8 Returns WWE Dropped The Ball On

2. Owen Hart

Seth Rollins Extreme Rules 2016 return
WWE.com

While the Montreal Screwjob saw Bret leave for WCW as the hottest star in the industry, one of the benefits to the World Wrestling Federation of this most infamous of incidents is that it also handed Vince McMahon’s company a white-hot star of its own.

Despite allowing Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart to follow Bret Hart to WCW following the 1997 Survivor Series, McMahon refused to let Owen Hart out of his contract. After several weeks away from TV, Owen would make a huge statement by coming out of the crowd to attack Shawn Michaels at December ‘97’s In Your House: D-Generation X show.

This Owen Hart was a new man, a different person to what fans had ever seen, and he had the full support of rowdy wrestling crowds after his brother Bret had been screwed over in such a shocking way.

As we saw the youngest Hart sibling centre his attention on Vince McMahon and Shawn Michaels, Owen had a new edge and intensity to him.

Even on the commentary, Jim Ross and Jim Cornette would only further add to how much of a badass this new Owen Hart was; Cornette in particular put Owen over huge when talking about the differences in him now compared to when Corny had managed the former Rocket.

Dubbed The Black Hart, the Calgary native was destined for a lengthy, personal rivalry with Shawn Michaels that would surely see him become WWF Champion as the WWF looked to make the most of this real-life situation, yeah?

Nope.

Within a matter of weeks, Owen was transitioned into a feud with HBK’s DX running buddy, Triple H. And just a few months later, Hart would turn heel and join The Nation of Domination.

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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 day job, 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/Saints, Jamie Hayter, 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. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.