[1991-11-02-WWF-Superstars] Bret Hart and The Mountie

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

The match is non-title, much to Mountie's chagrin. Mountie knows why this isn't a title match, but wants Bret to explain to everyone in the building why exactly this isn't a title match. Bret says he could never give a title match to a jailbird. Jimmy Hart douses Bret with water and then Mountie attacks Bret from behind with the shock stick. This was all so fast and was executed really well. I liked this angle, although I think babyfaces should be willing to make every match a title match.

[PeteF3]

Jimmy Hart singing along to the Mountie's French horn theme is an early highlight. Mountie is upset that this is non-title, but he's got a plan to force Bret's hand. Jimmy douses Bret with a bucket of water and then Bret gets zapped with the cattle prod. Bret was really lacking in direction coming off his big title win, presumably due to the Perfect injury, and this finally gives him something personal to focus on. As usual I could do without those cheesy electricity sound effects but other than that this is a very nicely done angle.

[BlueGuy]

This was one of a very few Mountie matches that aired on Canadian TV in late 1991. Apparently, the real RCMP had issues with the way Mounties were being depicted and, according to the story I read at the time, the WWF simply omitted almost all of his matches from the Canadian syndicated shows. My guess is that because of the angle involved, they figured they had to show it. If memory serves me, when this match aired, the Mountie's introduction wasn't shown and the commentary never referred to him as The Mountie. Not much of a match, but the angle worked quite well.

[PeteF3]

How hilarious in the wake of the RCMP's objections that this match is the one Mountie match that gets shown, the one that paints him in the most despicable possible light.

[BackToBionic]

He still worked on WWF house shows in Canada as Jacques Reageau but would still do the whole "I'm the mountie!" schtick during matches which is pretty cool.

[Kevin Ridge]

Before the match starts Mountie wants to know from Bret why this match isn’t for the intercontinental title. We get a heavy dose of electric shock audio when Mountie attacks Bret. Mountie could have earned a title shot by just beating Hart in this match but would rather just piss him off instead I guess. He is the Mountie.

[soup23]

Piper tries to build up bret for this being non title but I'm not buying it. Bret has been aimless the past two months so seeing him in a feud was a welcome change. This was executed well.

[garretta]

On watching this at first, I thought it was well-done. But the holes start to appear when you think about it for a while. The biggest one has already been pointed out by Kevin: Why would Jacques, who's looking for a championship match, attack Bret before the bout ever started, thus ensuring that Bret can't wrestle? Why not either goad Bret into putting up the belt verbally or just get in there and beat him? Of course, Jacques could be ensuring that Bret signs for more than one title match once he recovers, but who knows if he will, the way he was shocked? This hole goes hand-in-hand with another: What does Jacques being a jailbird have to do with the IC title? That's one hell of a lame excuse in my book, although it certainly got the crowd to pop, which was the idea. All Bret would have had to do was call Jacques a loser instead and the same point would have been made. Besides, if he's a loser and a jailbird, shouldn't you be able to beat him rather easily, even with the belt on the line?

 

The attack itself was done well, although having Jacques come back for two or three extra shocks was overkill and made the refs look powerless. One shock, maybe two, would have more than sufficed. I thought the water was an inspired touch that not many other promotions would have thought of; this is a time when Vince's attention to detail paid off positively.

 

Jacques on the mic beforehand was annoying, constantly repeating himself like he did, but the gimmick was designed that way, so it came off as deliberate and in character rather than Jacques not knowing what else to say. The announcers were okay here, although Vince trying to paint Jacques as the WWF's number one heel ahead of Jake, Flair, and Taker (in that order) was ridiculous. Piper had the line of the segment with the "breakfast from jail" comment about what Jimmy was carrying to the ring, and good on Savage for reminding the world that Jacques isn't a pimple on Jake's ass when it comes to being hated.

 

You can tell that the Hart Foundation is no more, by the way; only Bret's wearing the pink and black. I think Neidhart was wearing some checkered getup when he was attacked by Enos and Bloom.

 

With the three gentlemen I mentioned above otherwise occupied, I'm not sure who else Bret could have had an issue with at this time outside of Curt, who was hurt. This needs a little more flavor to really connect with the audience, though. Maybe bring Canadian national pride into the mix, or mention Bret's past with Jimmy. Overall, even with all of its flaws, this was another surprisingly mature WWF angle that adds to the tasty batch they've cooked up since SummerSlam.

[dawho5]

Really well-done angle. The water was a really ingenious idea and it surprised me.