I know how huge Smith and Owen/Anvil were in their respective lands. I just didn't dig them. Davey was solid, had a great look, but he couldn't talk a girl out of her panties. He was just boring, a specimen to look at sure, but boring, much like his son. Anvil was great for being an enforcer character, but he wasn't better than Arn Anderson at it, and as a tag general he was a lesser version of Bubba Ray imo. Owen to me could be really funny and he could work, but I don't think he was world title material based off his wrestling alone like Benoit, a great blend of both like Eddie, or as charismatic as Perfect which is why he pretty much capped out at the IC level.
I would argue that Rock's dad was huge when it came to being a black wrestler and winning tag gold for the first time in a big company. He was a ground breaker because they trusted him with the strap and later on, other black wrestlers were trusted with great responsibility because he didn't fuck it up and understood the weight of it so that a guy like Booker or Simmons could do what they did. Then Rock as we know became the biggest wrestler in the history of the business when it came to transcending boundaries.
I would argue that Eddie was a special blend of amazing charisma, technical wrestling, and could work so many styles. I'd say that Hector, Chavo Classic, and Mundo doing what they did with the lucha style was huge because shawn Michaels admittedly sought to adapt that style into his work by getting a hold of a tape of Hector, and we all know how that turned out for Shawn as he pretty much is accepted in the main stream is the greatest performer in the company that defines professional wrestling using what he saw from them. I'd argue that Chavo Jr.'s work bringing the CW division to the United States was top 5 of all time up there with Rey, Konnan, and Malenko. That his tag work as Los Guerreros was top noth and what he did on ECW to prepare the likes of Bourne and others adapt to the WWE style can't be overlooked. Shout out to Vickie and Shaul as well.
I get that the Harts were big. I'm not denying that. I'm not a fan of them. Quite a few people are and I get why they could be. The thing to me though is that if Bret wasn't in the right price at the right time with that scandal and people leaving, he would have been in the good but didn't reach the top category like Piper and Perfect to me. And if he was not the champion of the company and guy who they were forced into going with when they did because he was at the top of the next tier after the guys left, I doubt the family ever gets the kind of press they would because none of them made that huge impact. They weren't the family who constantly evolved. They weren't even the stable who broke barriers and everyone remembers like DX, Evolution, the Horsemen, and countless others. Owen should be in the HOF like Bulldog is sure, but really and truly, when you think the mid card division's history in the WWF/E do their name pop up before Jericho, Goldust, and countless others? When you think tag division does the foundation come off your tongue as being greater than the likes of the Hardys, Dudleys, Edge and Christian, LOD? When you think Hart's, aren't the first things to pop into your mind Bret Hart and Owen's death? When you think Stu's greatest pupils, does his own family even come up after Bret, or do you immediately jump to Jericho and Benoit?
Just how I feel
