I have a confession that some may have figured out by now, but for others it needs to be spelled out: I don’t like to talk about Owen Hart much anymore. I mean, I still love to talk about his matches and how much they meant to me, and I love to watch old tapes and remember him almost fulfilling his potential as the star he could have been, but I don’t really enjoy sitting down and remembering Owen Hart because it’s a very painful thing for me to do. Maybe that sounds contradictory, but while I can still enjoy Owen the Performer, Owen the Person is ten years dead now and I’ve made my peace with it and have nothing I want to on the matter that I haven’t already said to everyone I want to say it to.
I don’t think that came out quite right. Let me put it this way: If I remember Owen as the person instead of the character, I’ll be forced to remember him crashing from the rafters one night in 1999 instead of stealing the “Best Bowtie†Slammy from Bob Backlund in 1997 and treating it like a major career accomplishment, and I’ve remembered the former enough for one lifetime. The latter is much more fun to dwell upon and I think Owen probably would have liked it better for the fans to remember that, too.
So what do I do to pay tribute? Well, I’m a PPV guy. I review matches and shows and tell you what’s the best of them, so it’s only fitting for my own little tribute to Owen that I pick out 10 of his best matches in the WWF. Why the WWF? Well, basically, because I think you as a reader might want to watch some of Owen, and frankly tracking down Owen v. Liger from Japan or Owen & Bassarab v. The VietCong Express from Stampede is something of a major undertaking.
I think that really I as a fan grew up with Owen – he debuted in 1986, which was when I really turned into a heavy-duty follower of wrestling, and as a Stampede watcher I immediately latched onto him in his feud with Makhan Singh and recognized him as someone I could cheer for and follow as he progressed. When he debuted in the WWF in 1989 with the silly Blazer gimmick, it was almost something of a personal affront to me. I mean, heck, that was OWEN HART there, hero of Stampede Wrestling, and he’s forced to wrestle in a silly costume when everyone knows it’s him anyway? Here was a guy who practically re-wrote the rules of in-ring competition thanks to his Japanese exposure and daredevil antics, and he was getting stuck in a goofy 80s gimmick and buried as a jobber. I think that’s why I liked his eventual WWF run so much – it was more than just Owen putting on great matches, it was a guy who was essentially written off from the start growing into a legitimate superstar by sheer force of willpower and good nature. Instead of being laughed at in the silly suit, we were laughing with him as he spewed out heel bravado and then hid behind Yokozuna like a coward. We were all in on the joke, and that made it funnier.
And hey, when the Rocky Maivia experiment was dying in 1997, who beat him? Owen. Not many people hold clean wins over the Rock for titles, so he’s always got that.
This, then, is a compilation of what I feel are Owen’s 10 best WWF matches, in order of quality, taken from my various reviews over the years. Historical significance aside for the moment, these are just flat-out his best in-ring efforts in the WWF. Feel free to view any of them and judge for yourself, of course, and enjoy a bit of Owen while you do so. Final note: Nitpickers may note that some matches with lower star-ratings are at a higher position than more highly-rated matches, to which I can only respond in the most thoughtful way I know how: It’s my list, nyah nyah nyah. We’re here to reminisce, not nitpick, hopefully.
On with the show…
10. Vader v. Owen Hart.
Big face reaction for Owen. Vader overpowers him, turning himself heel in the process. Owen bails after another shoulderblock. Back in, Owen uses speed and gets a rana (!!). Owen hammers on him, bodypress gets two. Sharpshooter attempt is blocked, and Vader tries a suplex, which is reversed to a rollup for two by Owen. Another try for the Sharpshooter, but Vader makes the ropes this time. Owen uses a crucifix, but Vader falls back on him for two. He goes up for a splash for two. Vader sends Owen to the turnbuckles for his trademark bump and Vader just pummels him. Short-arm clothesline and Vader hits the chinlock. Avalanche and Vader works the armbar. He misses a charge, but Owen tries a slam and gets pounded. Not smart, Owen. Vader bars the knee, but Owen does a gutsy reversal and hammers his way out of it with brute force, just to prove that height and weight mean nothing on the mat. Vader splashes him for two. Vader tries the powerbomb, but YOU CAN’T POWERBOMB OWEN. Okay, normally you can, but work with me here. Enzuigiri pops the crowd huge, and he finally gets the Sharpshooter, but Vader makes the ropes. Owen tries the slam again, and GETS IT. That pops the crowd, too. Vader nails him and goes up, but misses the Vaderbomb. Owen gets a missile dropkick and leg lariat for two, and goes up to finish, but Vader catches him coming down and gets the pin at 12:14. ***1/2 Owen could pull a great match out of just about anyone, and this was just a variant on his series with Makhan Singh in Stampede.
9. The Quebecers v. Bret & Owen Hart.
This is the tag title match from Royal Rumble, January 1994. Oh, by the way, the WWF Sledgehammer of Plot Committee would just like to remind everyone that EVERYTHING IS ABSOLUTELY FINE between the Harts, thank you very much. Harts double-team the champs to start. Odd moment: Vince McMahon accuses Dibiase of being a limelight hog for most of his career. I won’t even start on that one, because I’ll go on for 5 paragraphs. Champs stall for a bit after Bret gets about 10 two-counts to frustrate Jacques. Pierre cheapshots Bret and a brawl erupts. Cool spot: We do the “double whip, dosey-do†bit that sends Owen & Bret crashing into each other, but Bret immediately whips Owen into Pierre, which allows Owen to switch to a spear move in mid-air, then upon impact roll up Pierre for a two count. That is seriously damn cool. Leg lariat gets two for Owen. Side suplex gets two. Bret comes in but gets powerslammed into face-in-peril mode to begin the first heat segment of the match. Owen eventually gets a hot tag and suplexes everything in sight. Sharpshooter on Jacques, but another cheapshot breaks it, and we get heat segment #2, this time on Owen. Bret comes back in quickly, hitting the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM on Pierre. Johnny Polo (Raven) pulls down the ropes and Bret falls to the floor, hurting his knee. This begins heats segment #3, as the Quebecers work his knee and generally cheat like rabid weasels. We work the countout tease for a bit, then Owen tosses Bret back in. The champs hurt the knee for a while and go for the cannonball finisher, but Bret moves…and won’t tag Owen. Instead, he tries the Sharpshooter on Pierre, but his own knee gives way, and the ref stops the match at 16:44. What a jerk. If I was Owen, I’d turn on him, too. Owen is rightfully pissed, and verbally abuses his poor brother while he rolls around on the mat clutching his knee. Bret fights his way to his feet (to applause), so Owen KICKS HIS LEG OUT OF HIS LEG! Big heel heat for Owen there. Great match, great angle that makes Bret an even bigger babyface and Owen a huge heel with one kick. ****
8. Bret & Owen Hart v. Rick & Scott Steiner.
Yes, this is the famous only meeting in history between these two teams. Scott takes Bret down with a double-leg to start, and Bret wisely gets the ropes. Back up, Bret gets his own takedown and rides Scott, and now Scott gets the ropes. Scott uses a vicious single-leg to take Bret down and steps over with a toehold, but Bret reverses out of it and they wrestle up to a headlock position. Criss-cross and Bret gets powered right out of the ring, where he regroups. Back in, they fight over a wristlock and Scott tries a powerslam, but Bret reverses to a rollup for two. Bret goes back to the arm, and Owen wants in. He continues on that road, but Scott slams out of it with authority and Rick comes in. They do a really cool mat-wrestling reversal sequence, trying to get control of each other. Rick goes for the arm, but they criss-cross and Owen gets powerslammed. Rick misses an elbow, but settles for a backdrop suplex that gets two. That’s a fair trade, I guess. Owen flips out of a wristlock and gets a german suplex for two. Suh-weet! Scott comes back in and walks into a leg lariat that gets two. Northern Lights suplex gets two. Rollup gets two for Owen, and Scott bridges into the butterfly bomb for two. This is some wild technical wrestling. Rick and Bret pair off next and the crowd is 50/50. Rick uses a wristlock takedown, and works the arm over, but Bret slams him…and Rick hangs on. Great touch. You just don’t see that all the time. Rick takes him down to the mat and stretches him, turning it into a pinning combo for two. Criss-cross and Rick eats knee. Bret misses an elbow, however, and Rick is back on the arm. Solid strategy there. Rick stretches him into pinning position again and Lane & Gorilla actually get to discuss mat-wrestling strategies in a meaningful manner. Bret DDTs out of it and drops a leg, pounding him with elbows.
He grabs a sleeper, and hangs on even as Rick rams him back into the turnbuckles. Rick falls into the ropes, and that’s enough to break. Bret smartly won’t release until forced by the ref. And why not? You’ve got a count of five. Bret suplexes Rick and misses another elbow, which allows Rick to head up and bulldog Bret for two. Rick sends him into the turnbuckles for two. Scott comes in with bad intentions and hits a tilt-a-whirl slam for two. Bret tries a charge and nearly dents the post with his shoulder as a result. Scott tries a suplex back in, but Bret reverses and suplexes Scott to the floor! Bret rams him into the apron and they head back in, where Owen takes over. He heads up and headbutts the back for two. Gutwrench gets two. Abdominal stretch, but Gorilla points out that Scott is too strong for it to be effective. And indeed, he reverses. Owen snaps off a belly-to-belly for two. Bret comes back in and pounds on the back. Legsweep gets two. Owen comes back in, and Bret cheapshots him on the apron to turn heel. Owen gets two. He misses a dropkick, however, and Rick gets back in and goes at Owen again. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets two. Tombstone gets two. Scott comes in and gets a Dragon Suplex for two. Oh MAN. Rick with the Steinerline for two. He goes to a rear chinlock, and Scott comes back in and hits the STEINER SCREWDRIVER! OH MY GOD! That gets two, as Bret saves. He just DRILLED Owen right on his head, too. Nasty.
Owen takes a breather outside, and Scott hammers him on the apron, but Owen suckers him in and slingshots him to the floor. Owen manages to tag Bret, who hits Scott with an atomic drop and a clothesline for two. Backbreaker and second-rope elbow get two. He can’t get the Sharpshooter because Rick saves, so Owen tries, and Rick saves again. The Steiners then go for the bulldog, but Owen cradles Scott for two while Bret pushes Rick off. It’s BONZO GONZO and both Rick & Bret end up on the floor, and Scott follows with a double axehandle onto Bret, and Owen follows with a pescado onto Rick, and the ref calls for the bell at 24:52. The referee brigade can’t break up the fight, however, and the Steiners accuse the Harts of being cowards. Well, you can’t say that about Canadians, so let’s get it on! It’s a huge brawl again, and the officials finally get all four separated, but they keep going. Finally the Steiners decide they’ve had enough, so now BRET eggs them on and here we go again with another brawl. That’s awesome. Finally, everything gets calmed down and they all shake hands and go home. The match was amazing, an easy ****3/4 and probably one of the best matches of the decade.
7. Owen Hart v. Steve Austin.
The match that changed everything – Summerslam, August 1997. Owen goes right after the oft-injured knee of Austin, but Austin retaliates quickly. The little differences in Austin in movement and wrestling between then and now are very noticeable. Owen is massively over as a heel by proxy to Bret Hart. Austin counters the flip and flop out of the wristlock by poking him in the eye. Out of the ring and Owen tries to break Austin’s hand by slamming it on the steps and stomping on it. Ouch. Owen bites. That’s an action statement, not a personal feeling. Owen spends way too much time on Austin’s fingers. Austin comes back with a powerbomb and clothesline over the top, so Owen runs. Austin beats him up and drags him back. Have I ever mentioned that Owen has the best belly-to-belly suplex in the biz? They trade clotheslines and Austin tries the Sharpshooter but it gets blocked. Owen nails a german suplex and “injures” Austin’s neck, which is why many people wondered if the eventual injury was real or a work, since Owen proceeds to go to work on Austin’s neck. A snap DDT reinforces this point. Sleeper by Austin, reversed by Owen, countered with a jawbreaker. Slows down again with a side headlock by Owen, which he thankfully turns into a heat segment by putting his feet on the ropes. Austin and Owen trade punches, Austin goes for a tombstone, and Owen reverses for his own, and then it happens: Austin’s head hits the wrong way and he’s left paralyzed. Owen stalls for time while Hebner checks with Austin, and somehow Austin crawls over and does a weak cradle on Owen to win the Intercontinental title at 16:16. I have no idea how Austin managed to even get off the mat. Still, weak ending aside, it was an excellent match. ****
6. Owen Hart v. Shawn Michaels
From In Your House #6, as this was Shawn’s revenge match after the ENZUIGIRI OF DOOM angle in November ’95. Winner of this gets the title match at Wrestlemania, although I forget how they dealt with Shawn already winning the Rumble. Shawn was getting pretty roided at this point, although of course he always claims to have never used them. Cutesy spot to start as Shawn baseball slides at Cornette but then deliberately misses and instead runs around ringside kissing women and shaking hands. So we start properly with Owen grabbing a headlock and then sliding out, but no one wants to kiss him. That’s pretty funny. Shawn flattens him with a moonsault press to the floor and back in gets two. Shawn takes him down and walks all over him, then goes to his own headlock and blatantly pulls hair for the comedy spot. They criss-cross and both kip up at the same time, and Shawn takes Owen down with a rana. Owen fires back with the belly to belly and starts stomping the back to take over. Neckbreaker out of the corner gets two. Owen goes for the Sharpshooter, but Shawn kicks out of it, so Owen goes to the camel clutch instead. Shawn fights out, but runs into a knee, and Owen gets a rollup for two. Leg lariat puts Shawn on the floor, and Owen gets two backin the ring. Missile dropkick gets two. Owen fires away with forearms in the corner, but Shawn rolls him up for two. Owen whips him into the corner and KILLS him with a running clothesline (how come he didn’t do that more often?) and Shawn is apparently dead. Owen puts him in the Sharpshooter and people are kinda freaking out, but Shawn makes the ropes. Owen gives him the old snot blow, but Shawn cradles for two, so Owen hits the ENZUIGIRI OF DOOM and Shawn falls to the floor on the sell. Owen stupidly breaks the count, however, and brings him back in for two. Owen tries a charge in frustration and misses and Shawn comes back with an atomic drop and the flying forearm. Shawn kips up and mounts the comeback, then knocks Cornette off after hitting the flying elbow. Superkick misses and Owen tries another enzuigiri, but it misses and Shawn finishes with the superkick at 15:56. Funny how this one gets forgotten on Shawn’s collections, but I guess it’s a little forgettable. Still great though, as they had terrific chemistry together. ****
5. Owen Hart & The British Bulldog v. Steve Austin & Shawn Michaels.
This is from RAW in May 1997, two weeks before King of the Ring. The angle is that Austin is feuding with the Hart Foundation, as is Shawn. But they don’t like each other much. The original main event of King of the Ring was supposed to be Bret Hart v. Shawn Michaels, but they got into a fistfight the week before this match and the WWF (rightly) felt that it was both too risky to let them wrestle at that point, and too stupid to waste a potential money-match with real-life heat on a nothing show like King of the Ring. This match would mark the first appearance of a Vince Russo trademark: “Wacky tag champs who fight when they’re out of the ringâ€. Big brawl to start here. Austin & Owen go in the ring, with Austin getting a quick slam and the second-rope elbow for two. HBK comes in with a top rope shot on Owen and he works the arm. Bulldog comes in, and overpowers Shawn. Shawn hits an eyepoke to counter and a rana to come back, then steals the ENZUIGIRI OF DOOM from Owen to tweak him a bit. It gets two. Austin comes in and lays a beating on Bulldog. Shawn & Steve make some quick tags and control. Austin takes a cheapshot and Owen pulls him out for some damage. Commerical break follows. We return with Austin & Owen going again. Vince: “Austin…in the black tightsâ€. Thanks, dude, I needed to be reminded there. Criss-cross and Owen gets a sleeper, countered with a jawbreaker. Hot tag to Shawn. Flying forearm to Bulldog, but Bulldog comes right back and presses Shawn onto the top rope crotchfirst. Shawn bails and Owen rams his back into the post. Back in, Shawn receives his own eyepoke, and a slingshot into the post for two. Powerslam gets two. Ref sends Austin out, and Owen hits an awesome gutwrench and legdrop for two. Owen goes to the chinlock, Shawn escapes but eats a belly-to-belly for two. Owen keeps getting in Austin’s face, and Austin keep losing his temper, allowing the Harts to pound on Shawn. Shawn gets a sunset flip, no ref. Bulldog rips his head off with a lariat for two. False tag to Austin allows more punishment for Shawn. Owen superplex attempt is blocked, and countered with a flying bodypress for two. Owen gets a leg lariat, but misses a blind charge. Hot tag to Austin, finally. Total carnage! I LOVE IT! Mudhole-stomping on Bulldog, but Owen blocks a stunner with a low blow. Ref escorts Owen out, HBK plays some sweet chin music for Bulldog, and Austin covers him for the pin and the titles at 12:24. The Hart Foundation swiftly lays in a total Shawn beating, as Austin casually walks away…and finds Bret. Austin DESTROYS him until the other Harts make the save. This whole match and angle rank as one of the best segments EVER to air on RAW. ****3/4
4. European championship finals: The British Bulldog v. Owen Hart
From Monday Night RAW, March 1997. Owen gives Bulldog a clean break to start and then starts on the arm, and they trade super-cool reversals until Bulldog takes him down to win. Owen tries a monkey flip out of the corner, but Bulldog blocks and they do a stalemate sequence off that. And then shake hands, which is always nice to see. Bulldog takes him down with the test of strength, and Owen bridges out of it and busts out the rope bounce escape. He tries to follow with a rana, but Bulldog powerbombs him, and transitions into a catapult that puts Owen on the floor. And then he lets him back in, as the sportsmanship continues. Owen comes back in with a rollup for two, but Bulldog takes him down with an armdrag and holds a top wristlock. Bulldog goes to a hammerlock and Owen tries to flip out of it, so Bulldog drops him right on the arm and we take a break.
Back with Bulldog working the wristlock again, into a crucifix takedown for two. Owen reverses a suplex and goes for the enzuigiri, but Bulldog ducks and takes him down into a bow-and-arrow submission. Owen uses the ref’s shirt to escape, so Bulldog grabs an armbar and monkey-flips him. He tries to follow with a charge, but Owen backdrops him to the floor and then also offers a clean entrance back into the ring again. Another shake and we’re on again. Bulldog takes him down with a headlock and they criss-cross, but Owen blows out his knee! BUT WAIT! It’s a miracle, as it heals up and Owen stomps him down and tries the Sharpshooter. Bulldog powers out of that and now the hurt feelings start, as they shove it out and Owen gets a leg lariat to take over.
Backbreaker and Owen goes to work on the back, and drops the leg for two. We hit the chinlock and Bulldog fights out of that, but runs into a knee as Honky does a pretty good Stu Hart impression. Bulldog bails and regroups, and Owen actually lets him be, but Bulldog fights in with a sunset flip for two. Owen takes him down with a clothesline, however, and drops an elbow for two. Back to the chinlock and we take a well-timed break. Back with Owen getting the overhead belly to belly suplex for two and goes to a camel clutch. Bulldog powers out with an electric chair drop, but runs into a boot on a blind charge. Owen tries for a pin in the corner, but only gets two. Can’t blame him there.
Neckbreaker and Owen goes up with a flying legdrop for two. Back to the chinlock, but Bulldog fights out quickly, so Owen slugs him into the corner and follows with a superplex, which Bulldog reverses into a bodypress for two. Nice counter. Bulldog comes back with a wicked series of clotheslines and the delayed suplex for two. Owen gets the turnbuckle bump and Bulldog presses him onto the top rope to crotch him, then suplexes him back in. Owen lands on his feet and hits the german suplex for two. Owen tries to alley-oop and gets caught in powerslam position, so he grabs the ropes and falls on top for two. Bulldog rolls him up for two. Owen finally gets the enzuigiri and goes to the Sharpshooter in the middle of the ring, but Bulldog powers to the ropes. Owen tries a tombstone, but Bulldog reverses to the powerslam and gets two. Bulldog argues and Owen gets the victory roll from behind for two, but Bulldog reverses for the pin and the first European title at 16:52, kicking off 5 glorious years for that belt and highlights like Mideon digging it out of Shane McMahon’s bag to win it. The finish, by the way, was awesome, as it paid tribute to both the Owen-Bret Wrestlemania X finish with Owen’s victory roll, but also the Bret-Bulldog finish from Summerslam 92 with the pinfall reversal by Bulldog. This one told a great story, had no dead spots, and was pretty much 100% clean the whole way through, and not to mention foreshadowed one of the greatest angles in WWF history when they had their rematch a few weeks later. Probably one of the best matches ever broadcast on TV. *****
3. Goldust, Ken Shamrock, The Legion of Doom and Steve Austin v. Brian Pillman, Jim Neidhart, British Bulldog, Owen Hart and Bret Hart.
From my personal favorite WWF PPV ever, Canadian Stampede in July 1997. Everyone from the US team gets SERIOUS heel heat. Steve Austin is nearly booed out of the building. The Hart Foundation is introduced one-by-one, with the ovation building with every guy, until the roof is nearly ready to blow off the place when Bret comes out. It gives me a lump in my throat to watch it. Austin & Bret start. Oh, by the way, the announcer make mention of a little documentary being shot at ringside. Something about “wrestling†and “shadows†or something like that. Bret beats the hell out of Austin, drawing INCREDIBLE face heat in the process. The crowd literally boos Austin’s every move. I mean, literally, when the guys MOVES they boo him. Austin quickly gets the cobra clutch, and they do the reversal spot in the corner for two. Austin misses the rope run, and Anvil tags in. Austin gets the Thesz press and tags Shamrock in. Zen sighting #3: He gets my masterpiece, “What’s Kayfabe?†on screen for a good chunk of time, and then had it confiscated by Adam (of George and Adam fame) about 10 seconds later. Shamrock controls easily, so Pillman tags in. He uses a blatant cheapshot and gets CHEERED for it. I know wrestlers always say that they like playing a heel and riling up the crowd, but Pillman had a grin about 4 miles wide on his face the entire match because of the babyface heat he was drawing. Backbreaker gets two. Shamrock hits a belly-to-belly, and everyone tags out. Owen & Goldust go. Enzuigiri gets two for Owen. Crowd starts with a VERY loud “Austin sucks†chant, and Austin wisely plays off it for fun. Hawk comes in with a legdrop on Owen for two. Flying splash gets two. Owen quickly comes back with the Sharpshooter, but Animal breaks. Big heel heat. Bulldog comes in with a hanging suplex and powerslam for two. Bret & Animal go next, and Bret kicks his ass. Goldust comes in and gets his ass kicked, too. Then he gets caught in the corner and a mass-beatdown results and the crowd is rabid and I’m nearly standing up and cheering even now. Owen comes in and hits the post on a blind charge, but comes back with a leg lariat on Animal and a missile dropkick. Rana is reversed into a powerbomb and powerslam. The LOD hits the Doomsday Device fro two, and another brawl erupts. Austin posts Owen and smashes a chair into his knee, then takes a shot at Bruce Hart in the front row. Crowd lets Austin know how much he sucks as Owen heads to the back for medical attention. Austin gets pummelled in the corner to the delight of the crowd, but he fights free. Austin and Pillman go and a quick stunner ends that fight pretty quick.
Bret bails him out and posts Austin, then smashes a chair into HIS knee and applies the ringpost figure-four as the announcers gasp in shock at the bloodthirsty crowd. Back in the ring, Bulldog crotches Hawk on the top rope for two. Austin heads to the back for medical attention, too. Animal & Anvil get into a test of strength. Anvil wins and the Harts double-team Animal. Bret gets caught in the corner, but Shamrock plays to the crowd and Pillman sneaks in and clotheslines him. Hey, Ken, you’re a HEEL here. Shamrock then gets caught in the Hart corner and sent to the floor, where Pillman gleefully launches him into the Spanish table. Pillman is just having the time of his life out there. Sadly, this would be the last great match of his career. It’s nice to actually see a smile on his face for an entire match, ya know? Hart gets the russian legsweep for two. Bulldog comes in and pulverizes Shamrock, but a low blow turns the tide. Ah, now you’re catching on, Kenny. Goldust comes in to clean up with a bulldog on Bulldog and the Curtain Call, but Pillman interferes again. Goldust goes aerial and gets superplexed down for two. Austin makes his return. It’s Bret v. Austin again, and Austin wins this round. Suplex gets two. Bret DDTs him and goes for the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM. Sleeper is escaped with a jawbreaker, and it gets two. Bret comes back and gets the Sharpshooter, but Animal saves, and the crowd is PISSED. Austin does his own version, and Owen returns now to make the save. Austin clotheslines him out to the floor and they fight there. Austin takes a shot at fomer referee Wayne Hart, and they end up brawling as Wayne jumps the railing. Bret comes over and nails Austin for hitting his brothers, then rolls him into the ring. Austin has some choice words for Bret, which lets Owen roll him up for the pin at 24:30. Like you need to ask what this gets. *****
2. Cage match, WWF title: Bret Hart v. Owen Hart.
From Summerslam, August 1994. This is a match that was almost ignored under the crushing weight of the Battlin’ Undertakers angle that headlined the show, and it’s a shame because it’s a truly awesome match. Owen attacks right off the bat, ramming him into two turnbuckles and doing the 10-punch count. Bret comes back with a lariat, but Owen stomps on his hands. Bret blocks a shot to the cage and DDTs Owen. Another slugfest erupts, won by Bret. He makes the first climb attempt, but gets pulled off by Owen. ENZUIGIRI, BABY! Owen nearly makes it out but Bret catches him going over the top and hits a backdrop suplex to the mat. Bret crawls for the door but Owen catches him and whips him to the other corner. Bret grabs a quick bulldog and tries for the door again. Owen yanks him away and dives, Bret yanks him away and dives, repeat twice. Bret tries to climb out, and gets slammed off by Owen. Now Owen climbs and again nearly makes it, but Bret grabs him by the hair and they fight on the top. Owen kicks him off and dropkicks him off the top rope. SWEET. Owen climbs again and they fight on the top again with Owen getting the better of the situation. Owen goes for a piledriver but Bret reverses. Whip, reverse, and double-KO. Owen lunges for the door again, but Bret stops him and drops a vicious looking elbow on him. Bret to the top, Owen stops him again. Bret kicks him in the face a few times, but Owen holds on and crotches him on the top rope. Owen tries for the door again, but Bret stops him. Headbutt to the groin puts Owen down and Bret goes for the climb out again. He changes his mind and goes for an elbowdrop, but misses.
Owen climbs out, with Bret not moving. He pops up at the last second and blocks Owen, however, pulling him in by the hair in a great visual. He slams him in for good measure, then makes his own ascent. Owen brings him back in with a modified samoan drop. Owen tries to climb again, Bret stops him. Owen keeps control, however, and they end up ramming each other into the cage. Bret recovers first and makes it about 3/4 of the way down the cage…when Owen grabs his hair and pulls him back in. Piledriver on Bret. Both guys are exhausted, but Owen tries to climb out again. Bret meets him at the top, and they have a slugfest that leads to both guys collapsing to the mat below. Bret immediately crawls for the door, but Owen grabs his leg. Owen fights him down and then lunges for the door himself, but Bret blocks, drags him back in, and slingshots Owen into the cage. Crowd is WAY into this one. Bret crawls for the wrong corner to build suspense, then finds the right one…and Owen leaps over and stops him. Crowd is having a collective heart attack. Owen is up first and goes behind Bret, but ends up going facefirst to the cage. Bret is selling a knee injury, but still climbs up again. Owen gets up….collapses….and makes it juuuuuuuuuust in time to stop his brother from winning. Back in via the hair, and Owen hits a leg lariat. The crowd is absolutely losing it. Owen climbs to the top again, and makes it halfway out before Bret stops him. They fight on the top rope, with Bret getting a big field goal kick to send Owen flying. He pops up again and hauls Bret back in. Owen hits some european uppercuts, and we get another double-KO. Owen makes it up and to the top rope, but Bret stops him and superplexes him back in. Even Davey Boy, at ringside, is marking out. Both guys are out cold again. Bret crawls to the door . . . slowly . . . but Owen grabs him. Owen slaps on the Sharpshooter, screaming about how the belt is gonna be his the whole time. Bret breaks free and reverses to his own. He releases and climbs again, with Owen once again lunging at the last split second and grabbing the hair. Both men fall to the mat. Owen makes it up and to the top first, and both guys make it halfway down the cage, fighting the whole way. Owen rams Bret into the cage, but slips and gets hooked in the cage, allowing Bret to drop down at 31:51 to retain the title. Meanwhile, Jim Neidhart blindsides the Bulldog in the audience, taking Diana down with him. Owen and Anvil toss Bret back into the cage, chain the door shut, and beat the holy hell out of him as the Hart Brothers storm the cage. Oh man, this is so NWA. I love it. Finally the Bulldog (with his caveman hairdo and all) fights his way in and makes the save. This is easily the best cage match you’ll ever see in the WWF. *****
1. Owen Hart v. Bret Hart
From Wrestlemania X. I’m extremely glad that this match is getting some DVD love instead of the endlessly archived Shawn v. Razor match from the same show. They trade takedowns to start and Owen whines about it while making the ropes. Owen gets his takedown and Bret puts him out of the ring, so Owen comes back with a bitchslap and hides in the corner. Bret had a good point about this match in an interview, where he talked about walking a fine line between a heel getting his comeuppance from his brother and big brother outright beating up on his own little brother. They trade wristlocks and Owen takes him down, but Bret reverses and works the arm, then rolls Owen up for two. Back to the arm, but Owen escapes with a cheapshot and they criss-cross into a monkey-flip from Bret before a clothesline puts Owen on the floor again. Back in, they shove it out and Bret rolls him up for two and goes back to the armbar. I like the little undertone here of Bret fighting the temptation to revert to teenaged squabbling while Owen does everything to push big brother’s buttons and piss him off. Bret goes to the arm again and they criss-cross again, and this time Owen hits the leg lariat to put him down. He tosses Bret and they head back in, where Owen gets a backbreaker and goes to a camel clutch to work on the back. He gets two, but Bret whips him into the corner and Owen comes out with a bodypress, reversed by Bret for two. Owen takes him down with a chinlock, but tries a slam and Bret reverses for two. Owen dumps him and Bret tries to sneak in with a rollup, but Owen reverses to a bridged german suplex for two. NICE. Legdrop gets two.
Bret reverses a suplex with a small package for two, but Owen reverses a piledriver attempt into his own tombstone. He goes up and misses a flying splash. Bret comes back with a clothesline for two. Legsweep gets two. Owen takes him down for a Sharpshooter, but Bret counters to his own and Owen goes to the eyes to break. Owen with a rollup for two. Another great theme here: Two guys who know each other so well that they can reverse anything the other can throw out. They head out and Bret hurts his knee on the way out, and Owen is all over that. He goes right for it and Vince is shocked that someone wouldn’t exhibit fair play. Yeah, we know Vince McMahon is all about a fair fight. Owen wraps the knee around the post and heads back in for more punishment, taking him down with a legdrag and pounding on the knee. This leads to the figure-four, but Bret reverses and Owen has to make the ropes. Owen goes back to the leg, but Bret hits him with an enzuigiri and pounds away in the corner. Owen gets sent into the turnbuckles and Bret drops a leg for two and even remembers to sell the pain of using the bad leg! Bulldog gets two. Piledriver gets two. Superplex gets two. Bret pounds him with forearms and grabs a sleeper, but Owen goes low to break and gets the Sharpshooter. Bret quickly reverses, but Owen falls into the ropes. Owen charges and hits boot and Bret tries the victory roll, but Owen blocks for the pin at 20:19 and the Garden is in SHOCK. Without a doubt, the best opening match in company history. ***** It’s got a nuanced backstory, amazing work, the perfect finish and solid psychology from both guys, and not just the usual selling of injury type.
Thanks for reading, and thanks to Owen for the great matches.
