10 Times WWE Totally Dropped The Ball On Something Hot

2. The Black Hart

WWE Elimination Chamber 2023 Sami Zayn
WWE.com

Some would argue that Owen Hart should've had a run as the WWF Champion during his stunning feud with his brother Bret that began in 1993 and ran through until the end of 1994. While that could well be true, Owen was a heel there and so didn't exactly have fans clamouring to see him overcome the Hitman.

Skipping ahead to late 1997, though, and Owen Hart found himself in the position of being one of the hottest acts in the entire business.

Of course, this came in the aftermath of the Montreal Screwjob. With Bret Hart having headed to WCW, Brian Pillman having tragically passed away, and Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart having been allowed out of their contracts to join the Excellence of Execution, Owen found himself as the lone Hart Foundation member left in the WWF.

For whatever reason, Vince McMahon refused to let the youngest Hart brother out of his deal, but Owen's re-emergence after the '97 Survivor Series had the potential to make him a true top-tier talent and main event mainstay. Said re-emergence came a month after that infamous Montreal night, with Hart returning at the end of December's D-Generation X: In Your House show.

There, Owen beat the absolute piss out of Shawn Michaels before exiting through the crowd. Here he was, Owen Hart, the last Hart standing, who was out to avenge the treatment of his family. The prospect of Owen Hart vs. Shawn Michaels in a lengthy, personal feud was mouth-watering, and Hart's return showed an entirely new, serious, aggressive side to the former Rocket as he likewise butted heads with Vince McMahon in addition to the Heartbreak Kid.

Owen and Shawn would have just one TV match - a DQ win for Hart - before the Black Hart was transitioned into a brief rivalry with Triple H ahead of becoming a part of the Nation of Domination.

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Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.