Questions about Owen after the Montreal Screwjob
 

Sorry if this has been answered before, but I'm really curious as to how Owen was treated after the Montreal Screwjob. I know Vince can be vindictive as hell and I was wondering if anyone knows if Owen saw any backlash from what happened to his brother. Vince let Davie Boy and Jim out of their contracts, but refused to release Owen. Obviously Owen is 10 times greater than both of those guys ring wise, but why keep him on to do the shitty "Black" heart gimmick and then the Blue Blazer if you saw so much potential?

I don't know for certain if he received any backlash, however, I personally don't think the Black Heart gimmick was all that bad and he had some great feuds with HHH and was a part of the Nation and was part of a great tag team in Canadian Country with him and Jeff Jarrett. He was the Blue Blazer at Wrestlemania 5 as well, but I wish he never had that gimmick because he might still be with us today if he hadn't had it. I guess he didn't get any major pushes, but I wouldn't say he was cast aside or used improperly, since he was always doing something of significance even during his feud with Steve Blackman at the end of 1998.

from what i heard it was owens choice to do the blazer gimmick as he wasnt happy with the content in the attitude era.

im sure if he were still with us he'd have had at least one world title run. he was a great performer, and one of my favorites

Yeah, I believe Vince punished Owen for refusing to do a love triangle angle with Jarrett and Debra by doing the Blue Blazer stuff.

That's what I heard, but can't remember where from. Maybe Mick Foley's first book or The Rocks book?

Well immediately after the Surivor Series PPV, Owen got a push and started to feud with Michaels and Helmsley. He took out Michaels in the main event of the DX ppv against Ken Shamrock. I think that one of the potential Wrestlemania 14 plans was to use Shawn Michaels vs Owen Hart as the main event, but because of Shawn's injury and Steve Austins undeniable popularity they went with Austin/Michaels and HHH/Owen.

During his face run after the screwjob he was getting mega over, and was a big deal, but it all seemed to die off after hesitating to put him in the biggest programs.

From there he was a tag team with Jeff Jarrett and won the tag team titles, then as the Blue Blazer was in an IC title program.

So I really don't consider it a depush or punishment at all. If anything I think Vince had of liked him more because he didn't leave for WCW with Bret.

Also he was going to be pushed as "The Game", but he died and Triple H took the title.

Owen was what he was: an IC contender and a tag team specialist. Never a credible threat to the World Title. You could argue that Owen got a bigger push after the screw job.

I am glad somebody else agrees with me. I always say that Owen was next in line before HHH and I firmly believe that Summerslam was going to be Austin vs. Owen for the title and then from there HHH would get his push. It would have been awesome too, because we had seen Austin and Owen feud over the IC title but this would be for the WWF title which thinking about it is pretty cool. I am probably in the minority here but I actually wanted to see Austin face Chyna at Summerslam. I wish that Number One Contendors match was the week of Summerslam instead. I mean you could have had HHH win it the next night still and had Summerslam be Mankind getting his revenge on HHH for putting him on the shelf for a couple of months.

Owen would have never won the world title. Do u think the WWE would be dumb enough to take the belt off two of the biggest stars in history (stone cold, the rock) or from Mankind, HHH and put it on a perennial mid card guy like Owen? Never happen.

Somewhat unrelated, but here goes:

The one thing that made me laugh about Owen was his feud with Ken Shamrock. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but both guys really cut some ridiculously gay promo's against one another, haha.

HHH was pencilled to be the next champ for a while that year

Who knows.... If the previous poster is right about Owen being pushed as "The Game" I could see it.

Remember Tony Schiavone's kind words after Mick won the WWE title, "That'll put a lot of butts in seats." Sometimes you have to take a chance on a guy.

Part of the reason why Owen never got that shot? Shawn and Hunter.

The BlackHart was over as all hell. Of Course, Shawn didn't want to job to him. Owen won the Intercontinental Title, from HunterDust. Neither wanted to put him over. Hunter got the belt back.

Wasn't Owen Scheduled to win the Intercotinental title at over the edge 1999?

That's what I remember.

Chris Benoit

Yeah, and look how that turned out.



















To specify, I'm referring to his less than stellar run.

I don't think Benoit's reign was ever about drawing huge numbers. It was more of a "pat on the back", and it served it's purpose well enough.

Would be easy enough to see Owen getting the title in a similar fashion, but you add the fact that he was way better on the mic than benoit, and was actually a phenomenal heel, and I don't see how one could completely count out Owen winning the title.

I'm not saying Owen would make a really great champion like the rock or austin, but that doesn't mean the WWE wouldn't ever put the belt on him.

Also owen was not a nugget, HE WAS A BLACKHART Wooooooo!!

Agreed. At this point, if Owen were still alive, you'd have to think he would've gotten the strap at some point had he stayed with the company. He would've fallen into the same category as Benoit and Eddie inthat they were all phenominal workers, and like Eddie, Owen could be a great heel. I'm sure at some point, post 2001 and with the brand split, Owen would've gotten at the very least one run.

his run was like fuckin torture. to this day i think they could have put the strap on a golf club or an orange and they would have been a more entertaining champion. i HATED his awful moveset, fuck the dead asshole

When they say he had an awful run, it is due to how he was booked and made a secondary aspect of the show behind the two years and running fued between Michaels and Triple H at the time. Nobody hated the run becuase they share your opinion that he "sucked".

Nobody? I know a few. When Benoit won the belt, he should have been kept off TV until Summerslam and then Orton shoulda beaten him in like 40 seconds. Ill never forget his house show title match in Dublin against Kane. He went on AFTER michaels/hunter and you could hear a pin drop. Some people beside us hated him, cheered for Kane a bit and left early cos it sucked so hard. We only stayed to flip him off

Regardless, you are part of a very small minority.

Chris Benoit was a former WCW World Champion.

Owen would have been credible as a main eventer if they pushed him as such. He was on an even level with HHH and The Rock just a year earlier.

The question would be whether or not he'd be able to run with it, rather than whether or not the company would be able to legitimately push him. Of course they would be able to.

Owen would have been the perfect candidate for the "Who hit Austin?" angle. The whole basis could be that he sat and watched Austin, HHH, Rock and all these guys he was once an equal to, get the ball. But he never did, so he decided to make a statement.
I think he could have gotten a lot of heat that way, and had a great main event fued with Austin and whoever else. If only for a little while, before hanging it up like he had reportedly intended to.

If they were willing to give Bossman a chance in the main event at this time, they definitely could have done something with Owen.

owen was never as forceful as bret in negotiations with vince hence he didnt get as far as he could. That was shawns view on owen

Yes, because Dublin is a great place to sample the majority of wrestling fans. I bet Sheamus is mad over in Dublin. Benoit was on absolute fire in 2004. He got popped loud by a smark crowd at MSG when he won the match, and was receiving steady reaction from all venues.

And like Fignuts said, anit-Benoit fans are few and far between.

First post... This isn't really about Owen, so much as it is a lot of these wrestlers mentioned above in general. Bret was "The best there is, was, and ever will be" because he never injured an opponent in his career... and was taken out of the ring because of a career ending injury. In contrast, wasn't Owen the one that pulled the unprotected pile driver on Austin that severely shortened his career?

Dublin was a much better crowd than the majority of the robotic american crowds ''wait, he doesnt like our sports team?? boooo''. Even those bastard english fans can think for themselves which is nice. Seems like in USA the only towns with people who can form an opinion for themselves are NY, Chicago and Phily. Chris Murderers's pop in MSG was mostly to do with HHH being heel and HBK's God loving character being a pain in the balls. Benoit sucked and always has, ill never change my mind, you keep your opinion and we can hold hands and dance in the park.
How the fuck would SEAMUS be mad over, that was 2004 dipshit

David Arquette never injured anyone either so maybe he's the best too?
Zach Gowen never injured anyone either.

Your second point, yes Owen injured Austin with a pile driver at SummerSlam, Austin asked him not to do it before the match too

That has nothing to do with anything.

Bret had a lengthy career though, and Arquette isn't a wrestler he's an actor... He was only acting like a wrestler.. (Yeah that was a joke, I hadn't figured out the shifty eyes smiley yet.) I only brought up the point about the Hitman though because I recall him saying that's why he called himself that at one point.. I feel the business is in the shape it's in because too many brilliant minds have been lost for whatever reason, and the ones that are left are poorly used..

Jesus could you be more vague?? Are there any names attached to these brilliant minds?

And if Arquette is just an actor and he didnt injure anyone, surely he's better than Bret?

Owen was a credible top tier face after Montreal. He seemed to be feuding with quite a few heels on the roster at one point (Michaels, Hunter, Jarrett) plus he had history with Austin. I remember him having a good reaction from the crowd at Rumble 98. He was involved in the major goings on up until Wrestlemania 14. He really lost momentum after he couldn't beat Hunter, joined the Nation and then went on to feuding with Shamrock. Can't remember what he did after that until he teamed up with Jarrett.

I don't think he was ever going to be world champion but I'm sure he would have been a credible challenger, if never likely to go over and win the title.

Read the post again. I said Sheamus IS mad over, not was. Benoit's pop at MSG was out of respect, not because he was the lesser of three evils.

Your opinion on Dublin's is crowd is subjective, and like I said, is a small sample size. I get you don't like Benoit and that's fine, but don't try to clout the fact that the man was over and getting constant pops everywhere else he went.

Names: the ones thrown around in the IWC all the time: Eddie was great and is sorely missed. Owen himself is another one. Love him or hate him because of his actions Benoit had the psychology to make great matches. Eddie Fatu was great for a big man. The list goes on.... Guys that are still here but underused or misused: Heyman first and foremost. Give the man the pen but not the checkbook and he's golden as a booker (I'm talking about what he did in EC-Dub, then his run in WWE). Booker T is great but he's lost in TNA. I wasn't trying to be vague, I was avoiding saying the things you guys that know your shit have to tell the vermaats of this forum all the time. 3rd post but I've been around TPWW for awhile... I already know that you know your shit, and I respect that. Trust me, I'm not a Cena mark. And yeah, Arquette made a great champion, ya got me there. Best wrestler ever.

:y: nice dude :)