8 Things AEW Should Have Changed About The Owen Hart Foundation Tournament

The Owen Hart Foundation Tournament was a splendid idea that helped to finally highlight one of the industry’s greatest in-ring performers.

The work that All Elite Wrestling did to make this possible for Dr. Martha Hart and Owen’s family should be commended.

Dr. Martha Hart also had an amazing speech that made the entire tournament worth it all because the fans got to see her truly embrace the business that meant so much to her husband.

However, with the tournament now in the rearview mirror, there are aspects that could have been different to reach everyone’s expectations and the full potential of the concept overall.

Here are eight things AEW should have changed about the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.

8. Some of the qualifying matches should have been a part of the actual tournament

AEW spent weeks building up to the Owen Hart Foundation Tournaments with qualifying matches on Dynamite and Rampage.

Some of these contests were honestly better than the tournament matches themselves.

Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland, Riho vs. Yuka Sakazaki and Rey Fenix vs. Dante Martin were all thrilling bouts that highlighted both competitors.

Then, there was Dax Harwood vs. Cash Wheeler. The battle of FTR was so compelling and captivating that it felt wrong that it was just a qualifying match.

In a lot of ways, the quality of the tournament arguably peaked in the qualifiers, which should never happen with an important concept like this was.

The overall presentation could have been improved by going from eight to 16 people in each tournament.

7. Kris Statlander should have been included in the tournament from the start

Kris Statlander was added into the Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament as a last-minute replacement for Hikaru Shida (more on that later).

Statlander went on to have a good contest against Red Velvet to advance to the semifinals on the AEW Rampage before Double Or Nothing.

Her terrific promo ahead of her showdown with Ruby Soho captured the imagination of the Las Vegas crowd in attendance so much that they booed Soho following her loss.

Statlander told a story of her being an AEW original who hasn’t won gold or competed in the spotlight very often. That made the fans sympathize with her journey in the company.

It also made many of us question why she wasn’t in the tournament in the first place.

6. More television time dedicated to the matches on Dynamite

This seems to be a consistent criticism of the AEW women’s division in general, but it became even more glaring during the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament.

The company just doesn’t devote enough time to their ladies or often puts all the women’s segment into one portion of the show.

With the tournament itself, there just wasn’t enough television time for the matches on Dynamite.

The only bouts on the Wednesday night show were Toni Storm vs. Jamie Hayter, Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. vs. Maki Itoh and the semifinals of Baker vs. Storm.

In total, these matches clocked in at 24 minutes and 37 seconds of a possible six hours of programming.

There is no reason that the semifinals showdown of Baker vs. Storm couldn’t have gotten more or even get the main event spot on that episode.

It once again shows that the promotion has work to do in putting more of a spotlight on the women’s division.

5. More of a showcase for Toni Storm

Speaking of Toni Storm, she was the big signing that kicked off the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament qualifying matches.

Her debut against The Bunny was a nice outing in front of a very receptive crowd.

Despite the tournament not getting underway until another month after, we rarely saw the former WWE star outside of the brief backstage interviews with Jamie Hayter and Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D.

Toni Storm debuted on the March 30 edition of AEW Dynamite and has only competed in four matches on the two main shows of the company since then.

For someone who many fans believed would make an impact on the division, this tournament didn’t truly showcase her the way we all expected it to.

Unfortunately, Storm came up short in the semifinals and it remains to be seen when her next opportunity to shine will be.

4. An underdog story for Dax Harwood in the Men’s Tournament

The aforementioned Dax Harwood vs. Cash Wheeler encounter was excellent and had many fans wanting to see how the FTR member would fare in the Owen Hart Foundation Men’s Tournament.

Harwood is a committed Bret Hart fan and could give this concept a true underdog babyface for everyone to get behind.

However, Dax ran into the eventual winner of the tournament, Adam Cole, in the first round.

That match with Cole was once again great and told arguably the best story of the Men’s Tournament. It just came at the wrong time.

If AEW would have allowed Harwood to go on a run of singles matches against the likes of Kyle O’Reilly and Samoa Joe before facing Cole, that could have given us some tremendous bouts along the way.

It would have added some emotional weight to the tournament finals at Double Or Nothing as well.

Adam Cole could have still won in the end, but eliminating Dax Harwood so early was a letdown.

3. The entire handling of the Hikaru Shida situation

Hikaru Shida defeated Julia Hart to advance the Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament on the April 6 edition of AEW Dynamite.

Following her win, she went on to face Serena Deeb in the blowoff to their six month feud in a Philadelphia Street Fight on the April 27 episode of Dynamite.

After coming up short against Deeb, Shida traveled to Japan to compete for Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling and other promotions.

However, All Elite Wrestling would go on to announce that Hikaru Shida was dropping out of the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament due to not being medically cleared.

This caused Shida to respond on social media mentioning that she had competed in the ring since then in Japan and created a confusing situation.

Despite Shida explaining this away saying that she wasn’t cleared by AEW doctors and couldn’t get travel back, this whole scenario showed a lack of communication within the promotion.

For someone who has been a workhorse for the AEW women’s division, Shida not being in the tournament and the situation surrounding it put a dark cloud over the proceedings.

2. Anyone besides Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. winning the Women’s Tournament

Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. has been the biggest star in the AEW women’s division since her heel turn in early 2020.

Her microphone work and charisma are off the charts.

Her feud and Lights Out Match with Thunder Rosa in 2021 elevated the division. It also cemented herself as one of the top stars in the entire company.

Baker’s 290-day reign as AEW Women’s World Champion ended in spectacular fashion in a steel cage match against Thunder Rosa on the March 16 edition of AEW Dynamite: St. Patrick’s Day Slam.

Britt being included in the Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament made a lot of sense due to her name value and star power.

However, it should have been used to create a new star in the division.

With stars like Toni Storm, Jamie Hayter, Kris Statlander and especially fellow finalist Ruby Soho, there were some fantastic options to win this tournament.

The one competitor who truly didn’t need this win was Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D., but that is exactly the person who did.

The story of Ruby Soho never winning the big one could have been truly redeemed with the win.

1. Adding stakes and a prize for the winner of each tournament

Now don’t get me wrong, the Owen Hart Foundation championship belts were beautiful.

The titles being models after the old Canadian Stampede championships was a nice touch.

However, the winners being given the titles and the cup felt hollow in a promotion that puts such an emphasis on wins and losses.

The Owen Hart Foundation Tournament winners should have been given added incentive to being victorious.

Whether it was a title shot or a match of their own choosing, there were many ways for the company to give the overall tournament a boost.

Adam Cole getting an AEW World Title shot after his two losses to Hangman Adam Page or Britt Baker getting an opportunity so soon after losing her gold probably wouldn’t be the route to go.

That just adds to the previous entry though.

Overall, the Owen Hart Foundation Tournament accomplished their goal of honoring a legendary performer, but there were many ways that it just could have been better.

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