* Was the feud going into the match good?
The feud was very good as it actually had months of build towards it. It started at Survivor Series when Owen knocked into Bret by accident leading to Owen's elimination. Owen gets angry and demands a match with his older brother. Bret says he'll never fight Owen, and the two resolve their differences long enough to have a tag team championship match with The Quebecers at Royal Rumble 1994. Bret gets injured and loses the match, Owen kicks Bret in the leg, and we're off to the races with this feud.
* Was the match entertaining?
The match was damn entertaining. A technical wrestling fan's dream. Two brothers going at it with wrestling holds mixed in with some cheap shots, aerial maneuvers, and animosity. Anyone that says technical wrestling isn't entertaining should watch this match and then proceed to insert their foot in their mouth.
* Was there good story-telling? (Psychology)
There was excellent psychology in this match. Owen playing the part of the overlooked Hart trying at every opportunity to one up his brother and rub any momentum shift in his favor at his brother's face. Bret, the more experienced brother, playing the more cool, calm, and calculating of the two, trying to fend off his brother's momentum and angst. The other good psychology wrinkle is when Bret's leg is injured, mirroring back to the Royal Rumble. This allowed Owen to capitalize on the injury and work towards hurting his brother's "Achille's heel" at that moment.
* Was there any good spots?
The technical wrestling exchanges were great spots as were the exchanges of the Sharpshooter. The best spot was saved for the end with Owen's victory roll to get the clean pin an a shocking development at the time.
* How was the crowds reaction throughout this match?
The crowd reacted warmly to the match, staying into it the entire time. The eruption at the end tells the whole story as the crowd was not only into it but was shocked at Owen's victory.
* Length of match? (Was it too short? or too long?, could more time have been added to make the match better? etc.)
The match length was just right for this match. The match length would have hindered the match had it been longer. Likewise, if the match were shorter, it would have taken away something from the match. Owen and Bret exercised the amount of time in their match to the best possible outcome.
Verdict: In the end, this is one of WrestleMania's greatest matches, and it is WrestleMania's greatest opening contest by about a mile and a half. These two guys didn't need any props, gimmicks, or annoying commentators to put them over. They took their 20 minutes and made them eternal. The shame of the whole situation is that this match doesn't get its due respect, mostly by being overshadowed by what happened later that evening.
