Bret Hart

[Superstar Sleeze]

Well I can only speak on this from a hindsight perspective, I think you can definitely say that Bret Hart was going to be a big player in the wrestling industry all the way back in 1986. Between the ropes, he had all the tools. To reiterate my earlier point (which I think may have been buried in my reviews), Bret is one of those special wrestlers (like a Flair) that can have a complete match unto himself. He has enough signature bumps that he can just plug and play with any wrestler. Now I realize there are many people on this board that don't like that. However, if you are the boss, I think you are looking for efficiency and reliability, not a custom artist. That is what these kind of wrestlers could provide a promoter. Night in and night out, you could pair them with just about anybody and you know because Bret was in the match he would be able to construct a solid, if not excellent match because the Bret match is solid unto itself.

 

If you are looking from Flair's perspective, when you have to face Dusty, Lawler, Kerry, Harley and Jumbo (five incredibly different wrestlers in five very different parts of the world) over the course of a couple months, you think you are going to strain yourself to come up with 5 completely different matches that is customized for each wrestler especially when you know that TV is totally regional at this point. It is nonsense. Am I saying that all Flair matches are the same, of course not (I happen to think Flair is the greatest of all-time). To me saying Flair or Bret matches are all the same is like saying every song that follows verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo-chorus is the same. Flair, clearly, allowed his opponent to have their signature spots, but if Flair has to go 45, 60 minutes with a guy, it is not like he has to stretch his mind on how he will fill his time. He already has a template that allows him to deliver on the business end for promoters by crafting matches that will draw in perpetuity due to excitement that his spots elicit from the crowd. This allows him to take some time to focus on other facets of the business and getting laid. To me it is like when I was applying for jobs. I don't have a custom letter for the over 500 companies I had applied to. I have a template and I insert 2-3 sentences specific to that company. In Flair and Bret's defense, they offer a lot more variety than that, but I think you get my point.

 

What you can see from 80s Bret matches are not these spectacular matches per se, but a spectacular ring general. It is foolish to say that Vince didn't notice this pretty early on. In Vince's mind, at worst, he had the Tito Santana of the 90s and that aint too friggin' shabby at all. Best case scenario was pretty much getting the Bret we saw in the 90s. When you are a promoter, I think such extraordinary ring generalship is something you don't keep on the undercard. Every match from the 80s with Bret I have watched is a Bret match through and through, even the match with Steamboat. Now add that Bret has displayed, he can stooge and stall with best of them as a heel and that he has some of the best offense in North America, in my opinion. It is always crisp and as far as WWF wrestlers he has quite the arsenal. To me, this is actually way easier to see Bret's rise to the top than either Austin or Rock. Austin always struck me as the Stunning Steve character as a decent mid-card act or low-drawing main event act. When The Rock starting speaking in the 3rd person you knew he was a fuckin cash cow, no doubt. I think you could actually see Bret's value in between the ropes a lot earlier than either of those guys.

 

khawk, I only have the benefit of the hindsight, I agree with you that from what I seen Bret's destiny to be a major player would have taken a serious injury to derail this. But I feel like "coming out party" maybe a little too strong. I don't think it is until the Bret/Savage match from SNME that you truly get the feeling that Vince was giving Bret his "Show me what you got, kid" moment and Bret delivered in spades. I want to go back and watch that match because I think it is Bret's best match from the 80s, but moreso, because I remember it more for Savage's selling of the knee. Lets face it, when Savage is selling his knee, every single wrestler takes a backseat because Savage rules the school at that. What is interesting about that, is that up until that point Bret has been the dominant force in his matches. All his matches run through him. For his "coming out party", not to have him be the lynchpin would be an interesting wrinkle to say the least.

 

 

But I first I do want to maintain order and watch the Strike Force tags.

[jdw]

Is it fair to say that this was the coming out party for Bret as a potential singles star?

Maybe the SNME match with Savage, more so? Boston was a bit more of a slapped together & thrown away thing. It's strange to look at the air dates and programs the stuff from that show ended up on. Big chunk of the prior two Boston Garden cards, and next three Boston Garden cards, had already aired on Prime Time at about where you'd expect them. In fact, going back to the 5/85 card, Boston Garden was always an anchor to Prime Time, with only the 11/85 card getting similar odd treatment. Anyway, this match didn't show up on PT until July, and only one other match on the card aired on PT all the way in October. Strange.

 

Anyway, it felt more like hanging with Savage was a bigger deal at the time. He then got the feud with Bad News starting at Mania in 1988. Seemed like they had thoughts at that time, then he got stuck back in the tags.

 

John

[goodhelmet]

I never even considered Bret a singles contender until Mania 4 when he was in the battle royal. At Wrestlemania 2, I thought it was odd that he and the Anvil were the last 2 guys left with Andre. I never at one point before the Mania 4 match felt he would be a breakout star.

[khawk20]

I feel like "coming out party" maybe a little too strong. I don't think it is until the Bret/Savage match from SNME that you truly get the feeling that Vince was giving Bret his "Show me what you got, kid" moment and Bret delivered in spades.

I can work with this. I'll accept Bret-Steamboat as a personal moment of recognition instead of something that is more widely recognized as the point of "his big step".

 

Those rare house show matches, where you knew that nothing "big" was really going to happen, that grabbed your attention and actually had you guessing about how things were going to play out even though you know how they will play out, always really stand out for me.

[WingedEagle]

I never even considered Bret a singles contender until Mania 4 when he was in the battle royal. At Wrestlemania 2, I thought it was odd that he and the Anvil were the last 2 guys left with Andre. I never at one point before the Mania 4 match felt he would be a breakout star.

Completely agree. It was that moment with Bad News where you first saw him as Bret Hart rather than half of the Foundation. Then look at how long after that it took until he joined the singles ranks and was eventually pushed to the IC level. When you consider that we've probably got significantly more hours of tv in a week now than in a month in that era, you realize pretty quickly why he developed the way he did.

[Superstar Sleeze]

I feel like "coming out party" maybe a little too strong. I don't think it is until the Bret/Savage match from SNME that you truly get the feeling that Vince was giving Bret his "Show me what you got, kid" moment and Bret delivered in spades.

I can work with this. I'll accept Bret-Steamboat as a personal moment of recognition instead of something that is more widely recognized as the point of "his big step".

 

Those rare house show matches, where you knew that nothing "big" was really going to happen, that grabbed your attention and actually had you guessing about how things were going to play out even though you know how they will play out, always really stand out for me.

 

 

I ain't gonna deny you your personal feelings. Like I said from hindsight, you could tell Bret has all the tools. The fact that SNME is telecasted to one of their biggest TV audiences and was actually given time to developed just feels more like a "coming out party".

 

Nice to see you agree with me, John.

 

Fuck going in order

 

Randy "Macho Man" Savage vs Bret "Hitman" Hart - SNME 11/87

 

Unless I am forgetting some Rockers match, this is definitely my pick for best match in SNME history. Make no mistake about it, this is the Randy Savage show and one of the few times in his whole WWF career where Bret takes a backseat to someone in a match. As much as we can debate whether this is Bret's coming out party, this is definitively Savage's coming out party as the number two babyface in the company. Johnny Sorrow will be happy to know he still cheats like a muthafucka. Thus it is only logical that Savage is the star of the match, but that being said, there are very few heels at this point in time in the promotion that could have delivered the same performance as Bret did in this match. I think that is really when a match transcends into something special is when both wrestlers are crucial to the success of the match in such a way no other wrestler could take their place. To state in the converse fashion, neither wrestler feels like a generic, warm body to partake in the routine of someone else's match.

 

Even though, Savage is my favorite wrestler of all-time, I have not viewed many of his matches through my new revisionist lens. I have been a bit afraid because I thought he may not hold-up. Have no fear, I enjoyed this match more than I remember upon first viewing. Savage is not a fan of extended segmenting in his matches especially he likes short babyface shines when he is a babyface. What I like about this is that adds a sense of struggle in a way that most WWF matches lack. Bret is almost getting in "heel hope spots" during the shine just to spice things up. They establish Macho Man will have plenty of extracurricular to concern himself early. This is also the first instance of the rather proliferate Bret bump off the apron onto the guardrail. Was that a Savage bump that Bret adopted or was that just the first time Bret did that?

 

Also, one thing I love in my wrestling is urgency. Has there ever been a more urgent North American wrestler than Savage? Savage crashes and burns on his double axe-handle to the guardrail. Bret delivers a piledriver that would make Bob Backlund proud before ramming his shoulder back into his post. Savage does a mini-control segment before being back dropped over the top rope and onto the floor. Thus begins Savage's Emmy campaign. If you have force me, I would say I prefer Savage' knee selling over Toshiaki Kawada's by a hair. Savage is just so excellent on fighting on one leg. Elizabeth helping Savage take off his boot is such a nice touch. Bret is in his element working over the leg. They work this to such a fever pitch that crowd pops huge for Savage's desperation inside cradle off a bodyslam attempt to win.

 

An excellent match that illustrates how the WWF style had the potential to deliver powerful stories even if they didn't always. I loved this match and I think it is a harbinger of Bret's future and a testament to what Savage could be as a babyface.

[Loss]

The first time I realized Bret could be something more was during his interactions with Savage at Survivor Series '89. But looking back, that's because even though Savage pinned him, he treated him as an equal before doing so and sold quite a bit.

[Matt D]

It's probably Dibiase at Survivor Series 90 for me, but I didn't start watching wrestling until around then.

[Marty]

From my own memory, and considering how much the WWF is a babyface promotion, I would guess around 1989 was when they started presenting Bret as more of a big deal. The Savage SNME match was great, but at the same time, Bret played the role of Honky's henchman sent to weaken Savage. I don't think the WM4/Bad News feud meant a big deal, as even if Bret was told by Vince of the letters sent by fans, it felt like Vince wasn't really ready to pull the trigger on him, and that the feud was done more to push Bad News as a new Hogan/Savage opponent down the road.

 

On the other hand, once '89 hit, you had a number of things. Him getting the winning pinfall over an established heel at the '89 Rumble. Honky laying out Bret with the guitar and not Anvil. It wasn't a beatdown of the Hart Foundation, but only Bret. Then after Mania, there were articles in WWF Magazine on the Hart Foundation going at it in singles. Another article on the first Shawn-Bret matchup ever (although that may have been the following year). Another bit on Bret feuding with Mr. Perfect, which I remember them talking about how Perfect may actually be perfect, but if there was anyone his equal, it's Bret. Loss mentioned Survivor Series with Savage, and I'm inclined to agree. Oh yeah, there was that Alaska article too, which was one of those types of articles they didn't just use on anyone.

 

'90 cemented his push onward. Good showing at the Rumble, if memory serves. The Harts being reestablished as a force and top contenders again, so much so that Demolition decided they needed another member. Once the titles were won, then the jacket makes its debut, helping the appearance a little. He had a nice series with DiBiase at the Survivor Series, similar to Savage the year before. So it was a tag push that year, but it feels like one designed to establish Bret as a winner. But I'd say the growth began in '89. '88 made me feel like he was still somewhat just another guy, even though the reactions began to grow.

[ohtani's jacket]

When I first got into wrestling after it was taken off the air I remember being really surprised that they'd pushed Bret as the main guy. Looking back on it now, I think his '89 singles work foreshadows an IC title run. I wouldn't never have guessed he'd be world heavyweight champion, though.

[Guest Andrews]

Bret to me is the greatest of all time. I think his body of work speaks for itself. People tend to mention the classics at the big PPV's, but there are so many hidden and forgotten gems in his archives. For instance, Bret vs Sid in Dec 1996 is a match never mentioned, but it was a cracker featuring a notorious slug in Sid. He had crackers with Barry Darsow - another limited worker, even Skinner.

[Superstar Sleeze]

The one thing 80s wrestling has going for it is that it is short. Between watching those AJ matches and then writing the reviews, the time consumption is just too much. I wanted to finish the Bulldogs WWF career and the Hart Foundation up to the babyface turn so I am going to back to those projects.

 

WWF World Tag Champions Hart Foundation vs Strike Force - 11/87 Superstars

 

This is the quintessential Hart Foundation match as it is very neatly segmented over 10 minutes with emphasis on the heat segment. Strike Force looks like they are off to the lawns of Wimbledon with their all white outfits, but instead took a detour to trade hands. Looks can be deceiving as we all know Martel and Santana are two of the best. I have really enjoyed Martel's work in the AWA against the likes of Bock, Jumbo and Saito. I was looking forward to his performance, unfortunately, in such a short match he was limited to the hot tag. He did get in a nice dropkick at the beginning that popped the crowd. Tito came in and slugged it out with Anvil before eating the classic blind knee to the back while he was running the ropes.

 

We enter the heat segment, which takes up the majority of the match, which is well executed. The Hart Foundation cheat effectively with chokes and throws to the outside by the ref's back. They hit their secondary finisher (Demolition Decapitation), but that is not enough. Bret ends up taking the Bret Bump to quite the pop and the crowd is whipped into frenzy for Martel. This is what I have been waiting and Martel comes in hits his reverse cross body block off the second rope, which Bret breaks up. Strike Force retaliates with a double slam and Martel puts him in the Boston Crab for the win.

 

I just watched a ton of 1996 WCW with the likes of Benoit, Eddie, Malenko and Jericho. I was dizzy with the all the offense being thrown out and the lack of structure. Then I watched this and while it was comforting to me to see someone really heel it up. The structure was just too neat. There were no Tito hope spots. There was no sense of struggle. It was just we are going to execute shine->heat->comeback and that's it. It is four pros and the match was fine and entertaining. Yet it left me wanting more. The green is always greener on the other side. I cant get no satisfaction.

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WWF World Tag Champs Strike Force vs The Hart Foundation - 11/87 MSG

 

From what I have seen, this is the best match from heel run of the Hart Foundation. It should come as no surprise as Tito Santana & Rick Martel are not two of the best babyfaces of the 80s, but of all time. Plus this had Bock on commentary!!! I did not know Bock was ever in the WWF. He had no singular gems that stood out just added a lot of intelligence to usually bereft of intelligence WWF commentary team. The early story of the match told very well by commentary was that Bret is a technical wizard, but can be a mental marshmallow in there. Once things start going against him he is too easily rattled. After some early successes against Martel, he takes two armdrags and bails to the outside tagging Anvil. It was a nice little story early.

 

Strike Force work the headlock against the Foundation. Martel executes a headlock on Bret that would make Backlund jealous. Before it gets too entrenched in "heel in peril", Tito executes a small package and that brings him too close to Hart corner. Bock thought that was awfully dumb. Tito takes some offense before Bret takes his signature bump into Tito's knee this time, which was a cool variation. Martel is a house of fire. He definitely one of the best at throwing strikes with both hands. Too often wrestlers try to use their off-hand and those are the strikes that look wicked awful. However, his zeal betrays him as Anvil holds down the top rope and he tumbles over onto the exposed concrete. Anvil whips him back first into the railing and Bret follows up with a backbreaker. Everything is against Martel's ribs & lower back with an Anvil bearhug. There are more hope spots than usual in a Hart Foundation match. Martel got a Oklahoma roll and he was really working to get out from underneath the Hart Foundation onslaught. Bret was going to what would become his stock moves: 2nd rope elbow and vertical suplex with of course liberal choking and switching.

 

They do a great false tag with Martel firing up out of the corner only for Bret to pick his ankle right before he can get to Tito. Martel is able to whip Anvil into the ropes which sends Bret on the apron flying to take the Pillman bump on the railing. Now Tito is in and he clocks the Anvil with the flying forearm and Bret comes in only to elbow his partner. Strike Force hits a double clothesline and Martel goes for the Boston Crab on the big man, but nothing doing as Bret breaks it up. Tito with the Flying Burrito on Bret. Then they whip the Hart Foundation into each other Boston crab this time locked in on the Anvil, but Bret blindsides him with the megaphone drawing the DQ. Harts lay a beating on them post-match.

 

This match was all-action for about 15 minutes with both teams playing their roles excellently. Strike Force looking to overcome the cheating of the Hart Foundation with their speed and heart. The Hart Foundation look to take back their titles by any means necessary. I was going to say this was the best WWF Tag of the 85-87 era, but then I remembered some of Bulldogs/Dream Team matches being better.

 

 

 

 

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Randy Savage & Tag Champs Strike Force vs IC Champ HonkyTonk Man & Hart Foundation - Steel Cage 3/88 Boston Garden

 

This match was too intriguing for me to pass up. Plus I am a sucker for Savage matches that I have never watched before. Besides the famous HonkyTonk/Savage SNME match, I do think I have ever seen the HTM in action. It is so weird seeing Santana & Savage on the same team. The match starts off hot and everybody is using Strike Force's t-shirts to choke each other out. Anvil looks to escape through the door, but Tito punches him in the face a couple times and leaps over him, which would be a decent finish to a cage match. Anvil takes this opportunity to also waltz out. Martel throws The Hitman hard into the cage in one of the best spots of the match. The babyfaces whip the heels into each other and they take this opportunity to try to escape together. However, Savage is too slow and is caught while Martel escapes. This leaves Savage alone with two people in the ring. I liked the psychology of that as it was the best time for both babyfaces to try to escape as opposed to Martel just randomly leaving Savage high and dry. Hart exclaims "Piece of Cake!" and Lord Alfred thinks he said "Watch the Gate!". Gorilla not missing a beat jumps on him for that one as I have a chuckle. Hart leaves and Honky Tonk looks to have a little bit more fun with his arch-nemesis only for Savage to get his second wind and start taking it to Honky. Honky tries to go over the cage, but Savage pulls his back in by his greased up Johnny Bravo quaff. They do the spot where the guy lays on the top rope and someone kicks him in the guy only Honky is laying across the cage. That is one of those spots that looks cooler in your mind than it did in execution. A spot that never fails is Honky crotching himself on the top rope and Savage climbing over the cage for a victory.

 

It was a fun match with good psychology one inventive spot: HTM lay across the cage while Savage kicks him. It was much better once it became more focused on Savage's struggle to overcome the odds. As such, this is more of a Savage showcase than a Bret match. It does display how amazing Savage is as a babyface in peril and how his comebacks really whip up the crowd. You could feel Savage is being positioned as the lead babyface for the year.

[Sidebottom]

I've been watching a fair bit of early Bret Hart recently. A match with Steamboat at the Boston Garden is superb, I'm confident that if it happened on PPV it would be a match far more spoken about and put in a league of Bret's best work. Some of those early Stampede matches with Dynamite were fucking brutal also. Such a shame we never got to see a more rounded Hitman go against Dynamite.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Since I went through most of first Bret's heel run, the singles match of choice is definitely the Savage SNME match. The only thing I have seen pre-1988 from him that I would rate 4 stars. Granted, I have seen zero Stampede. From his heel tag work, there is Strike Force match from MSG I just watched, which I thought was really good, a good Rougeaus match from Boston, the Islanders match from MLG and a Bulldogs match. Going back and watching this stuff, the Hart Foundation/Bulldogs has to be up there with Dynamite/Tiger Mask as one of the most overrated series in wrestling. The Bulldogs were much better against the Dream Team and I liked the Hart Foundation as faces though I have to review those matches again at some point. I have mentioned this before, but Bret comes off as a great worker destined for big things that is being reigned in. I understand the arguments that other wrestlers have done more with 10-12 minutes and short time should not be a hindrance, but I think when you look what is being asked of him by Vince he delivered in spades time in and time out.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Hart Foundation vs Fabulous Rougeaus Brothers - 9/88 Meadowlands

 

Lord Alfred Hayes loses his shit when the crowd throws frogs at the Quebecois.

 

This is one weird match. If you did not know any better from the outset of the match you would think the Harts were the heels and the Rougeaus faces. I would hazard that Bret's defense of the blatant cheating and arrogance was that they were still in transition to being babyface therefore it did not make sense to go full bore. Anyways, in the match you have to decide if you want to cheer for the pricks (Hart Foundation) who choke, pull hair, let a fallen crawl over to his tag partner only slap his hand away or the cowards (Rougeaus). Eventually Bret lets Raymond make the tag. Jacques is entertaining in his mannerisms, but his work always leaves something to be desired. Bret is such a great face in peril. He is just a natural. The Rougeaus just have no spots at all to offer this match. Anvil gets tagged in and he is pretty decent as a hot tag, I feel like he will get better. He has all the traits to be a great hot tag. Bret irish whips Anvil into Raymond and then nails him with a piledriver. The ref is distracted Jacques off the top hits a prone Bret and the Rougeaus win. I'm a bit surprised since Demolition currently heel were the tag champs and with the Bulldogs sliding down the card, I thought Harts would take the win.

 

From a storyline standpoint, I know the Rougueas had turned heel at this time with their tiny American flags, but had the Hart Foundation turned face? There seems to be a long layoff for the Hart Foundation between WM IV and Sumemrslam '88 was that to ease the transition. I feel like I read somewhere that at some point Jimmy Hart betrays Hart Foundation to go with the Rougeaus, but I did not see him out there.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Hart Foundation vs Fabulous Rougeaus - Boston 10/88 Brother Love as Special Guest Ref

 

Now this is more like it: a nice little fun match. Brother Love rambles on for 4 minutes. I don't know much about Brother Love's history. I know he was the Undertaker's original manager, but was he ever given anyone else? It is actually a brilliant gimmick for a manager and something I think that would work today.

 

The beginning of this match is really good and really establishes the stipulation of the match something that modern wrestling does not always do. Jacques pulls Bret's hair in order to get him to the ground and Brother Love lets it go. Bret pulls Jacques hair in a similar fashion and Brother Love makes him break his headlock. Bret gets a pinfall attempt Brother Love gives an exaggerated slow count. Jacques grabs a rollup while Bret is arguing and gets an egregious fast count. At this point, the heat is already nuclear in the Boston Garden with everyone throwing trash. Bret is so fed up he tags in the Anvil. The Rougeaus immediately point out that Bret is not holding the tag rope, Brother Love goes over to investigate and admonish him while the Rougeaus double team the Anvil. The Anvil FIP kills the match dead. The Rougeaus just have no spots, just choking, stomping and chinlocks. Brother Love lays the badmouth on the Anvil and also denies him a hot tag on grounds that Bret was not holding the tag rope. Bret eventually does come in and hits a bunch of his standard spots, which look amazing next to the Rougeaus' lame arsenal. Hart Foundation fed up with Brother Love dump his ass outside and hit the Hart Attack and Dave Hebner counts the three.

 

The Rougeaus were pretty bland as babyfaces and the heel turn has not helped. The Quebecers were so good, but yet the Fabulous Rougeaus are so lame in the ring. The Hart Foundation have not found their groove yet as a babyface team, but you can tall Bret is being groomed to be a singles star, which I feel is hurting the standing of the team. Finally, Brother Love seems like a great gimmick to me would have been a great addition to the cast of Heenan, Hart and Fuji.

[Superstar Sleeze]

I am not able to put my finger on why just yet, but the proof is in the pudding. Bret Hart is a way better singles wrestler than he is a tag wrestler. All his tag matches have left me feeling underwhelmed. The following two matches from early '89 against DiBiase and Hennig demonstrate Bret was ready for Primetime in 1989. It is for the best Vince waited to give Bret the proper push he deserved in 1991 rather than be allowed to wallow in the WWF midcard mire from 1989-91. It is that level of patience that is missing from Vince nowadays. On the same token, he no longer uses the tag division effectively so that he can afford to be patient. However, it was this uncertainity that really hurt Bret from 1988-1990. The Hart Foundation was positioned behind Demolition and the Rockers as the number 3 babyface tag team and this start-stop hurt his match output I feel.

 

Bret Hart vs Ted DiBiasie - 3/89 Wrestling Challenge

 

This felt like a NWA Touring title defense. However, DiBiase did not give as much to Bret early as Flair would, of course Ted did not have 30+ minutes to work this match. Instead it gave this match the feel that Bret was more of a plucky challenger and Ted the dominant champ rather than equals. Bret starts off hot and is looking to get DiBiase off balance early. He goes for a lot of big moves early thinking that this was his best chance to beat DiBiase was to catch him unawares early with Russian Legsweep, atomic drop, crossbody, small package. DiBiase, visibly flustered, takes a powder twice to collect himself and break Bret's momentum. Eventually DiBiase moves out the way and Bret does his crossbody of the ropes spot that always looks nasty and Bret milks it for all its worth.

 

DiBiase work his heat segment well pressing his advantage and showing his confident demeanor as the Million Dollar Champion. DiBiase even hit a elbow off the second rope that is more rare than a Flair success off the top rope. Ted delivers a fist drop and a vertical suplex gets 2. Bret gets his own vertical suplex, which is a good hope spot. DiBiase hits a belly to back suplex to quash that. A DiBiase backbreaker gets two; Bret grabs a small package for two again. It feels like DiBiase is in control, but Bret is not going away. DiBiase gets another fist drop and he works an active chinlock. Double clothesline sends both men to the mat. Bret gets a press slam off the top. I feel at home, now.

 

Bret executes his backbreaker/elbow combo for 2. Bret high knees the turnbuckle. Thus DiBiase goes to work over it with the Spinning Toehold inevitable he gets kicked off to the outside so Bret follows him out with a plancha. Slugfest ensues and a double countout results. Bret actually gets the better of Ted in the post-match antics, which indicates that Vince definitely had confidence in him.

 

I am hard pressed to think of a better DiBiase match in the WWF. There was some really great action here and an excellent story told by both men. Each man played their parts well as DiBiase looked so self-assured and Bret plays such a great, plucky face in peril. The finish sequence was beautiful as everything logically connected.

 

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Bret Hart vs Mr. Perfect - 4/89 MSG

 

This felt like a Nick Bockwinkel AWA title defense with Perfect letting Hart get more offense in than DiBiase and making them appear as equals. Perfect worked a more rugged style than he usually did in the WWF and also added the King of the Mountain segment for maximum effect. Bret once again played such a great face, but this time did not feel as plucky rather as confident challenger.

 

I really liked the opening shine segment. Bret has a such great offensive arsenal and he always puts it on display in singles matches. One of my favorite spots was Perfect missing a drop toe hold. It was a nice touch and I wished there were more spots like that sprinkled into matches. Bret goes for a lot of pinfall attempts early. I like always trying to win mentality. He even busts out his crucifix pins. They do a bodyslam->kickoff symmetry sequence. My absolute favorite spot of the match is Bret trips Perfect and pushes him down and Perfect falls flat on his face with authority. It was such an excellent spot. Hennig, much like DiBiase, takes a walk to collect himself and break Bret's momentum.

 

Perfect gets back in and when the opportunity presented itself in the corner, Perfect clocked Bret with a straight right. Perfect gets a big kneelift and a wicked chop sending Bret to floor. They play King of the Mountain as Perfect wont let Bret back in. This climaxes with Bret taking his bump off the apron onto the railing. Perfect only gets two of it. He hits a standing dropkick sending him back to the floor. Perfect decides to use the spinning toe hold. I thought they could have set this up better like in the DiBiase match where Bret injured his knee first. Bret kicks off Hennig into the post and he sells it well perfectly.

 

Bret is relentless on the arm and his offense looked great. He was really capitalizing on his newfound advantage. However, he commits the cardinal sin of wrestling by going for another crucifix pin and Perfect dumps him hard onto mat. Perfect is still selling the arm and cant press his advantage. Perfect uses the hair to stop Bret's abdominal stretch. Bret pushes Perfect out of the ring on a rollup attempt and follows up with a plancha. Here comes the big Bret comeback: Perfect spins out on an atomic drop, vertical suplex, backbreaker and elbow, but time limit expires.

 

I, much like, Lord Alfred totally forgot about the time limit and was totally engrossed in the action. Bret wants five more minutes, but Perfect blindsides him. Bret ends up getting the better of him and sends him packing. That is twice that Bret was allowed to get the symbolical victory over two top heels. This was a great action-packed match. I would say the heat segment dragged a little bit more in the Perfect match, but I thought work through King of the Mountain and the Bret's comeback were done excellently. I would give this match the nod over the DiBiase, but it is close. In any event, both are great showcases of all three men and prove that Bret was ready to be a major singles player as early as 1989.

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWF Tag Champs Demolition w/Jimmy Hart & Mr. Fuji vs Hart Foundation - Summerslam '88

 

This is a battle between the two best in-ring generals of the WWF Tag Division: Ax & Bret. However, Bret proves that his will is indomitable and this is most definitely a Hart Foundation match, but surprisingly it is their best match I have seen so far. Demolition's trademarks of their opponents needing to double up, their early strength advantage, aimless beatdowns are nowhere to be found. Instead they are replaced by Bret and Anvil having their way with Demolition until Bret runs his shoulder into the post giving Demolition a focused attack.

 

The beginning of the match is only interesting insofar that it sets the mood that the Hart Foundation is in control and the Demolition have no strength advantage. Anvil eats a knee while running the ropes ala the heel Hart Foundation. That is a short heat segment, before Bret's shoulder eats the post. Bret is a great sympathetic face in peril as the Demolition is relentless on his shoulder. This is the best Demolition control segment so far because their focused attack and being very active in it. Bret gets a clothesline for the false hot tag and then a boot to the face on a charge. Anvil is hot tonight! He dropkicks and slams Demolition at will clearing them from the ring. In my favorite spot of the match, Bret slingshots Anvil over the top rope onto Demolition on the floor. Anvil gets a running powerslam for 2. They do the Anvil slingshot into the corner and that only gets 2. A Bret backbreaker gets 2 and Ax saves. Fuji is on the apron and takes about 7 Anvil blows without flinching until Ax can finally hit Bret with Hart's megaphone. Way to make Anvil look like a chump, Fuji.

 

Besides Fuji no-selling all of Anvil's punches, this was way better than I expected because I always thought Summerslam '90 match kinda sucked. The beginning could have been helped by using some of Eadie's touches. However, the heat segment and the stretch were all very entertaining and worked well. So far this was the Anvil's best performance.

 

I did not see Jimmy Hart's turn on the Hart Foundation. Whats the deal? Who dumped who? Jimmy Hart was not managing the Rougeaus yet so it was not exactly a double turn. Also seems weird that Hart Foundation were totally non-existent between Wrestlemania IV and Summerslam '88, but I guess the best way to turn someone face back then was give them a layoff so people could forget all the dastardly things you had done.

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WWF Tag Champs Demolition w/Jimmy Hart & Mr. Fuji vs Hart Foundation - 10/88 SNME

 

This match is more of a backdrop to really kickstart Rougeaus/Hart Foundation feud in earnest around the horn while Demolition works against the Powers of Pain. It is very similar to Summerslam match only in low gear and a generic heat segment. Anvil controls early with a vertical suplex after some double teaming from Demolition. Bret does well for himself for about minute before he falls prey to the awesome might of Demolition. Bret is the best babyface worker that Demolition has faced in terms of selling and Bret gets the Demolition offense over that way. Hot tag to the Anvil, who is as I expected a pretty good hot tag besides the low-flying dropkicks just stick to power moves. He hits his running powerslam, but it gets broken up. Fuji & Hart on the ring apron while the Rougeaus sneak out. Fuji gets decked by Bret and sells. Anvil has Jimmy by the collar, but one of the Rougeaus tosses the meagphone to Ax who nails Anvil for the win in the confusion.

 

Not a match to go out your way to see, but it does kickstart the number 3 tag team feud with Rockers/Busters and Demolition/Powers Of Pain at 2 and 1. Finally the tag team division looks healthy again after a pretty dismal 1988.

[Sidebottom]

Sleeze, if Bret retired in 1991, how do you think he would be regarded today? Basically if he was just a tag wrestler and he didn't enter singles full time that Spring.

[Superstar Sleeze]

I would say he would be very much regarded in the same light as Dynamite Kid, wonderful "technical" worker in WWF's "Golden Age" Tag division. Since he did have a couple good to great singles matches under his belt such as the Savage SNME match, Perfect & DiBiase matches there might be some clamor for "What could have been", but nothing at the level of a Magnum TA that you dont see with Dynamite. Of course, I think he is way better than Dynamite as a worker in all their matches, but to the untrained eye I could see the comparisons being made.

[Superstar Sleeze]

If there was a Young Stallions thread, I would put this in there

 

Team Hart Foundation (Hart Foundation, Islanders, Demolition, New Dream Team & Bolsheviks) vs Team Strike Force (Strike Force, British Bulldogs, Rougeaus, Killer Bees & Young Stallions) - Survivor Series 1987

 

I knew this match was well-regarded, but I had no idea what outcome was. I can not believe the two bottom feeding babyface tag teams were the winners. More so, I cant believe the match was booked around the Young Stallions being booked as the stars. There was no reason before or after to understand this book decision as Strike Force and British Bulldogs continued to be the preeminent babyface tag teams for the near future with the Rockers, Hart Foundation and Demolition ending the next year as the top three babyface tag teams. Odd booking aside, this was a really fun match. They did not really try to weave a story, but it was action-packed and they busted out some pretty cool moves. The only story, I really noticed was the resiliency of the Young Stallions. Just because the Young Stallions were booked as the stars, does not mean they wrestled well, mind you. They were the worst wrestlers out there. Notably, Jim Powers was being a huge pussy for not taking the hotshot on 2 occasions.

 

The match started off with Martel/Volkoff tearing it up shades of how good their SNME match would turn out. Volkoff looked like a monster Tito hit the Flying Burrito to get the pin on Boris. Ax came in and did his usual Demoition bit. They establish the nature of the gimmick with tons of quick tags that keep the action fresh. One notable exchange was the chop exchange between Haku/Dynamite, where the hell was that in their matches. Everyone is hitting all their stuff with a lot of intensity. The Stallions get worked over a little bit. Jacques gets the tag, but crashes and burns on a reverse cross body and Ax gets the pin. The Stallions get crushed by a Neidhart backbreaker/Haku flying chop. The Valentine adds a sweet shoulderbreaker and a vertical suplex (he throws him more than slams him back). Dino Bravo hits like the best gutwrench suplex ever and they still cant pin the Stallions. Demolition becomes fustrated and gets themselves DQ'd by pushing the ref. Bret crushes Dynamite with a piledriver and cant get the pin. The heels just cant buy a win. Tama/Martel have a great exchange as usual, but Martel applies his Boston Crab too close to the heel corner and Neidhart clobbers him. Santana makes a similar mistake on a pinfall attempt and gets whacked in the big of the head by a Bret elbow and gets pinned!?!?!??!?!? That was the first sign something fishy was up.

 

Now there is a long Stallions heat segment with Valentine that is pretty decent because Valentine stiffing shitty wrestlers is always fun. Powers refuses to get dropped across the ropes properly because he is a mega-pussy. The match gets clipped here and we miss the Bulldogs getting eliminated. According to one review, I missed a Bret backbreaker into a Tama knee and other general awesomeness. Disappointing. When we come back, the Stallions are still getting beat on, so it appears as if you missed nothing even though you missed the number 2 face tag team being eliminated. Valentien goes for the figure-4, but Roma gets a sunset flip (blind tag) for the win. For shame, as the New Dream Team were the best workers. Though Hart Foundation and Islanders have been working pretty friggin well also. The Killer Bees have been non-existent and Young Stallions have sucked but been the crux of this match.

 

The Bees begin and Brunzell hits a pretty sweet high knee. Roma is back in to be the face in peril. Islanders start busting out their offense and look great. Brunzell is working offense for the faces, Stallions on FIP duty and Blair on the apron, just where he should be. This is the best Brunzell has looked in the WWF. Roma gets the first bit of offense for the Stallions with a fist drop on Bret Hart, but that is short-lived with Bret hitting a suplex on him. Islanders again rocking it in the ring. Brunzell is in with the Hitman. He has the Hitman to be slammed. Tama dropkicks Hitman to get him on top of Brunzell, but Brunzell rolls through for the pin. At this point, I was in shock because I expected the top 2 heel teams to easily vanquish the two babyface jobber tag teams.

 

Islanders jump right on Brunzell to press while they still can. Islanders do a little too much vulcan nerve pinch, but Haku works in a shoulderbreaker and they are doing their best to keep Brunzell in their corner. Stallions get a quick powerslam, but Islanders are able to overwhelm them again. Blair gets tagged and swarmed (pun intended). Islanders always press their advantage. Wicked reverse elbow by Tama. Tama misses a big elbow, the key weakness of all 80s WWF heels. Brunzell, hot tag, double noggin knocker, DROPKICK~! Haku saves. Brunzell attempts sunset flip on Tama and Blair with mask jumps over and gets his own sunset flip to complete the upset. Brunzell puts on his mask too outside as they celebrate. MASKED CONFUSION~!

 

On one hand, the Stallions looked awesome by surviving and resilient because they got beat on mercilessly. But they only got in like two offensive moves and they sucked in the ring. Bees showed up half through the match and it was the best Brunzell looked in the WWF, but none babyfaces aside from Martel looked all that great. This was a great showcase for the heel teams as they had a ton of offense and really worked crisp and efficient. It is crazy to think in one years time there would be an utter dearth of heel tag teams and an overabundance of babyface tag teams. I went in with high expectations and it was a bit of a let down. It was action packed and 30+ minutes flew by which is a credit to the teams, but it lacked a great story to really make it classic. It was a great fun, action blockbuster.

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Hart Foundation & Hacksaw Duggan vs Fabulous Rougeaus & Dino Bravo w/Jimmy Hart & Frenchy Martin - 2 out of 3 Falls Royal; Rumble '89

 

Is that Dylan out there accompanying the Quebecois?

 

I cant believe they gave Bravo, a world's strongest man gimmick because he is just not that large. His battle of bulls with Neidhart ends up with the Anvil winning with a clothesline. Duggan comes in and dwarfs Bravo. Bret comes in and gets a series of nearfalls the idea is to win that all-important first fall quickly. Bravo pulls down the ropes and Bret crashes and burns to the outside. Bravo gets a side slam and excitedly tags Rougeaus. Raymond hoists Bret up onto his shoulders and Jacques leaps from the top rope and does a seated senton to Bret. It was pretty impressive. The French Canadians go up one fall to none.

 

Rougeaus press their advantage against Bret. Unfortunately, Raymond does a gutwrench suplex to Bret. Dino has one of the best gutwrench suplexes so it seems like a waste to have Raymond do it. Dino in with a reverse atomic drop. Now the Rougeaus do a double team gutbuster. Dino grabs a bearhug on Bret and the chant of U-S-A! fills The Summit in Houston and Jesse is all over this one as the Quebecois has the Albertan in a bearhug. Bravo lowers Bret's shoulders on the mat, but only for a 2. Jacques now applies a camel clutch. Now the Boston Crab, which results in a false tag. They now go into the abdominal stretch and Raymond kicks Bret while he is in prone. Jacques gets cocky during a monkey flip attempt and Bret hits a reverse atomic drop. Duggan in to a big pop with some Sid-esque punches. He slingshots Anvil and then Bret onto hapless Raymond before winning the fall himself with an elbow. It is all knotted up. Bret is still selling on the outside.

 

Duggan wanders over into the heel corner and gets triple teamed. Gorilla tries to cover and says that what happens when you are not used to tag wrestling. Jesse makes me laugh when he says "No. Thats what happens you're Jim Duggan." Lots of triple team choking and stomping. Jacques does hit a really nice dropkick. Bravo hits a reverse atomic drop, but that sends Duggan over to tag Bret. Bret hits his own reverse atomic drop. If you like the reverse atomic drop this is your match! Bret pounds away on Bravo and gets a backbreaker. His second rope elbow is broken up. Bret goes for his reverse sunset flip, but Bravo hooks the ropes and Duggans whacks him with 2x4 for the win.

 

This was the best Rougeaus match outside of the Rockers match that I really liked. I have become a fan of Dino Bravo; he is not a great lost worker, but he tries really hard and he is fun to watch. The Rougeaus have been really underwhelming thus far with some really lame match. This was a fun, popcorn match and was much better than I expected.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Bret Hart vs Greg Valentine 5/89 Meadowlands

 

Bret Hart was just ostensibly a tag wrestler at this point as he was splitting his time in a program with Mr. Perfect and wrestling random matches with Neidhart against random tag teams. Outside a small program with Powers of Pain isolated to Primetime and the Rockers program at the end of the year, Bret's main focus was against Mr. Perfect and other midcard heels. I think Vince's booking restraint at this point is genius and displays how good used to be. He would never be that patient anymore. After two really awesome matches against DiBiase and Perfect, the bar was set high for the Hammer. I believe Valentine outclasses both DiBiase and Perfect in the WWF so I had really high hopes for this one. However, this came off as one of Bret's more pedestrian matches. I was not expecting a brawl per se, just something a little bit more hard-hitting. DOnt get me wrong, Valentine definitely laying in his shots and Bret gave as good as he got, but did not reach the fever pitch I wanted.

 

The beginning was some by the numbers Bret control work with a chinlock and wristlock. After a headbutt, Valentine feigned doing his TIMBAAAAAH, but instead stood frozen until Bret's dropkick. Valentine chucked Bret out of the ring. Bret really milks out on the floor and they play King of the Mountain for a bit. I think Bret really liked that in 1989. Bret is a really good sympathetic face and Valentine is great when he is on top. So the match picks up here as Valentine is really laying in his stuff. Valentine is the Patron Saint of Clubbering because he is so damn good at it. Valentine whiffs on a second rope elbow drop. Bret mounts his comeback and shows a lot more fire. He headbutts Valentine again and pushes him over TIMBAAAAAAAH! Bret gets his backbreaker and goes for his second rope elbow, but Mr. Perfect distracts him. Valentine catches him with a high knee and stomps on his ankle repeatedly. Bret is really milking this and he attempts to crawl away that is such a great moment of helplessness. Bret is able to muster up enough to kick Valentine off on the figure 4 sending him into the post, but the bell rings before the 3 count registering.

 

They were doing a nice slow burn with Bret Hart going to draws with a lot of mid-card heels and it was a good booking decision. The match picked up once Valentine took control and the finish was really well-done, but I felt overall it could have been better. I would liked some more meaty exchanges. Bret is really proving his worth as an underdog babyface.

 

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Bret Hart vs Mr. Perfect w/The Genius - 10/89 Primetime Wrestling

 

This was a very good TV match that highlighted two superstars that were definitely on the rise. I didn't feel like this was a AWA title defense, but more two hungry wrestlers looking to show each other up. Bret hiptosses Perfect to start who busts out his spin out bump. Perfect misses his drop toehold like in the MSG match, but this time Bret points it out and mocks him with some exaggerated applause. Then they work a side headlock, but they keep it entertaining with each wrestler pulling the other's hair liberally. Perfect powders out and comes back. They run the same spot as from MSG where the ref tries to get a clean break in the corner and Perfect capitalizes with a cheapsot. Perfect with a vicious high kneelift. He chops away on Bret and they do a brief King of the Mountain. Perfect starts to mock Bret and Bret starts mounting his comeback, but ends up taking the Bret Bump to give Perfect a 2 count. Perfect biels him by the hair. Perfect goes on top only to get crotched. Here comes bump-a-rama. I love his oversell when Bret kicks the back of his leg. Perfect goes nuts with a reverse atomic drop sell that looks more painful than the actual move. Dolph aint got nothing on this guy

 

Bret biels Perfect by the hair twice and second time Perfect posts himself. I love that payback spot. Bret starts to get frustrated as he cant negotiate the pinfall. Bret sends Perfect on the floor and they do some fighting outside. It really demonstrates how underutilized the area around ring was in the WWF when the NWA used it so effectively. Bret gets his reverse sunset flip, but Perfect pulls his trunks and pins Bret for the victory.

 

This match was a lot of fun mixed comedy well throughout with all the hair pulling at the beginning and then Perfect overselling like a madman. I prefer most of their other matches, but this one was entertaining as two midcarders scrapping to get a victory to propel their careers. The finish really encapsulated that idea with it being nip and tuck only Perfect was willing to go the extra mile and cheat to get the victory.

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Bret Hart vs Dino Bravo - 10/89 London

 

Dino Bravo blows a lot of spots. He is pretty awkward in the ring. He relies on some boring holds. I don't care. I love Dino Bravo. He is hilarious and he puts so much effort into all his matches that he is a total guilty pleasure of mine. This is a pretty decent carry job by Bret, but you could he is pretty frustrated with Dino and his inability to do his spots. Some of the problems were with the layout as the transitions were pretty poorly done and felt very forced, which is unusual for Bret matches as usually everything progresses pretty logically.

 

Dino establishes he is stronger than Bret and with every shove off he celebrates like he has beaten Hulk Hogan. When Bret hits a cross body block to get Dino off his feet, the crowd pops huge. I will say the crowd was rabid for this match from beginning to end. London absolutely loved Bret. Bret slugs Dino on the apron and he goes for a walk threatening to leave. Bret does pretty decent arm work keeps it varied and moving. Dino is blowing spots left and right during this portion. Bret does his stomp to the midsection to a huge reaction. At this point, Dino just sort of takes over, which I hate as a transition. They play King of the Mountain until Bravo slingshots Bret off the apron into the guardrail. I love that bump. Dino hits a sweet gutwrench suplex for 2. Bret looks like he is revving up takes a wicked version of the Bret Bump. He was fucking flying into those turnbuckles. Bret timed his hope spots well, but Dino would stop his momentum with some power holds like the bearhug. Dino goes on top and gets caught with a strike to the midsection. Really, Bret that was your babyface transition spot???? Dino bumps and sells really well for Bret and his usual offense. The crowd is lapping this up with a spoon and they are just mad for the Hitman. Bret dropkicks Bravo to the outside and follows him out with the plancha. Between the plancha and the guardrail bump, Bret was pulling out some big spots for London. Suck up. Bravo pulls him off the apron back onto the floor. Bravo looks gassed and Bret comes back in with a reverse sunset flip that is reversed with trunks to give Bravo the duke. Where I have seen that before?

 

It is not a match, I wanna watch again. Dino really has no business going anywhere near 20 minutes, but if this was around 10 minutes this could have been a fun TV spotfest. Bret busted out some of his big guns and Dino was entertaining. It is nothing to go out of your way to see, but a fine match nonetheless.

[Guest TheGreatPuma]

Bret vs Bravo from London was one of the matches that completely sold me on Bret's specialness/awesomeness.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Could you expound on that? I thought it was a pretty good carry job by Bret and his best to date, but Bret does seem to be a bit better when he does not have to carry his opponent as he was visibly frustrated with Bravo.

 

WWF Tag Champs Demolition (Smash & Crush) vs Hart Foundation - Summerslam 1990 2 Out of 3 Falls

 

This ain't Eadie's Demolition as they are treated like any other heel tag team. There is none of that sense of struggle that Demolition usually imposes on its opponents. Instead of the Hart Foundation are having their way with the "Mighty" Demolition even Bret is able to manhandle both members of Demolition at once. It begins with some basic arm work on Smash, which Bret always make look good even when it is perfunctory. Crush catches Bret on a cross body attempt and Bret takes a blind boot to the head when running the ropes and I felt the heat segment coming, but instead he tags out to Anvil. Bret back in and a melee ensues with Bret coming out the better. Anvil gets wiped out on the outside, but Bret is in command with a Russian Legsweep, backbreaker, second rop elbow, but Crush breaks it up. They hit Demolition Decapitation to win the first fall. This first fall even though Demolition picked up victory made them feel like generic also-rans. Hart Foundation was definitely piloting the match and looking good.

 

Second fall does its job, but it is a bare minimum effort. Weak, weak heat segment on Bret. Bret clotheslines and struggles to tag in Anvil. Anvil running powerslam gets two and then Bret slingshots Anvil into Smash in the corner. Hart Attack, but Crush leaps on the ref to prevent the pinfall only to get DQ. Stupid finish to a lame fall. Ax hurries out in the intermission to hide under the ring.

 

Third fall was a little better as up until this point it had been a Hart Foundation squash. Crush wipes out Bret before the fall and Bret sells on the outside, but this does not last for long as Bret immediately is back on offense. Anvil shoulderblocks Smash and slams Bret on top for two. Smash and Ax switch. Finally the match picks up as Ax pulverizes Bret with his double ace handles. He gets a two off the Bret Bump and Crush executes a nice tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Crush detains Anvil while they repeatedly double team Bret on the outside and they finally get some heat on this match. Road Warriors come out to a massive pop to break up Demolition Decapitation. Anvil does his slingshot shoulderblock on Crush while Bret tabletops him for the three and their second World Tag Team Championship.

 

This was a really lackluster affair that felt like more of a squash match for the Hart Foundation than a dramatic title bout. If they wrestled the match like the third fall and really made use of the three man advantage this could have been something a bit more. Instead, it seemed clear that Bret was set to be a big star and Demolition was on job duty for the LOD so the match really reflected their momentum on the pecking order at this time. Summerslam '88 is definitely the match to watch between the two biggest WWF Tag Teams of this era.

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WWF World Tag Team Champs Hart Foundation vs Legion of Doom - 3/12/91

 

I'm surprised this match even exists as these are the two biggest babyface tag teams in the WWF at the time. It was inevitable LOD were going to win the tag titles soon just as it was inevitable that Bret was going to rocket up the singles ladder. Thus you have one team on its ascent and the other headed to its disintegration because of that they didn't need to keep the Hart Foundation as strong and Bret was always willing to heel it up in these situations. Bret is such a great heel in face vs face matches. It is a really unique talent that he possesses. This match is the Hart Foundation's guile versus the unadulterated power of the Road Warriors and it was much better than I expected. The LOD really had their working boots on and Hart Foundation seemed game for this match.

 

The match begins with Animal and Anvil proving that they are even in power game with no man gaining an advantage. This is the typical start to face versus face matches to establish equality between the participants. Animal does manage to bowl the Anvil over with a shoulder block, but both Animal and Anvil tag out. Bret and Hawk is also even stevens as Bret escapes a military press and Hawk escapes Bret rollup attempt. When Bret gets dumped to outside he is more frustrated than hurt. Bret hits a swinging neckbreaker, but gets thrown off during a pinfall attempt. Bret pissed tags out to Anvil.

 

Bret buries a blind knee to Hawk's back and then stomps him in the gut on the outside. That is some really nice progression from the Hitman. If you can beat 'em, cheat 'em. Hawk does really well in this face in peril. He does not immediately sell like he is dead. Instead the life slowly drains from Hawk's disposition. In the beginning, Hwk is still trying to bury shoulders into the Hitman in the corner, but by the end of the segment he is on jelly legs, which is some really smart wrestling from Hawk. Whenever, Hawk gets testy they always apply a front facelock to keep him from Animal to contain the explosiveness of Hawk. Bret comes over and punches Animal. This is some of the best heel work from the Hart Foundation I have seen. HART ATTACK! Animal saves. Bret slingshotted into corner. Hawk Moves! Bret Bump! Hawk clotheslines Anvil and HOT TAG TO ANIMAL!

 

Animal fills his victims full of dread with shoulderblocks. They set up for Doomsday Device but thwarted by Anvil. Bret hits a backbreaker on Animal and slingshots Anvil onto him. They go for a Rocket Launcher attempt and Animal catches and pins Bret!?!?!??!?!? It is not so weird they would job out the champs given that they not only lose the titles soon and also disband, but it seems weird they would let the LOD pin them clean. It was not announced as non-title so I was really taken a back by the finish. They all shake hands after the match.

 

I liked that match a whole lot and thought everybody played their roles perfectly. That may have been the Hart Foundation's best heel tag team performance and it was when they were ostensibly babyfaces. The LOD looked great here and it is one of the better matches I had seen them in as Hawk really delivered an inspired performance as the FIP.

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[Sidebottom]

Was that the match Bret wrote about in his book where Hawk was massively unprepared / drugged up / drunk for the match and cost it being as could as it should have been? I think they only had the one encounter so I assume it was, but could be wrong?

[flyonthewall2983]

I could be wrong but I think Animal backed this up in a shoot interview.