[1996-09-16-WWF-Raw] Owen Hart vs Marc Mero / Interview: Bret Hart

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Another good match between these two. Shawn had a good year of course, but Owen may have been the best wrestler in the WWF in 1996. It's not talked about as much, but there's lots of good output from him.

 

Bret Hart does a promo calling Brian Pillman a liar, saying he will not be at Mind Games, and that Owen is a liar too. He also adds that he has not forgotten his fans and hasn't decided what he's going to do yet.

[PeteF3]

Good TV match, though it must be noted that the heat machine was out in full-force for this, another Owen/Mero match at the end of a long taping cycle. Plus the match got overshadowed by 9 million people on commentary, including interjections from Pat Patterson and Gorilla Monsoon as there was as much focus on the "return" of Razor & Diesel as on the match. Mero looked really good here

[El-P]

I'd have Savio ahead of Owen as the best TV worker to be honest. Owen always kinda looked like he was cruising at this time, although Owen cruising was a lot better than most trying hard.

Good TV match, Mero looking good. I thought the ending was a bit goofy and not executed very well. That damn cast may finally be done.

Mansoon made sure he mentionned that Nash & Hall would not be appearing. WWF don't want no lawsuit here. And how refreshing it is in retrospect to simply have a fair WWF president behind a desk after 17 years and counting of heel owner/GM/authority. 17 years...

Bret's promo doesn't say much. WWF was really putting some emphasis on exotic footage, after the Kuwait Cup here we are in South Africa. The Truth Commission can't be too far behind.

[soup23]

Decent enough match but stuff on WWF tv still feels pretty paint by the numbers compared to the huge developments that are happening on Nitro. The work here with Owen on top was fine but Mero always has a look of someone that could go off the rails at any point around this time. **

 

The promo with bret was good and solidified the uncertainty he had at this point and time in his career.

[Exposer]

Good match. Owen is quietly having a good year. Some strong near falls down the stretch. I always enjoy seeing Mero bust out flip planchas & such in 1996 WWF. Owen uses the cast but Mero kicks out. I don't think the fans realized Mero got a shoulder up. Referee Jack Doan blatantly sees the cast shot by Mero but tries to whip his head around like he didn't see anything. Mero gets the win & the fans are bit confused probably because they thought the ref saw Mero use the cast. The mid-match Gorilla-JR argument is stupid. Talk about your competition's top talent why don't yah.

 

I got a kick out of seeing Austin & HHH milling about on a safari. Bret's interview is good. He's an underrated promo. Usually seems like a real person saying real things. He calls Pillman & Owen liars saying he hasn't agreed to an interview at Mind Games, cleared things with Owen, or decided on if he's coming back to the WWF or not. I forget he worked the South Africa tour.

[tim]

Speaking of WCW coming to WWF, commentary totally ignores a good match going on in the ring to talk about an angle! Match was good and Mero is having a pretty good year from what we see on the set.