Week 2:- What if....Owen Hart hadn't died?

[d_henderson1810]

It is week 2 of my series, "What If..." where I ask you to tell me what you think would happen if a particular scenario occurred differently or not at all.

This week:- "What if......Owen Hart hadn't died?"

Hypothetically, if Owen Hart hadn't descended from the ceiling that night, or had just walked down the aisle instead, what do you think he would have achieved since?

Would he had left WWE? Would he have been pushed, and been given a WWE or World Title?

What would you have liked to have seen happen to Owen Hart, if his death at "Over The Edge 1999" hadn't happened?

 

[CMPlank]

I personally think that he'd of got an intercontinental title run at best, and then he'd of got released, or just left. No way could he of been happy with the way Bret was disrespected.

 

[vinnie mac]

I believe the wwe would have continued to mock him up until the point that he either had enough and walked out or was released due to a lack of interest, it was clear that the wwe were trying to bury him out of resentment for Bret leaving for WCW.

 

[justin71]

After he proved his loyalty to Vince I think he would have gotten at least one WWE title run at sone point. Personally I'd love to have seen what a Kurt Angle/Owen Hart feud would have looked like.

 

[anvilx8]

Here's what I WOULD have liked to see happen.. 1 of these 2 scenarios

1. Vince finally gives Owen his release and he jumps to wcw where he sports the nWo colours!

Or

2. Gets the main event push he so rightfully deserved and becomes the wwe champion!

 

[Owen 3:16 says I just stole your Slammy!!]

I think that Owen would told Vince no about more gimmicks. Vince would get tired of it and released him. Bret would get Owen a job in WCW. I dont see Owen being in the nWo, I see Owen and Bret being together and feuding against the nWo.

 

[vampirek]

This is rather simple, given that it is out there (and been done on this site several times). Had Owen not died, he was to be given 'The Game' name (Source: HHH). The Game Owen Hart. The Blue Blazer thing was coming to an end and thus had Owen not died it would have hugely impacted the way HHH's career would have went. As for what The Game Owen Hart would have achieved in WWF... he would have either retired a year later or filled the upper midcard, getting involved in the title picture. Whether he would have been given the title is clearly unknown given that The Game Owen Hart never took off.

 

[Iversen]

I'm pretty sure it's been established in the past that Owen was always looking to make enough money to retire and be with his family.

So with that in mind I think he would have eventually left WWE come into WCW hot and either teamed or feuded with Bret for one last huge pay day before retiring and going home to his family. Bret would probably have made up with Vince a lot sooner and like Bret he'd probably just be turning up in WWE from time to time for various guest spots.

 

[Clare]

id i have like too have seen the game owen hart happen as was supposed too happen in 99 and we would of seen him pushed instead of HHH in simple terms
OWEN HART DIEING = TRIPLE H
OWEN HART HERE IN 2012 = WHO IS TRIPLE H

 

[thebarber]

It is also quite clearly out there that Owen stayed in the business alot longer than what he originally set out to do, so 13 years on, lets just assume he would have been like every other wrestler and stayed in.
If Owen had not died, we do know he was winning the Intercontinental Championship that night. IC Champ Owen Hart would have eventually fueded with his tag team partner Jeff Jarrett as WWE were headstrong on going with the angle of Debra and Owen getting cosy, which was pissing Jarrett off. Owen refused time and again to participate in the angle(Brets book, Marthas book, Bruces book to name a few.)
If Owen had not died, it would not have taken as long for Bret and Vince to patch up their differences. As in 2003 they finally did after Brets stroke, their is a massive chance that Bret would have competed at Mania 18 in 2002 as Vince had tried unsucessfully to happen, as a guest referee and have Bret punch Vince out on the ppv.
As far as Owens career, I do not think he would have ever won the WWE Championship, not with looking at the list of guys who held the title from May 1999 through 2002(Austin, Angle, Taker, HHH, Foley). I most certainly feel that following Hart vs Jarrett, which would have culminated in October 1999 when Jarrett went to WCW with Owen fueding with the newly signed Chris Jericho, and maybe forming a solid Canadian stable of Owen, Jericho and Benout when he arrived a few months later. Hell that could have ben enough to convince Bret of coming back as a mentor or mouthpiece for them. Alot of wrestlers paths changed the night Owen died, too hard to say what would and would not have happened, but fueds with Kurt Angle who debutted onscreen 6 months after his death and feuds with Jericho would have been definites.

 

[asiatic7]

I'm pretty sure it's been established in the past that Owen was always looking to make enough money to retire and be with his family. .

I think this is the correct assumption. This was documented in the Owen Hart DVD (It was a bonus to the Wrestling With Shadows DVD). Owen was growing tired of the buisness and was building a house for himself, wife and kids. I never heard about a "GAME" character for Owen, although I'm not ruling it out. It seems as if WWF was trying to bury Owen with the Blue Blazer character, but who knows? It's no sense in wondering what might have happened. One of the best in ring performers of our generation is no longer here. I'm saddened by it, as I sit here with my Owen 3:16 shirt...

"and then there was one..."

 

[Rjw2688]

WWF was definitely destroying Owen as a WWF Wrestler because of his brother imo. Which is a shame because I thought Owen always brought a lot to the table especially as a heel. If the company wasn't trying to bury him and he never died I think he could of achieved a lot of great things as a wrestler. However if he lived I honestly think he would of continued to get buried and things would of just become more embarrassing for him. It's a shame because I think he had a lot to offer.

 

[Raiden46]

Nothing would have changed. Owen was booked to win the Intercontinental Title that night, but he still would have forever been a mid-carder. Let's face facts. He couldn't generate crowd reaction like the top faces (or heels) in the game.

Owen Hart didn't fit in with the Attitude Era and this was evident by his repeated refusal of proposed gimmicks to turn him edgier. I hate to use this analogy, but the WWE *ahem* killed him off with the Blue Blazer gimmick.

 

[Pedigree1]

Had he not died i think he would have gotten a run at the title and possibly became a headliner at WM!! I would have loved too seen that Owen was the best performer IMO of the harts. The most talented and Vince would have seen that. The Game Owen hart nice ring to it if it came true.

RIP Owen your never forgotten bro

 

[MrMojoRisin]

I'd like to set the record straight here.

Owen was not being 'buried' with the Blue Blazer gimmick. Bret Hart has confirmed that it was Owen's idea to be the Blue Blazer. He wasn't happy with the adult storylines in the WWF at the time, and he felt being the goofy superhero in a mask would seperate him from that and make him more comfortable.

I've also heard the rumour that he was supposed to get 'The Game' gimmick instead of Triple H. Even saying that's true, who knows if he would have ended up with it. He wouldn't be the first guy to be tapped for a gimmick only to see it go to someone else, and Triple H was a far better politician than Owen ever was. Besides, coming off of being the Blazer, that particular gimmick would have been a hard sell.

Most likely, if Owen lives, then Bret comes back to the WWF sooner. He had already been starting to thaw towards Vince (or at least was realizing that WCW was a mistake for him) and the WWF landscape had changed drastically since he'd left with Michaels not being in power anymore. He had reupped his deal with them, but once they inevitably botched the "I Quit" angle he did in Toronto, it wouldn't have been hard for him to get out of it. Owen goes back to playing second fiddle to Bret in the inevitable big money angle versus Vince, and the brothers Hart end up both retiring a couple years after. Owen would have made enough money by then to retire to his new house and be with his family like he wanted. I doubt the fire department would have ever happened like he had hoped, but with his celebrity in Calgary, he wouldn't have had a problem finding work to support his family.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

WWF was definitely destroying Owen as a WWF Wrestler because of his brother imo. Which is a shame because I thought Owen always brought a lot to the table especially as a heel. If the company wasn't trying to bury him and he never died I think he could of achieved a lot of great things as a wrestler. However if he lived I honestly think he would of continued to get buried and things would of just become more embarrassing for him. It's a shame because I think he had a lot to offer.

He was not being "buried" but, as Triple H did before, was paying for the "sins" of others. If someone close to you pisses Vince off and he can't punish them, you are gonna swallow some shit for a while. Owen wanted to go under the mask, but probably not to be portrayed as goofy as he was.

I have heard "The Game" story many times and pretty much think it would have worked for him if he'd sold it as an uber intense heel.

So he wins the IC that night in an unusually brutal way and immediately unmasks... goes on a "worked shoot" about how the only way he could even get a title shot was to wear this stupid mask and act like a goof. But he's not playing games any more... he is THE GAME.

Carries the IC belt through the Summer and forms a new stable of sorts with Chris Jericho and Ken Shamrock called "The Dungeon"... Owen is challenged by a surprising return in Davey Boy Smith and the two feud for the IC belt (Davey wins and then feuds with Jericho) and Owen takes the Rumble win instead of Vince.)

Owen wins the title at Mania carries it till around Survivor Series feuding with Rock, Smith and Jericho until Bret returns and upsets him (Bret's 3 year deal would have ended around this time)

Owen vows to end Bret's career and the two finally face off at WM in a career match. Owen loses and retires to his family.

 

[waylonmercy]

If Owen hart was still alive he would have been in a position similar to Kofi Kingston today. A talented midcarder whos ceiling was the IC/US title with a few tag runs in there. Owen Hart was a great worker but he never had the look, he wasn't great on the mic and was a shorter fellow. He is listed as 5'10" which doesn't lead to a lot unless you are elite which he wasn't in more than just one facet that being a wrestler. He would ahve retired probably by 2005 and probably returned to get involved in the Bret/Vince feud which would have been a nice spark and he would ahve faded away like Bret has from the mainstream WWE. I think he would have been in the WWE HOF as one of those untelevised inductions.

 

[HBsam31]

The comment about Owen Hart not dying would have left is saying who is HHH in 2012 made me laugh. HHH would have succeeded whether Owen died or not. That being said I think Owen would have proved his loyalty to Vince and went on to win at least one WWE championship. He was to good of talent not to win one. Even if he was just given a token championship it would have happened in my opinion.

 

[Goldie]

I think Owen woukld have remained where he was. A solid addition to the midcard... at IC level... with the option of tagteam division if he needed a change of scene.

Owen had his WWE title shots in 1994 against Bret.... but (like Davey Boy) he lacked that final something to be given a run with the big belt.
With Austin, Rock, Taker, HHH, Foley .... and later Angle and Lesnar in the mix... it seems unlikely that Owen would have been given that final push.

Forming a stable with Benoit and Jericho makes sense... as they could have added a new twist to the anti-american/pro canadian stance that the Harts had in 1997.
The more I think of it.. the more I see an Owen/Benoit tagteam reaching for the gold!

According to Brets book... Owen seemed keen to walk away from wrestling once he was satisfied that he'd made enough money to support his family long term. I could see him leaving the WWE or retiring before the age of 40 to do that