Owen Hart's WWF Run: 1999 and beyond

[Seafort]

This scenario begins with the premise that Owen Hart's harness works and that he faces Charles Wright at Over the Edge as planned:

Over the Edge 1999:
Owen Hart wins the Intercontinential title

RAW after Over the Edge:
Owen abandons The Blue Blazer gimmick and says he only used it to get the title. He's quite serious as he lists his accomplishments - throws a callout to his brother - and says that from this point forward he's "The Game". (7 Famous WWE Gimmicks Originally Intended For Other Superstars)

Summer 1999:
Owen Hart feuds with Jeff Jarrett for the Intercontinental title

July 29th, 1999:
Owen Hart defeats D-Lo Brown to become Eurocontinental Champion

SummerSlam 1999:
Jeff Jarrett defeats Owen Hart to win the European and Intercontinental championships after interference from a returning British Bulldog

Fall 1999:
Owen Hart feuds with British Bulldog

Armageddon 1999:
Owen Hart beats Chyna to regain the Intercontinental Championship

February 2000:
Kurt Angle defeats Owen Hart at No Way Out to win the Intercontinental Championship after interference from Chris Jericho

WrestleMania 2000
Chris Benoit defeats Chris Jericho, Owen Hart, and Kurt Angle (c) (fall one) (Intercontinental Title)
Owen Hart defeated Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle (c) (fall two) (European Title)

Spring 2000:
Owen Hart feuds with Chris Jericho for the European Championship

SummerSlam 2000:
Owen Hart (European Champion) defeats Chris Benoit (IC Champion) to win both championships

October 9, 2000:
Commissioner Mick Foley reveals that Owen Hart was the one who had run down Steve Austin in his car. Owen comes out and cuts a promo that says that Austin had used his influence to get rid of his brother Bret after Owen had injured him at SummerSlam 97, prevented him from leaving after his brother was screwed, and had conspired to keep him out of the World title picture ever since

No Mercy 2000:
Steve Austin battles Owen Hart to a double countout. Later that night Owen comes out to interfere in the World Title match between Kurt Angle and The Rock (c)

Survivor Series 2000
Owen Hart defeats The Rock to win his first WWF World Championship after interference by The British Bulldog and a newly re-signed Jim Neidhart. The Hart Foundation is reformed.

Dec 2000
Owen forfeights the IC and European titles

Royal Rumble 2001
Owen Hart (c) defeats Steve Austin by disqualification after Austin ignores referees instructions and uses chairs and other foreign objects

No Way Out 2001
The Rock defeats Owen Hart to win the World Championship

WrestleMania X-Seven
Steve Austin defeats Owen Hart and The Rock to win the World Championship and joins Mr McMahon

Backlash 2001
The Power Trip (HHH and Steve Austin) defeat The Brothers of Destruction and Owen Hart and The Rock

Judgment Day 2001
HHH defeats Owen Hart

King of the Ring 2001
Edge defeats Owen Hart to win the 2001 KoTR

Bret Hart rejoins the WWF in a non-wrestling capacity and accompanies his brother to ringside.

Invasion
Owen Hart (WWE) (w Bret Hart) defeats Tazz

SummerSlam 2001
Steve Austin (Alliance) defeats Owen Hart (WWE) after Bret Hart turns on his brother

Owen Hart gives his notice to WWE and informs Vince McMahon that he will be retiring following the conclusion of his deal in November

Unforgiven 2001
Rhyno (Alliance) defeats Owen Hart (WWE) after Bret Hart interferes

Rebellion 2001
Owen Hart (WWE) defeats William Regal (WWE) after Regal accidentally hits Bret Hart (Bret takes a minor bump)

Survivor Series 2001
Team WWE (Owen Hart, Chris Jericho, Kane, The Rock, and Undertaker) defeat The Alliance (Booker T, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Shane McMahon and Stone Cold Steve Austin). A strategic point in the match is when Bret Hart turns on the Alliance, revealing himself to have been a double-agent all along.

December 2001
Owen Hart and Bret Hart come to the ring during RAW. Bret and Owen say that they did what they did not because they love Vince McMahon, but that they love the WWF and its fans. Owen then announces his retirement

September 2002:
Owen Hart becomes a color commentator for Smackdown and remains there for the next five years, before finally retiring for good

 

[The Sheik]

Reading this is depressing..

They should've just let Owen out of his contract when Bret left. He asked for it, but was denied.

 

[Paul Diaz-Berrio]

Reading this is depressing..

They should've just let Owen out of his contract when Bret left. He asked for it, but was denied.

Yeah, according to Bret's autobiography, Vince told him that he would sue Owen for breech of contract if he pursued the matter any further. Vince also said he would never let Owen go.

I don't recall Vince ever doing that to anyone, though. Does anyone here know how long Owen would have been contracted with WWE at the time?

 

[Jay-Ashley]

Yeah, according to Bret's autobiography, Vince told him that he would sue Owen for breech of contract if he pursued the matter any further. Vince also said he would never let Owen go.

I don't recall Vince ever doing that to anyone, though. Does anyone here know how long Owen would have been contracted with WWE at the time?

He resigned a new contract in 92 due to conflicts with WCW, so till his death he under contract for seven years.

 

[Paul Diaz-Berrio]

He resigned a new contract in 92 due to conflicts with WCW, so till his death he under contract for seven years.

A twelve year contract? Am I reading this correctly?

 

[Jay-Ashley]

A twelve year contract? Am I reading this correctly?

You asked "Does anyone here know how long Owen would have been contracted with WWE at the time?", and I said he resigned with WWF in 92 and when he died he had worked for WWE for seven years. So I am guessing his contract was for 8 to 12 years, which is/was standard for WWF back in the day, I believe.

 

[Seafort]

You asked "Does anyone here know how long Owen would have been contracted with WWE at the time?", and I said he resigned with WWF in 92 and when he died he had worked for WWE for seven years. So I am guessing his contract was for 8 to 12 years, which is/was standard for WWF back in the day, I believe.

I doubt it. The only ten year WWF deal that I am aware of is the one that Hogan was under, which expired in 1994. In 1996 the WWF began to get a lot of their talent to commit to new deals that had guaranteed contracts. HHH got one, Davey Boy Smith did as well. Both however had deals that were expiring or would expire within 6 months. Not certain about Owen. Davey's deal was for five years, I believe HHH was for three years.

From what I understand, the standard WWF deal prior to 1996 would have been two to three years with no guarantees and a 90 day no compete clause. My guess was that Owen signed a new deal in 1996, was locked in until 2001, which is where I have him retiring.

 

[Jay-Ashley]

I doubt it. The only ten year WWF deal that I am aware of is the one that Hogan was under, which expired in 1994. In 1996 the WWF began to get a lot of their talent to commit to new deals that had guaranteed contracts. HHH got one, Davey Boy Smith did as well. Both however had deals that were expiring or would expire within 6 months. Not certain about Owen. Davey's deal was for five years, I believe HHH was for three years.

From what I understand, the standard WWF deal prior to 1996 would have been two to three years with no guarantees and a 90 day no compete clause. My guess was that Owen signed a new deal in 1996, was locked in until 2001, which is where I have him retiring.

Wasn't Mark Henry's contract 10 years also? Anyways, that is why I said I believe because I can't find no real info about Owen's contract just that he signed in 92 so if you have him retiring or whatever in 01 then his contract was 9 years.

 

[Seafort]

Wasn't Mark Henry's contract 10 years also? Anyways, that is why I said I believe because I can't find no real info about Owen's contract just that he signed in 92 so if you have him retiring or whatever in 01 then his contract was 9 years.

In 1996 everything changed following the defections of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash. The WWF did an about-face and began signing wrestlers to guarantees and in the case of Bulldog, longer deals. Marc Merro was the first to get a downside guarantee (ironically even with Nash and Hall still in the company and still in theory with WWF able to match WCW's offer). Shawn Michaels was next, followed by Brian Pillman, and then it was a mad-dash to resign as many main roster talent under contact as possible to prevent any more surprise defections. Mark Henry got a special, ten year deal in 1996. I believe that part of the reason for the length of the deal was that Henry had no wrestling experience and it was probably realized that it would take a couple of years just to get him to the point where he could be a regular wrestler as opposed to a special attraction.

My own speculation is that one of the reasons that WWF may have been in a financial sore spot in June of 1997 was two fold - 1) WrestleMania XIII had PPV buyrates that tanked and did not bring in the expected revenue 2) There were now a slew of downside guarantees that would potentially all have to be paid out at one time (end of 1997) if business did not pick up and the wrestlers themselves had not earned the equivalent of their downside guarantees.
By September, PPV buys, arena attendance, and merchandising had swelled to such a point that this risk was obviated.

 

[Seafort]

Wasn't Mark Henry's contract 10 years also? Anyways, that is why I said I believe because I can't find no real info about Owen's contract just that he signed in 92 so if you have him retiring or whatever in 01 then his contract was 9 years.

Owen was briefly in WCW at the start of 1991, then rejoined the WWF on November 12th, 1991. If it was the standard two or three year deal he would have likely re-upped around Survivor Series 93 (the start of his big push) or Survivor Series 94. This would lead to another two or three year deal that would take him into 1996 or 1997, at which point he would have been re-signed to a new post-Hall/Nash 1996 contract with a downside guarantee. Given that Bret had a huge deal and Bulldog received a five year contract right before Bret, I think it's likely that Owen was also given a five year deal as well.

 

[Paul Diaz-Berrio]

Owen was briefly in WCW at the start of 1991, then rejoined the WWF on November 12th, 1991. If it was the standard two or three year deal he would have likely re-upped around Survivor Series 93 (the start of his big push) or Survivor Series 94. This would lead to another two or three year deal that would take him into 1996 or 1997, at which point he would have been re-signed to a new post-Hall/Nash 1996 contract with a downside guarantee. Given that Bret had a huge deal and Bulldog received a five year contract right before Bret, I think it's likely that Owen was also given a five year deal as well.

Why was the Bulldog able to break his contract and get away with paying a fine and Owen wasn't? Vince sued Davey for breech of contract and he would have sued Owen for the same reason had he wanted to leave WWE.

So, what stopped Owen pressing the eject button? Davey Boy pushed it and he didn’t suffer.

 

[Seafort]

Why was the Bulldog able to break his contract and get away with paying a fine and Owen wasn't? Vince sued Davey for breech of contract and he would have sued Owen for the same reason had he wanted to leave WWE.

So, what stopped Owen pressing the eject button? Davey Boy pushed it and he didn’t suffer.

Two reasons:

1) Vince allowed Davey Boy out of his contract in exchange for Smith paying the WWF a $150K fee. Owen was not given that option.

2) Vince felt Owen was more valuable than Davey Boy for a number of reasons.
One - Owen was a better worker than Davey Boy. In some respects he had a better upside
Two - Owen was a natural future opponent for Steve Austin
Three - It deprived WCW of a money-making feud by keeping Owen from joining his brother
Four - Owen would be a tether for Bret. Eventually Bret's contract would expire and he would consider rejoining the company. Keeping Owen there and treating him well would be a chip that they could cash in on later

 

[Paul Diaz-Berrio]

Two reasons:

1) Vince allowed Davey Boy out of his contract in exchange for Smith paying the WWF a $150K fee. Owen was not given that option.

2) Vince felt Owen was more valuable than Davey Boy for a number of reasons.
One - Owen was a better worker than Davey Boy. In some respects he had a better upside
Two - Owen was a natural future opponent for Steve Austin
Three - It deprived WCW of a money-making feud by keeping Owen from joining his brother
Four - Owen would be a tether for Bret. Eventually Bret's contract would expire and he would consider rejoining the company. Keeping Owen there and treating him well would be a chip that they could cash in on later

I concur with all of these reasons. Now, if Vince had sued Owen for breech of contract, would that have been too much for Owen to handle? Davey Boy had a stiff amount to pay to get out of his contract. 150 K was a hell of a lot.

 

[Seafort]

I concur with all of these reasons. Now, if Vince had sued Owen for breech of contract, would that have been too much for Owen to handle? Davey Boy had a stiff amount to pay to get out of his contract. 150 K was a hell of a lot.

Yes and no.

From 1994 onward Owen probably made the same roughly as Davey. Owen (under his pre-1996 non guaranteed deal) would have been given main-event money in 1994, while as a tag-team champion in 1995 would have seen his earnings go down. Davey was a tag wrestler for much of 1995 (and not even a champion). His pay slotting would have been less than Owen's in the US, while in the first half of 1996 he would have seen a bump due to his main event feud with Shawn Michaels.

Per Mick Foley's book, Owen was frugal and kept road expenses to a minimum. So in theory, he could have probably acted as Davey did and paid the $150K if Vince demanded it as the price for a release of his contract. If necessary I imagine that he could have borrowed against the guarantee he would be getting from WCW. That said, it's still $150K ($232K in today's dollars) that he would be giving up to go to WCW.

If Owen was intending to get out of wrestling in a few more years, why give up $150K when the WCW contact that he would be receiving would likely not be much higher than his earnings in the WWF?

 

[Paul Diaz-Berrio]

Yes and no.

From 1994 onward Owen probably made the same roughly as Davey. Owen (under his pre-1996 non guaranteed deal) would have been given main-event money in 1994, while as a tag-team champion in 1995 would have seen his earnings go down. Davey was a tag wrestler for much of 1995 (and not even a champion). His pay slotting would have been less than Owen's in the US, while in the first half of 1996 he would have seen a bump due to his main event feud with Shawn Michaels.

Per Mick Foley's book, Owen was frugal and kept road expenses to a minimum. So in theory, he could have probably acted as Davey did and paid the $150K if Vince demanded it as the price for a release of his contract. If necessary I imagine that he could have borrowed against the guarantee he would be getting from WCW. That said, it's still $150K ($232K in today's dollars) that he would be giving up to go to WCW.

If Owen was intending to get out of wrestling in a few more years, why give up $150K when the WCW contact that he would be receiving would likely not be much higher than his earnings in the WWF?

I take your point well. Indeed, it'd have been better for Owen to hold for just a little longer.

According to Bret's bio, Vince said he was never letting Owen go. I assume he meant this figuratively, as I do believe in most western countries it is illegal to force a man to resign after his contract expires.