[1997-12-29-WWF-Raw] Shawn Michaels vs Owen Hart

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Gregor]

It's impressive that Owen and Shawn were able to switch roles and not lose any in-ring chemistry. This is just as good as their stuff from 1995, 1996, and earlier in 1997 (the tag match more than the mediocre October match), even though it's only about seven minutes long. Owen's usual heel offense gets hot two-counts in the closing stretch, and Michaels brings out some nice moves that he didn't often use. His time in control is three minutes, half of which is Owen fighting out of a sleeper, and according to Bret's book he really was punching Owen in the face, but it gets the job done.

 

Unfortunately, this was a high point for Owen. He didn't feel out of place nearly beating the champion, but this just set up a feud with HHH that made him look really bad.

[Loss]

Do you agree that the crowds were ready to accept Owen as a top guy had they run with it?

[Gregor]

I think so, but I'm not 100% certain. Part of the reason that the crowd was that hot for Owen was that it looked like there might actually be a payoff to Bret's run and exit, which obviously left a lot of people feeling empty. Would he have been able to sustain that after moving on to other feuds? For Owen to have a good uppercard face run at this point, he has to somehow get revenge on Shawn. That's tough to do with WrestleMania coming up and Shawn needing the belt for a feud with Austin. A title win would have been huge, but they'd have to do a rematch almost immediately, and I don't know if the heat from the win would have stuck with him (how much of Luger's post-Road Wild fall was the post-Road Wild booking, and how much of it was the deflating title loss?).

 

The best thing I can think of is an unsanctioned, no-DQ, non-title main event at the Rumble (the main event of No Way Out was unsanctioned, I think, so it's not like they didn't do that around this time), and you still have the issue of getting Shawn to job. Maybe they could work in an Austin run-in to give the WM feud more of a spark ("The second I won the Rumble, son, you might as well have painted a bullseye on your little chest").

 

I don't know that pushing Owen to the top against someone else would have worked. Maybe he could have beaten HHH. Regardless, he was definitely hot at the time, and they lost all of it by having him job repeatedly to HHH while looking stupid in the process.

[Loss]

Before the match starts, Jim Ross has news for everyone about Mike Tyson. He can confirm that today, negotiations started for Mike Tyson to be involved in Wrestlemania XIV. Amazing watching all of this week-to-week.

 

This is a match that I think could have headlined the Rumble and been fantastic. This is a great TV match. Shawn does throw some crazy punches. I've never seen him hit like that. Not only that, but Shawn's offense in general is really good (check out that DDT!) and I love how they work the sleeper. Shawn looks as good in this match as I've ever seen him look. This felt like a good teaser for a great PPV main event that never happened.

 

HHH attacks Owen with his crutch after the match to switch the focus of that feud.

[Strummer]

always thought Rumble main should have been Shawn v Owen.

 

they could have done the Taker/Kane stuff some other way. Although with Hunter injured and the lack of depth I'm having problems coming up with someone for him (Taker) to work with.

[Gregor]

always thought Rumble main should have been Shawn v Owen.

 

they could have done the Taker/Kane stuff some other way. Although with Hunter injured and the lack of depth I'm having problems coming up with someone for him (Taker) to work with.

You could have Kane cause his elimination in the Rumble. Or you could have him try to avenge his loss to Jeff Jarrett from the previous month's PPV.

[Dooley]

This may have been Owen's chance to break out of the midcard glut but it wasn't going to happen for a number of reasons, many of them related to Montreal. WWF canon has to portray Bret as the "loser" of what went down and thus you can't have Owen playing the knight successfully avenging his brother, who is headlining for the competition. Similarly, Shawn and HHH have to be portrayed as the "winners" since they were the one who exiled him, so you can't have DX get their comeuppance at the hands of anyone really until the situation has blown over enough and/or a new issue is at stake (aka Austin). Also, Owen was sufficiently neutered as a tough-guy babyface when his act was limited to grabbing Vince by the lapel after Austin had already stunnered him with (in story and real life) less provocation.

[Kevin Ridge]

Ross makes the announcement that WWF are in negotiations for Tyson to be a part of WrestleMania. This should be a PPV match but the booking was already looking past Owen/Michaels towards Triple H/Owen which wasn't as effective. Triple H wiffs badly on a crutch shot and needs a second attempt to barely graze Owen. They really passed Owen/Michaels too quickly.

[soup23]

Funny that the matches too short thread was just begun because this match would be thrown into that pile for me. Tack on 5 more intense minutes and Owen winning clean at the Rumble in a non-title grudge match (use the cop out that Vince doesnt trust the title on a Hart) and you have a MOTYC and the makings of a #2 babyface after AUstin takes over at WM. This was great and those punches on the outside by Shawn were super impressive. The finish was cheap and I'm saddened by what happens to Owen in 1998 after a really good 1997.

[PeteF3]

A huge moment beforehand, as Ross, over the PA, announces that negotiations have begun today for Mike Tyson to participate at WrestleMania 14. Big boos from the Long Islanders for that. This felt a little desperate at the time, but man, did they make the most of that. I *would* pay to be a fly on the wall for Vince McMahon meeting with Don King.

 

These two always have great chemistry and again they fall out of bed--almost literally, considering the apparent legitimacy of HHH's injury--into another terrific TV match. Shawn unleashes some of his best offense since the WM13 Ironman Match, and Owen's closing flurry of rapidfire near-falls is terrific, with great intensity and execution. And man, Shawn and Owen have done that dueling superkick/enzuigiri spot in every single encounter since late '95 and it just never, ever gets old. That's some AJPW-level of attention to detail--and I like that they don't beat you over the head with their past history, it's more like a bonus for devoted fans. Another cheap and rather predictable finish and sadly this is pretty much the peak of Owen as the Sole Survivor, as he'll get moved on to HHH as well as a rather pointless and not-well-explained side feud with Jeff Jarrett. After a long dry spell this ended up being a pretty good Raw. All of a sudden the WWF has a number of good, over programs and storylines all up and down the roster. Think that might be an omen for '98?

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Shawn Michaels vs Owen Hart - WWF RAW 12/29/97

 

This is not a new hot take by any stretch of the imagination, but it really should have been HBK/Owen for title at Rumble even if HBK goes over. Then you could have Owen go over HBK at Summerslam. Remember no casket match means no back injury, which is really crazy to think about. Shawn Michaels in the Attitude Era proper would have changed a lot of things. Does The Rock get over or does the Kliq try to bury him? How does Austin contend with Kliq politics? How about Shawn vs all the WCW guys in that 99-01 stretch?

 

Awesome, heated brawl. So much has changed since their 96 encounter in how RAW feels and in their characters. Owen is a great pissed off, avenging babyface. I have said before Shawn in this time period is probably my favorite heel of all time. He was on fire in and out of the ring. He took one nutty bump over the rope and stooge his ass for Owen. He made Owen look like a million bucks. Loved the Chyna trip to set up the heat segment. Then on offense don't know if Shawn has ever looked better, the punches, the piledriver, the DDT! Owen mounts his comeback outta the DDT and Owen is just rattling off his badass offense the suplexes and spinwheel kick. Sweet Chin Music vs Enziguiri, BAM Enziguiri of Death! Sharpshooter, but that damn Triple H blasts him in the head with a crutch triggering the DQ and the heel beatdown to send RAW off the air.

 

Hot TV main event sprint, a little short would have been awesome with just five more minutes. Owen looked great here as a bayface, but I thought Shawn both bumping and on offense stole the show. Just an amazing douche heel at this point. Awesome heat! ***3/4

[Exposer]

The first news of Mike Tyson having negotiations with the WWF about working in some capacity at WM 14 is shared by JR. The WWF is about to take over the wrestling world.

 

Really good match. Owen has great fire in this & beats up Shawn all around ringside & even suplexes him on the ramp. A Chyna distraction leads to Owen getting knocked off the apron & into the guardrail. Shawn works a sleeper for most of the time he's on offense & they build to Owen breaking out of it. Owen finally does & the last few minutes are awesome with Owen getting nearfalls. Owen hits the enziguri to a big pop & locks on the sharpshooter. Hunter has come to ringside though & breaks one of his crutches over Owen's head leading to the DQ. DX beats down Owen as the show closes. Great TV main event & Owen is protected here as it looked like he might have won without the interference. It's too bad this goes nowhere. This is probably the last time Owen felt like he was on the verge of becoming a big star.