[1985-09-23-WWF-MSG, NY] British Bulldogs vs Hart Foundation

[paul sosnowski]

Available on the WWE DVD, "Allied Powers, the World's Greatest Tag Teams"

 

[Superstar Sleeze]

The British Bulldogs vs The Hart Foundation - 9/85

Very Good match! This one had the better shine than the July affair (agreed, that the shine of this was fantastic). The Hart Foundation really milks it and the Bulldogs are bringing their A game offense with Dynamite's catapult, Davey Boy's powerslam and victory roll. Bret does his knee lift to seemingly set up Davey Boy for a heat segment, but it is a pysch out as Dynamite comes in. Only this time, for Dynamite to run the ropes and take a blind knee to the back (a Hart Foundation staple). Dyanmite really throws himself into the bumps thats the good thing, but apparently thinks selling just consists of laying motionless. Bret hits his bodyslam on the outside. Bret and Davey Boy do a good chase sequence, which breaks up the heat segment nicely. The transition is the same as the previous match with Bret tying up Dynamite in the ropes and Bret eating ropes. I would be remiss to mention that they botch the Bret backbreaker->DK flip out->DK backbreaker spot, but thankfully they don't redo the spot. Davey Boy comes in and cant stop Irish Whipping people. The Hart Foundation love having their opponents Irish Whip Bret into Anvil or vice versa. That's the first time I have brought up the Anvil that just seems wrong because he has been entertaining, but I guess nothing noteworthy so far. Davey Boy hits his gorilla press slam, but the Hart Foundation counters into Demolition Decapitation and then a top rope version of the Hart Attack. However, while the ref was distracted Dynamite comes flying off with a diving headbutt and rolls Davey Boy on top. I can see why this match gets a ton of love. It feels very 90s workrate but ten years prior. You can see how much Stampeded influenced Jushin Liger & NJPW Juniors and the 90s WCW Workrate crew. I thought it was a ton of fun, but as usual needed more struggle. ***1/2

[Beast]

A real standout, especially coming between JTTS squashes. 

Having just watched the Dynamite/Bret 9/14 match for the umpteenth time, it was interesting to see certain spots/transitions repeated but in a different context. But they change things up enough so that it never feels like watching a copy. 

Neidhart may be the weakest worker here, but he's extremely entertaining and a joy to watch in these matches. 

The finishing sequence with the top-rope Hart Attack is crazy and had perfect timing leading to Dynamite breaking up the pin for his own victory. I wasn't sure if this was one of their time-limit draws, so when the Hart Attack hit (and looked brutal), Dynamite sneaking in with a top-rope headbutt was pleasantly surprising. 

These teams both come out of this looking real strong and the Bulldogs are ready for The Dream Team. I guess at this time The Killer Bees would be The Hart Foundation's fellow #2 opponents, at least with The US Express basically done?

[cactus]

This was textbook tag team wrestling. They are given plenty of time here. The Harts start the match by stalling around, with Bret complaining that his hair is being pulled during every lock-up. Dynamite uses one of the Hart's old stampede tricks against them by escaping a wristlock by throwing them to the outside. The Hart Foundation eventually get their hands on Dynamite and works him over. Dynamite is a great face-in-peril. We get all the usual tag spots here, such as the referee missing the face tags and the heels double-teaming. Gorilla Monsoon straight-up buries the referee here. I love the finish, which saw the faces using the heel's own tricks against them. ★★★★¼