[1988-04-25-WWF-MSG, NY] Bret Hart vs Bad News Brown

[Superstar Sleeze]

Bret Hart vs Bad News Brown - WWF MSG 4/25/88

 

Did Bret plan his matches out in advance? I read his book a long time ago, but I recall him discussing planning the matches in the back maybe not to the level of Savage, but he is definitely no Flair. I think that's why his matches in the 80s feel so mechanical. Everything is super segmented. When Bad News is on top he is on top. There is only one hope spot! When Bret is on top, he is on top. Bad News is just a tackling dummy. This is my major malfunction with Bret matches in 80s. The excellent execution is there and the layouts are great, but they are so damn soulless. It is just logical point A to Point B to Draw. To me this is the definition of good wrestling. Babyface shine is Bad News blindsides Bret so he overcomes and throws him out Bad News pouts and thinks about leaving. Do that again. Bad News rakes the eyes on a backbreaker and then goes after the throat. Bret does not fight back just absorbs the blows and takes the punishment. Throws in a hope spot and misses the elbow drop so Bad News goes back on offense. Bad News showboats too long so he misses the move off the middle rope. Bret takes over with his usual moves. The finish is a little better as there is some struggle for about a minute at the end and Bret even acts like it is difficult to hoist Bad News into the piledriver. Then ref fucks up the finish as he wont count because it is a time limit draw but the whole point is that it is supposed to be controversial for the fans. So then he count probably cause Bret yelled at him and just makes it worse. Not much heat. Bad News was the ultimate generic heel. Overcelebrating, going for the insincere handshake, feigning the walk out. It came off as forced. Bret understood wrestling and was very good at executing the moves, but he is missing that emotion sometimes. Definition of a good match. ***