What Could Have Been III- Owen Hart

[Tha Wolfpac]

Hey Yo!
I love doing these threads and as long as i keep getting alot of posts and feedback i will continue doing them. Now onto my thread Owen Hart may he forever rest in peace. Now Owen Hart was an amazing technical wrestler it's a natural attribute when your a Hart lol anyway this man had a tradgic untimely death in a career that was untold.
This man was an awesome tag team wrestler one of the best and just simply always put a pretty good godamn wrestling match.

So if Owen Hart was still around would he be in the main event scene? Who would he be feuding with? And would he fit into this new WWE? Have fun enjoy. RIP Owen Hart.

Thanks, Tha Wolfpac

 

[Ferbian]

I think Owen Hart would eventually have graced the main event scene, but only graced it, I believe he would have been seen as one of the talents that, sure he contributed a lot to the business for a longer period of time, let's give him a championship reign, cause he's made himself deserving for it.

He was around in a time where a lot of "better" people were more fitting to be in the world championship scene, guys like Stone Cold, The Rock etc. but if he had been around, and stuck around, he could've easily served a world champion during the days of decline (2004-2005) period, getting a championship reign like Guerrero and Benoit.

And it's not because I didn't want to see Owen Hart hold the big one, I think it could've been an incredible thing, but I ultimately feel that he might not have served as the draw that WWE wanted to have in the main event scene, and would only get a world championship because he had paid his due, and after that, we would've seen him in the upper mid-card once again, standby for worse times to regain a world championship, but ultimately serve as a talent to push the credibility of newer stars, like Benoit and Eddie Guerrero.

 

[Tastycles]

Owen Hart was going nowhere when he died, and I sincerely doubt he would have been anything above the level he was at when he died. As better as he was in the ring, Owen was essentially his era's Matt Hardy: reasonably over, but who's only big deal singles feud was with his brother. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that he would have gotten a title shot in 2004 if he was still around, but I would be very suprised if he hadn't left for WCW when his contract was up and then faded into obscurity when that company folded. Indeed, he'd probably have had another feud with Bret, but otherwise, he wouldn't have done very much.

 

[Chill]

First off, I thought Owen was great. I was and still am a fan of his and I think it's fair to say that his more memorable stuff occurred before the last few years of his life, and as has been pointed out he was coasting in the mid card before he died as he was wrestling as the Blue Blazer again (which I found entertaining, but it wasn't a gimmick that was going to get him a main event run any time soon). Nevertheless, it's possible that his career could have seen a resurgence but you have to believe it would have been difficult considering the amount of stars dominating the landscape at that time. In addition, I've read a few times that Owen planned on getting out of wrestling by the time he hit forty, so if that had been the case he certainly wouldn't have been in WWE today.

However, had he continued on and was still wrestling in WWE, I think he would have been another put over guy as he was one of those workers who had the natural ability to make others look good and a win over him could have been a good thing for a lot of the guys breaking into the scene. Certainly, I would have loved to have seen Owen as a WWE champion because I think he had the tools necessary to pull it off but I don't believe it would have happened due to a variety of factors, with the main one being that he wanted to get out of the game early to spend time with his family...

 

[Fallen Angel 21.3]

Owen Hart was the best at what he did, he could fly, go to the mat or just straight up brawl with you. However when he died the WWE was using a very talented guy in a stupid sort of way. He should have been in the main event but he was used a comedy jobber as the Blue Blazer. I think that he was being used that way to stick it to bret and his family, because Owen was much more talented. I will always remember the night that he died becauase it was a couple days after my birthday. What is really a kick in the nutz is that Owen isn't in the Hall Of Fame, i mean Pete Freakin Rose is in the Hall of Fame for just 3 run-ins at Wrestle Mania to get his ass kicked by Kane.

 

[wbuqed]

honestly I think about Owen doing alot of good midcard-main event feuds without title-involvement. HBK, Ric Flair maybe Orton. Frankly given the style of Owen I woulda loved seeing him go a few rounds with Kurt Angle. And if he were around I'd love to see his HOF speech because he, as another poster stated was a great comedy jobber, would have brought a smile and flavor to his HOF speech. RIP Owen, you're still one of my favorites

 

[Travaje]

Owen Hart was going nowhere when he died, and I sincerely doubt he would have been anything above the level he was at when he died. As better as he was in the ring, Owen was essentially his era's Matt Hardy: reasonably over, but who's only big deal singles feud was with his brother. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that he would have gotten a title shot in 2004 if he was still around, but I would be very suprised if he hadn't left for WCW when his contract was up and then faded into obscurity when that company folded. Indeed, he'd probably have had another feud with Bret, but otherwise, he wouldn't have done very much.

Spot on, 100% correct, I completely agree with this guy. As much as he accomplished in the ring, he's more known for how he died than anything. Had he died like many other wrestlers, he'd still be remembered and perhaps appreciated, but not at the level he is now. Owen, while good, is now very overrated, all because of HOW he died...the freak accident.

Steve Austin (and perhaps the "Attitude Era" or that type of programming that people seem to still long for) could possibly still be wrestling today if it wasn't for Owen botching that piledriver. While all the boys liked Owen, you cannot tell me that there weren't people who didn't want to work with him anymore after he fucked up Austin's neck. Droz was just a jobber, and D-Lo still struggles to find work. Owen ruined the career of perhaps the biggest star of them all, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Why do you think Owen had to do that stupid stunt that killed him? I think fucking up Austin's neck is what Owen should be known for the most. Just my opinion.

Also, I'd like to add, sorry Matt Hardy fans, but Matt Hardy is worse than Owen. He just hasn't injured anybody like Austin, so he can find work, but he has absolutely ZERO personality, couldn't draw a dime, and is only over because of Jeff. Without Jeff, he would be an obscure has-been working the indys for whatever he could scrap up.

 

[DL23]

Owen Hart, Owen Hart was of the most talented heels in the business, he has the character and persona in 1993-1996 to have been a world champion, he was over, his persona was classic, however at that point from what I saw and have read, Owen held himself back by not wanting to tour and promote constantly like Bret which hurt his chances of a world title run, as the champ was known for tours world wide (more so Bret).

Owen graced the main event in 1994, probably his best year wrestling wise, however his feud with Bret was cut short for Diesel, but if you look at what Owen did in 1994 he's positioned himself as a legit Main eventer, then came Survivor series 1994, and Owen and Anvil being teamed with the Teamsters made NO sense what so ever, in 1995 I can't really remember Owen Hart being a fixture in the company apart from his tag title run until September 1995, then his feud with HBK pretty much got him back into the singles division, then to be teamed up again, this time with Bulldog (IMO one of the best tag teams in WWF ever) they gelled well and really did look good but in 1996-97 the tag division wasn't blostering.

The austin feud in 1997, that was the feud that IMO was to push both of them into the main event scene, Austins neck getting broken was an accident, Austin went on to great things, Owen wasn't down graded in any way, until the Austin rematch, but what hurt Owen was Bret leaving, Owen was left by himself and bounced around unable to find his stride, Owen in the Nation was good IMO, but he wasn't really given the chance to shine as The Rock was the star breaking out.

Owen and the Blue Blazer gimmick, was weird to say the least, I enjoyed the fact it give Owen an opportunity, after all he didn't like what WWE had become and the storylines they wanted him to do with Debra and JJ, unfortunatly Owen's reluctance to do seedy storylines hurt him more then Bret leaving, but Owen's ship had sailed, 1994-1995 was his time to win the world belt, and could/would have if Diesel and the Kliq not have demanded tv and titles to their name.

Owen being the Matt Hardy of his era? NO, Owen would run rings around Matt in the ring, Matt is way over as a good guy but his in rings skills lack greatly, he's never changed or try to change his style yet the fans love him, he's the kind of guy who's a jobber to the main eventers.

Owen on talent and skills could have and should have been world champion, he had the character and persona but WWE didn't capitolize on that.

 

[Adam08]

I think Owen would of had a couple more Intercontial and tag team title regins under his belt. Then maybe further his feud with Bret Hart a lil bit and possibly become a world champion somtime in the 2000s then maybe go work for different companys like Ring of Honor and Tna and eventully Retired.

 

[The Brain]

Owen Hart didn't really seem to fit in the WWF in 1999. If he hadn't died and remained in the WWF he could have done some great stuff in 2000. In late 1999/early 2000 a lot of guys joined the WWF who would have worked great with Owen. Imagine Owen Hart vs. Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Dean Malenko. Those would have been some great matches.

I'm not sure how long Owen would have stuck around. He had the reputation of being very tight with his money so he could retire early. He didn't participate in the night life that a lot of wrestlers did. He pretty much went to the hotel, called his wife, and turned in early. I think he would have given us some great matches in 2000 and retired sometime in 2001 during the confusion of the invasion angle.

 

[DL23]

Owen Hart didn't really seem to fit in the WWF in 1999. If he hadn't died and remained in the WWF he could have done some great stuff in 2000. In late 1999/early 2000 a lot of guys joined the WWF who would have worked great with Owen. Imagine Owen Hart vs. Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Dean Malenko. Those would have been some great matches.

I'm not sure how long Owen would have stuck around. He had the reputation of being very tight with his money so he could retire early. He didn't participate in the night life that a lot of wrestlers did. He pretty much went to the hotel, called his wife, and turned in early. I think he would have given us some great matches in 2000 and retired sometime in 2001 during the confusion of the invasion angle.

I concur, Owen was years ahead of his time as far as his style would go with WWE and the talent they had later on, he did wrestle Kurt angle in May 1999 before he died on a Sunday night heat I believe, check it out on youtube, I watched it a while back, it wasn't anything special but was decent, shame they never had a chance to wrestle each other in their prime.

Owen hart had all the talent in the world to do something special however, something held him back, weather that be his size, or the fact his style wasn't suited for the time, either way in early 2000s he could of had some classics with Angle, Eddie, Benoit, Malenko, Jericho, just a great shame Owen died in 1999.

People keep saying about moving tna wcw etc etc, check out life and times of Owen Hart on youtube, it's a documentary by the same guy Paul Jay who did wrestling with shadows, it has Bret and Martha on, and they go into detail about how Owen was set to retire in early 2002, and that once his contract had ended he'd planned to leave wrestling for good, he only stuck to wrestling because it was fantastic money, compared to a real 9-5 job, but he actually left WWF back in 1989-1990 because he was a jobber and in Stampede he was the number one guy, and didn't like jobbing, left went to Japan created some waves and WWF rehired him, but he wasn't thrilled about high voltage tag team but it was temp, until the singles division opened up.

Owen Hart will go down has a legend that never held a World title, but you've got to remember when he was around, they're was only ONE world title, and most of the time either Bret had it (because he lived a clean lifestyle and would promote WWF all over the world) and the Kliq dominated it, he did however win the 2nd PPV version of KOTR which put Owen up to that NEW STAR level which he craved, plus his bracket in KOTR tournament was pretty good, 1 2 3 kid, Tatanka (who got a monster push 2 month later) and Razor Ramon (who was also on the fringe of the Main Event) Owen 2 month later had one of the best cage matches ever in wrestling history with Bret, probably his defining match, before being paired with Anvil who got released (Owen and Anvil were slated to win the tag titles at Royal Rumble 1995), over all I believe Owen had a lot of bad luck as far as career went, he had a stellar career but he was 7 years early, I believe he had a lot to contribute to wrestling in general, but in 1999 his style and morals weren't suited for the Attitude era, which ultimitly cost him his life, as he felt he couldn't keep saying no to storylines which he'd been doing in the months leading up to his death.

 

[god-soldier]

Owen Hart could have been the WWF champion had Vince McMahon not held a grudge against Bret Hart and just put Owen over he could have been WWF champion gotten over on the fans as BlackHart Owen Hart in Canada but as the WWF/WWE always does they mis use the wrestlers who are really great and use the crappy ones like (Cena). Even if Owen still was alive he would of never won WWF gold due to the grudge between Bret n Vince If McMahon was smart he could of replaced Bret's absents with Owen and let Owen finally get his time too shine afterall he did everything else in the WWF/WWE he could do he won King of The Ring in 96 a two time IC champ a 3 time tag champ and won the European title all he needed was a Royal Rumble win and a championship and as the BlackHeart he could of fit right in with Austin n The Rock after all he put them both over Owen is a true gem lost in the business and I hope Vince McMahon burns in hell for what he did too Owen and his family. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH AND ITS TIME FOR A CHANGE WOOOOOOO!!!!

 

[mrbrightside]

Owen Hart was nothing pass an Intercontinental Champion...one poster already said that he is WAY overrated on the forums, much like some other guys the IWC seem to love (COchristianUGH). I don't really remember any matches that Owen was in besides Bret Hart and Stone Cold. He won KotR but so has Mabel/Viscera and Billy Gunn. I could never see him in the main event. He never had that "it" factor to become a world champion. Just my opinion. I wouldnt call him the Matt Hardy because Matt is worse...I would call him the Christian of this era.