[1997-08-03-WWF-Summerslam] Bret Hart vs The Undertaker

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes. Bret does the sharpshooter around the ringpost in an awesome spot. This finish is legendary, but I always felt bad for Shawn because he obviously had no intentions of going after Undertaker. Couldn't he have hit Bret too, and then argued that he was fair? Anyway, Bret wins the title and at least now Shawn is in the right role.

[WingedEagle]

I ordered 3 PPV's that year -- Barely Legal, Summerslam and Survivor Series. I know the WWF was on fire post-Mania but still remember the build for this show over the summer and especially following the Stampede with just about every match having such a tremendous focus heading into the show. The HF matches underneath plus the main event which utilized the guest ref stip in the build, match and fallout about as well as you can. Still probably have the show on VHS. Loved it.

[WingedEagle]

Make that 4 PPVs -- I also got Starrcade, but almost immediately wished I didn't. Apparently tried to block it out of memory as well.

[Kevin Ridge]

Execution on the finish was perfect. Though it is a good point to say if he was intending to hit Bret in the first before accidentally hitting Undertaker, why not hit Bret anyways after. Shawn was actually a pretty good referee for a wrestler. Probably one of the best actually. I remember his counts being very consistent. Bret wins the WWF Title for the 5th and last time.

[Childs]

I always got the impression that Shawn's chairshot wasn't thought out; he simply snapped because the guy he hated spat on him. And yeah, I do think he was a sympathetic figure in the story, though he rapidly wiped that away by being an asshole on RAW.

[soup23]

Really liked the way this finish played out as their was an electricity in the air when Bret won and Shawn retreated down the aisle. I know this match goes long but I may still want to see the full version at some point because the finish was well done.

[PeteF3]

And yeah, I do think he was a sympathetic figure in the story.

 

The best kind of heel turn! Michael Hayes was just trying to help Kerry Von Erich, too. Very well-booked finish--one might think the WWF would have painted themselves in a corner here, as Bret pretty much had to win, but him beating Undertaker had to be done very carefully to be believable.

[Exposer]

This match had to go 30 minutes in part because of Austin's injury. I thought they did a really good job with the time & had a great match. The Bearer & Owen/Pillman appearances were made to kill time & create interest in a long match & I thought that was smart booking. However, it probably wasn't necessary since this New Jersey crowd is insanley hot for the entirety of this show & match. Bret's leg work is really good. He even busts out a sharpshooter over the ringpost which directly led to Shawn's ref bump. Shawn's work here is good too as he plays it straight but always get the feeling that one of the three guys may snap at any point. Taker is protected big time here which is the right move. He gets a visual pinfall over Bret after the first chokeslam & gets to power out of the sharpshooter twice, the first time being an incredible spot that got a thunderous pop. He also deserves a nod for toughness. He took two sick chairshots in the head here. The one at the finish is absolutely brutal. That finish is amazing. Holy shit the heat after the three count is unreal. That crowd reaction is of utter contempt for Bret Hart. I've never seen so much trash flung into a WWF ring. I didn't watch the whole thing but it seems like it was a great show. The crowd was into everything big time & all three matches I watched delivered (Austin's injury notwithstanding). It'll be interesting to see how things are moving forward with Bret's final months, Shawn's heel turn, & WWF without Austin being able to perform every week.