[1994-01-11-WWF-Florence, SC] Bret & Owen Hart vs Rick & Scott Steiner

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[BackToBionic]

Somehow, I had never seen this match. Very good match though.

[Loss]

"Why isn't he working the knee?"

 

"No one ever wins a match with this hold."

 

"Owen Hart doesn't have the strength to make this hold effective."

 

"That'll (adjust your mood/give you a headache/etc)"

 

"I don't know why he's applying a submission hold. That's not going to work in this match."

 

*Random non-sequiturs about amateur wrestling that have nothing to do with anything*

 

Aside from Gorilla Monsoon making sure we know he's smarter than everyone in the room, making some impressive spots seem run of the mill by underselling them, actively trying to kill quite a few of the moves and holds applied in the match and seeming annoyed that a match is happening that keeps him from making his off-topic points, this was a great watching experience, and an excellent match. I really loved the opening mat stuff. Bret was either slightly out of his league or was just selling to protect the things that make the Steiners standout, but the Owen/Rick exchange was outstanding.

 

The match isn't laid out in a particularly great way, but that's secondary because the wrestling exchanges themselves are so good, and there were so many great teases of a finish down the final stretch. That's really the only thing keeping this behind the superb Tokyo Dome match the Steiners had the week before.

 

In some ways, I wish Owen would have had a different partner than Bret, only because Owen could work the Steiners style and suplex-heavy spotfest isn't really Bret's forte.

 

Still, this was lots of fun and was pretty atypical for the WWF style, and everyone should see it. As Steiners dream match tags go, it's better than any of the Road Warriors or Sting/Luger tags I've seen, and that includes Superbrawl.

[Kevin Ridge]

I love this match. About ten years ago I picked up the Wrestlefest VHS on Ebay just to see this match. Worth it. Great suplex exchange early between Owen and the Steiners. Screwdriver makes another appearance on this set. I have to personally rank Steiners in top two of my favorites matches in this set so far. Too bad we didn't get an Harts vs. 123 Kid/Jannetty match at this time. Well at least WWE history tells me so. Gorilla going out of his way to call Patterson fat at end of match was funny.

[shoe]

Pretty excellent match that didn't have a great structure but told an interesting story. It was cool to see them work the mat and throw big time suplexes. Their was a lot of neat high spots, and criss cross spots that kept this real interesting. I thought the pull apart at the end was a cool touch and a way to build some rematches if the promotion wanted to go this way. Just a tad below the 1/4/94 dome show match.

[Exposer]

What a terrific match! However, fuck you Monsoon! You babbling idiot, quit shitting on the talent. Of course, he did that his whole time on the broadcast team anyways. The match was awesome though. Owen stood out for me in this match. He can go with the Steiner's style as Loss points out. The structure is bizarre but that doesn't matter in this because as mentioned already the exchanges and sequences were so fucking good. I loved Scott choosing to do the screwdriver. I just can't go over the fact how good Owen was in this. The double count-out was frustrating but not a buzzkill. This is definitely the best Steiner's dream tag I've seen so far.

[soup23]

Gorilla was absolutely awful in this match. You can be as nostalgic as you want for the guy but at this point and time he should have been banned from the microphone. This match is terrific. I love how some portions with them working on Bret is a precursor to the Royal Rumble match with him refusing to tag out when he has opportunities. Rick was significantly better in this than the Dome match and toned down the goofiness. Competing with the best matches of the month so far.

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

I've always liked Monsoon, but man, I can't even defend him on this match. Horrible.

 

I did LOL after his Pat Patterson got fat outburst, though.

[PeteF3]

Everyone else has said what needs to be said about Gorilla. I don't like Stan Lane as an announcer at all, but he actually did a decent job of calling things and trying to give the talent some outs while Gorilla was shitting on them (like, Owen didn't capitalize on Scott's knee because it was the opposite side of the ring area and he didn't see the injury). I liked this better than the Dome match actually, and it's laid out and worked much closer to a Japan tag than a WWF one--some more-advanced-than-usual mat wrestling exchanges building to big bombs, and the saves and partner interference all felt very Japan-like. Wrestled clean but with all four guys going all-out to cripple the others, the best kind of babyface match. This is a terrific performance from Owen specifically, as there's tremendous snap to all of his moves and he takes the Steiners' most advanced offense like a champ. What a hot run of tag matches the WWF is on--not something you could say very often in history until fairly recently.

[Zenjo]

To be fair to Gorilla, at least listening to someone who's miserable, downbeat and pernickety provided a contrast to Vince's phony joviality for one match. I wouldn't have fancied another dose of it mind you.

 

The Steiners had returned from Japan, and it was like they'd never left. This was remarkably similar to NJ tags from the era, which explains why I enjoyed it so much. Pureitude throughout, with all four men displaying their technical skills. Seeing the constraints of the hot tag formula being avoided was great. It was open plain, and I didn't know what direction it was going or what would happen next. The matchup felt so fresh as well. It's cool seeing the chemistry between Breat and Owen as a combo, and also having two teams of brothers fighting it out. A rare sight. The finish was a little disappointing, although I knew it was coming. They started brawling in the aftermath before sportsmanship won out. It wasn't billed as a feature match, but over the 25m of work they made it something memorable.

[DR Ackermann]

This was a lot of fun, but Bret was not game for this type of match. He was out of place and made things worse by not adjusting and instead trying typical Bret Hart things. Instead of bringing structure, it felt like an old timer coming in and showing how things were done back in his day. I don't like Bret Hart.

[JKWebb]

Once Owen gets tagged in, the match kicked in for me. I thought he looked great here. Good chemistry with both Steiners, and I especially enjoyed the opening exchange with Rick. Bret sold the attack from Rick and Scott like he'd been shot in the stomach. He seemed pretty sluggish, and there weren't really any hope spots, but I think he was just trying to appear dominated by the Steiners before getting the hot tag to his brother. Well I thought that, until he didn't produce any fire at all after finally hitting a suplex on Scott to the outside. He just rolls Scott back in the ring, and there is no excitement built at all for the tag to Owen. This is when Gorilla became annoying to me. We already had the downer tag, now we have Gorilla bashing Owen's strategy. If you would have asked me prior to watching this match, I would have assumed Bret/Scott to have been the most interesting matchup in this tag. But, I definitely like the Owen/Rick chemistry more. Scott hits a sweet piledriver on Owen. Oh yeah, Bret Hart is in this match - he makes the save. Owen finally gets the "hot" tag to Bret, and he comes in very paint by numbers and uninspired. We get a DQ, but the Steiners challenge the Harts to get back in and we get a nice brawl/pull apart. It thought Owen was really good in the match and I liked the brawl at the end. Bret's performance (and I do like Bret Hart) and the lack of structure held this one down for me. ***1/4.

 

I do miss the "share the purse money" lines.

 

#431 - placetobenation.com/countdown-top-500-matches-of-the-90s-450-401/

[garretta]

As has been happening more and more often lately, I disagree with just about everything said here.

 

First of all, I hated the finish; it took a great match and flushed it straight down the toilet. I like "exhibition" matches less and less as time goes on, and that's what the double countout made this into. I'd rather see an average match, or even a sloppy match, that comes to some kind of definitive decision that moves things forward. If they weren't willing to have one team take a loss, they shouldn't have booked the match. I'm not specifying a pinfall, but one of the Harts should have beaten the count back in, which would have given them a win over the former tag champions and momentum going into the Rumble, at least in real time. Rick and Scotty weren't doing much in the WWF by now, so why not order them to put the Harts over? Let them go back to Japan for good if they don't like it.

 

Second, Bret looked great here, especially against Scotty. It was Owen ​who seemed out of place to me. Gino said it best (if not quite in these words): he's too damn small to be in there with two bruisers like the Steiners. I realize there weren't a whole bunch of other options when it came to a partner for Bret, but that doesn't change the facts of the case. I especially liked the opening few minutes, and Bret-Scotty would have been a hell of a singles feud if things had played out differently.

 

Third, there weren't enough tags for my taste. Each of the four individual matchups had its moments, but there wasn't really the teamwork I thought there would have been. Another crisply executed doubleteam or two would have turned things up a notch or two, although this match was still plenty hot until they all went outside for the lousy finish. I thought the Harts' use of the backbreaker/elbow from the second rope was a hell of a nice callback to the original Foundation, and I wish we'd seen at least one more spot like it.

 

Fourth, Gino's had some shaky performances lately, but this wasn't one of them. I thought he really emphasized the toughness of all four guys when he said submissions wouldn't work, meaning that you'd have to knock one of these guys totally unconscious to beat them because they'd rather be injured than quit. Maybe bringing up Owen's low body weight didn't put him over, but as I said earlier, he should never have been in this match to begin with for just that reason, no matter how athletic he is. I actually thought Gino and Stan's points about amateur wrestling were quite germane, considering that both teams pride themselves on their technical knowledge. And of course, there was the Heenanesque attack on Patterson to top things off. After hearing Tony ignore two perfectly fine Austin matches this month just to put over the idea of Robert "Boss Hogg" Fuller in a lousy goddamn chicken suit, I thought Gino was a breath of fresh air.

 

Fifth, I'm no cheering fan of Stan's yet, but he could become something with more time. He still sounds a bit cookie-cutter, but he definitely has a ton of knowledge, which actually could work against him considering what company we're talking about. He'd have been a damn sight better than Teddy was at the Rumble, that's for sure. I hope to hear more of him as the year goes on.

 

Sixth and last, that screwdriver piledriver from Scotty looks like it could break a neck in a jiffy. Let's hope guys figure out how to take the bump properly.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Rick & Scott Steiner vs Bret & Owen Hart - WWF Wrestlefest 1/11/94

 

One of those dream matches that happened but never really got too much fanfare because it is buried on a random Coliseum Home Video. Loved the amateur exchanges early. Great face vs face structure with all the symmetry. Scotty takes Bret down early. Loved that single leg into a deep spinning toehold. Beautiful. Bret collects himself on the outside gets some takedowns. Rick throws Owen around. Owen shows he can hang with the Steiners with his beautiful German suplex on Rick and then Northern Lights. Scotty had a great Butterfly Suplex really threw him down. Bret vs Rick exchange was good. Rick controlling with technique and holds. Disagreed with the commentators I think Bret's best chance is to turn this into a stand up striking exchange. It is by far the weakest point of the Steiner's game. They can take you down at will and throw you around, but neither has a great punch. Bret is a much better striker/brawler than they are. The dropkick from Bret shows this strategy of using pro-style moves to overcome the Steiners. Great use of the sleeper to sap the energy from Rick to set up his own offense. Shockingly, I agree with Gorilla he really should have tagged out from a kayfabe point of view once he got Rick down instead of the second rope elbow, which he ate a foot on. I do not feel they built to the nearfall of the Steiner bulldog well. It just did not feel hot. I think they need more rising action. Rick does not make Bret's mistake and tags out. Scotty hits a tilt-a-whirl slam. Really liked the aggression and intensity from Scott. Things look pretty bad for the Hart Brothers. Bret charges and hits the post hard. Awesome selling from Bret here on the outside. Big time momentum shift as Bret suplexes Scott from the ring to the floor!!! Love that spot. Bret is hurt but eventually tags Owen. Huge move by Bret, really saved the whole match for his team by pulling that one out. I love when tests of strength like that have a huge impact on the match.

 

The Harts are so well trained in the execution of traditional pro wrestling throws. Owen is just snapping off suplexes and even Bret gets a nice Russian Legsweep. It is a really high energy period of offense. I have to bring up at this point how fucking awful Gorilla is on commentary. He basically says that Owen cant contend with Scott Steiner because he does not have the body weight or strength of Scotty. He is constantly undermining every hold by Owen even fucking pinning combinations. Gorilla is probably my least favorite wrestling personality of all time and this match he was driving me crazy. Owen misses a dropkick. Now it is his turn to get thrown around. TOMBSTONE! STEINERLINE! STEINER FUCKING SCREWDRIVER!!!! OH HELL YEAH! Bret makes the save. Owen is sent over the top, but slingshots Scotty out and is able to tag in Bret. Bret rattles off the Five of Doom and goes for the Sharpshooter, but Rick blasts him and then when Owen tries Rick blasts him. They try to go for the Steiner Bulldog, but Bret holds Rick's leg and Owen gets a Victory Roll for two. Nice nearfall. It is heated down the stretch. Scott comes off the top to the floor and Owen slingshots out to the floor. Very quick double countout. Scotty says to get their butts back in the ring and they actually have a hot pull apart brawl.

 

Too bad there was no rematch because the match does come across as feeling incomplete. It would have felt more organic if things became chippier and chippier until it finally becomes an all out brawl. Instead it more of a classic mat build to a lot of highspots so the double countout does not make as much sense. The offense in this match was top notch. I thought Bret's FIP and Owen house afire and Steiners offense was friggin awesome. Finish just did not feel built to and made the match not feel complete. ****

[Bierschwale]

The match's actual end might be a little underwhelming, but I love the continuous brawling and how great it works as brothers vs. brothers.

[The Russian Daydream]

I finally got round to rewatching this for the first time since the 90s. I really did enjoy it, and thought they did really well keeping the face-face dynamic interesting by taking turns being a little bit heelish. The way they did that made the ending where it all broke down somewhat forgivable. It may have been cheap but it fit the story they told in the match.