A solution to a problem

[legendkiller1979]

It was 30 years ago today (1/26/87) when The Hart Foundation won the WWF tag team championship from the British Bulldogs. What people may not remember is that this was done out of necessity. This was about a month after The Dynamite Kid suffered a severe back injury. How do you have a team drop the championship when one member can't walk? The story goes that Vince sent Bret Hart to get dynamite's belt to which he responded "Tell Vince to go fuck himself".

What followed was one of the great solutions to a problem in the history of wrestling. It was done brilliantly. If you go back and watch the match, there were no entrances. It started with Davey Boy Smith chasing the Harts out of the ring with Matilda. Dynamite used Davey as a crutch so he could get to the ring so Jimmy Hart could immediately hit him with the megaphone. He proceeded to lay at ringside for the entire match. In fact, the hit with the megaphone had to be shown on replay. Danny Davis proceeded to do everything he could to make sure the title changed hands.

This was done so well on every level. They hid Dynamite's injury perfectly and the Hart Foundation couldn't have been more hated after the match. Then you have Danny Davis. People lost their minds over this whole situation. Not only did the Bulldogs lose the belts, but they lost them because of a crooked referee. All the people watching at home knew was that Dynamite got attacked, Davey Boy was getting the crap beat out of him by the Hart Foundation and the referee was doing nothing about it.

Dynamite was able to take time off since the Bulldogs were no longer the champions and he was ready in time for Wrestlemania III. Danny Davis debuted in the ring and the fans wanted to see him broken in half.

Young fans are probably reading this and thinking "Big deal. A heel referee cost the faces a championship." If that happened today I would agree with you. But this was the first time on a big stage that a referee and done something so bad. If this happened today, everybody would have seen the video of the injury on Youtube and there would be no opportunity to do anything with the injury. They would have just stripped them of the titles and had a tournament. The WWF had a problem and they turned it into gold. Everyone benefited from the match and the swerve. You will never see anything like that ever again. Wouldn't we enjoy wrestling so much more if we didn't everything that was going to happen before it happened? I think those who remember wrestling before the internet would agree that we definitely would.

 

[Goldie]

With Dynamite in hospital- Vince wanted Iron Sheik & Volkoff to get the tag titles... Dynamite refused and said they would only drop them to the Harts... because the Harts deserved it.
In a sense... this helped give Bret his first big break in the WWE... a run with the tag belts.
According to Brets book... Dynamite was given a standing applause backstage for dragging himself out of hospital to make the show... even though he couldn't work.

In that era ... babyfaces were protected and would seldom lose a title cleanly. This worked for the Bulldogs to protect their image with the fans, whilst setting up a Wrestlemania 3 fued with the Harts and dodgy referee Danny Davis.

You are right though... in the modern era, there would simply be vacated and a tournament held

 

[HeenanGorilla]

Does anyone who saw this when it originally aired remember Dynamite getting a piggyback ride from Davey to the ring? I have that visual, but can't find any proof online. Wondering if I am wrong or if only edited versions are available.

A similar solution was later used in the Rockers vs. Power and Glory opener at SummerSlam '90, where Michaels was attacked pre-match due to a knee injury.

I still remember the feeling in my stomach when my favorite tag team was screwed out of the titles. When "Hart Foundation New WWF Tag Team Champions" came on the screen, it ended my hopes that SOMEONE would come forward about Davis' antics and keep the belts on the Bulldogs. But at that moment, I knew it was too late and that feeling..ugh. I was 8 years old, and I remember this and another segment that gave me that same pit in my stomach around that time: Andre challenging Hogan to a match at Mania III on Piper's Pit. He was the big, lovable friend of the champ and now he was brainwashed to evil, I couldn't believe it! Amazing that I still remember how I felt for each. Conversely, I remember being pleasantly surprised when Strike Force won those tag titles via Martel's Boston Crab on a Saturday morning. Good feelings and bad, but always entertained. Those were the days.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

It was an interesting way to deal with it - I saw something similar live on a UK show with Taker as his luggage had been lost at the airport, so they couldn't do the entrance... Taker pretty much in street clothes and Mankind come out brawling...

At the time (I was 9) it was heartbreaking lol to see the Bulldogs lose, but even then it was clear something wasn't quite right. The worst part was how the Bulldogs then went "down" the pecking order. Again, perhaps out of necessity but also as it turns out because of what amounts to escalating mental illness and dependency on Dynamite's part... once Jacques knocked his teeth out that was it for him. It's also why the Bulldogs will never go in the HOF while Tommy is alive... he was too close to being Benoit...