Disc Two
– Bret Hart v. Ricky Steamboat. From the Boston Garden, 3/8/86. I did a quickie version of this one for a Coliseum video rant ages ago, but I’ve always felt it deserved a full recap. Bret attacks to start, but gets whipped into the corner for his troubles. Steamboat fires away in the corner and grabs an armbar. He works on that with some really nasty stuff. Bret tries a comeback, but Dragon counters him with the patented slide-under-the-legs evasion tactic and goes back to the arm. Bret tries to hiptoss out, but Steamboat counters him with the sequence later made famous by Owen. Bret tries an atomic drop to break, but Steamer flips out of it, so Bret follows with a neckbreaker and legdrop to take over. Bret gives him a punch to the gut and Steamboat sells it like a gunshot wound, falling out of the ring in melodramatic fashion. Bret suplexes him back in for two, and grabs a headlock. Steamboat tries to slam out of it, but Bret counters for two. Another one succeeds, but he tries following with a splash and hits Bret’s knees. Has Steamboat EVER splashed anyone successfully? To the floor we go, where Steamboat gets slammed and Jimmy Hart is very proud of Bret for doing so. Back in, Bret uses a rare running powerslam for two. Wonder why that one never got worked into the routine? Backbreaker and second rope elbow misses. Interesting how that move was originally designed to be a comeback spot for a babyface, but turned into one of Bret’s signature moves later on. Steamboat comes back and chops him down for two. Backdrop suplex gets two. Another chop gets two. Steamer works him over in the corner, and the ref is bumped, and Bret gets the lariat for a visual pinfall. That’s a pretty big compliment from Steamboat. Another one is rolled through, however, and Steamboat gets the skin-of-his-teeth pinfall at 15:08. This nearly became the show-stealing classic of Wrestlemania 2, but they gave Bret’s spot to Hercules at the last minute, feeling he had better long-term potential. I can’t make this stuff up if I tried. ***3/4 Great selling from Steamboat here, needless to say.
– Bret Hart v. Ted Dibiase. From a Wrestling Challenge taping in Odessa, TX, 3/8/89. Kind of odd in that we’re totally skipping over the prime years of the Hart Foundation, when you’d think the Harts v. Bulldogs match at Wrestlemania III would have been a no-brainer for inclusion, or at least the awesome 2/3 falls match from SNME. For whatever reason, there was either no commentary taped for this, or they just deleted it. The result is interesting, as the ring is heavily miked and you can clearly hear Dibiase and Bret calling spots at various points. Bret was in the last stages of his initial babyface singles push before reuniting with Jim Neidhart again in 1990 for another run with the tag titles, and the differences between early singles Bret and his later self were already beginning to become evident. Bret attacks to start and gets the legsweep for two, and a crossbody for two. Dibiase bails and stalls, and catches Bret with a knee back in the ring. He blocks a rollup, but another one gets two for Bret. Back to the floor for some un-Christian language by Ted. He stops to gab at the fans, allowing Bret to slingshot him in, but a charge misses and Bret hurts his little Hitman. Ted lays the QUALITY badmouth on him in the corner, which is the kind of stuff you miss with commentators yakking over everything, and we get some choking. He follows with a clothesline and elbow for two. Middle rope elbow and suplex get two. Another one is reversed by Bret, but a backdrop suplex gets two for Dibiase. Bret takes his patented trip to the corner and a backbreaker gets two for Dibiase. Bret comes back with a small package for two, and another, as Dibiase gets frustrated and tosses him. Back in, the fistdrop gets two. We hit the chinlock, which Dibiase maintains with some hair-pulling. Man, I wouldn’t touch that stuff. Bret comes back with the lariat, but he’s still out, so Dibiase decides to go up. But that sneaky Bret was playing possum, and a slam off the top results. He makes the comeback with a series of elbows for two, and the backbreaker/elbow combo gets two. Blind charge misses and Bret takes a bigtime knee-first bump into the corner, which gives Dibiase what looks like the finish via a spinning toehold. These days it probably would have been the finish given the shift in attitudes by fans and bookers, but in 1989 Bret kicks him off and Ted goes out. Bret follows with a pescado and they brawl for the double countout at 15:07, as Bret was being heavily protected by then. Rock solid stuff, sadly lacking in finish. ***1/2
– The Hart Foundation v. The Rockers. From SNME, 4/29/90. Bret and Jannetty exchange takedowns to start, and the Rockers double-team him until Anvil comes in and overpowers Marty. Shawn comes in and can’t slam Anvil, but a dropkick works. Anvil has no such trouble slamming Shawn, allowing Bret to come in (along with a moment of FORBIDDEN COMMENTARY from Jesse Ventura!) and the Harts do the quick tags and work Shawn over. The theme is “pounding the back” and the double-whip gets two. Shawn comes back with a sunset flip for two, as Demolition comes out to scout. Bret stops to yell at them, and we’re clipped for an ad break. Back with Bret pounding on Shawn in the corner, but missing an elbowdrop. Hot tag Jannetty, who superkicks Bret for two. Sunset flip gets two. Bret comes back with a neckbreaker, but slingshots Anvil in and misses with that. Back to Shawn, who promptly runs into Anvil and takes a two-count as a result. High cross body gets two, however, and Demolition runs in for the double DQ at 9:02. Seen better, but this was fun enough. **3/4
– World tag titles: The Hart Foundation v. The Nasty Boys. From Wrestlemania VII, although my Coliseum video version is clipped down to 8:55, so you get the full version for the first time here. Bret gets slugged down by Sags right away, but gets the Thesz Press and fights off both Nasties. He slingshots Sags in and starts on the arm, prompting Sags to tag out to Knobs. So Anvil comes in to match and pounds him in the corner, then hiptosses him over the top to clean house. Back in, he goes to the arm, but goes to the wrong corner. He quickly recovers and gets Bret in in for some punishment on Sags in the corner. Russian legsweep and elbow get two. However, he goes after Knobs and turns his back, which opens him up to getting clobbered from behind with a clothesline, and thus he’s the face-in-peril. Bret was also clearly the breakout star of the team at this point, and seemed bigger than the match. So Bret goes to the corner and Sags follows with a backbreaker for two. He gets a rear chinlock and Knobs stays on the back with the same. Back to Sags, who adds a neckbreaker for two. Back to the chinlock, but Bret escapes with his own neckbreaker. Knobs comes in and stays on the back, however, forcing Bret to power out. The Nasties try the Harts’ own double-whip, but Bret moves and it’s the false tag. Heel miscommunication gives us the real hot tag, however, and Anvil clotheslines everyone and gets two on Knobs. Powerslam gets two. Nasties collide again and the Hart Attack results, but Sags hits Anvil with the helmet and Knobs gets the pin and the titles at 12:01. Probably one of the best matches ever for the Nasties, although I still think a match against Money Inc. on a Coliseum video was better. This was more about Bret’s coming out party than elevating the Nasties in any meaningful way, and that’s fine. ***1/2
– Intercontinental title: Mr. Perfect v. Bret Hart. From Summerslam 91, and the original rant is pretty outdated, so let’s hit it again. Bret hiptosses him out of the ring to start, and grabs a headlock. Crucifix gets two and he maintains a headlock with some well-timed hair-pulling. Crossbody gets two, as does a sunset flip, and he goes back to the headlock. Hennig tries some cheating to turn the tide, but Bret takes him down and stomps him. They trade slams in a nice counter wrestling sequence. Hennig bails off a punch and regroups, but Bret pulls him back in, ripping the tights in the process. A cheapshot puts Perfect in control, however, and a pair of kicks puts Bret on the floor. Hennig steps on his back to get back into the ring, a nice touch. Bret fights back to the apron, so Hennig snaps him into the railing for the Pillman bump. Back in, Bret rolls him up out of the corner for a one-count. Perfect pounds him down again and sends him into the corner for two. Necksnap and rollup get two. Dropkick puts Bret on the floor, and they brawl out there. They fight up to the top and Bret down first, with Perfect falling on top of him for two in a weird spot. Still not sure what happened there. Perfect hairtosses him and grabs a sleeper, but Bret fights out easily. Bret tries another crucifix, but Perfect is onto him now and counters with a samoan drop for two. He sends Bret to the corner for two. Perfectplex gets two, and Bret comes back. Atomic drop both ways and Bret returns the hairtoss, so Perfect takes a great sliding bump into the post. Suplex gets two. Small package gets two. Russian legsweep gets two. Backbreaker and elbow get two. A desperate Perfect rolls him up for two in a hot near-fall, but Bret kicks him out of the ring. Bret starts kicking the crap out of the leg to set up for the Sharpshooter, and Perfect is flipping around like a gymnast to sell it. Bret goes after Coach and gets crotched as a result, and Perfect starts going low in desperation. A legdrop is caught by Bret, however, and he turns it into the Sharpshooter, with Earl Hebner ringing the bell, ringing the f*cking bell, very early at 18:05 to win the title. Still holds up, except for the botched finish. ****1/4 This was all about Mr. Perfect bringing Bret up to his level and turning him into a legitimate star.
– Intercontinental title: Bret Hart v. The British Bulldog. From Summerslam 92, of course. My re-rant attempt came out basically like the original, so here’s the original to save me 10 minutes of typing. DBS brings Lennox Lewis with him to suck up to the crowd, just in case any of them didn’t know who the babyface was. Shoving match to start. Bret takes a bump to the floor off a shoulderblock. Back in and they trade side headlock takedowns, and Bret flips out of a slam to roll him up for two. Small package gets two, and Bret goes back to the side headlock. Into a wristlock, and Bulldog flips out and goes into the armbar. Bret comes off the ropes, but gets caught with a slingshot into the corner, and Bulldog goes back to move #929 (ARM-bar). Crucifix gets two, and Bulldog takes him down with a hammerlock. Shots of Diana Hart-Smith are cut in. She was cute in 92, but got really ugly from about 96 on. I’m just saying. Bret escapes and knees DBS in the gut coming off the ropes to take control. He goes into Heel Bastard Mode, dropping a leg and taunting the fans. DBS fights out of a chinlock, but eats an elbow coming off the ropes. Inverse atomic drop is called a “reverse piledriver” by Vince. DBS goes for another crucifix but gets dropped on his back for two. They do a criss-cross sequence and Bulldog hits a monkey-flip to take control, then a pair of cross-corner whips on Bret. He runs into Bret’s foot on the second, however. Bulldog (a nasty one, too) from Bret. How ironic. See, he’s the Bulldog, and he got…oh, never mind. Bret goes to the top, but gets slammed off. DBS tries it, but Bret moves. Bulldog tries a quick rollup, but Bret ducks down and Bulldog goes flying to the floor. Bret hits an ugly looking pescado. Ouch, he better buy Bulldog a round of drinks after that one. He rams him into the post for good measure. Back in the ring for more punishment, with a series of forearms and a dropkick. I’ve never liked Bret’s dropkick. Bulldog takes an awkward-looking bump on his knee off a backdrop, and Bret goes back to the chinlock. Bret gets the snap suplex for two. Bulldog blocks a forearm with a backslide for two. Bret decks him and hits the elbow off the second rope for two. I like how Bret is actually varying the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM here. Bret hair-tosses DBS, pissing off the crowd. Bret gets a sleeper, and Vince declares the match over. Sure. Smith fights out and presses Bret, but drops him crotch-first on the top rope. He clotheslines him three times for a two count. Military press gets two. The delayed suplex gets a big pop, and a two count. Cross-corner whip gets two. The running powerslam gets two. Davey Boy is perplexed. Bret is dead. Smith shoves him out of the ring, then suplexes him in, but Bret reverses to a german suplex for two. Bret tries a suplex, but Bulldog blocks and superplexes him for two. Whip, reverse, and double-KO spot. Bret maneuvers into position and applies the Sharpshooter, however, drawing screams of horror from the crowd. Bulldog makes the ropes. Bulldog whips and puts his head down, Bret sunset flips him, and Bulldog hooks Bret’s legs for leverage and gets the pin and the Intercontinental title at 25:10. Crowd goes NUTS. Davey’s best match, post-Stampede era. ***** Smith and Hart reunite the family after the match, despite Bret teasing walking out a couple of times.
– Bret Hart v. Bam Bam Bigelow. An obscure match from Spain in 1993. Odd choice to say the least, but it’s Bret’s DVD. Bammer overpowers him to start, and Bret takes five. Bam Bam pounds the back, but Bret comes back and works the arm. Bammer goes back to the back, but Bret gets a crossbody for two. Bret wins a slugfest and elbows him out, but follows with a dive off the apron and gets caught. Bret, post, post, Bret. Perhaps not satisfied with the quality of the original introduction, Bigelow does it again. Back in, Bret gets sent into the corner and Bigelow goes to the back, leading to a bearhug. Bret reverses to a headlock, so Bigelow backdrops out of it. He adds headbutts to the back, and into a body vice. Bret reverses out of that and gets a backdrop suplex of his own, but Bam Bam hits him with the double-underhook backbreaker. Flying headbutt misses and Bret pummels him in the corner to come back. Legsweep gets two. Clothesline gets two. Bulldog sets up the Sharpshooter, but Bam Bam fights up with another bearhug. Bret tries another backdrop, but Bam Bam falls on top for two. Bret comes back with the victory roll for the pin at 11:56. Not much different than the King of the Ring finals, actually. ***
– King of the Ring Semifinal match: Bret Hart v. Mr. Perfect. Bret starts with a headlock and Hennig counters, they exchange slams, and Bret goes back to the headlock again. Good fast-paced start. Bret gets a crucifix for two, back to the headlock. He gets put out, but sunset flips back in for two. Back to the headlock, but now Hennig goes low to go heel. Standing dropkick and Bret bails as the crowd starts to turn on Perfect, right on cue. He decks Bret on the way in after holding the ropes, and lays down some smack in the corner. Kneelift gets two. Brawl outside, where Perfect dominates. Bret crawls onto the apron, and Perfect snaps the ropes and sends him crashing into the railing. Bret would modify that spot at Survivor Series 95 with Diesel, putting himself through a table instead. Bret makes it back in and gets kneelifted for two, as the Curt Hennig I know and love re-emerges from the wimpy exterior that his face turn had put on him. Missile dropkick gets two. Now Perfect gets downright vicious, whipping Bret into the corner with GUSTO and sneering while he does it. He goes up again, but gets crotched again and superplexed for two. Bret kicks his leg out from under his leg and goes to a figure-four as the crowd gets more and more into it. Perfect makes the ropes, and Bret works the knee. Perfect goes to the eyes and uses a hairtoss, a definite heel move. Sleeper, but Bret makes the ropes. Perfect continues selling the knee as he releases, but he manages to go back to the move and use the ropes to boot. CHEAT TO WIN~! Bret breaks on the top rope and makes the comeback by going tit-for-tat and hairtossing Perfect right back. We get another variant of the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM, this time they’re atomic drop, legsweep, legdrop, backbreaker and 2nd rope elbow. Sharpshooter is blocked by Perfect as he grabs the bad hand of Bret (something established by JR’s commentary early in the match), but Bret blocks the Perfectplex and suplexes both of them to the floor. Back in, Perfect fakes him out with his “knee injury” and cradles for two, but Bret reverses for the pin at 18:49. MORE, MORE, I WANT MORE! Man, there was more psychology than Sigmund Freud v. Carl Jung in a submissive match. ****1/2 Yup, I liked this one more than their Summerslam 91 classic, mainly because Hennig wasn’t crippled here. They make up after the match like good babyfaces, although I would have had infinitely more respect for Curt if he’d decked Bret and gone full heel again.
– Bret Hart v. Owen Hart. From Wrestlemania X, of course. They lockup, and Owen pushes Bret off, then celebrates. Cheap heat, but hey, you take what you can get. Owen gets the best of a wrestling sequence and celebrates. Bret retaliates by sending Owen to the floor, which pisses him off and he slaps Bret upon returning to the ring. Bret takes control, working on the arm. Bret gets two off a cradle, then goes back to the arm. After another terrific wrestling sequence, Owen ends up getting tossed to the floor again, and now Bret celebrates. Crowd is much more appreciative of this. Owen has another fit and a shoving match results, off which Bret gets a rollup for two. Bret back to work on the arm. Bret gets a crucifix for two, then back to the arm. Good psychology here. Owen takes control with his SWANK~! leg lariat and sends Bret to the floor. He rams Bret’s back into the ringpost, establishing the back injury for Bret. Owen gives Bret a cross-corner whip (first time I’ve seen Bret sell it back-first, actually) and hits a backbreaker. FIVE MOVES OF…oh, wait, wrong brother. Owen slaps on a camel clutch while trash-talking his brother. Bret escapes, but gets caught with a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Sweet sassy molassy, I love that belly to belly. Another cross-corner whip, reversed by Bret, and Owen comes off the ropes with a bodypress, which is reversed by Bret for a two count. Owen goes back to the back. Resthold from Owen, thus dropping it from *****. Owen tries to slam Bret, but Bret falls back for a two count. Owen’s kickout sends Bret to the floor. Beautiful sequence as Owen suplexes Bret from the apron, and Bret reverses to a waistlock, which Owen reverses again for a German suplex for two. Just gorgeous wrestling. Legdrop from Owen for two. He goes for a suplex, but Bret cradles for two. He goes for a backbreaker, but Owen flips through and tombstones Bret. Nasty one, too. Flying headbutt misses. Inverted atomic drop and clothesline from Bret for two. Wait for it…wait for it….FIVE MOVES OF DOOM! Owen hits an enzuigiri to break it up, then goes for the Sharpshooter. Bret counters. He goes for his own, and Owen counters. Owen cradles for two, but gets kicked out of the ring. Pescado from Bret, but he f*cks up his knee. Owen circles in like a vulture, working on the knee and mocking his brother. What a jerk. Dragon screw legwhip (called “Look at that!” by the ever-astute Mr. McMahon) and a submission move of some sort follows. Another dragon screw, then a figure four, which gets a two count. Bret reverses to break the hold. Owen goes back to work on the knee. Another dragon screw legwhip attempt, but Bret counters with an enzuigiri. Crosscorner whip and legdrop gets two. Bulldog for two. Piledriver for two. Superplex, and both men are out. Bret revives long enough to get a two count. Both get up and Bret hits a sleeper. Owen breaks with a Flair uppercut (Where? Down there…) and Bret drops like a rock. Sharpshooter! Bret powers out and applies his own, but Owen makes the ropes. Bret with a cross corner whip, Owen reverses. Owen eats foot coming into the corner, and Bret goes for a victory roll, but Owen reverses the momentum and lies down on top for the pin! The crowd is in SHOCK. ****3/4…oh, hell, who am I kidding? This is the one of the best matches I’ve ever seen. *****, just because Bret continued selling the leg injury to the end of the show.
Disc Three
– Bret Hart v. Owen Hart. From The Action Zone’s first episode, 9/29/94. This is announced as Owen Hart’s final title shot. Vince wonders if this will be a “romp ’em stomp ’em affair” or not. I’m guessing not. They fight over a lockup to start and get into a shoving match, which of course prompts Owen to run away and hide. And then crow about it later. Bret and Owen trade hammerlocks and Bret starts to work on the arm, then dodges a dropkick and slingshots Owen into the corner for two. Bret goes back to the arm and hiptosses him, so Owen bails again and gets some advice from Jim Neidhart. Back in, Bret rolls him up for two and goes back to the arm. Crucifix gets two. Neidhart trips up Bret, and Owen takes over, but British Bulldog comes out to even things up on the floor, and we’re clipped for an ad break, returning with Owen holding a rear chinlock. Owen shifts to a headlock and pulls hair to maintain it, while Todd Pettingill makes incredibly dated references. Bret tries to reverse to a wristlock, but Owen pulls the hair to take him down again. The endless chinlock continues until Bret fights up, so Owen takes him down with a belly-to-belly for two. And back to the chinlock again, but Bret quickly escapes with a sunset flip for two. Bret slugs away in the corner, but Owen reverses him into the turnbuckles for the trademark bump, and Owen follows with a missile dropkick. The ref admonishing Davey Boy allows Neidhart to work on Bret’s knee on the outside, and Owen wraps Bret’s knee around the rope and works it over. Bret fights out, so Owen snaps the leg over to hobble Bret, and stomps away on the knee in the corner. Dragon-screw legwhip and Owen wishbones the leg and works it over on the ropes. Good work from Owen here. He goes to a figure-four, but Bret reverses, and we’re clipped for another ad break. Back with Bret making the comeback with an atomic drop and clothesline for two. Legsweep gets two. Small package gets two. Backbreaker and elbow get two. Owen uses Anvil interference to get a rollup for two, and Bret reverses for two. He tries the Sharpshooter, but Owen goes to the eyes to break and follows with a leg lariat for two. Owen stomps him down and they fight to the top, but Neidhart and Bulldog alternate interference, as Bret goes down first and then Bulldog crotches Owen, which allows Bret to get the pin at 14:48. I think I remember this setting up a really awesome tag match between these teams on another episode of Action Zone, too. ***1/4
– Bret Hart v. Hakushi. Hakushi (Jinsei Shinzaki in Japan these days) was actually quite the breath of fresh air in 1995, getting over without speaking English or wrestling WWF Main Event Style. This of course was far too threatening to those on top and he was crushed by the Clique as a result. He was managed by “Shinja”, who was former Orient Express member Akio Sato in white-face makeup. Hakushi grabs a headlock to start and they do a stalemate sequence. Hakushi uses the hair to take Bret down and they exchange wristlocks before Hakushi gets a shoulderblock for two. To the armbar and they work off that for a bit before messing something up on a criss-cross, so Bret improvises with a hiptoss and armdrags to send Hakushi to the outside. He sneaks back in and attacks Bret from behind, but Bret pounds him in the corner. Bret gets reversed with his turnbuckle bump and Hakushi gets a pump splash for two. He stomps a mudhole and actually gets an early form of the Broncobuster, without the obvious gay undertones like with Sean Waltman. Bret tries a rollup, but gets reversed to the floor and attacked by Shinja. Back in, Hakushi pounds away with nothing of consequence and chokes him out in the corner. He starts chopping and gets a handspring elbow and more choking. There’s just too much dead space in between moves. They slug it out and Hakushi uses the good ol’ thumb to the eye and gets a backbreaker for two. To the top and a beautiful diving headbutt gets two. He heads to the apron and springboards in with a splash, but misses, and Bret makes the comeback. Wait for it…wait for it…FIVE MOVES OF DOOM! Russian legsweep, bulldog, backbreaker, second-rope elbow and Sharpshooter in this case. He gets distracted by Shinja, but manages an atomic drop and clothesline (with a great 0.8 Jannetty sell by Hakushi) to keep Hakushi down. Bret hammers away on the ropes, but gets tripped up by Shinja and stops to hit him with a tope suicida. Back in, Hakushi dropkicks him coming in for two. “Not this way!” cries Vince. Not with a dropkick? Is there something inherently bad about dropkicks? Bret reverses a suplex and they do an INSANE double bump over the top and to the floor. I mean, they barely even touched the apron on the way down. Bret goes after Shinja again, and Hakushi hits him with an Asai moonsault that gets nearly 3 seconds of hangtime. The crowd actually starts chanting for HAKUSHI. Bret fights his way back to the apron and reverses a suplex in, and they reverse off that into a reverse rollup by Bret for the pin at 14:41. Hakushi’s offense was a bit plodding in the middle, but there was some CRAZY stuff in here that you didn’t see at the time and Bret gave his usual 110% PPV effort. ***3/4 Bret, however, with another match later against Jerry Lawler, twists his ankle leaving the ring and may be hurt.
– WWF World title match: Diesel v. Bret Hart. Hart v. Michaels was already pencilled in for WM12, so it’s not like the result here was a secret of national security or anything. Diesel and Bret both pull off turnbuckle pads to reinforce that it’s no-DQ. Diesel pounds Bret in the corner, so Bret bails. They fight outside for a bit as Bret uncharacteristically runs like a chicken. Back in the ring for a slugfest, which Bret loses. He bails again, so Diesel rams him backfirst into the post. He grabs a chair and nails him for good measure. Back in the ring and he goes for the powerbomb early, but Bret blocks it and comes back. Lots of cheap stuff from Bret, then he starts working on the knees of the champ. Figure-four wears him down further, then Bret grabs a cable in an amazingly dickish move and hogtie’s Diesel’s ankles around the post. He takes the chair and demolishes his knee with it, actually drawing boos. Diesel finally looses himself and slams Bret off the top rope, then chokes him out with the cable. Side slam gets a two count. Nash is doing an amazing job of selling the injury at this point, the best I’ve ever seen him do. He manages Snake Eyes, but Bret reverses a second attempt and comes back. FIVE MOVES OF DOOM! Bret sends Diesel to the floor, but the pescado misses. Bret crawls onto the apron, and it’s HISTORY TIME! The biggest running gag in WWF’s history begins here, as Diesel shoves Bret off the apron, right through the Spanish announce table. Bret is acting like he’s on his deathbed. Diesel tosses him back in for the kill, but when he goes for the powerbomb Bret simply collapses. The ref wants to stop the match, but Diesel shoves him aside and tries it again…and Bret small packages him out of nowhere for the pin and the title at 24:50. Diesel clearly mouths a very naughty phrase at the camera which rhymes with “Another trucking skit”, then powerbombs Bret twice and takes out a bunch of refs, yelling “I’M BACK!” at the camera. He started pissing off the Undertaker soon after, and got jobbed out, leading to him joining WCW in 1996. Wonder whatever happened to him? This would be Nash’s second-best match ever, only eclipsed by the one he had with Michaels in 1996. ****1/4
– WWF World title match: Bret Hart v. British Bulldog. Mat wrestling to start, as they trade wristlocks. Bret slides in and out of the ring and hits an atomic drop, but Bulldog catches him coming off the ropes with a knee to the midsection and hangs him in the tree of woe. Odd moment as Davey seems to nail Hebner legit on the backswing by accident, and then he HELPS HIM UP?!? What self-respecting heel would do that? Smack him around now, say sorry later. Bulldog counters a crucifix and drops a leg for two. Cornette delivers a Santa-themed racket shot. Lots of resting here. Bret’s corner bump gives Bulldog a two count. Back body drop (or as Vince would say, “BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK bodydrop”) gets two. Bulldog holds a side headlock. Criss-cross leads to a monkey flip and Bret takes over. Bulldog to the Bulldog gets two. Piledriver gets two. Superplex is blocked and Davey bounces Bret crotch-first on the top rope, and the poor guy goes about three feet in the air on the upswing. Ouch. Bret gets tossed to the stairs and blades. Bret and the WWF have since feigned innocence, but it was such an obvious spot, and Bret did the “blading position” for a minute afterwards, and it was to the forehead (really, now, when do you EVER see someone bleed from the FOREHEAD by accident in real life?) so I’m thinking someone was telling a fib here. Bret stands up and there’s a HUGE pool of his blood on the mats. Man, that’s just ugly. ECW’s trained seals chant “He’s Hardcore!” right on cue for that one. Back in, Bulldog gets a piledriver for two. Hanging suplex gets two. Military press gets two. Diving headbutt gets two. He goes for a bow-and-arrow, but Bret reverses to the Sharpshooter, and Davey Boy escapes. Bret bails, and comes back in with a quick german suplex for two. The mat is literally covered in Bret’s blood, although the cut is hard to see because the camera is zoomed out. Oh, and Bulldog’s white tights are now pink. Pleasant, huh? Bret backdrops him out and hits a pescado, then tries what I think was going to be a quebrada (!), but gets caught and powerslammed on the floor. Bulldog pulls up the mats, but Bret blocks a suplex and crotches him on the railing. Back in, a superplex gets two for Bret. Bulldog eats foot on a blind charge. Majastral cradle gets the pin for Bret at 21:09. Well, that was a pretty underwhelming finish. Good match, though. **** I can’t give the bladejob more than 0.3 Muta in good conscience, because the actual cut was small and he wasn’t wearing the crimson mask.
– Submission match: Bret Hart v. Steve Austin. Ken Shamrock is the guest referee. Brawl outside the ring to start, with Austin crotching Hart on the STEEL railing and clotheslining him to the floor. They brawl into the crowd, with Austin ramming Bret into the boards and pounding on him. Hitman comes back and they brawl up the stairs. Back to the ring, and Hart takes a MAN-SIZED bump to the stairs. Austin clotheslines him off the apron. Austin tries to use the steel steps but Bret kicks them out of his hands. Austin rams Bret to the post. We actually go the ring. Austin stomps on Bret, but Bret pulls out a neckbreaker and an elbow off the second rope. Vince starts badmouthing Bret, nothing that he’ll probably have an excuse if he loses. Wow, I mean, WOW, this shit is brilliant in retrospect. I stand in awe of Vincent K. McMahon. Bret works on Austin’s knee viciously. Austin suddenly hits the stunner out of nowhere, but can’t capitilize fast enough. Big Austin chant. Bret goes back to the knee. The ringpost figure-four makes it’s PPV debut to a monster pop. Bret grabs the bell and a chair, and opts to try the Brian Pillman Maneuver on Austin, to a big pop. Austin gets loose and WHACKS Hart with the chair, to a big pop. Another monster shot and a monster pop. Crowd is INTO Austin, big time. Austin with a slam, cross-corner whip and a suplex. Elbow off the second rope. Austin hits a russian legsweep and applies an odd cross-armbreaker. Crowd is 50/50. Boston crab from Austin to a big pop. Bret makes the ropes, so Austin goes for a Sharpshooter instead. Jerry: “Wouldn’t that have been incredible, to have to submit to the Sharpshooter?” Vince: “Hey, it could happen.” No shit. Bret escapes and Austin tosses him to the floor. Whip reversal sends Austin crashing into the timekeeper. Austin rips open a huge gash on his head. Now that’s some high-quality blading. Austin gets rammed to the stairs and the ringpost. Austin is literally dripping blood on the ring. Hart drops an elbow and stomps away. Crowd doesn’t feel so good about Bret now. He grabs a chair and smashes it into Austin’s knee. You can almost feel the crowd changing sides. Bret goes for the Sharpshooter but Austin blocks. Bret pounds Austin in the corner, but Steve counters with a greco-roman ballshot. Austin whips Bret to the corner, then does some stomping of his own. Austin with a superplex. Austin’s face is literally covered in blood. Austin grabs a cable from ringside and chokes out Bret, but Bret grabs the bell that he brought in 10 minutes earlier and rings it on Austin’s head. Sharpshooter. We get the famous shot of Austin bleeding all over the ring and screaming in pain. Austin fights the pain and powers out…but Bret hangs on. He reapplies the move and moves to the center of the ring. Austin passes out and Shamrock stops the match. Crowd is less than thrilled. Austin is DEAD. Bret soaks in some cheers, then goes back to pounding on Austin. Shamrock takes him down and gets a big pop. Hart leaves to huge boos. Austin leaves to the crowd chanting his name. Hogan and Flair WISH they could pull this off. This would set off the Steve Austin v. Hart Foundation war that carried the WWF through all of 1997, and was supposed to culminate in Bret returning the job to Austin at Wrestlemania XIV, but, well, you know…shit happens. *****
– WWF title match: Bret Hart v. The Undertaker. This is the rematch from Summerslam 97 where Bret won the title. It’s astonishing that wrestling would probably be totally different today if Vince had just decided to keep the title on Undertaker there and move it to Shawn at Badd Blood instead. The crowd is violently divided here on the whole Bret Hart issue. Hart pounds away, Undertaker follows. Taker chokes him out, but Bret pulls off a turnbuckle for later use. Taker hits foot on a charge and Bret pounds away, but Taker clotheslines him for two. Bret clotheslines him back and hammers away, then dumps him. Baseball slide out of nowhere sends UT crashing into the table. Bret tries to follow with a pescado, but gets caught and posted. They brawl up the ramp and Bret scurries back to the ring. Back in, Taker stomps away, but gets DDT’d. Legdrop and elbowdrop keep Taker down for the moment, but he sits up. Bret chokes him down, but gets whipped into his own exposed turnbuckle by the cruel hand of irony, just like rain on your wedding day. Bret’s chest is hurting, so UT makes my jaw drop by pulling the HEART PUNCH OF DEATH out of his bag of tricks. Wow, psychology and obscure moves in the same match. Taker drops some elbows for two. Into a surfboard, and he turns it into a pinning combo for two. Bret suddenly starts kicking the knee in desperation, but Taker swats him away. Backbreaker gets two. Bret takes the knee again, but a charge misses. Taker gets two. He tries his own charge, but Bret moves and Taker’s knee slams into the top turnbuckle and Bret goes all Flair on it, destroying it with mechanical precision. Note to all you mindless sheep out there who keep e-mailing me to say that “Undertaker didn’t sell back when he was a zombie”, what he’s doing now is SELLING. So try using an argument that requires some thought next time. Bret wraps UT’s knee around the post and locks on the ringpost figure-four, nearly giving JR a heart attack in the process. Back in, Bret keeps on it and goes for the figure-four, getting some near-falls in the process. Taker counters the move, but Bret makes the ropes. Taker pounds him to come back, but Bret calmly ducks under the big boot and NAILS the bad knee (which Taker is supporting himself on while sticking his other foot in the air for the big boot) to take over again. That is why Bret is TRULY the “cerebral assassin” rather than HHH. Bret goes back to the knee, then works on the back to set up the Sharpshooter. Legsweep gets two, suplex gets two, second-rope elbow…misses? Taker & Bret clothesline each other, but UT sits up. Legdrop gets two. Another legdrop low, but Bret grabs the leg ala Summerslam 91 and reverses to the Sharpshooter. Taker appears to be screwed quite zestily, but instead of fighting for the ropes he simply uses his energy to power out. Bret tries again, but gets caught in a chokeslam attempt. Bret kicks his knee again to break, but Taker pounds him and legdrops him for two. Bret bails and grabs the bell, but Taker uses the big boot to knock it away. He grabs it himself, but the ref puts a stop to the shenanigans and Bret clips him. Taker shoves him over the top while they’re in the corner, and Bret takes out the cameraman in the process. Bret meets the stairs, and they head back in, where Taker whips Bret into the corner and into the post by extension. ROPEWALK OF DOOM, but Bret simply armdrags him down and rolls him up for two. Bret tries a tombstone, but Taker reverses, and they tumble to the ropes where Bret gets tied up headfirst. UT keeps pounding him, and the ref calls for the DQ at 28:35. That finish was CRIMINAL after the buildup. Given a pinfall or submission that’s a MOTYC, but it probably wouldn’t have mattered given the low exposure and Hell in a Cell a month later. ****1/2 It was also Bret’s last truly great match (not involving Chris Benoit), although he had some pretty good ones in WCW.
– Chris Benoit v. Bret Hart. This is the Owen Hart tribute match, from Kansas City in 1999, during one of WCW’s greatest eras, when they had no one in charge and they were just throwing shows out there with great wrestling on them, in the days before Vince Russo took over. Now, here’s a weird one: They overdub Bret’s WCW music with a generic music, instead of his WWF music, which they OWN. Lockup to start and Benoit grabs a headlock, which turns into a wristlock battle. Bret overpowers him and fakes Benoit out on a criss-cross. They start again and Benoit does the bridge off the test of strength, then takes Bret down with a straightjacket hold and turns it into a hammerlock takedown. He goes into a surfboard, which Bret reverses, so Benoit mulekicks him into the corner and grabs an armbar. Bret counters with a Russian legsweep and grabs a chinlock, but Benoit fights out, only to run into a knee. Bret drops a leg and pounds on him in the corner, but Benoit fires back with a chop, so Bret DDTs him. Bret gets an elbow from the middle and travels nearly 3/4 of the way across the ring to do so. Nice. Bret tries the knee again, but Benoit rolls through this time and gets a crazy variation on the Liontamer, until Bret makes the ropes. Benoit backdrops him for two. Backbreaker gets two. They take an ad break and return with Benoit dropping an elbow for two. Another one misses and now Bret does the headbutt to the abs and suplexes him. That gets two. He goes back to the chinlock and then hits him with a backbreaker, taking him to the floor and working on the back. Back in, Bret keeps stomping and throws forearms, but Benoit reveres a tilt-a-whirl into a tombstone for two. That was Owen’s thing, of course. Northern lights suplex gets two. Benoit gets his own knee to the gut for two. Benoit misses a dropkick, so Bret drops an elbow and then gets a vicious backdrop suplex for two. I wonder if Benoit just enjoys taking that bump or something. Bret hammers him against the ropes and charges, but runs into the ropes and knocks himself silly in the process. Benoit puts him out and follows with a tope suicida. Another ad break and we return with Bret hammering him on the apron and suplexing him into the ring. Benoit counters into a rollup, however, and Bret counters that for two. He goes for the direct approach, choking Benoit down and throwing a forearm, but Benoit backslides him for two. Bret works on the back, but Benoit cradles for two out of nowhere. Bret goes right back to the back and pulls out a swinging neckbreaker for two. He whips Benoit into the corner, and then catches him on the rebound with an inverted atomic drop, then puts him on top. Great transitions there. Benoit tries to catch him napping by coming off the top, but Bret crotches him into a superplex. Both are out, but Bret recovers and goes for the Sharpshooter, which Benoit reverses to the crossface! Awesome. I think he did that a couple of times in the WWE, too. Bret makes the ropes, however. Benoit pulls out Eddie’s rolling verticals and goes up, hitting the flying headbutt. Another nice thing about Benoit: You never know if he’s hitting or missing the headbutt. That only gets two. He returns the backdrop suplex favor from earlier, and drives an elbow into him. The crowd cheers for Bret, so Benoit gets upset and walks into an elbow. Piledriver gets two for Bret, but Benoit makes the ropes. Bret sends him into the corner again, but Benoit flips out of it and chops Bret into oblivion. He goes for a dragon suplex, but then opts for the rolling germans instead. Bret fights out of a fourth one by pounding on the back, but Benoit fights for the crossface, so Bret blocks it like a pro. Bret takes him down to the mat, still blocking, and then fights for the Sharpshooter, getting the move for the submission at 23:02. Benoit should have went over, but that’s minor, because the match was a classic for all the right reasons. And really, arguing star ratings on something like this is about as gay as you can get. *****
