Owen Hart's run with The Nation

[Sephiroth]

I know it is probably in bad taste to mock an angle Owen Hart was involved in, given the tragic manner in which he left this world, but nonetheless part of me questions his whole involvement with The Nation.
Let me explain: The Nation had previously been booked as a sort of black supremacist group. They had dropped any white members of the group, and The Rock had been made out to be the leader following Farooq's exodus. But then out of nowhere, Owen Hart became a member and the unofficial second in command. It seemed kind of random to me, and did not make sense for a group of men who were supposed to be prejudiced against caucasians to suddenly welcome a white guy with open arms. Granted, it did set up the whole Nation vs. DX feud which brought us some truly classic moments such as The Rock vs. Triple H and DX parodying The Nation. But nonetheless, this was a real out of nowhere moment that seemed rather out of place.
Feel free to add or subtract as you see fit.

[Deleted]

wasn't he in because he was the "Black Hart" or something to that effect?

[Dean-o]

At that time, I saw The Nation are social outcasts, which explained why Owen was in it.

[Evilution E5150]

wasnt it that they were his new family that wouldnt desert him of something?

[chunkylover53]

While Owen Hart didn't fit in The Nation, when The Rock took over the group, they dropped the Black militant aspect of it and we're becoming more about being hip, so that version wasn't based on discrimination, plus Owen needed allies in his feud with Triple H and DX(which I noticed was a double turn).

[johnnyk9]

Enough was Enough and it was time for a change I loved Owen in the nation, I feel it made him fresh again after a horrible face run, and he gained a lot of momentem over the next year

[Milkman Norm]

Mar 21, 2010 14:44:04 GMT -5 Sephiroth said:

I know it is probably in bad taste to mock an angle Owen Hart was involved in, given the tragic manner in which he left this world, but nonetheless part of me questions his whole involvement with The Nation.
Let me explain: The Nation had previously been booked as a sort of black supremacist group. They had dropped any white members of the group, and The Rock had been made out to be the leader following Farooq's exodus. But then out of nowhere, Owen Hart became a member and the unofficial second in command. It seemed kind of random to me, and did not make sense for a group of men who were supposed to be prejudiced against caucasians to suddenly welcome a white guy with open arms. Granted, it did set up the whole Nation vs. DX feud which brought us some truly classic moments such as The Rock vs. Triple H and DX parodying The Nation. But nonetheless, this was a real out of nowhere moment that seemed rather out of place.
Feel free to add or subtract as you see fit.

As prevously said the Nation 3.0 was not NoI parody like the Nation 2.0 was, or a gang like nation 1.0. It was more just away to try to give The Rock a further rub before setting him free. The most interesting thing to me about Owen in the nation is how the heat was transfered from Bret/Shawn to Owen/Shawn to Owen/HHH to Nation/DX to Rock/HHH culminating in the Ladder Match at Summerslam 98 which took both Rock and HHH from really high upper mid card guys to guys you could see being mega-star top of the promotion guys.

[Lance Uppercut]

Maybe the Rock follows the Dave Chappelle rule of thumb for protection. Always keep one white around in a group of black guys cause you know he did some crazy crap to get their respect.

[agent817]

What's funny about Owen's run in The Nation was the fact that a lot of the members were going their own paths. Rock was becoming a main eventer during the fall of that year, D'Lo and Henry were the only remnants of the Nation who still seemed to wear the Nation tights or even have the Nation name on the titantron. Godfather became the pimp character that got him over. Owen was given a stupid retirement angle after supposedly injuring Dan Severn (I am not sure if he really did injure the guy like he did with Austin, but that piledriver still looked brutal). Then came back and feuded with Steve Blackman. Hell, the only guys who he feuded with during the remainder of his Nation run were not members of DX but Ken Shamrock, and Dan Severn was even part of that angle. It seemed odd how he was the only white guy in The Nation at the time.

[Madagascar Fred]

hell nah he fit in perfectly, loved the Nation after The Rock took over, plus we had some really cool Rock/Owen tag matches (vs. Outlaws, vs. Austin & Taker, vs. Kane & Mankind, vs. HHH & X-Pac)

[Matt Dunn]

It was natural because of his (kayfabe?) hatred toward Triple H and DX.

[Madman Szalinski]

The Nation as a whole could be an induction.

Because when you think black supremacists, you think PG-13, Kona Crush and Savio Vega.

[Matt Dunn]

Apr 11, 2010 10:22:01 GMT -5 Madman Szalinski said:

The Nation as a whole could be an induction.

Because when you think black supremacists, you think PG-13, Kona Crush and Savio Vega.

True. The Rock's Nation (and even a few months prior with the inclusion of Kama and D'Lo being no longer anonymous) was pretty much a reboot.

[kidglov3s]

I really disliked his attire when he was in the nation. That black and yellow bumblebee "Danger" stuff was a big thing in causing me to lose interest in wrestling as a whole, I think. Owen should have never dropped the pink and black.

[Matt Dunn]

You lost your interest due to ring attire?

[kidglov3s]

I don't think it was like a conscious thing, like "OMG they changed Owen's ring attire, they can go to hell!". I stopped watching in early-mid 1998. A lot was changing back then, among the changes were Owen's ring attire. Which I still think look awful. I don't remember consciously not watching because of that, but I had always really liked his attire from 1994 on, it always seemed to get better and then they make him look like a bumblebee.

[Mr. Zombie]

I think that Owen thought it was pretty funny to be the only white Canadian guy in a black militant group.

[navajomartian]

I completely sided with Owen. He was 100% right about DX but it was the Attitude era and in bizarro world the one's that acted like dickheads were super babyfaces.

[Screwball: Master of KA-RA-TAY]

Apr 12, 2010 12:01:26 GMT -5 kidglov3s said:

I don't think it was like a conscious thing, like "OMG they changed Owen's ring attire, they can go to hell!". I stopped watching in early-mid 1998. A lot was changing back then, among the changes were Owen's ring attire. Which I still think look awful. I don't remember consciously not watching because of that, but I had always really liked his attire from 1994 on, it always seemed to get better and then they make him look like a bumblebee.

His awful ring attire was worth it when Jason Sensation parodied Owen during the DX skit.

"I LOOK LIKE A DAMN ROAD SIGN!"

In all seriousness, the idea of the Nation being a black supremest group disappeared when Ron Simmons left the Nation, and they subtly dropped "of Domination" from the name of the group. I still believe they token explained it as Owen being prejudiced against because of his last name and the baggage that came with being a Hart family member in post-screwjob WWF.