Opinions

Owen Hart Is Not WWE Hall Of Fame Worthy

Chris Powers

I am sure that headline is going to rub a lot of people the wrong way, but at least hear me out before attacking me.

Owen Hart was a solid professional wrestler. He was a great hand, and quite frankly was not used well enough in the later part of his career. As a heel, he was tremendous and did a great job of making his brother Bret look great while he was the world champion. He also did a great job of making Shawn Michaels look strong heading into his bout with Bret in the Ironman match at Wrestlemania XII.

Owen was also a great tag team wrestler. His team with the British Bulldog was a strong one, and they certainly did their jobs and had adequate mid card matches throughout the mid 90’s. Owen even had short singles runs with both the Intercontinental and European titles, yet not very memorable matches along the way.

But can someone please tell me? What exactly did Owen Hart do to deserve a spot in the Hall of Fame? Sadly, the thing I remember the most about Owen is when he broke Steve Austin’s neck at SummerSlam 97.

I’m sorry, but the only Owen Hart singles match that really stands out to me in a positive way is his match with Bret at WrestleMania X. He was also part of the Canadian Stampede match, and the Cage match with Bret at Summerslam 94 was all good and well. But I just don’t see why people demand he should be in the HOF.

Can a case be made that Owen deserves a spot more than current HOF members? Absolutely. For god sake, his original tag team partner Koko B Ware made it in. The British Bulldog was also inducted this past year. There are several wrestlers in the WWE Hall of Fame that don’t deserve to be there.

I think what is bothersome is that most people want Owen in the Hall of Fame because of the tragic accident he suffered. He was a fan favorite, and shortly after his untimely passing word got out from his colleagues about how wonderful a person he was and how he loved to rib people. I know I personally loved hearing about his classic ribs. We got to hear about the humorous side of a guy who spent the majority of his career as a heel, and it was nice to think of Owen in such a great positive light after he passed. I think a lot of people remember those stories and how well liked he was by his peers and choose to remember that over his entire body of work. Part of me thinks that the WWE fan base wants some sort of closure by putting him in the Hall of Fame, and I totally understand that.

I have always been critical of who the WWE puts in the Hall of Fame, so this is not me just picking on Owen. I like Owen Hart as a character. I enjoyed watching his matches. He was very entertaining, but I do not think he should necessarily be enshrined in the Hall of Fame.