[1996-01-21-WWF-Royal Rumble] Bret Hart vs The Undertaker

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

The final few minutes of the match are decent, but these two have had way better. Diesel is awesome here and is the highlight, getting Bret DQ'd purposely and flipping off Undertaker before leaving ringside.

[Kronos]

Meh. Nash's flipping the bird is indeed awesome, as is Paul Bearer reacting to the fact that Taker can't win the belt.

 

What's with Taker's mask, anyway?

[Guest kowking]

Broke his orbital bone and needed protection, wasn't it?

[El-P]

Awfully boring match. Taker really wasn't much of a worker at all yet, or just wouldn't work past the dead-man gimmick just yet.

[Jack_Briscoe_Is_My_Hero]

Taker didn't hit his stride until like 97 or 98, then REALLY kicked it into gear the next decade after discovering MMA. Bret had a painfully bad 1996. It starts here with not being able to beat the Undertaker, and on top of that was an eyelash from losing the title. Diesels outside interference is all that saved the title.

 

Diesel's attitude before leaving for Atlanta was a lot of fun, certainly something different in the world of WWF.

[MikeCampbell]

I just watched this in full to review for 411, I gotta say I was pleasantly surprised by this. I'd always heard this match get absolutely panned, but I thought it was actually quite good, once you get past the early portion of UT trying to smother Bret. This is basically Bret working his type of match (wrestling based) and Taker working his sort of match, but it actually comes off pretty well.

 

Bret is great at working over UT's leg, and it's probably as much as UT had ever sold up to this point. Bret works in some nice heel touches, and even the FIVE MOVES OF DOOM works here, with Bret using them trying to keep UT down, but he keeps sitting back up. UT had spent almost four years stuck working with monster heels (Kamala, Gonzales, Yoko, Bundy, and Mabel) where all he had to do was let the heel work him over and work in his basic spots, which is what he does here, only Bret is wrestling him rather than Mabel or Yoko throwing their weight around.

[Frankensteiner]

I long considered this match underrated. Think I even wrote a long review of it somewhere (maybe the SC board). It's a smartly worked match if you can get past the absurdity of a "techincal" wrestler going up against a Zombie. One of the only times 'Taker had a chance to go up against a technician during this phase of his gimmick, which makes the match interesting in and of itself.

[fishbaugh]

Watching Bret on the 95 yearbook and here, he really does a lot of heelish shit to keep his belt -- you can see some of the mannerisms that made him so entertaining as a heel during the Hart Foundation run in the next year.

[Kevin Ridge]

Undertaker actually looks human with Bret continuing to work on the leg. This is much below their 1997 efforts though. The crowd is very split at times between both guys. In the end Undertaker gets Tombstone for the clean pin but Diesel interferes. Bret don't look too good on that finish. Diesel being so cocky in giving Undertaker the finger was great.

[BruiserBrody]

The shittiness of this match took me by surprise and left a bad taste in my mouth for the whole PPV that had The Gunns/BodyDonnas and Ahmed/Jarrett both being far more entertaining than expected.

[PeteF3]

I remember this match being a total bore, but the closing stretch we see is actually pretty good. Bret rips off the Undertaker's protective mask and rams him into an exposed turnbuckle, which pisses the crowd off mightily. UT catches him with a tombstone, but Diesel yanks the referee out of the ring for the DQ. Paul Bearer's shocked reaction to the announcement that the belt doesn't change hands on a DQ is absurd, and one of those WWF booking tropes that always made me roll my eyes. The WWF was actively experimenting with a Japan-style title scene with 4-6 guys all with equal claim to being the champion, rather than building entirely around one lone babyface. It didn't last, but the WWF title scene is more interesting than it's been in awhile.

[soup23]

Final stretch was better for me than I remembered too. I am glad that Bret got rid of that goofy mask of Takers and Diesel is really bringing the attitude.

[Zero]

Sludge of a match. Bret was on offense for nearly the entire match, and felt like a chore to watch. Finish was sloppy with the ref having to move around the entire ring to get in position for the Diesel pull out, catching himself up in the ropes even. Nash is really great at being a prick, just dropping the finger and mockingly walking out. 

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart vs Undertaker - WWF Royal Rumble 1996

Two big names on a Big Four PPV and it is never talked about…hidden gem or a stinker? I thought it was on pace to be a stinker but they didn’t enough in the last half that I will rate it good but I disliked the finish as well. At 28 mins and change you need to be better than good for me to watch it again. Their 1997 matches are better. 
 

The first 1/3rd and s brutally boring. Undertaker works a control segment where he tries to smother Bret with a claw around the mouth. For like 5-6 minutes not much happens. Oh I should mention this is babyface vs babyface I consider Bret the king of the babyface vs babyface match. Bret is an excellent traveling world champ who can play the subtle heel. Ultimately he does heel himself in this match but I think they tried to trade off the role of heel in the match to detriment of the match. Rather than both play subtle heel if Bret was only one to do it the match would have been better for it. 
 

Bret finally picks up the tempo and clotheslines Taker over the top rope and he lands on his feet cool spot. Taker is able to counter a couple of Bret moves before behind whipped into the steps knees first a hellacious bump that always looks like a million bucks. This changes the complexion of the match. Bret zeroes in on the leg. He is the best grinder in wrestling history. He works a great control segment. Figure-4 is a good climax. We start hearing the Rest In Peace chants. Bret goes for the protective mask or as Vince awkwardly calls it the facial appliance classic Vince call there. So Bret is playing that subtle heel well. 
 

Taker gets out using the heel of the boot. He chokes Bret with the cord and jabs him with a steel chair. They are setting up why it is ok for Bret to cheat later to justify it but it feels weird because the crowd has chosen Taker. Just when Taker has all the momentum, Bret attacks the leg again. The boo birds are out. Bret is so good in this subtle heel traveling champ role. That being said both in the first heat and second heat there is one too many leg laces. With about 5 minutes to go they kick into gear. Bret gets DDT and other Moves of Doom but Taker keeps sitting up which gets great pops. Bret never really applies the Sharpshooter so they have that in their holster for a rematch. Taker hits a couple of the spots you expect big boot and leg drop. They do the double clothesline as the level the playing field spot. Frustrated Bret yanks off the turnbuckle pad But he needs to yank off the “facial appliance” as well to maximize the impact of the turnbuckle shot which he accomplishes. He rams Taker’s face into it and Taker sells it well but really doesn’t go anywhere. It was anti-climatic. The crowd is fully on Taker’s side now. Surprisingly to me who has never seen this match he nails the Tombstone! So I know something must be up because Bret ain’t kicking out of that. 
 

Diesel pulls out the ref triggering the DQ. Rationale is flimsy at best. Diesel was runner up in the Royal Rumble as he was making his exit grumpy he lost Undertaker was making his entrance. Two Alpha Males didnt want to step aside for each other so they came to blows but the scuffle was broken up. Was that really a reason to screw Taker out of the title? Especially when it was Bret who beat him. You can say he wanted to be the one who beats Bret. It doesn’t hold water with me. I think it was a very weak ending. There were more creative ways to get themselves out of this corner. 
 

Brutally boring start and shitting finish aside, Bret’s leg work and Undertaker’s selling (which was so good, he is a very underrated seller) was really good. The body was good and the finish stretch before Diesel was strong. ***