything that went down with Bret and Vince that Owen would have even been considered for a World title shot. I mean he had successful feuds with Stone Cold and was tag team champs with Davey Boy and Yokozuna but after Bret, Davey, and Niedhart jumped to WCW his career was basically in the shitter.

 

[davenchi]

It is sad to say that he never got his shot. The only thing he was lacking to become HWC was a PUSH.... Not to be ignorant, but if anyone thinks someday he was going to be champion is an idiot who and the hell would job to the blue blazer. If he was ever going to win the championship was in 2 scenario's 1.fueding with his brother 2. His feud with HHH and HBK after his brother left the company. It is a shame what happens to good wrestler with these ridiculous gimmicks look at Goldust

 

[waylonmercy]

I think others are correct that Owen Hart was at his ceiling as an IC Champion. I think his brother Bret did him the biggest favor by putting him over. It was an excellent match and probably added value to Owen and didn't make Bret look bad at all. When Owen died he was involved in that dumb Blue Blazer gimmick and wasn't really on the rise. I think if he was alive today he would have retired by 2005 and probably got a little involved in the Vince/Bret storyline by possibly double crossing Bret.

 

[The Wolf]

His feud with HHH and HBK after his brother left the company.

If everyone remebers he was taking out both of them everyweek just never got a title shot with HBK one on one that would of been his run that character it would of worked.

 

[pessimism101]

With all due respect to Owen, he was going to be a mid-carder/upper mid-carder for the duration of his career. He (re-)entered the WWF in 1992 and for over 7 years, his biggest achievement was the Intercontinental title. I highly doubt he would have accomplished anything more than that in his second 7 years (if he even stayed with the company). Sure, he may have had more IC title runs or Tag title runs, but nothing more. If he jumped ship to WCW when his contract ran out, I suspect he'd be buried by the company just like they did with Bret.

 

[xRob13x]

Owen actually did get a title shot against Shawn Michaels on RAW and won via DQ when Triple H hit him with a crutch, if memory serves. It was a great match. Owen had a ton of momentum when he was ambushing DX weekly, but somewhere along the lines they turned him heel and DX face, and after that he never got another main-event push, which sucks, really, because that was great TV.

 

[DeathClutch]

It doesn't matter when it would of been Owen Hart has WORLD CHAMPION written all over him, his style, mic skills and general heel persona was soo over he deserved to be World champion, his problem was around the time he got pushed the Kliq got into power and Nash had his year long run as champion that was forgettable, Shawn got over huge which actually hurt Owen from a ranking stand point, Razor & Kid got their strips with some decent storylines but Owen was around when change was in the air.

Today with two world titles in circulation in WWE he would of had one, but if Owen was alive he would of been retired years, read Brets book, Owen was finishing up in 2001-2002 and that was when Bret would retire as well but cirumstances change and Bret was injured and Owen passed away, but Owen was around in a strange time, he's unlucky but look at some of the guys from 1991-1996 who SHOULD and COULD of been world champion but didn't get the chance, Perfect, Rude, Bulldog, Owen, Piper to name a few.

 

[Tech N9ne]

I think at one time or another he would have captured a World Title. Whether it was in WWE or not, I believe he was definitely championship material.

He demonstrated what a Pro Wrestler should be. He took his assignments and workload like a man. Whether it was in his favor or even making him look bad, he still went out and did it.

He was good as a Face but was awesome as a Heel. Probably one of the best Heels ever actually. The way he drew heat from the crowd and made his in ring persona seem so real, like he would be hated by "the boys in the back" was phenomenal!!

He was truly loved by everyone and by the way he portrayed himself in front of the crowd, you would truly believe otherwise. He isn't a classic because he died! Owen truly was one of the best ever!

 

[FitFinlay4Life]

Owen Hart was the same age as Shawn Michaels and of a similar frame and ability. Had he stayed with WWF(e), I fully expect that he would have smashed the glass ceiling. Yes, he would have had issues backstage - with Vince, Tripper, HBK (re: Bret) and Austin (re: broken neck) and the Blue Blazer gimmick really wouldn't have helped.

However, I feel that a couple of events that were upcoming would have gotten him back up the pecking order - the introduction of Chris Jericho, the Radicalz, the Invasion Storyline and the Fed basically moving to smaller more mobile guys would have suited him to a tee. Also - asides from being related to Bret, I am not aware of Owen being anything other than a model employee (re: consistently great performer who did not create any scandals).

I have been very vocal in the past on my feelings about Vinnie Mac holding certain guys down but I honestly believe that someone of Owen's abilities would have melted away any roadblocks over time.

 

[roethlisberger78]

Today's time and wrestlers no doubt about it, Owen just like many others in his time was much better than today's wrestlers. I mean Rick rude, piper, Owen, perfect, and the list goes on. IMO most of the mid carders from the early nineties were much better than today's talent. They had a way of getting across to the crowd rather heel or face.

I don't think back then he would have made to the top but today for sure. Hell I'd put Owen over any of the top talent that the E has right now.

 

[culantro]

i always thoutgh that owen was great, in the ring and in life, did i think that he could have been champion in the 90' No i don't. like others said before, it was not a good time for him, if owen was performing now, i'm sure he would be a champion, because he had what it takes to be a champion...

 

[Dyno Kid]

I thought Owen was a solid worker but I never saw him as a World champion caliber guy. He was more of a tag champ or I.C. title level guy for me.

 

[jacdnwarrior]

Owen was a solid performer. He was more entertaining on the mike than Bret, was faster and more high flying than Bret. He would've never been champ as long as Austin and HBk were there. They both had issues with Owen and would do what they could to make sure he never held the title. Triple H might have stood in his way but I believe he could weather the political storm and then get a few reigns on SD or if they were really desperate for main event level performers. Seeing him against Benoit, Angle, Guerrero, Jericho among others.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Like Crock said I do not think that Owen would have ever won a world title. Around the time he died he was a mere midcarder who was showing no signs of rising up the card. He was going to retire soon enough and as we know Austin did not trust him in the ring. Now he was the franchise player of the company and main eventing would mean wrestling Austin quite often. I do not think Vince would have allowed that to happen.

On the question that did Owen deserve a championship, I would say no. Was he good? Probably. But from 1997 to 2004 I cannot think of any guy for whom I could say that Owen would have made a better champion than this guy. Owen was good but there were others who were simply better. I also do not think he was very good on the mic. At times he came across as a hyperactive kid, to be honest.

Owen Hart deserved a championship more than Chris Benoit. But as we know Chris won the belt in 2004. All the champions prior to Benoit were, in my opinion, better than Owen and we all know that Owen would not have stuck around till 2004 had he not been alive.

 

[Post]

I think that Owen would have eventually become WWF/WWE champion.

Bret moved ot WCW and Michaels took a very long break, thus there was definitely an opening for a wrestler of Owen's size and skill to make an impact.

I think that Vince really missed out on great opportunity with Owen Hart. He could have played up the angle of Bret leaving much more than he did. He could have gotten behind Owen and said something along the line of "We kept the right Hart." Or he could have gone in the opposite direction and had a war with Owen....but he went with the Blue Blazer angle instead

Either way, I think that if Owen would have been with the company a few years longer, he would have had at least one title reign as either WWE Champion or World Heavyweight Champion. Bottom line is that he was great in the ring and good on the mic.

 

[mrbrownstone]

Yeah I certainly think that he would have gotten an opportunity with the World Title were it not for his tragic and untimely death. He would have thoroughly deserved it too.

Everything was in place for it, he even had the perfect storyline of being a disgruntled brother trying to make up for the wrongs that were done to Bret. He has all of the skills, as we know he was great in the ring but he could also hold his own on the mic. He had already proven himself as a main eventer, he had already had a main event program with his brother years earlier and that of course delivered us some amazing matches, the point being that the WWE knew that he wouldn't crack under the pressure.

Most importantly though 2000 was a time where the WWe was struggling for main eventers, Austin was taking time off or injury, they gave a still very green Kurt Angle a title run and they tried to turn Rikishi of all people into a main eventer. Are you trying to tell me that through all that a proven veteran who they could rely on to have great matches with anybody wouldn't have been given a title reign? I would have a hard time believing that, besides HHH and the Rock couldn't hold the title all year, someone had to take off them.

 

[The Eighties]

There was no real heat between Shawn and Owen, if you note when Owen came after DX on the back of Montreal HBK never actually beat Owen clean and had a fantastic match with him on RAW making him look every bit HBK's main event equal.

Everything I have read has said that Owen didn't want to be WWE Champion, it takes up too much time and Owen preferred to take any chance he could to go home and be with his family, when you are the companies champ you don't have that option.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that had Owen wanted it a reign would have came his way at some point.

Owen actually did get a title shot against Shawn Michaels on RAW and won via DQ when Triple H hit him with a crutch, if memory serves. It was a great match. Owen had a ton of momentum when he was ambushing DX weekly, but somewhere along the lines they turned him heel and DX face, and after that he never got another main-event push, which sucks, really, because that was great TV.

That angle was red hot, Owen may well have went to Mania that year had it not been for Austin being even hotter.