[1997-10-27-WWF-Raw] Bret Hart vs Ken Shamrock

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes. Pretty decent stuff, and I think Bret could have eventually carried him to a really great match. Bret taps to the anklelock after a ref bump, but Bret ends up hitting Shamrock with a chair. Shawn comes in and superkicks Bret and then takes the opportunity to lay in some punches. Shamrock isn't happy that Shawn interfered and belly-to-belly suplexes him and beats him up. He ends up having to be pulled off of Shawn. The Hart Foundation and DX come in to check on Bret and Shawn and a huge brawl breaks out. Great segment.

[Kevin Ridge]

We finally get a Bret/Shamrock match which was built up since WrestleMania. Shamrock reverses the sharpshooter into the ankle lock with heel hook! But referee was knocked out. Shamrock beats up Shawn which is nice. Chyna launches Patterson on to his ass.

[soup23]

I was not crazy about Shamrock tapping Bret this close to Survivor Series but the action was good and pull apart was even better. Shawn vs. Bret do a great pull apart.

[Robert S]

Bret tapping here might have been a way for Bret to show that he had no problems losing per se. Didn't he also offer to put Shamrock over for the title?

[PeteF3]

DX is definitely way more tolerable in back-and-forth brawls than in any other setting. Shamrock gets a big push, basically singlehandedly taking out both Bret and Shawn. Looks like the IYH:D-X main event is set. Some interesting action down the stretch of the match itself, with Shamrock throwing some neat counters at Bret's standard offense, which really brings a new dimension to the Five Moves of Doom. This is definitely a match-up that could have been special in a PPV setting with Bret getting to lay the match out.

[TonyPulis'Cap]

This match is an interesting taster for what could have been, had we not been so close to Bret's departure. Bret seems like one of the first people who was able to harness Shamrock's skills and work with his submissions, and as is discussed above, means that Bret is forced out of his comfort zone somewhat. For his first year or so there was a slight awkwardness in Shamrock matches, but that made them feel more unique and led to them standing out during the 97/98 period when a lot of guys were very punch/kick with what they did. With a good 20 minutes or so on a PPV, this could have been an excellent match.

[Exposer]

Solid match. Bret works over Shamrock's leg & does the ringpost figure four. I like Shamrock blocking the Russian leg sweep & hitting the belly to belly. There's a ref bump & Shamrock actually makes Bret tap! Bret recovers & gets Shamrock in the sharpshooter. As he locks it in, Shawn Michaels comes down & superkicks him. Shawn starts wailing away at Bret. Shamrock gets up & starts beating the shit out of Shawn after he realizes he didn't win the title. The fans popped huge for Shamrock going nuts. That was awesome. Shamrock leaves & Bret jumps on Shawn. Bret & Shawn have a huge pull apart brawl to great heat as DX, the Hart Foundation, & officials run down to break it up. This is really heated. Chyna shoves Pat Patterson to the mat at the end of this. Good effort match wise with a tremendous post-match.

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart vs Ken Shamrock - WWF RAW 10/27/97

It was the Best of Bret Hart, it was the Worst of Bret Hart. Has anyone ever been "Just Another Guy'd" harder than Ken Shamrock? This was a very good, run of the mill pro wrestling match. Sort of your Bret Broomstick match. The problem is that is Ken MUTHAFUCKING Shamrock in there. Look it is not Bret's fault at all because Shamrock got "Just Another Guy'd" by the entire promotion. Shamrock needed to assert himself. The promotion (i.e. Vince) needed to do a better job promoting him. What a huge miss by the WWF. 

The value of Shamrock is snapping people out of their comfort zone. How do I work against a legit shoot-fighter? How is the strategy different? We have countless examples from Japan how to go about this in very compelling ways. On the flip side from WCW, even though he was not legit, you have Goldberg. Look at that remarkable Goldberg vs DDP match from Halloween Havoc that thing is a barnburner. It is because it was the fucking Terminator vs John McClane. There's plenty of interesting way for Shamrock to work in a pro wrestling context and they went the laziest route just making him another pro wrestler except HE CAN DO A ROLLING LEG BAR! Give me a fucking break. 

Lets say this was Bret vs I dont know fuck it pick your favorite WWF upper midcarder, Bam Bam Bigelow, lets say, we would all say this was a very good match because it was. Traditional Bret chaining, they throw in the aforementioned Rolling Leg Bar by Shammy to show he is a shoot fighter gosh darn it. Shamrock just absorbing the punches by Bret was rough to watch. It is part Shamrock's inexperience (he did work PWFG, which probably why he comes across way too fucking smooth for this role) and Bret's penchant for check the box wrestling. Bret is supposed to be on offense so just take it, just like when Bret eats offense, he just takes it. Shammy gets him in the corner and when the ref breaks them up Bret clips the knee. 

This is what I mean by the Best of Bret Hart. There is almost nobody I rather watch a control segment by. He is the ultimate grinder. The transition was fantastic. He worked the leg like a fucking champ. It was a clinic and I loved every second of it. He worked the figure-4 around the post, the spinning toehold, all the classics. The transition back to Shamrock was genius, he goes to the well again for the figure-4 around the ring post and Shamrock pulls him into the post. Shamrock kicks some ass on the outside. Shamrock shit looks good, but it is NOT unique. Like the fucking Frankensteiner. What does that show? He is athletic? That he is a pro wrestler too gosh darn it? I liked the Shamrock Saito/Belly 2 Belly suplex. The ref bumps. Bret visually taps to the anklelock. Shamrock lets go and gets clobbered with a chair. Sharpshooter. Sweet Chin Music from Shawn. We get a great pull apart brawl from Bret & Shawn to set up Survivor Series. Shamrock is pissed that Shawn interfered and fucked up his title shot. So that sets up Shamrock as Shawn's first challenger post-Survivor Series. 

Against just anybody else, I would just tell this is the standard, very good Bret Hart match, but it is not against Just Another Guy, it is against Ken Shamrock. Plug & play makes sense for some wrestlers but for unique wrestlers, they deserve unique matches. This is when those creative juices should be pumping. I have the opportunity to work something different how do I problem solve for this? A good match is true to the characters in the ring. It is a tough match to rate. I will give it the rating for the work I thought that was delivered, but I am disappointed in it. *** 1/2