Post by chunkylover53 on Jul 2, 2008 11:46:53 GMT -5
As we all know, the brother of Hall of Famer Bret Hart gets a generally positive rap around here. Some say he was equal to, or better than his brother as far as wrestling ability goes. Now, during his 10+ year career that was cut short, he was a fairly accomplished mid-carder, was decently over as a heel(and slightly less as a face), an amazing athlete, and one championship(the WWE championship) away from becoming Grand Slam Champion. Which brings me to the topic, was he World championship material?
Some on here may sugarcoat him and say he was, while others, who feel like they're more realistic, say he wasn't and never would be. No matter how confident we are in our opinon, its still just an opinon and nothing more. The King of Harts career has had its ups and downs. I'm only familar with his WWE work, so I'll go from there.
Debuts as The Blue Blazer in 1988, though excited the crowd with his aerial moves and unique look, he was used mostly as an enhancement talent. Putting over credible athletes such as Ted Dibiase and Curt Hennig. After that he leaves for Indies.
After working sporadically for WCW, he heads back into the World Wrestling Federation, teaming up with Jim Neidhart and then later Koko B. Ware. Though both teams were "kid friendly", they were never a threat to the tag team division and weren't given a clear direction.
1993 was a quiet year for the younger Hart as he was seldomly featured on TV, and due to his lack of success, there were talks of him leaving the WWF. However, things changed later that year.
At Survivor Series of that year, they're were tension in the Hart Family, as Owen Hart was the only member eliminated on the team, due to Bret Hart accidentally crashing into him. The tension between the two reared its ugly head.
Since Christmas is the time for forgiveness, the two Harts settled their differences and fought The Quebecers for the tag team titles at The Royal Rumble. After stopping the match due to Bret's knee problem, the younger Hart got frustrated and turned on him, officially starting his heel turn, and the most successful portion of his career.
This feud would lead into Wrestlemania X where Owen Hart defeated his older brother cleanly, and in typical Owen fashion, bragged about it. However, Bret Hart got the last laugh as he won the WWF championship later in the night, with Owen standing in jealousy. The feud continued throughout the Spring and Summer of 94, during which Owen won the King of The Ring, following in his older brother's footsteps. He almost won the World championship at a house show, but the decision was reversed due to interferance. The two brothers battled it out in a classic steel cage match at Summerslam, with Bret leaving triumphant. There was still bad blood boiling.
At the 1994 Survivor Series, Owen struck the most damaging blow against his brother as he conned his own mother Helen Hart to throw in the towel for Bret. Owen was at his most manipulative and insincere as he pleaded with her to think of his brother's well-being. The ploy cost Bret the world title to Bob Backlund. And Owen was happy for what he did.
Owen also prevented Bret from regaining the title at the 1995 Royal Rumble when he interfered in the match between Bret and new champion Diesel. In the weeks after the Rumble, Bret and Owen clashed again with Bret soundly defeating his brother, thus putting an end to their feud for the time being.
After that, Owen Hart formed a tag team with Yokozuna, and won the tag team titles on two occassions.
He was later lost in the shuffle when he joined the Camp Cornette stable, with The British Bulldog. Though they did manage to win the tag team gold.
When Bret Hart turned heel, he finally reunited with his brother and brother-in-law, The British Bulldog, to form the Hart Foundation. A month after that, Owen Hart won his first IC title from a young Rock. This made both Owen Hart(Intercontinental and tag team) and British Bulldog(European and tag team) double champions. He was later embroiled in a hot feud with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
During their match at Summerslam, Owen Hart botched a piledriver on The Texas Rattlesnake, and though Austin won with a roll-up, it put him out of action for 3 months, and 6 years later, forced him into retirement.
Owen won the IC title again, and restrated his feud with Austin, which culminated at the 1997 Surivor Series, which Austin won the IC belt and the fued.
For a month, Owen Hart was not seen on TV, due to the Montreal Screwjob, where his brother Bret was screwed out of the title(may it be by Vince or by Bret).
Came back with a new attitude and started a feud with DX, primarilly Triple H. He even won the European Title from him, though lost it back.
Again, with no direction, he later joined the Nation of Domination. During his run with The Nation, he was in a midcard feud with Ken Shamrock, but didn't really go anywhere.
After Summerslam, he was sidelined yet again until he teamed with Jeff Jarrett. Owen and Jeff were long time traveling companions and real life friends, a fact that was reflected in their teamwork as they gelled from day one. The two had Jeff’s manager Debra in their corner. During this time a storyline was proposed that Owen Hart was supposed to have an on-screen affair with Debra, something which Owen turned down, most likely because Owen was such a family man.
After a match in which Owen “accidentally injured" Dan Severn, Owen seemingly quit the WWF. Playing off the legit injury Owen had inflicted on Steve Austin about two years before, the angle blurred the lines between reality and “storyline" enough to make people notice. Yet as soon as Owen “quit", the Blue Blazer appeared in the WWF claiming to in no way be Owen Hart despite it being very obvious who was under the mask.
Unlike the first run of the character, the Blazer was now an overbearing heel. The gimmick was seen by many as punishment(though I think it was an alternative) for Owen refusing the love-triangle storyline proposal but Owen and Jeff made it work in such a comical fashion that it was turning both of them face in the process. To prove that Owen was not the Blazer, he showed up besides the Blue Blazer, figuring that’d put an end to it, until someone asked where Jeff Jarrett was (he was under the mask). In a later attempt to prove that neither Owen nor Jeff was the Blazer, they both appeared next to a man in the Blue Blazer mask; however, it was obvious that a black man was under the mask (Owen’s former partner Koko B. Ware wore the Blazer mask that night).
On January 25, 1999, in the midst of the Blue Blazer angle Owen and Jeff defeated Ken Shamrock and The Big Boss Man for the tag-team titles. This would be Owen's last hoorah.
As we all know, he was set to take on The Godfather at Over The Edge, but the match didn't take place due to a freak accident that lead to his demise. Rumor has it that he was set to win the IC belt.
There were rumors that after Over The Edge, he would ditch the Blue Blazer gimmick and become The Game(which was later used for Triple H), though that never happened.
So all in all, what does that say about Owen's career? The way I see it, he was a good upper-mid-carder who occassionally had brush ups in the Main Event, and World Champion, though was never successful at capturing it. Later in his career, he was just there and fizzled down the card after his feud with DX sizzled out until he was given something to do with the infamous Blue Blazer storyline. He formed a moderately successful tag team with Jeff Jarrett and then later started a feud with The Godfather, that could've lead him to capturing the IC title for the 3rd time, though we all know why that didn't happen.
So in my personal opinon, could he have been World champion? A HUGE maybe, because looking back at his career, I could never see him as a long-term investment, but might've been worthy of a respect title reign. He was good at elevating talent I will give him that. I would say Chris Jericho was on the same level as him, if you get my drift.
I wouldn't mind seeing Owen in the Hall of Fame, though that is likely never to happen because of how Martha Hart feels about what the WWF did, and to be honest, I have no hard feelings towards her for feeling that way.
Your thoughts?
Some on here may sugarcoat him and say he was, while others, who feel like they're more realistic, say he wasn't and never would be. No matter how confident we are in our opinon, its still just an opinon and nothing more. The King of Harts career has had its ups and downs. I'm only familar with his WWE work, so I'll go from there.
Debuts as The Blue Blazer in 1988, though excited the crowd with his aerial moves and unique look, he was used mostly as an enhancement talent. Putting over credible athletes such as Ted Dibiase and Curt Hennig. After that he leaves for Indies.
After working sporadically for WCW, he heads back into the World Wrestling Federation, teaming up with Jim Neidhart and then later Koko B. Ware. Though both teams were "kid friendly", they were never a threat to the tag team division and weren't given a clear direction.
1993 was a quiet year for the younger Hart as he was seldomly featured on TV, and due to his lack of success, there were talks of him leaving the WWF. However, things changed later that year.
At Survivor Series of that year, they're were tension in the Hart Family, as Owen Hart was the only member eliminated on the team, due to Bret Hart accidentally crashing into him. The tension between the two reared its ugly head.
Since Christmas is the time for forgiveness, the two Harts settled their differences and fought The Quebecers for the tag team titles at The Royal Rumble. After stopping the match due to Bret's knee problem, the younger Hart got frustrated and turned on him, officially starting his heel turn, and the most successful portion of his career.
This feud would lead into Wrestlemania X where Owen Hart defeated his older brother cleanly, and in typical Owen fashion, bragged about it. However, Bret Hart got the last laugh as he won the WWF championship later in the night, with Owen standing in jealousy. The feud continued throughout the Spring and Summer of 94, during which Owen won the King of The Ring, following in his older brother's footsteps. He almost won the World championship at a house show, but the decision was reversed due to interferance. The two brothers battled it out in a classic steel cage match at Summerslam, with Bret leaving triumphant. There was still bad blood boiling.
At the 1994 Survivor Series, Owen struck the most damaging blow against his brother as he conned his own mother Helen Hart to throw in the towel for Bret. Owen was at his most manipulative and insincere as he pleaded with her to think of his brother's well-being. The ploy cost Bret the world title to Bob Backlund. And Owen was happy for what he did.
Owen also prevented Bret from regaining the title at the 1995 Royal Rumble when he interfered in the match between Bret and new champion Diesel. In the weeks after the Rumble, Bret and Owen clashed again with Bret soundly defeating his brother, thus putting an end to their feud for the time being.
After that, Owen Hart formed a tag team with Yokozuna, and won the tag team titles on two occassions.
He was later lost in the shuffle when he joined the Camp Cornette stable, with The British Bulldog. Though they did manage to win the tag team gold.
When Bret Hart turned heel, he finally reunited with his brother and brother-in-law, The British Bulldog, to form the Hart Foundation. A month after that, Owen Hart won his first IC title from a young Rock. This made both Owen Hart(Intercontinental and tag team) and British Bulldog(European and tag team) double champions. He was later embroiled in a hot feud with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.
During their match at Summerslam, Owen Hart botched a piledriver on The Texas Rattlesnake, and though Austin won with a roll-up, it put him out of action for 3 months, and 6 years later, forced him into retirement.
Owen won the IC title again, and restrated his feud with Austin, which culminated at the 1997 Surivor Series, which Austin won the IC belt and the fued.
For a month, Owen Hart was not seen on TV, due to the Montreal Screwjob, where his brother Bret was screwed out of the title(may it be by Vince or by Bret).
Came back with a new attitude and started a feud with DX, primarilly Triple H. He even won the European Title from him, though lost it back.
Again, with no direction, he later joined the Nation of Domination. During his run with The Nation, he was in a midcard feud with Ken Shamrock, but didn't really go anywhere.
After Summerslam, he was sidelined yet again until he teamed with Jeff Jarrett. Owen and Jeff were long time traveling companions and real life friends, a fact that was reflected in their teamwork as they gelled from day one. The two had Jeff’s manager Debra in their corner. During this time a storyline was proposed that Owen Hart was supposed to have an on-screen affair with Debra, something which Owen turned down, most likely because Owen was such a family man.
After a match in which Owen “accidentally injured" Dan Severn, Owen seemingly quit the WWF. Playing off the legit injury Owen had inflicted on Steve Austin about two years before, the angle blurred the lines between reality and “storyline" enough to make people notice. Yet as soon as Owen “quit", the Blue Blazer appeared in the WWF claiming to in no way be Owen Hart despite it being very obvious who was under the mask.
Unlike the first run of the character, the Blazer was now an overbearing heel. The gimmick was seen by many as punishment(though I think it was an alternative) for Owen refusing the love-triangle storyline proposal but Owen and Jeff made it work in such a comical fashion that it was turning both of them face in the process. To prove that Owen was not the Blazer, he showed up besides the Blue Blazer, figuring that’d put an end to it, until someone asked where Jeff Jarrett was (he was under the mask). In a later attempt to prove that neither Owen nor Jeff was the Blazer, they both appeared next to a man in the Blue Blazer mask; however, it was obvious that a black man was under the mask (Owen’s former partner Koko B. Ware wore the Blazer mask that night).
On January 25, 1999, in the midst of the Blue Blazer angle Owen and Jeff defeated Ken Shamrock and The Big Boss Man for the tag-team titles. This would be Owen's last hoorah.
As we all know, he was set to take on The Godfather at Over The Edge, but the match didn't take place due to a freak accident that lead to his demise. Rumor has it that he was set to win the IC belt.
There were rumors that after Over The Edge, he would ditch the Blue Blazer gimmick and become The Game(which was later used for Triple H), though that never happened.
So all in all, what does that say about Owen's career? The way I see it, he was a good upper-mid-carder who occassionally had brush ups in the Main Event, and World Champion, though was never successful at capturing it. Later in his career, he was just there and fizzled down the card after his feud with DX sizzled out until he was given something to do with the infamous Blue Blazer storyline. He formed a moderately successful tag team with Jeff Jarrett and then later started a feud with The Godfather, that could've lead him to capturing the IC title for the 3rd time, though we all know why that didn't happen.
So in my personal opinon, could he have been World champion? A HUGE maybe, because looking back at his career, I could never see him as a long-term investment, but might've been worthy of a respect title reign. He was good at elevating talent I will give him that. I would say Chris Jericho was on the same level as him, if you get my drift.
I wouldn't mind seeing Owen in the Hall of Fame, though that is likely never to happen because of how Martha Hart feels about what the WWF did, and to be honest, I have no hard feelings towards her for feeling that way.
Your thoughts?
