3. Owen Hart Betrays His Brother - Royal Rumble 1994
There was a great deal of tension between Bret and Owen Hart entering the Royal Rumble in January 1994. After Owen was the only Hart brother eliminated from his team at the 1993 Survivor Series, he went on a tirade about being stuck in the shadow of his older brother Bret and challenged him to a match. Bret refused, vowing never to fight Owen. The holiday season came at the right time, as it turned out, because the siblings were able to reconcile their differences and focus their energy in a different direction, specifically the WWE Tag Team Championships, held by The Quebecers. The match between the two teams would be one of the more important and significant matches on the entire Rumble card. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOoy24Vho9c Unfortunately, Bret suffered a knee injury during the match and was unable to make the tag to his brother. The referee, sensing that Bret was in very real danger of suffering further damage to his knee, called for the bell and ended the match prematurely. This infuriated Owen. He felt as though his brother was being selfish, hogging the spotlight and trying to win the match himself rather than tagging him in and letting him win the titles. Infuriated, he watched as Bret struggled to his feet, then kicked his injured leg, drawing a huge chorus of boos and leaving his brother writhing in pain. It was a star-making turn for Owen and one that would ignite a simply phenomenal feud between the brothers, a feud that would carry WWE through some of its darkest days.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
