TheOneBigWill's 'take' on Bret "Hitman" Hart's best Summerslam Match:
1988: Tag Team Championships: v. Demolition: I'd be lying if I said I could remember it that well, and the sad thing is I watched it like two weeks ago. Truth is, I was never really high on the Hart Foundation as a Tag Team. Sure they were a nice mix of power, speed, and ability, but overall in the beginning they were very rough and plain. (to me)
I know I'll take heat for this as well, but Demolition was never truly high on my list either. So that's yet another reason why it was hard for me to get into this match, and remember this specific one. I'm not by any stretch trying to say Demolition were a bad team, because they weren't, I'm just saying they weren't one of my faves, and back in that time era it was much like today.. if you didn't like someone, you barely paid attention to them, unless you had to.
1989: v. Brainbusters: By far, in my personal opinion, this was the best Tag Team contest the Hart's had against anyone. And the only alternative is either Demolition match they had on opposite sides of this p.p.v. I believe a lot of people will vote for the best two outta three falls match, if they're voting for any Tag team contest overall, but I'll explain why I'm not in that area.
As far as why I felt this was the best match, it's because I loved the way Arn Anderson and Tully worked as a team.. and how much they really put over Bret Hart and the Anvil as a very solid and hard to beat team. If you watch this match, then you'll notice that even though the Hart Foundation are the face team, they get away with a LOT of heelish tactics, and the fans ate it up. I give credit for that to the amount of heel heat the Brainbusters had, not anything the Hart's did to earn it.
1990: Tag Team Championships: 2 outta 3 Falls: v. Demolition: Okay, once again Demolition. This time it was I believe the combination of Crush and Smash, with Axe interfering at a later point in the match. This contest also had outside interference from the Legion of Doom, if I recall correctly.
The reason I'm urging people not to blow their load on this contest, is because it wasn't worth the time spent on it. Plain and simple. Again, I have nothing personal against Demolition, but the styles of that team against the Hart's just didn't mix well for me. The drama was somewhat evened out, with the fans not seemingly caring one way or another and in the end, the fans were more in an up-roar over the L.o.D. than they were the Hart's coming out with Tag gold.
Overall, I just believe this match is overrated, and I know a lot of people will get greatly upset at my opinion of that, because this is one of the few Tag contests from back in that era that the company pushed as great. I just never felt whatever it was they were trying to sell.
1991: Intercontinental Championship: v. Mr. Perfect: Another match that I believe is actually overrated.
I'm gonna come out of this with even more heat than I had going in, I'm sure. The fact is, Mr. Perfect and Bret Hart have had a LOT better match-up's and contests. I foolishly plugged this match being one of their best, without really remembering it.
After watching it a week or so back, I've since changed my mind and the reason is plain and simply because the chemisty of the entire match was thrown off, all because Mr. Perfect's singlet got ripped. I'd say a good 5-10 minutes in, his outfit gets torn practically completely off, and Perfect spent the rest of the contest doing his best to work without it being a factor, but if you really paid attention to the match, you'll see he didn't go two-three moves without messing with it, and trying to "fix it" so it'd be out of the way. That, to me, ruined the match.
The other issue was Perfect, for as good as he was, really botched the Sharpshooter at the end of the match. Maybe it was Hart, I don't know, but somehow it ended rather crappy, and before Bret even locked it in to the best of his ability, Perfect was tapping too.. that wasn't very sellable, so much as "fake".
1992: Intercontinental Championship: v. British Bulldog: This is a match I'd really say would take a lot of my attention, just because it was both men's Big moment in the spotlight. This was the British Bulldog's home-coming, and it was also to my knowledge Bret Hart's very first Main Event. It may of also been the first time the Intercontinental Championship main evented over the W.W.F. Championship, which is astounding to say the least.
I think the chemisty was just right, it wasn't so much a Family feud, more so than a regular every-day contest that just happened to be between Family members, in one of their "backyards". The crowd is what made this match amazing. What Hart and Smith did with each other was nothing short of awe-inspiring to see as well, but with that being said and continuing with the bluntness of being honest.. I've seen better matches out of both. All in all, this was definately a top 3-4 match regarding Bret Hart and Summerslam though.
1993: v. Doink the Clown: If anyone can get a workable technical match out of Doink the Clown, it's going to be Bret Hart. I don't think this match ever had a chance of being considered a cult classic, a fan favorite, or even anything beyond rememberable on paper. It was actually nothing more than a set-up, to get to the next match, against Lawler.
1993: v. Jerry "The King" Lawler: Now, the interesting situation regarding this match that a lot of people might not remember, or even know about.. is it was actually a "King of the Ring" type match. The billing going in was that the winner was going to be deemed and classified as the W.W.F.'s "One True King". So obviously because of that, you know the outcome instantly doesn't favor Hart. Of course back then you wouldn't of known that, but today anyone would.
Technically sound, this match was not. But second best regarding feuds, it definately was. The only thing stopping this rivalry from being the greatest Summerslam showdown Bret's ever had, was his Cage match against his brother. The Hart/Lawler rivalry is one of wrestling's most remembered, because for as long as Lawler's been in the industry, or rather the W.W.F., he's hated Bret Hart.. and Hart's Family. (short of the heels, he seemed to always love Owen)
This was one of their first match-ups, if not "the" first, in a rivalry that'd go well into two years from this point. That's downright amazing.
1994: W.W.F. Championship: Steel Cage: v. Owen Hart: As Becca said, I can not get enough of this contest.. however, because I know everyone is going to likely vote it, I'm not. I have one more in mind, and I'll get to it before I'm finished. However, the fact is this match likely IS one of Bret's all-time greatest Summerslam contests, and it's because of for all the right reasons, the way the match was built-up, the heat between the brothers, the entire story and saga of the situation, and the way both individuals, both brothers worked with each other.
I stand by what I said, in saying this match went just a tad too long without having any blood in it, and I also proclaim that if this match had blood, it'd be the single greatest Cage match/rivalry match of all time. End of story. However, it didn't.
The fact that back during this time period, big flashy moves off the top of the cage, like swantons and spears, and splashes.. none of those things were even thought possible, so you got Suplexes, nut drops across the bars, hanging legs in the bars, and trading punches atop the cage, while threatening to fall over the side. You got hair pulling, and leaping for the door to touch the floor hands first, then realizing it's suppose to be the other way around, and you got one of the greatest rivalries in Professional Wrestling history, tied in with one of the all-time great Family's in pro wrestling history. That's what this match was, and so.. so much more.
1995: v. Isaac Yankem D.D.S.: I mentioned the Jerry Lawler/Bret Hart feud going well over two years, and this seemed like the last big moment in their rivalry. Once again, this match wasn't exactly exciting or thrilling, so much more as a match that wasn't ever meant to be remembered as a great.
This was a contest, almost exactly like the Doink one, in which it was just setting up, or rather finishing up the bigger, longer and more heated rivalry between Lawler and Hart. The ending aftermath of this match even saw Lawler interfere, which I believe is what causes the match to end suddenly, and Hart ends up helped to the back, with a waiting Razor Ramon cutting a ladder match promo and mocking Hart for being old.
All in all, I haven't yet rewatched this contest, but because I know Yankem is Kane, I think I'm going to love it more now, then I did then. Just because I'll see Yankem as someone a bit better than some drugged up, dirty teeth having, psycho dentist.
1997: W.W.F. Championship: v. The Undertaker: (w/ Shawn Michaels as Ref.) Last, but not least..
MY PICK! That's right, I've decided to go with the last Summerslam contest Hart had, against the Undertaker. Why? Because even though the Owen Hart match had everything right, this match had a couple extra add-ons that the Brother v. Brother contest couldn't have. And that's a mini-war between America against Canada. A heel Bret Hart, which was almost as unheard of as a heel Hulk Hogan, and a cocky Shawn Michaels, whom everyone knew had major real life heat with Bret Hart.. that all made this match one of a kind.
This match had two things that I loved seeing, and will never forget. Those two things helped me also realize that this could be one of the best matches for Hart's Summerslam career, let alone one of the better matches in all of Summerslam history. The first is the Sharpshooter around the ring post. I've seen a figure four, but never a Sharpshooter and that was absolutely amazing.
The second, is the way the match ended. Hart straight up pulled all the slime he could find within his body up into his mouth, and let it fly directly into H.B.K.'s face and shirt. That caused the "chair shot heard round the world" to echo the arena that night, as Shawn lit up the Undertaker's head, as Bret dropped out of the way just in the right amount of time.
Due to the circumstance of the match, H.B.K. had no choice but to count the 3, and award Hart the W.W.F. Champion. Thus making him a history-making 5 time Champion. (at that time, tying Hogan I do believe) And turning H.B.K. heel, without it actually being legit. (Meaning H.B.K. really WAS aiming for Hart, but hit Taker.. which turned him heel) All in all, I loved this match and it's getting my final vote.
