Owen Hart

[jpchicago23]

Easily one of my favorite guys of all time. He probably gets more love because of his death, which a lot of people do but i loved Owen, especially as a heel. His matches with Bret and Bulldog were always good. His match with Liger in 90 or 89 was really good. I personally loved him as a tag worker. Havent seen too much of High energy but i really liked his teams with Yoko and DBS and the Jarrett team was actually pretty good too. I always thought he was a great dick head heel and got the most out of every opponent. He had a great match with a small guy like Kid and then worked a great almost shoot style with Shamrock. His feud in 94 with Bret is one of my all time favorite feuds and most of it as because of him. I havent seen his Calgary stuff though so if there's anything worth checking out would someone chime in

[Exposer]

Owen was tremendous on as the Blue Blazer in '88 WWF too. He has several really good matches with a variety guys like Valentine, Horowitz, and totally carries Terry Taylor in one match.

[jpchicago23]

Wow, how long was that run? i only ever remember seeing the Perfect match from Mania. I didnt realize he had an extended run as that character.

[Exposer]

A year or so. Spring of 88 to middle of 89. Maybe longer. He wrestled tons of openers on MSG, Boston, and Spectrum cards and such.

[Jingus]

For a guy who's in what may be my favorite match ever (Mania X), Owen has surprisingly few masterpieces that I can name. He's done several metric fucktons of fun three-star midcard filler, yet he seemed like he wasn't quite ready to be a top guy. Although I'd argue Owen is a better mechanic than Bret (and with better talking and facials, too), Owen seemed like he was just missing something to be The Guy. Maybe that's a trickle-down effect of Vince's reported lack of confidence in Owen as a top guy, it often showed in the booking. He would have benefited from being in a more heel-friendly promotion where his size wasn't an issue. Imagine 1994-era Owen transported back to 1984 and put to work for Watts or Crockett, he'd have a decent shot at being world champ.

[jpchicago23]

While he may not have the masterpieces he does have a great body of work like you said. I think his style mixed with just about anybody and he was very versatile as a tag and singles wrestler. I would've loved for him to go to WCW with Bret and face guys like Jericho, Rey, Eddie, Benoit, Regal, etc.

[El-P]

I would've loved for him to go to WCW with Bret and face guys like Jericho, Rey, Eddie, Benoit, Regal, etc.

Me too. And would probably not have died either. Main guys I would have liked to see in WCW instead of WWF during this period were Owen, Snow and Scorpio.

[flyonthewall2983]

I always thought if he had stayed alive (promise this is the only time I'll bring it up), he would have had a great run with Eddie. Not just matches, but a good on-camera rivalry that WWE could still produce then.

[jpchicago23]

Fuck, Snow and Scorp would have rocked it in the mid card WCW scene. I would have liked to have seen Taka and the M-Pro guys go there too

[El-P]

I would have liked to have seen Taka and the M-Pro guys go there too

Damn, of course. I always forget these guys were in the WWF in 98. But that's because my brain wants to forget about it. TAKA vs Rey, vs Eddie, vs Juvy. Same for Togo... Argh !!

[jpchicago23]

Did we just fantasy book the best mid card ever?

[Childs]

Owen was a great talent who didn't have that deep yearning to be an all-time great. That's not a knock on him. Actually, it means he was more sane than most guys on his level, including Bret.

[anarchistxx]

I think that's the most tragic part of Owen's young death: he only saw it as a job, for him it wasn't a matter of life and death at all.

[Loss]

Owen prior to 1994 hasn't aged well at all based on yearbooks. He comes across as less of a wrestler and more of a gymnast. I'm a big fan from 1994-1996, though.

[jpchicago23]

Owen prior to 1994 hasn't aged well at all based on yearbooks. He comes across as less of a wrestler and more of a gymnast. I'm a big fan from 1994-1996, though.

 

Yea i can see how someone would look at it that way. It almost comes across as a bad form of lucha which is even worse when you've seen good lucha. I still think his match with Liger was good though. I heard his Calgary stuff with Pillman was good too

[ZThomas]

It was a miscarriage of justice that he didn't go on and face Shawn at RR '98 instead of "Taker. When he attacked Shawn at DX IYH and the promos after everyone was ready for him to be the Vengeful babyface taking up for his brother.

 

Owen was one of those guys that didnt have to put much effort into being a good worker, it came natural. I think for him & Bret being the brothers, they where completely different workers.

[Mini Bennett]

Anyone a fan of Owen's run with Jim Neidhart as the new Hart Foundation?

 

I've always thought Owen would have been an awesome utility player in 2000 era WWF. Mick had just retired and there seemed to be an opening there. So many potential great matches: Rock came into his own as a worker around that time and it was probably Triple H's peak period as a performer, IMO. Seeing Owen lead Kurt Angle around that time could have interesting. Owen-Eddie, Owen-Jericho and even Owen-Rikishi are all intriguing options. Austin, Taker and Benoit rematches. Fuuuck...

[Dylan Waco]

I fucking loved the New Foundation when I went back and watched some WWF stuff in bulk several years back.

[El-P]

I loved the New Foundation back then. If only for their ridiculous look. Last time I re-watched NF vs Orient Express from RR 92, it had aged really well.

[Mini Bennett]

Really wish they gave the New Foundation a big run with the tag titles. That would have been a lot of fun.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Was looking for something random to watch. I am a huge mark for Shawn's original run a part of DX. It is one of my favorite heel runs and it is a shame Shawn did not play heel more often in his career as he was really good at it. I would presume if he did not injure his back that Shawn/Owen would have been second-string angle behind Austin/Vince throughout the Summer of '98. Well, I was scrolling through some late '97 RAW results to see if Shawn matches piqued my interested. I saw that he had a match with Owen that went 10 mins. I have seen all the storyline portions, but never the in-ring.

 

This match was pretty friggin good for the time allotted. Owen cast as the Avenging Babyface is kinda miscast, but given what just happens it is so real it works. The reason is a miscast is that Owen is not a violent wrestler. He does a very good job in the beginning, but occasionally he does a get a little lazy with his punches. Shawn is a great guy to put this all over to make Owen look better than he is at it. There is a perfect transition spot where Chyna hooks the leg and Shawn shoves him off the apron Owen takes the Pillman bump. What I love about Shawn's character at this point is that he does not really want to beat the living shit out of his opponent he just wants to survive. I love a good blood feud and I know that on this board a 10 minute hate-filled match where both guys are beating the piss out of each other is over like rover. What I like about Shawn's character at this point as he antagonizes the babyface to the point where they want to kick ever loving shit out of him and the crowd sure wants that to happen to. But Shawn gives two shits if he beats the shit out of his opponent. He just wants to survive and win. It is a cool wrinkle in his matches with the Undertaker.

 

Shawn is desperate to finish off Owen with anything including a nice piledriver, a wicked DDT and even a sleeper to sap Owen's energy. Owen's comeback is less violent and just the usual WWF comeback where the babyface hits his moves in rapid succession. I love Owen's Belly-To-Belly. Hunter uses the crutch and gets Shawn DQ'd. Kliq beatdown.

 

The finish sucks. The more inventive finish is that Shawn actually manages to piss Owen off with some comment so much that Owen gets himself disqualified by being too violent. Thus Shawn actually goads Owen into saving Shawn's title. Alas it is just fantasy booking and the Kliq never miss a good opportunity to put heat on themselves...fun match, only 10 mins, check it out if you are looking for something random.

[Sidebottom]

1994 - 1997 was a real golden era for wrestling for me, and obviously Owen Hart was a huge part of that period. Matches against 123 Kid, Bret Hart, Scott Hall still hold up to this day, he really was marvelous.

[JerryvonKramer]

I don't plan for this to be a particularly deep dive on Owen, just a little refresher to remind me of why I like him, and if I still do.

 

Blue Blazer vs. Akeem (1/13/89)

 

From Boston Gardens. I have a soft spot for Akeem, spent so many hours laughing at his dancing and faces. We have a weird commentary team here: Superstar Graham, Lord Alfred Hayes and Rod Tronguard. I like the way Graham says "Lord" like it is Lord Al's first name.

 

Thought I'd sneak in some more OMG here too, for Matt. Laughing my ass off currently as he stands like a teapot. Akeem was just so ridiculous! He comedy antics are particularly funny during this match. I think he had a whale of a time doing that gimmick.

 

This was an extended squash really, Blazer was quite jobberific here. Jive Soul Bro baby.

 

*1/2

 

Blue Blazer vs. Mr. Perfect (5/8/89)

 

I wonder who is going over here. Ha ha. Meadowlands. Tony Schiavone on commentary with Lord Al. Poor old Lord Al, I wonder how many of these cards he had to sit through.

 

Owen surprises Perfect early with a European uppercut and a move off the top. Perfect retaliates. You know, Mr. Perfect's offense really was shit. I hate that flying mare and that weird knee lift he does. It's so light as offense. It's like none of his moveset has impact. Apart from the one reverse knife edge he does.

 

Abdominal stretch by Perfect. Light kicks to the face. He's like a fencer in a way, all finesse. Blazer gets another little bunch of hope spots now with some drop kicks. Another uppercut. Sends Perfect down. Fist from the top and ...

 

1, 2, 3. Three! What the fuck! No, surely not.

 

No the ref made a mistake. Foot was on the ropes. Is that old Woerhle there? Nah. Great backbreaker by Blazer. Missile drop kick. Runs into Perfect's boot. Hot shot by Perfect. Perfectplex. And that's all she wrote.

 

Well this was really effectively worked in the end. Match was poor when Perfect was on top because he just.has.no.offense. But when Blazer took over and Perfect started his insane bumping, the match was a lot better for it. Like an advanced Sam Houston narrative for this one. Enjoyable.

 

***

 

High Energy vs. Money Inc. (7/20/92)

 

Let's see how he locks up with my boy Ted. This is from Prime Time, Gorilla and Lord Al on commentary. Weirdly, Ted comes out without the suit here, he's already in his tights. I wonder what the story was there. I reckon he forgot the suit or something. Don't think I've ever seen him come out without the suit before. Jimmy Hart in their corner at this point, and they are tag champs. Gorilla and Lord Al note that IRS doesn't cut his pre-match promo either. Money Inc all business tonight clearly.

 

Ted and Owen to start. Arm drag and a beauty by Ted. Excellent character work by him too. Another arm drag. Weird for him to be doing them, babyface move as far as I'm concerned. A third and Ted is jawing the crowd. Consummate heel, the best.

 

DiBiase jaws the crowd more, he's very pleased with himself for dominating the young Owen. Dropkick by Owen. Hiplock on IRS. Money Inc. bail. Such total heels. Crowd bust out the "Irwin" chant. Why did IRS always look like he hadn't slept?

 

Him in and Koko in now. Koko shakes his ample rear. Classic cheating from Money Inc now. So cheap. Ted in. Elbow smash. IRS in, backbreaker. Oh yes, the classic IRS front facelock now. Ted in with a double ax-handle from the second rope. Wow, he doesn't hit that often.

 

IRS goes for a suplex on Koko but it gets reversed. Hot tag to Owen. Big back drop. Clothesline by Owen. 360 bump over the top by Ted. Briefcase shot by IRS to the back of Owen's head. Ted rolls in for the very cheapest of count out wins. Ha ha.

 

Everything DiBiase did in this match was really good. Been a while since I'd watched him. Owen was also good. Irwin wasn't allowed to sit in any of his holds for long, which was a good thing. Very enjoyable Money Inc title defence. A bit baffled by 1. Ted coming out with no suit, 2. Him doing arm drags at the start, 3. Why High Energy weren't eating a pinfall here.

 

**1/2

 

Owen Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (11/20/95)

 

I want to see more of Owen on offense, which I'm not going to see from his JTTS days. Can't think of a better person to let me see a showcase of his offense than Shawn. I might hate him, but HBK is one of the best sellers of all time. God do I hate him though. In full playboy babyface mode here with Vince virtually jizzing in his pants on commentary.

 

This is the night after a Survivor Series. Mr. Fuji is on the outside. That's a late appearance for him. Fast pace sequence to start. Owen bails after losing out and Shawn struts. Booooooo! Booooooo! Ha ha.

 

Full arm drag and twist by Shawn. Vince has already said "whattamanoeuvre" about fifteen times. Got to laugh. I've always maintained that Vince was a slightly different commentator in 1995 than he was in the mid-late 80s. Generally just throatier.

 

Beautiful backbreaker by Owen. Top five backbreaker in the business, can only think of Eaton and Billy Robinson who do it better. Nice suplex. I really do like Owen, classic wrestler. Of the sort I have always gravitated towards. "Devastating manoeuvre" by Owen. Neckbreaker. Clothesline. Loving this. Playing out as I'd hoped and Owen is an excellent offensive worker. Shawn is a bump machine of course.

 

Ha ha. There was a bit of dead air when no one said anything and Vince filled it by saying "unbelievable" apropos of nothing. Very funny.

 

I've just spotted that Corny is there too. Shawn starts his comeback now. Slam. Elbow from the top. Owen kicks out at two. Lawler is pretty annoying on commentary. He's in his chirpy mode here. I'd still probably take this version over the current dead behind the eyes one though.

 

Shawn appears to have collapsed in the ring. Owen isn't sure what to do. Ref checks him. Vince comes off commentary and goes to check on him. Dude with a respirator comes out. What happened? Seemingly nothing, he just got up and was dazed and collapsed.

 

This is a full stretcher job. JJ Dillon is there. Lawler comes out from commentary. Pat Patterson comes down and tries to talk to him. A girl in the crowd is crying. This is one of the all-time well worked angles of this type. In fact, I'd only really put Dibiase's stretcher job and trip to the hospital after taking the piledrivers from Gordy in GCW in the same conversation with it (with Solie putting in some terrific work that night).

 

As for the match before it, really very solid. Owen looked fantastic on offense and that plays to Shawn's strengths. His acting in the angle is tremendous too. As was Pat Patterson's. Very very well worked stuff

 

***

 

Owen Hart vs. Hiroshi Hase (1/4/88)

 

Let's see him against another of my boys, Hase. This is my first look at Hase in the 80s too. I still have the 80s NJ set to finish. I'm glad to see Hase still has his cheesy tache even in 1988.

 

Obligatory matwork to start. Slam by Hase. Elbow from the top rope. Amateur takedown by Owen. Back to the mat. A lot of parity in this match so far.

 

Hase works the arm. I've just noticed that he appears to be wearing socks and trainers and not boots. Sort it out Hase. Wrestlers should wear boots not socks. This is going to be distracting as I try to get a closer look to see if they are just weird boots or socks. It's the small things that matter. Ha ha.

 

Kick by Hase. Kip up by Owen. Series of counters. This is all a bit amateur mat-based for my tastes. Hase continues to work the same arm. He never has anything less than 100% laser focus. He might have the most consistent psychology of any worker.

 

They start with the strikes now. Awesome. Uppercuts by Owen. Hase gets vocal. Belly to belly by him now. Gut buster by Owen. Kick to the chest. Hase tries a cheeky inside cradle. Reverse chinlock by Owen. European uppercut. Savate kick by Hase. Belly to back suplex. Owen counters a second. Belly to belly by him now. That sweet sweet backbreaker now. But he loses his footing on the top rope. Hase capitalises. Flapjack. Bridge up. Backslide. German by Owen. Two only. Lariat by Hase. Northern lights suplex gets the three.

 

Pretty hot little match up. Probably a bit too much parity and "your turn, my turn", but both guys are great offensive workers and both guys were great bumpers, so it's a very easy watch.

 

***

 

Owen Hart vs. 123 Kid (8/15/94)

 

I want to see more of Owen dominating on offense, and this match I expect will help out. This is around the time of the Luger / Tatanka / DiBiase deal and there's a bit of that on the footage as Vince gives us his throatiest possible "Monday night RAWwwwwww". Savage is there too. Late appearance for him. This is in Lowell, Mass.

 

God, 1994 WWF TV was noisy. Owen comes out Jim Neidhart. What's that music? Awful. He's still rocking the King of Harts gimmick. 123 Kid is so skinny.

 

Spin kick by him to start. Owen misses a splash in the corner. We settle into a headlock by Kid. Owen reverses into a headscissors. Backslide. That entire sequence could have been Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr. Reverse chinlock by Owen. A lot more counters and things in this than one might expect. Double kip up. Kid dropkicks Owen into Neidhart.

 

Action has gone outside. Series of back shots to the post by Owen. He's targeting the back. That patented backbreaker now. Man that backbreaker is good. Uppercut. Kid is fantastic at hitting the turnbuckle and collapsing, that's a difficult spot to get right. Owen continues to dominate now. Sunset flip by Kid. Just a hope spot. Neckbreaker and a beauty by Owen. Misses a move from the top. He's hurt his knees on the landing. Absolutely stupendous selling of the hurt knee by Owen. Very believable. Misses an inzaguri. Half crab by Kid. Neidhart has seen enough. Clotheslines Kid. Blatant DQ. Earl Hebner gets in his face.

 

The New Foundation kick the shit out of Kid now. Sharpshooter by Owewn. Vince is calling for fines and suspensions. Several refs in the ring. Won't release the hold. Owen is still selling that leg.

 

Tremendously executed match up and post-match angle. More or less perfectly worked by both guys. Very weird booking though if Owen was just about to face Bret at Summerslam. Common sense says put him over clean here.

 

***3/4

 

Owen Hart vs. Flash Funk (2/17/97)

 

Flash Funk was a pretty offensive gimmick. But I've only just realised it was a prototype for The Godfather. I just want to take time out to say how much I loved 2 Cold's WCW theme. Much funkier than this lame ass theme.

 

Scorpio looks very chunky in the Flash Funk gear. Two hip tosses blocked. Double dropkicks. A representative of ECW is on the phone for King. It's Paul Heyman. It's amazing to watch Lawler morph from shitty annoying commentator Lawler to Memphis Lawler as he works this angle with Paul E. "The Manhattan centre is an arena not a bingo hall like you're used to working in!" Good line.

 

British Bulldog has come down. I've missed most of this match with the Heyman stuff. That's crash TV for you. German by Owen gets two. Leg drop.

 

Oh god, interview from Austin now. Are you going to let me watch this match Russo or what? Elbow drop from Owen. Great little promo from Austin, if a bit catchphrase heavy. This is really TV for someone with ADHD.

 

Flying crossbody by Flash Funk. Splash in the corner. Moonsault. Owen kicks out. Bulldog hits Flash coming in for an Irish whip and holds his leg down as Owen pins him.

 

I can't really rate this because I didn't get to see it.

 

That'll do for now.

[Scarlet-Left]

I've always liked Owen. Interestingly, he was my favourite wrestler before I knew anything about wrestling.

 

He was a usual pick whenever I would play 'WWF War Zone' on the PS1.

 

Most recently, I remember being really impressed with his colour commentary at 'King of the Ring' in 1996 when I went back and watched it again. He improvised really well and knew exactly what his role was; he didn't just try to get himself over or Davey over.

 

He even puts Goldust over, since he's a heel and that's what heels do on commentary. Excellent.

[thebrainfollower]

He ain't no Art Donovan for sure.

 

Owen is someone I never truly appreciated until he passed. I liked the guy and thought he put on good stuff week in and week out but his only to me amazing standout match was also his break out match. My love of him has a grown over the years, especially rewatching the mid 90's.

 

As noted above Owen always knew his role and played it well.