Owen Hart as The Game...

[sungod2020]

I've heard reports that if it wasn't for that accident that killed him, he would eventually be repackaged as "The Game" that eventually went to Triple H. That would imply a main event push and possibly a World title run.

Problem is, none of this adds up with what we saw on TV for several reasons. One of them was because even before Owen's death, Triple H was on his way to the main event. You can say the starting point was when he turned on DX at Wrestlemania XV, two months before he died. Also, the youngest Hart was busy in the midcard as tag team champs with long-term buddy Jeff Jarrett and goofing off as The Blue Blazer.

Some have said Owen reprising his role as WWF's resident superhero(this time as a parody) was a punishment for not partaking in an adultery angle, but I saw it more as an alternative. I mean, given Owen's sense of humor, it's not a stretch to say he enjoyed doing it. In the process, he got over and was set to take on The Godfather for the IC championship at Over the Edge. I wouldn't be surprised if he eventually became a face so they can sell some masks.

Also, there were reports that he was afraid to do the stunt of lowering from the rafters and if he didn't do it, he'd be released from his contract. The problem with that is, it's said that he was suppose to win the IC championship that night which would come off as a reward for getting the gimmick over. That would also imply they had some sort of plans for him afterwards, stunt or no stunt. I mean, did he ever speak out on it?

If they really terminated him for not wanting to do the stunt, he had a ready made lawsuit there by suing the company for wrongful termination under the threat of working unsafe conditions. Given how the F had media backlash with all the content they were dishing out at the time, I can only image this only adding fuel to the fire. 

Also, it's been said that after Bret Hart defected to WCW (albeit somewhat forcibly), he would've followed suit if it wasn't for being stuck in his contract. From there, he was just going through the motions of his run until his came up, and then become a teacher or firefighter so he dosen't have to be on the road anymore and spend time with his family.


Why invest in a guy who's not going to be around much longer, who you threatened to fire(despite being set to win the IC title), with a main event push? None of this adds up.

Your thoughts on the subject matter?

[corndog]

None of this adds up at all. I heard there was pressure on Owen to do the stunt, but I don't think there was a threat of releasing him from contract since it would be an empty threat. Even without a lawsuit, Owen could have easily gone to WCW or back to New Japan and probably making similar, if not more money and probably work less dates. I also remember Bret saying he wanted Owen to come to WCW, but Vince wouldn't release him.

I definitely don't see Owen getting the Game gimmick either, that doesn't fit him at all and as you said, Owen didn't plan on wrestling forever. He wanted to make enough money to retire and spend time with his family. Although Bret felt Owen loved wrestling too much to leave it forever, he could have easily found a gig or even signed a part time contract with WWE or somewhere else where he just works TV.

I completely forgot he was fighting for the IC title that night and I could see him winning that. As far as the Blue Blazer gimmick, I think Owen was having fun with it. Interesting fact, after Owen left the WWF the first time when he competed as the Blue Blazer, he did a one off mask vs mask match in Mexico where he wrestled as the Blue Blazer, and lost the match before going to WCW.

[jason1980s]

I think your statement "none of this adds up" can be applied to so many tragedies in the world and wrestling too. We will probably never know all of what really happened backstage. What was discussed about a push or potential firing was most likely only known to those who passed (Owen, maybe Pat Patterson), those you can't really trust (Vince) and those you might be able to trust sometimes but not when it comes to something negative about WWF/WWE/Vince (Bruce, HHH). We don't have Owen or Pat's side, Vince would never comment and Bruce and HHH would both say the plan was for HHH to the Game all along and yet you can't really trust them-though I think they would be telling the truth.

HHH came back from the Curtain Call incident better and stronger in many ways. I am not a fan at all but and think his peak was mid card but as far as having the strength to bounce back, I think it's cool of him and the previous 2+ years have seen him rise to higher things in WWF. Owen on the other hand probably saw his best days 1994-1996. Possibly 1997 that he was more of an extra in the Austin/Bret feud. So I don't think it's illogical that big things were planned for HHH rather than Owen.

I think WWF should have faced lawsuits so many times for wrongful termination (Jim Ross for one or two or three) but WWF has been Teflon for many years. Very little sticks. I personally think Vince should have not only been put out of business for Owen's death but he always comes out clean no matter what he does so I'm sure he would have had no problem firing Owen the minute he walked back to the dressing room after a match if he refused the stunt. Also Bret wasn't exactly setting the WCW world on fire so Vince had no worries about Owen going there and getting over huge.

Lastly, I've heard two different scenarios about the Blazer gimmick. The most common story is it was used as a demotion for refusing an angle with Debra and I've also heard Owen suggested it in attempt to appease WWF and go in a different direction than a raunchy storyline. Also, the Blazer gimmick was brought back in late 1998 before any teaming with Jarrett so the seeds of bringing back the Blazer had already been planted though not sure if that was Owen or WWF's idea. I'm guessing WWF's just to add some embarrassment to Owen.

Edit: the biggest "what if" is what if Owen never did the Blazer gimmick in the first place in WWF and I think he did it to be a different character apart from a Hart family member. If he had come in on his own I 100% believe the gimmick never returns and he lives.

[fw91]

Am I wrong in saying that a lot of this “Owen would have been world champ if not for the accident” is revisionist thinking to help celebrate his life after such a horrific tragedy?

[James Fabiano]

May 26, 2021 12:34:53 GMT -5 fw91 said:

Am I wrong in saying that a lot of this “Owen would have been world champ if not for the accident” is revisionist thinking to help celebrate his life after such a horrific tragedy?

Given how no one in the mains wanted to work with him for reasons personal or political, yeah, I can't see it.

I see "The Game" thing being the same, something made up to make it look like they appreciated him.

If he had been still alive, maybe he'd get a thank-you reign when Austin and such were gone. Either with the WWE title or, more likely, the WHC.

[Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)]

May 26, 2021 12:34:53 GMT -5 fw91 said:

Am I wrong in saying that a lot of this “Owen would have been world champ if not for the accident” is revisionist thinking to help celebrate his life after such a horrific tragedy?

Yeah, I kind of always looked at it that way as well

Owen was great and that's not to say he couldn't have had a career renaissance but his best chance to win the title was against his brother and they never pulled the trigger. Owen was a very solid hand but at that point in his career I didn't see it happening. It wasn't a Eddie situation when he was already champ before and they were talking about putting in on him again before he tragically died

[SkullTrauma]

The only "source" there ever was for the Owen=game rumor was some rando editing IMDb. There has never been anything to it.

[Deleted]

“The Game” wasn’t even a gimmick. It was just a nickname. It was a line Triple H used in a sit down interview with Jim Ross in July 1999 I want to say on Sunday Night Heat that caught on and he started using it as a nickname.

[Jaws the Shark]

May 26, 2021 12:34:53 GMT -5 fw91 said:

Am I wrong in saying that a lot of this “Owen would have been world champ if not for the accident” is revisionist thinking to help celebrate his life after such a horrific tragedy?

No, the whole thing is an urban legend and is absolute bollocks. He was on the way out and from what I understand probably would've seen out his contract and then retired, they weren't going to throw their weight behind someone who wasn't a long-term prospect and who - no disrespect to him because I'm a big fan - had peaked with a six-month main event run five years earlier.

[The Ichi]

Much as I loved Owen, the only way I could see him getting a World Title run is if he stuck around long enough for the ECW brand.

[fw91]

May 26, 2021 14:15:39 GMT -5 Jaws the Shark said:

May 26, 2021 12:34:53 GMT -5 fw91 said:

Am I wrong in saying that a lot of this “Owen would have been world champ if not for the accident” is revisionist thinking to help celebrate his life after such a horrific tragedy?

No, the whole thing is an urban legend and is absolute bollocks. He was on the way out and from what I understand probably would've seen out his contract and then retired, they weren't going to throw their weight behind someone who wasn't a long-term prospect and who - no disrespect to him because I'm a big fan - had peaked with a six-month main event run five years earlier.

Not to mention, he wasn’t close to the popularity of the big time attitude era players.

[kingoftheindies]

I've heard The Game rumor for Owen before but I've heard two different stories.

1 was that yeah in the summer of 99 Owen would have transitioned from Blue Blazer back to Owen calling himself The Game as IC champ.

But ive also heard when he returned after Montreal they were trying to get The Game nickname to stick in 97/98 but it didnt. Not sure if either is true.

Also for anybody who hadn't read Bret's book he said becoming the Blue Blazer again was Owen's idea because he thought it would be a good counter to how raunchy the attitude Era got

[mattyy]

May 26, 2021 15:40:33 GMT -5 kingoftheindies said:

I've heard The Game rumor for Owen before but I've heard two different stories.

1 was that yeah in the summer of 99 Owen would have transitioned from Blue Blazer back to Owen calling himself The Game as IC champ.

But ive also heard when he returned after Montreal they were trying to get The Game nickname to stick in 97/98 but it didnt. Not sure if either is true.

Also for anybody who hadn't read Bret's book he said becoming the Blue Blazer again was Owen's idea because he thought it would be a good counter to how raunchy the attitude Era got

The only nicknames he really used then were "Black Hart" and other plays on the "Black Sheep" trope.

[chronocross]

I liked Owen a lot but never bought into that rumor at all.

[Alice Syndrome]

May 26, 2021 14:15:39 GMT -5 Jaws the Shark said:

May 26, 2021 12:34:53 GMT -5 fw91 said:

Am I wrong in saying that a lot of this “Owen would have been world champ if not for the accident” is revisionist thinking to help celebrate his life after such a horrific tragedy?

No, the whole thing is an urban legend and is absolute bollocks. He was on the way out and from what I understand probably would've seen out his contract and then retired, they weren't going to throw their weight behind someone who wasn't a long-term prospect and who - no disrespect to him because I'm a big fan - had peaked with a six-month main event run five years earlier.

The only way I see him even staying on at the end of his contract is the prospect of another year or two working with the Radicalz when they came in.

Even then, he probably peaces out during or after the Invasion unless Bret is somehow both healthy and willing to work with Vince again.

[petef3]

Weird as it may sound, it honestly wouldn't surprise me at all if Owen were to jump to TNA. He was tight with Jarrett and the cushy schedule (maybe a few shows per month, almost all in Tennessee or Florida--he probably could have brought his family with him for weekend shots or summer shots to boot) might have appealed to him. Being an ex-WWF guy he doubtless would have gotten a fat contract with maybe additional perks like his hotel and flight paid for, too.

I can't find it now, but there's an article with Owen discussing his future plans and he mentions that even after letting his contract expire and leaving the WWF, he would still consider hopping over to Japan a couple of times a year. So he wasn't committed to severing himself from the business entirely even if his days as a full-timer might have been over.

[Deleted]

May 26, 2021 17:00:24 GMT -5 chronocross said:

I liked Owen a lot but never bought into that rumor at all.

HHH denied it, too. But HHH denies a lot of things and lingual ain't one of them!

[Cranjis McBasketball]

I dunno but I think people are always picturing this wrong. Like Owen would start wearing denim and leather and come out to Motörhead. He would just have taken the nickname The Game. It fits Owen perfectly fine.

Whether or not it was gonna happen, I don’t know, I think Prichard has shot it down.

[sungod2020]

May 26, 2021 17:32:03 GMT -5 Cranjis McBasketball said:

I dunno but I think people are always picturing this wrong. Like Owen would start wearing denim and leather and come out to Motörhead. He would just have taken the nickname The Game. It fits Owen perfectly fine.

Whether or not it was gonna happen, I don’t know, I think Prichard has shot it down.

I think he might've been able to pull it off. The closest he came to having that kind of character was when he returned as a Black Hart in late 97.



Still, there was no indication that he was headed in that direction. Assuming he won the IC title at OTE, he would've held it for a month or two(which was the trend around the time), while reverting to either revering back to regular Owen or trade it a couple of times with Edge, Dlo Brown, and eventually Chyna(as Jeff Jarrett did), in fact, Jarrett's 1999 push might as well have been a result of Owen's death. 

From what I remember, Owen's contract was suppose to expire in December of that year, so it dosen't really give much time to do anything significant between May of that year to when his contract was up. That's all assuming he dosen't renew it. If he did, MAYBE he would get a thank you WWF title run in the early 2000s, but the main event scene then was pretty crowded(Austin, Rock, Triple H, Undertaker, Angle, Kane and Big Show at times) that I don't know where Owen would fit in the fix. 

You can say once the brand split occurs he could have a WHC run, but was he really willing to stick around that much longer for that to be a possibility? Even though you can't prove what never happened, the most logical conclusion is he'd have one last hurrah with the Blazer/IC title run, then once he loses it, tries to reclaim it a couple of times before quietly jobbing out the door. Again, this is from what little we have to go by, so don't take it to heart as it's just my observational opinion.

[cjh]

May 26, 2021 11:26:25 GMT -5 corndog said:

None of this adds up at all. I heard there was pressure on Owen to do the stunt, but I don't think there was a threat of releasing him from contract since it would be an empty threat. Even without a lawsuit, Owen could have easily gone to WCW or back to New Japan and probably making similar, if not more money and probably work less dates. I also remember Bret saying he wanted Owen to come to WCW, but Vince wouldn't release him.

I definitely don't see Owen getting the Game gimmick either, that doesn't fit him at all and as you said, Owen didn't plan on wrestling forever. He wanted to make enough money to retire and spend time with his family. Although Bret felt Owen loved wrestling too much to leave it forever, he could have easily found a gig or even signed a part time contract with WWE or somewhere else where he just works TV.

I completely forgot he was fighting for the IC title that night and I could see him winning that. As far as the Blue Blazer gimmick, I think Owen was having fun with it. Interesting fact, after Owen left the WWF the first time when he competed as the Blue Blazer, he did a one off mask vs mask match in Mexico where he wrestled as the Blue Blazer, and lost the match before going to WCW.

As far as I know, Owen was supposed to win it.  Instead, they had Jeff Jarrett beat Godfather the next week on Raw.