Owen Hart's last feud?

[#hamler]

The next part in my series, one of the greats, Owen Hart.

On May 23, 1999, Hart fell to his death in Kansas City, Missouri during the Over the Edge pay-per-view event. Hart was in the process of being lowered via harness and grapple line into the ring from the rafters of Kemper Arena for a booked Intercontinental Championship match against The Godfather. No one but Owen truely knows what happened up there. We are not here to discuss that. Wrestlers usually retire around their mid 40s. Owen, born on May 7, 1965, would be 45 today which means he most likely would've already, or had considered retirement. Shawn Michaels and many others get a great send off following their retirement matches.

What I want to know, if Owen was still around today, who would you want his last feud to be with? One final send off. Can be anybody in TNA or anyone in WWE. This edition IS NOT limited to current rosters.

So let's have it...

-Who would you like to have seen Owen Hart feud with for the very last time before he retired?

-Where would this match take place and what kind of send off would he receive?

 

[ChuckBartowski]

First off, R.I.P. Owen Hart!

Now, Owen was a tremendous talent and I could have seen him having EPIC fueds with Kurt Angle, Cena and Orton but with Angle in TNA for the time being and Cena locked in the Nexus storyline and Orton being champ I believe a final fued with Swagger would help put Swagger over as a heel, give him a bragging rights and allow Owen to do something helpful in his last match.

 

[bookerman]

Wow! Tough one. Owen was a tremendous talent and for his last feud, I would pick Kurt Angle or Brock Lesnar, or some credible copetitor. Let's go with Kurt for this instance. Owen was a really funny guy, but also managed to put on great matches, which is always a good combination. This is entirely fictional, so I would say he deserves a Wrestlemania moment.

By his last feud, I would think he would've won at least one world title and still be a goofy fun-loving guy. So he comes out in the ring, some big PPV maybe and announces his retirement, thanks the fans for all the great moments, yada yada. BAM!

Out comes Kurt Angle! Owen applauds until Angle grabs a mic and starts burying his career: "You have got to be kidding me! You are a part of this great sport, this competition, you were a champion!?!? Let me tell you, your title win was a fluke! No, your career was a fluke! You never competed with the spirit of competition, you goofy s.o.b. I am an Olimpic Gold Medalist! I have earned everything I have with blood, sweat and tears! I am the immaculate conception of wrestling! You have earned nothing but sympathy for being a goddam goofball and entertaining these idiots for the better part of your career. Your children are ashamed to show up at school, because their dad is an embarassment wherever he goes, whatever he does! You, Owen Hart, you are nothing! No! You are less than nothing! You do not deserve this kind of fanfare! You, Owen, are just a goddam NUGGET!" Stuff like that...
To which Hart could reply: "I'm not a NUGGET!", or simply just say nothing, or apologize, or whatever. And then Kurt just destroys him. Decimates him, tries to cripple him. Leaves him in a bloody pulp.

The next couple of shows we see Owen soulsearching, because the stuff that Kurt said really got to him. He is recovering from a kayfabe injury, but challenges Kurt to a match in a serious manner. They fight the next PPV, but Owen comes at the short end, although he takes Angle to the limit. Next night Angle cuts a promo, saying Owen will amount to nothing. Again, there is a challange on Hart's part, maybe some stipulation that Angle has to wear a Chicken McNugget suit or something if he loses, which he doesn't again. We see Owen training in a serious and competitive way, but still coming short the next couple of PPVs. Come Wrestlemania, after another loss to Kurt, he decides to walk away for good, but is confronted by his brother, Bret, who reminds him who he really is.

Next Raw...or whatever - Owen comes out and says: "Kurt Angle, you know what!?! I am a NUGGET! And I like it that way and so these people! Enough is enough!", which gets Angle really pissed, so he comes out to kill Hart. However, Owen pulls some stunt, which makes Angle look ridiculous and gets away with it. He grabs the mic and says: "See you at Wrestlemania". This goes on for a couple of weeks and they finally have their final match, which would be a wrestling classic, but I'd book Owen to pull some funny shit in order to win. Kurt is defeated, walks away pissed and yelling, Hart is on top of the world for the very last time. Pink and black confetti, fanfare, retirement.

I realize this is not perfect, with them having a match at every PPV and all, but I sure as hell would like to see it. R.I.P. Owen. It's a shame...

 

[ThePh3nomonal1]

I would have him face his brother Bret or Kurt Angle I guess, but my favorite wouldnof being at this years Wrestlemania if he faced Shawn Michaels instead of the Undertaker.

Career Vs Career, I could imagine the epic hype and the EPIC match to go along with it. It would be main event of course and it wouldn't matter who won because the winner would say afterwards he is retiring on top etc. They hug, confetti comes down and they each get a great send off.

 

[Judah's Lion]

i'm assuming that, since we're using our imagination and booking a send off for a deceased wrestler, that even other deceased wrestlers could be mentioned for the final feud.

that said, a few come to mind. for one, against Bret Hart. they had epic battles and could finish it off together, much like Undertaker and Kane are doing now.
another option is Chris Benoit. a couple of great mat wrestlers that were also masters of submission and even decent high fliers.
to that note, Eddie Guerrero would be another great final feud.
Kurt Angle has been mentioned and certainly he'd be another case to argue.
i think Triple H and Owen could have had a final feud together. rumor has it that, had Owen not died, Owen and not Triple H would have been given "The Game" gimmick.
i think against Stone Cold or The Rock. both of those could have been great.
and lastly, of course, against HBK. they had some epic wars and could really have a great ending feud.

those, in no particular order, are my choices for Owen's final feud.

 

[MMK]

If Owen had lived and stayed with WWE a few more years, I would have loved to seen him feud with Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. Too bad Owen's life and career was cut short for such senseless reasons. Angle and Benoit debuted within a year of Owen's death, so if he had lived it is likely these are two wrestlers Owen would have had several great matches with.

 

[legendkiller1979]

I think Owen's last feud could have been with either Triple H. I don't know how many people realize this but Owen was only going to wrestle for a couple more years, likely to the end of his contract. If you read "Broken Harts" or see his A&E biography (both great by the way) it was said several times he didn't want to wrestle. He only did it as a means to financially secure the future of his family. At the time his contract was to expire Triple H was the top guy. This would also make sense it could be tied into the screwjob. I wish so much he would have told Vince to go fuck himself and refuse to do the stunt. Even if he had been fired he could have finished up his career in WCW with his brother. Sadly that didn't happen.

 

[Chill]

I've always thought that Owen Hart was a tremendous talent and I think he could have had great feuds with just about anyone who's worth feuding with. I would have loved to see him tie up with names like Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit and see renewed feuds with guys like Shawn Michaels and Triple H. As for who his last feud should have been with? That's difficult to say but I've not doubt that he could have worked excellent programs with all of the aforementioned names, any of which would have been befitting of his 'last' feud if he were still here today and decided to hang 'em up...

 

[The Brain]

I always start a post like this with sort of a disclaimer saying the loss of a man’s life far outweighs the loss of a talent to a wrestling roster. With that said, the loss of the talent Owen Hart to the WWF came at a terrible time. Owen didn’t really fit into the attitude era in 1999. He was more about performance in the ring and old fashion storylines rather than the over the top attitude era storylines. It looked like wrestling was passing Owen by and he may have been better off walking away. Then within nine months of his death Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Dean Malenko all debuted in the WWF. Wrestling was making a comeback and any of these guys would have been a great opponent for Owen Hart.

If Owen hadn’t died I think he probably would have retired within two years anyway. I think he could have made an impact by being a victim to the Alliance during the Invasion angle. He could have jobbed to guys like Lance Storm and Booker T. I don’t mean jobbed to be an insult. He could have had great matches but come up on the losing end. Growing frustrated that he wasn’t helping the WWF in its war with the Alliance he could have put his career on the line. I picture him saying if he can’t help the WWF he would be better off walking away. The opponent to put over at Unforgiven 2001 would be RVD. The two could have a great competitive match. Owen loses being forced to retire and giving the Alliance a big impact win. Some of you probably think jobbing to the Alliance is no way to go out, but everyone in wrestling should go out on his back. With all the new superstars coming into the WWF the time, Owen could have contributed by putting a few of them over on his way out. Getting the next guy over to take your spot is the way to go. It’s a good way for a wrestler to go and we would have gotten some great matches out of it.

 

[Chopper]

Owen, was the best. I once had the honor to see him wrestle live in Barrie, ON, Canada. He lost to Steve Austin, but he was very entertaining during the match.

Owen would of likely retired around 2000-2002. Wrestlemania X8 in Toronto would of been the perfect send-off against Chris Jericho. It would of been fantastic to see feuds with Angle, Benoit, Jericho and a further feud with HHH.
At Over The Edge, it was rumoured that Owen was scheduled to win the IC title from the Godfather, he would of held on to the title for a good few months and possibly even go on to win the WWE title. (this doesnt count: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akmzr6CVl3g )

 

[byrnside]

Man, oh man. I've always been inclined to root for heels in the wrestling game. With the exceptions of maybe Mr. Perfect and Rick Rude, Owen Hart was the reason for this. Just one of the best, I may have actually liked him better than Bret at one point. That being said, I've seen some great ideas for Owen's last feud. Of course, like some of you, I would've seen Owen stepping down from the business before making it this far. I digress.. After The Blue Blazer would've run it's course, I would've liked to have seen Owen resurrect the Rocket angle into a more contemporary gimmick [maybe a mix of the Rocket and the Blackhart.]

In the early 2000's he could've had epic feuds with Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, and Kurt Angle just to name a few. He could've rejuvenated main event feuds with HBK, Triple H and the Rock. More recently, something with Jeff Hardy, Rob Van Dam, or some of the guys from TNA.

Something Kenny Powers just reminded me of, is Chris Jericho! In Jericho's autobiography Chris talks about how much he loved Owen to the point of modeling some of his style after him. Those two could've had some epic mid or top-card matches for sure.

Owen could've been a huge rub for guys like the Miz, Jack Swagger, Daniel Bryan, the list could go on and on.

Personally, as a last run, I would have loved to have seen a feud with the Undertaker, of course with Owen as the stereo typical cocky heel looking for a shot to dethrown 'Taker.

 

[Kenny Powers]

There are so many to choose from. Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Benoit, Guerrero, and even Triple H or HBK would be at the top of the list. I think Owen and Jericho would have had a great feud together. Two fellow Canadians fighting over who is the best. Jericho could be the heel, making fun of the Hart family. I wonder if Owen would have even made it in WWE this long without retiring. He might have been main eventing or just an upper mid carder. I truly feel that Owen and Jericho would have had a great program together.