Owen Hart

[8.0] "My personal favorite of the Hart dynasty. He was incredibly smooth as a worker and in my opinion the most entertaining on the mic."

[10.0] "Owen Hart was simply put one of the greatest ever. An awesome face and an even better heel, a gifted technical worker, very athletic, the most entertaining on the mic from his family, he was always a highlight on any given show. Beloved by the boys in the back, it is unfortunate that he was taken away from this world in an unnecessary way."

[10.0] "One of my personal favorites, he was just so good at everything, shame he never became world champ in the WWE but that doesn't make him any less of a legend. Just watch one Owen match and you'll be convinced, they aren't hard to find as almost every match he had was a classic! He had so much character in addition, his talent is limitless! Rest in power and peace, real legend."

[10.0] "Owen, what a wrestler. The brother angle was one of the best in history and that's because it was by two of the best ever - Owen and Bret. Owen excelled as both a singles and tag wrestler. He could do anything, and we shouldn't have even had the stupid Blue Blazer thing. The King of Harts was working great even at the time it was ditched, and knowing the creativity of Owen he would have come up with another run, and likely even a World championship run. Either way, what a wrestler and competitor. Truly wish we could have seen the next 15 years of his career."

[10.0] "I wrote this in 2021: One of my all time faves, maybe one of my top 3 or 4 tied for #1. I loved Owen, he was my #1 reason to watch WWF, his passing was the first major blow to my fandom, but as i grow older i learn to celebrate his life more so than mourn his passing. He truly was THE BEST THERE EVER WILL BE. and now in late 2025 i want to add just a few things: I really do love his career so much. You will see me glow over his tag team work elsewhere on cagematch but i wanted to underscore it here as well. Also, he was generous with enhancement talent and if there was something they could do, he would allow them to show it. Did he have one of the goofiest looking punches ever? Yes! But I love his in ring nature SO much. And being a bell to bell centric watcher, he really does deliver the goods over the years he wrestled. Amazing ultra tippy top tier wrestler. he's not a 10. he's over 9000!"

[10.0] "The single greatest wrestler to ever live, in my opinion. He was so smooth, so charismatic and funny, incredibly compelling character and ring work alike, amazing selling and moveset, and his matches with Bret and his teams with Yoko and Jarrett are all classic runs in an especially rotten era of WWF/E"

[9.0] "Best of all the Harts! Could do every end of the wrestling spectrum well. Was incredibly over in Stampede and WWF. Loved seeing the Hart brothers tag. I wish more NJPW footage of Owen was available."

[10.0] "Owen Hart was a pioneer. One of the very best junior heavyweight wrestlers of all time, even still to this very day. I don't want to make this about Bret or any other members of the Hart family, but whilst I think Bret was the best psychology & "star" guy in the family, Owen was the best pure wrestler. Owen had a fantastic career and his matches still hold up, he was taken far too early and will forever be missed and loved by fans. Absolute legend who, by all accounts, was a fantastic guy too. One of the very best wrestlers ever."

[10.0] "Owen Hart was the greatest technical wrestler of all time. His movement in the ring was smooth, natural, and precise in a way that never felt forced. He could outwrestle anyone without needing to rely on power, speed, or gimmicks. His transitions were seamless, his timing was flawless, and he made even the most complex sequences look simple. He was the kind of wrestler who elevated anyone he worked with, just by being in the ring with them. What holds back the legacy isn't Owen himself but how poorly he was used. Despite having the tools to be a world champion, he was often stuck in the shadow of others. His feud with Bret was a masterclass, but after that, he was pushed back into the midcard or saddled with comedy roles that didn't reflect his talent. He never got the sustained main event run his ability deserved. Still, the respect he commanded from his peers speaks volumes. People who know wrestling know how good Owen was. His career will always carry the weight of "what could have been, " but as far as technical ability goes, he stands alone. The best to ever do it between the ropes. Bret was quite possibly the GOAT, yet somehow may have not even been the best talent in his own family"

[9.0] "The man that Bret Hart called the best technical wrestler. Who am I to argue with the (second) best of all time."

[10.0] "Owen was sadly taken away from us too soon. However, while he was around, he gave us great moments, from his rivalries with Austin and Bret, to his slammy comment. Just imagine the matches we could have gotten if he hadn't been killed. Owen vs Eddie, Owen vs Edge, Owen vs Jericho and many others."

[10.0] "Taken from us way too soon. One of the best to ever lace up a pair of boots and is forever missed by all of us. A stunt that could have been easily prevented and we could have had 2 or 3 more years out of him."

[10.0] "The most charismatic of the Harts and the only one who could match Bret in the ring. Owen was destined for stardom had it not been for The Kliq and their personal vendetta against Bret. When you get a character like the Blue Blazer over the head with the crowd, it's because no one can deny that you are the best. Thanks Owen for the great memories... and being a part of the greatest Steel Cage Match in WWF history."

[10.0] "Great on the mic as well as in ring performer cut amazing promos gotta love the wars with his brother gone to soon."

"A bunch of my friends went to the house show at Rosemont the day before he died and saw his final match. I miss him so much. He was so good and so funny. I think Owen had a bright future as a commentator. He was hilarious at King of the Ring 96."

[10.0] "Career so painfully cut short, but even before hand was underutilized simply because he was deemed as too boring in comparison to the direction that professional wrestling was going at the time. One of the absolute best, some would debate even better than Bret, and genuinely deserved so much more. He will never be forgotten, however, both for the talent he had, and the character both in and outside the ring."

[10.0] "Nothing against the great Bret Hart, but Owen was the best of the (extended) family. Workrate, charisma, heel work, everything. Should have been a world champion."

[9.0] "Another great wrestler in the Hart family but unfortunately his career was cut short. He was more charismatic than Bret but weird booking decisions like joining the Nation of Domination hurt his career more. In the ring I still think Bret was a little more talented, but he still could have a great match with anyone. Had a little more controversy due to his breaking of Austin's neck and his manner of death."

[10.0] "A master in the ring. Owen, just like his more popular brother Bret, is an example of wasted potential through no fault of his own. I don't know why a guy with his in ring prowess, (and a better talker than Bret) never made it past mid card status. I'm sure it was some backstage politics BS after Montreal or something. I only wish that Owen had retired earlier than he had initially planned, or told WWF to kick rocks and head to Atlanta his brother. As a new resident to Kansas City, any time I drive past the former Kemper Arena, I always feel a twinge of sadness knowing what happened to an all time great, and one of my personal favorites. Rest in peace, Owen. You will not be forgotten."

[10.0] "In my opinion, Owen was the better wrestler of him and Bret. I'm glad his name can be said in wrestling today without his widow losing her mind, because he deserves to be remembered for how good he was, and how much his style influenced others after him."

[10.0] "Owen Hart is absolutely one of the greatest workers ever, very fun character work, very versatile to the point he can technically wrestle Bret Hart and wrestle a Liger match with Jushin Thunder Liger, full of underrated classics, master of sub 7-8 minutes matches and so forth."

[8.0] "What happened no doubt shouldn't have happened, and that's all I'm gonna but one thing I'm gonna say about it, but that is the primary reason why he is rated so high on here. He was a good wrestler, I would argue 3rd or 4th best of the 2nd best royal family, but I can understand why people would argue 2nd, the problem was that this man apparently didn't even know how to do a Piledriver safely and shortened Austin's career by around a decade. The ton of praks he pulled backstage too makes him sound a little immature and unprofessional too, but I'm willing to look past all that after hearing the Harley Race cattle prod story, and pranks are the least of anyone's problems anyway. I cant understand why he is rated higher than Harley on this site at all, but I do understand his placement in the top 100 wrestlers."

[10.0] "5/23/2024 is the 25th anniversary of Owen Hart's death. It's what prompted me to give a rating. He was truly one of the greatest wrestler ever! He could do it all, technical, high flying, and brawling. The mid-90's was the pinnacle of his career which featured his feud with Bret. He also had a great run as the Intercontinental champion in 1997. One of the greatest to never be a world champion. He is missed."

[8.0] "Feels improper for me to rate his career when it was cut short the way it was, but I truly believe that Owen could have been one of the best ever if he had made it to his prime / had been able to mix it up with some of the talent that began working with WWE in the early 00's. Imagine a Kurt Angle vs Owen Hart match! It's so tragic that negligence led to his death when it could have been avoided with the proper due diligence from WWE and those responsible for rigging his gear. I still feel awful for his family, especially his children who have grown up without their father. Watching the 'Reliving the War' series on the Wrestling Bios YouTube channel gave me the wonderful opportunity to be able to experience once again the fantastic short career he had. A workrate second to none and a genuinely good guy. In an alternate universe where Owen lives, he absolutely could have become a megastar and multi-time World Champ. RIP Owen."

[10.0] "After rewatching the WWF from 1993 on, I truly saw how awesome Owen was. Everything he did felt so innovative, and it was so great to see what he was going to do next."

[10.0] "My hottest wrestling take has always been that he's better than his brother, because Owen wasn't a charisma vacuum like Bret was (don't worry, I respect Bret's work). Bret was smooth. Owen had the "snap" to go along with his smoothness. That just always appealed to me as a kid. I get it when people bring up him breaking Austin's neck, but I can't take points from Owen, because it inadvertently created the hottest commodity during the hottest era of pro wrestling. For me, it always looked like Owen had a point to prove. That he wasn't to be overlooked in favor of Bret. I know that I never overlooked him, and wish more people hadn't, as well. I like to imagine the what-ifs of who he could have faced had the accident never happened. Imagine Owen leaving the Fed, and being on the Indies. Wrestling Danielson, McGuinness, Styles, Samoa Joe, or if he stayed in WWE/F and wrestled people like Angle, Jericho, Eddie Guerrero. And just imagine for a minute, a blood feud against HBK in defense of his brother post-Shawn's return/run of a lifetime. We missed out on so much more from this generational talent. Miss you, Owen."

[9.0] "Generational talent, largely underappreciated both because of his early and tragic in-ring demise as a result of a failed ring entrance and the fact he was overshadowed by his brother Bret, who's the greatest professional wrestler that's ever lived. Bret was somewhat more reliable too. Owen was always good, but only great when he felt like it. Also hampered by some injuries, had a more high flying style prior to injuries, seen in his HIGH ENERGY run, which was great. During that, he innovated or popularized a number of moves in wide use now. Aside from the Bret matches, he was usually the reliably really good match buried somewhere in the mid-card. Versatile and excellent as both a face and a heel."

[10.0] "Incredible talent, again taken from us too soon. Whenever I think of Owen and what happened, it really makes me mad because this was a guy who was only 34 and had a wife and 2 small children and was killed through no fault of his own in a stupid stunt that he didn't want any part of. I continuously feel bad for his wife and 2 children, who've constantly been portrayed in a bad light by wrestling fans and by Owen's own carny family because she won't allow for him to be in the HOF and rightfully so. The whole situation sucks because Owen literally had his entire life ahead of him and all because of the actions of a few, he was killed and had his body mopped up out of the ring so that they can continue the show bEcAuSe We WeRe In ThE MiDdLe Of A rAtInGs WaR. RIP Owen, gone but never forgotten."

[8.0] "Owen was a very talented wrestler who was taken away from us too soon. You all know that. I could talk about Vince being a moron and half blaming him on the thing but you've heard it a billion times so whats the point. I will say I think he might be a bit overrated on here because of his death, which I know is a hard pill to swallow, but he never really achieved true greatness outside of tag teams/stables. I do feel like he was possibly headed towards holding the WWF championship towards the end of his career when he had his DANGER gimmick, but then he turned into the blue blazer and I think we all know how that ended! He also injured Austin with a botched piledriver which broke his neck and honestly could've paralysed or killed the rattlesnake, which jesus christ what timeline would the WWF be in if that happened? God knows. It didn't kill him but it seriously shortened his career. But the way Austin covered for it was awesome and he played it up like a champ, especially since I know he's had some serious politics backstage, but Owen kept his job and got to perform the fucking awesome and genuinely badass OWEN 316 I JUST BROKE YOUR NECK promo with the shirt. Owen later recreated the botched piledriver as a work in a match against Dan Severn, where Dan pretended to have also gotten his neck broken by the move and they had to stretcher him out, which was also sick but the problem is that ironically enough, Owen almost also fucking killed Dan as well! I guess Owen was really going for the authenticity of the original botched piledriver that broke Austin's neck, and so he also dropped Dan directly on his head. Dan was way more lucky and didn't severely injure his neck, but he did discuss in an interview much later that it genuinely did hurt him and that years and years later Austin had called him about the match and was like Jesus Christ dude, he almost got both of us! I think my favorite Owen era was when he became the first white person invited to the cookout by joining the Nation of Domination and had the ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, AND ITS TIME FOR A CHANGE! Gimmick, especially when Jason Sensation, yes, Jason fucking Sensation had a little feud with Owen which was genuinely really funny imo. Jason would always mock Owen and it was perfect. Anyways yeah Owen was pretty cool RIP LEGEND."

[7.0] "A good wrestler but only really great when paired up against his brother who is one of the greatest of all time. People tend to put them on the same level which Owen was far off it. Where Owen does stand is a very good 3rd tier. A good athelete who did things that many didn't in the US/Canada, good techincally and a great character worker. Despite being slightly overrated as a worker, he's a well toured wrestler winning gold everywhere he went and has an enviable career."

[9.0] "I enjoyed his work as The Blue Blazer and he had some good matches with Triple H, The Undertaker, The Rock, His own brother Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and the list goes on and on. Sad that he died at a very young age. RIP Mr. OWEN HART"

[8.0] "Just about as good as Bret Hart and he possessed the agility which he kinda lost after a knee injury in the late 80's (or early 90's) and the world was robbed of Owen getting a shot as a main eventer. One of those guys who was always just outside the main event title run and never got there because of his employers stupidity."

[10.0] "An absolute genius in the ring. Everything was very fluid, everything was on point. So sad that the wrestling world lost him so soon."

[8.0] "Owen oozed natural talent. He just didn't really care and that's fine, not everyone can be committed 24/7. But when he wanted to go, he was one of the best."

[8.0] "I'm tempted to call Owen a great "what if" but the guy was pretty lackadaisical about his career and advocating for himself, resulting in him constantly being buried in WWF booking. I feel like the "what if" would have been more of the same that we saw in 99 until his contract runs out and he goes back to Calgary to be a firefighter or teach the third grade or whatever the hell. He was a great worker, though less careful than his brother. You don't have to watch too many of his matches before you run into some sort of botch. He also took more risks than his brother, which explains some of it. Still, he was an exciting technical wrestler with a good sense of pacing, heat, etc. Pretty much all his matches are good. A classic whiny, chickenshit heel with effective promo work no matter what stupid situation the WWF pushed him into. It's bullshit that he died, but it did set a tone for the next 20 years about being a little more careful with this dangerous shit that technically isn't wrestling. Good on his wife for taking on the WWF the way she did, though it would be nice to see him in videos. A- worker, B+ promo, and a hard C for look. He was far from the greatest of all time, but still a great hand for any roster."

[10.0] "He was way too good for the fate that he suffered. A man who I believe even nowadays, would be head & shoulders above 99.9% of today's wrestlers, maybe except for like Bryan Danielson or Zack Sabre Jr."

[10.0] "Owen Hart, I think, could make the case for the greatest wrestler to never win a World Championship in a major promotion. His work ethic was way too good for the time period he was in, to the point where there were only a few guys who can match up to him from bell to bell. His promo ability, character work, personality traits, and facials were pure gold. I honestly think if his potential is completely fulfilled, he might even have a good chance of ranking over his own brother, Bret."

[10.0] "Owen Hart was a tremendous worker and like a lot of people here have said, that his work was ahead of it's time. I don't think he was better than Bret in the ring but as a character he was more enjoyable. His matches with Bret are some of my favorites and Owen is in my opinion the best wrestler who was in the WWE but never won the World Title. The only thing which could prevent me from giving him a full 10 is that we never saw his full career unfold but for whatever time he wrestled he created a great legacy and cemented his place as one of the greats."

[8.0] "Owen was great, such a good wrestler and making sure he got the little things right. His feud with Bret will stand up to any feud in wrestling history. Some of his Stampede stuff is way ahead of its time."

[10.0] "The fucking goat. Owen hart never had any bad matches that i have ever seen. He cut amazing promos and he could play any gimmick. WWE should have gave him the world heavyweight title and made him a star. Truly a wrestler you could build a company around"

[8.0] "In terms of wrestling ability, Owen was utterly fantastic: agile as anything, astonishingly technical when required, could pace himself with slower and more bulky guys all the way up to a furious workrate as seen in Japan respectfully, had great ring psychology and knew how to work effectively throughout a match as either a face or heel. Nothing really bad to be said there and I think he more than earns his rep as one of the greats. However, Owen suffers from a lot of stuff outside the ring: namely, his character work. Owen was never really much of a talker and I've honestly never seen a good Owen promo out of him. He's bland as anything as a face and can only really pull off the chicken-shit, entitled brat as The King of Harts was, but even that got old. While he can work a good heel in the ring, he's just not anything beyond it. The main issue I have is that Owen's motivation and that ring quality reduces a ton after Bret leaves: he just was never the same afterwards and seemed to be eying up retirement as he viewed wrestling as basically a job, not a passion, as he was fairly young and wanted to leave before injuries caught up to him. If he had been inspired by the likes of Angle and co joining and got back into the swing of things? Maybe we'd have a utterly fantastic career there. Unfortunately, that seems minuscule as a issue compared to what happened to him. A great talent greatly missed, but, frankly, I can't put him higher with what I've seen."

[9.0] "Everything I've seen from Owen is great. I do have to watch some more of Owen's promos to see if I want to raise him to a ten but he is brilliant."

[9.0] "Owen was a fantastic performer and a fantastic character in the ring. He never really got his due when he was alive; never quite got pushed to where he should have been, which is a credible main event talent. Maybe it would have happened before his untimely death, but it's a shame it never happened when he was alive."

[8.0] "Owen Hart was brilliant in the ring and it's tragic what happened to him. I thought he did fine as a face, but was wholly unbelievable as a heel. His energy when on the mic just felt completely fake, like Owen couldn't act like an angry or frustrated guy."

[10.0] "When I think of the most underrated wrestlers of all time, I immediately think of Owen Hart. This guy was just such an amazing competitor. Had great in-ring talent and psychology, more charisma than his brother, and was amazing as a heel. I think he could've been equally as good as a face although he never really had the chance. Unfortunately, Vince had no faith in him and stuck him in stupid angles and ridiculous gimmicks, which ultimately is what got him killed. It's such a shame. He easily had what it took to be one of the greatest world champions of all time, and I feel the stupid Blue Blazer crap that eventually led to him falling to his death robbed us of not only many years of awesome matches he could've gone on to participate in, but also an amazing human being."

[9.0] "One of the best junior heavyweights in NJPW in the mid 80s, really innovative. Blue Blazer was not pushed well but he could still have a decent sub 5 minute match. When he returned to the WWF in 1992 he was again underused until his feud with Bret that was tremendous. He was then just a tag team guy and was usually the guy someone beat on the way to becoming a main eventer. Which was a job he did well."

[10.0] "Owen Hart is an amazing worker who I believe was UNDERRATED before his unfortunate demise. For those who think otherwise, watch Bret Hart vs Owen Hart at Summerslam 1994 and Jushin Thunder Liger vs Owen Hart. Owen is a talented wrestler with a lot of potential but didn't get that big main event push and ended up being stuck in the midcard. Had he been pushed, I think he would've been an amazing main eventer like his brother Bret."

[6.0] "I don't agree with some of the opinions that say he was a better worker than Bret but he was more charismatic. He was growing as a worker & in his character but I feel that Bret's leaving affected his position in the company. Sadly he didn't reach his prime yet."

[9.0] "Owen was more entertaining to watch than Bret. He was a good high flyer. Owen & Yoko were an underrated tag team."

[8.0] "Clearly overrated in some respect due to what happened. Owen was a good right hand man to Bret during the Hart Foundation days & was a well timed comedic presence & tag guy with Davey & Yoko. After the Screwjob, Owen was going nowhere fast & it felt like his glory days were behind him. The Blue Blazer gimmick was unnecessarily silly, but Owen as the Blackhart didn't really connect with audiences either."