1994-95 WWE MVP

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

So here we are in 94-95 from the day after WrestleMania X up till WrestleMania XI. This is the beginning of what most consider to be the darker days of the WWE as outside of a few main event guys there wasn't much else worth seeing. For me there are three guys who I would consider for MVP. Bret Hart, Owen Hart and Diesel. Owen's work during his feud with Bret was just as good as Bret's, but the difference is that post Survivor Series Bret was still on top of his game while Owen took a step back.

This leaves Diesel and Bret. My first thought was that it is clearly Bret, but after digging into this year a little more closely it was much closer than I thought. While Diesel began the year as Shawn's bodyguard, he quickly captured the IC title and challenged Bret for the title at King of the Ring in a match he actually won by DQ and looked very strong in the process. He followed this up by teaming with Shawn to win the tag titles before dropping them and dropping Shawn around the Survivor Series and then winning the WWE Title to complete the triple crown in one calendar year. He would then finish strong by retaining the title at the Rumble against Bret after the match was thrown out due to multiple interference, and successful defend the title at Mania against Shawn.

While all that would make it seem that Diesel is my pick, I actually believe Bret was the MVP for this year. While Diesel accomplished more, Bret was at the center of everything for up until the Rumble when he dropped off to face Backlund. His work with Owen, Diesel and even Backlund at Survivor Series was top notch and it is during this year that Bret established himself as one of the all time best.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

I agree totally with the forum poster above. Whilst Diesel, Razor, HBK, Owen, Luger and 123 kid all had some moments of shining in one respect or another; this was Bret Hart's year. To see Bret have class matches with Diesel, Owen, Backlund (on Superstars when Backlund turned on Bret; not at WM11) and had a great bout with Undertaker at Royal Rumble 1995 (until the ending), Bret was brilliant. He sold his shoulder injury well between Survivor Series and Rumble and was having a limited success with tv projects outside.

I think one of the honourable mentions though could be Razor Ramon. He really did well in the upper mid card this year. He wasn't on the same level as Bret, but his showings in the King Of The ring against Bigelow, IRS and Owen were classy, and he beat Diesel for the IC belt at Summerslam too. He then went on to be the sole survivor as his team "the bad guys" beat HBK & Diesels team. Whilst he had a dreadful feud with Jeff Jarret for the rest of the time period; you can't fault Ramon for this. JJ was never an upper mid carder (Incredible how he went on to be a WCW world champion).

I still have to say; from the strength of Bret's showings as listed above; it has to be Bret.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

It was the year of the Harts, hands down.

I know the year, for the purposes of this thread, begins the day after Wrestlemania X, but what a match those two had against each other at Madison Square Garden. Moving onto King of the Ring, where Owen wrestled three times in one night, and Bret retained v Diesel despite losing the match - all of which of course done to set up the best blue-barred cage match in WWE history at Summerslam '94.

Onto the Survivor Series and whilst Owen's SS match wasn't great (eliminating an entire team by count out? A farce) he was integral in his brother losing the WWE title to Bob Backlund, in a thoroughly underrated match.

Fast forward to the Royal Rumble, and Bret v Diesel #2, a good match until the ending (much like their first meeting at KOTR) which led to Bret causing Owen to be eliminated in less than 3 seconds in the worst Royal Rumble in history (can't decide if it was a blessing for Owen or caused the match more damage). Owen possibly surpassed his brother at WMXI in his random tag title match, as the Bret v Backlund rematch was not a patch on the first, although hindered by Piper the guest referee.

On balance, Bret just edges it, but the two of them were far and away the WWE's standout performers in 1994-95. I believe Bret also had a match of the year candidate on Raw vs the 123 Kid in this time as well.

 

[Mac]

Bret Hart was the MVP of this year. I got the feeling that the WWF may not have even wanted to put the belt on him, but did it out of necessity. During his first title run he clearly wasn't ready but by this time he was ready and capable. He was the most over guy at the time especially overseas. And he easily had the feud of the year against Owen. He had good matches with the likes of Diesel, Jarrett, Yokozuna and Bob Backlund.

 

[Goldie]

This would have to be Bret. At the 1994 Rumble the fans made it clear that it was Bret, not Luger... who they wanted to get behind.

After WM10 Bret settled into his role as top guy in the company.
His fued with Owen put on some scorching matches.

Even losing the title to Backlund in the fall of the year, he was still the guy the fans were rooting for when he challenged Diesel in the 1995 face vs face scenarios.

Guys like Shawn were still working their way to the top.... and Undertaker was stuck in countless dumb fueds with Ted Dibiases Millionaire Corporation stable of wrestlers.
Lugers mega push had already bombed.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Realistically most people are going to say Bret... based on his title win at Mania and his feuds with Owen and Diesel.

BUT realistically the most more important to WWE in that era are from this list:-

Owen Hart...

Starting at Mania 10, Owen became the standout part of programming, in terms of in ring action and character. He quickly became the lynchpin of the roster, someone who could do an interesting promo or put on a great match. His King Of The Ring win was a good example of this, winning the tournament and christening himself "King Of Harts" which could have been cheesy...but it worked. He feuded with Bret over the summer and helped establish Bret as the champion, only to play the decisive factor in costing him the belt.

I genuinely think WWE and Vince didn't quite "realise what they had" at the time, being so enamoured of Shawn and Diesel that Owen was slightly taken for granted. But there were few in the business better in 1994 anywhere. It was a real shame they didn't go all the way and have him unseat Bret and lose to Diesel, not only would it have given Owen the title he deserved, but would have set Diesel off and running far better squashing the much more hated Owen...that being said another contender is...

Bob Backlund - Many will scoff but Bob Backlund was another lynchpin of the WWF in that year. He seemingly came from "nowhere" but he had steadily shown his skills in the previous year, debuting at the Rumble in 93 and losing to Razor at Mania 9. His "Opie" character as Heenan would call him was weak sauce however... but sometime in early 1994 either he or Vince hit upon the idea of using his real life quirks and the rest is history. "Mr. Backlund" was stern, crazed and a damn good heel and such a shame they didn't think of it 10 years earlier... Backlund could have been a fixture in the Hogan era with this demented persona. As it was it was perhaps the earliest "Attitude Era" gimmick, using mental illness as part of the act, having a good man "snap" yet seem almost disgusted by his own actions immediately afterwards, staring at his hands in disbelief.

His feud with Bret went on too long, but that wasn't Bob's fault, that was blatantly Vince sending a "message" to Bret about where the company was headed with Shawn and Diesel at the helm. That Bob was not only able to work his way back up to the title, but to true, deserved main event status AND put on great matches and segments mean he is a contender for the most unexpected MVP...

BUT

The winner is:-

Razor Ramon - This was the year where Scott took the upper midcard by the scruff of the neck and dominated. His first fued with Shawn was winding down but he played a major part in getting Diesel over as a singles competitor, ready for his push later in the year. Razor then moved on to "Double J". On paper Ramon won and lost the IC a lot of times in a year, but each loss/win helped elevate the IC title AND the opponent. Diesel lost at Summerslam, but it fit into the break up of Shawn and Diesel and his title win... Double J didn't quite get over as hoped but he was a very credible IC champion for the time he had it. The IC belt was highly sought after, indeed it was only when they gave it back to Shawn that it began to diminish in stature again. Razor was having great matches, was highly over and was quickly becoming that famed "workhorse" who cards could be built around while the title was in the hands of someone like Diesel or Taker v Yoko was headlining. THIS was the year that got Scott his big contract with WCW...