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[1986-11-01-WWF-Boston, MA] British Bulldogs vs Hart Foundation


Superstar Sleeze

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WWF World Tag Champs British Bulldogs vs The Hart Foundation 11/1/86

Editor's note: The majority of this review was written in 2013 but I watched it again recently and updated my thoughts.

How much a difference five years makes? I thought the finish sucked the meat missile in this one, but five years ago I thought it added drama. I thought it was way too slow and plodding. Davey Boy was just hanging on the apron forever. The rollup was so slow. Just contrived all around. 

Last time we saw these teams face off was about a year ago. The Bulldogs have wrested the titles off the Dream Team in a fantastic and defended the title against the teams ye likes of Sheik & Volkoff. While the Hart Foundation matured as a team against the Killer Bees in some fun matches. The Hart Foundation trap Dynamite in the corner, but the fights out, which is one of my favorite early shine spots. Now we do Davey Boy vs Anvil, but Bulldog can't budge the Anvil and ends up taking a powerslam. This begins the heat segment a little bit earlier than I was prepared for.  Yeah the shine was pretty lackluster and so was the transition

 

The heat segment is a Best Of Hart Foundation spots collection. They are all there for your enjoyment: Anvil slingshotting Bret over the ropes, Demolition Decapitation, the blind knee to the back, Bret's bodyslam on the concrete, Bret irish whipping Anvil into his opponent. I like the Hart Foundation offense just fine, but have three major qualms. First, it made the match totally about the Hart Foundation. It felt like the Bulldogs were just any opponents taking the Hart Foundation's offense. It could have been the Killer Bees, Islanders or Rockers. I like when matches utilize the differences to make a unique match that only these two teams could have. Bret just seemed like he wanted to do "plug and play" in this match. Second, Davey Boy is no Ricky Morton. This could have been Bret eating him up, but some of the onus has to be on him to perform hope spots and make people notice him and not just be a rag doll out there. The first two points culminate in my last point, I hate how this match had no sense of struggle. When wrestling matches become exhibitions, they lose their gravitas. Exhibitions are useful in wrestling for getting over offense or gimmicks, but in title matches against established opponents I expect a sense of struggle towards victory, not neatly defined "my segment, your segment". That is what the Dream Team matches so much better is that there was a sense of struggle in the Wrestlemania and 2 Out of 3 Falls match with both teams working hard to overcome the other. I kept my complaining from five years ago in there because I do agree with myself, but that is a little harsh. The Hart Foundation had cool offense and it was nice just to see them bust out all their moves. Davey Boy did have some hope spots so it was not a total squash. 

 

Bulldog is able to pick up Bret and crotch him on the ropes (this is a GREAT transition!). Dynamite comes in and supplies the Bulldog offense for the match: hooking clothesline, snap suplex and diving headbutt. I loved the Bulldogs' arsenal against the Dream Team and think it was criminal that they didn't get to show it off here. Anvil wipes out the ref and tries to cheat to get Bret to win with lots of dramatic (2018 Martin: Slow) two counts. Before Davey Boy rolls up Anvil for the pinfall after an exaggerated count.

Great showcase of the Hart Foundation offense nothing more, nothing less. ***

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