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Dark Pegasus Video Review: Bret Hart: The Best There Is, Best There Was, The Best There Ever Will Be (Disc Two)
Bret Hart: The Best There Is, the Best There Was, and the Best There Ever Will Be (Disc Two).
All matches on this disc.
No angle here, just Ricky wanting to give Bret some exposure. Hitman attacks while the ref is checking Steamboat. Bret takes the “Bret bump” off a whip reversal. Now the Dragon is pissed. Steamboat bars the arm and barks threats at Jimmy Hart. He violently works the arm, including that wristlock lift that only the Undertaker seems to use anymore. Ricky slides under Bret’s legs and armdrags him into another armbar. Dragon backflips out of a backdrop and kicks Bret right in the head. Bret comes back with a quick neckbreaker. Bret punches Ricky in the gut, sending him spilling all the way to the floor. A suplex gets a very close two for Bret. Ricky picks him up for a slam but collapses, and Bret gets two. Dragon gets a slam, but he can’t complete the comeback because Bret blocks a splash with the knees. Bret powerslams (!) him for two. A backbreaker sets up the second-rope elbow from Bret, but it’s the one he never hits as opposed to the one he always hits. Ricky dodges and gets two off a hard chop. A backdrop suplex gets two more. Hitman reverses a whip, sending Steamboat into the referee. Bret nails the Hart Attack clothesline, which was his finisher for a few weeks during his singles run. The ref is still out, though. Bret ducks a swing and hits a crossbody block coming off the other side, but Steamboat rolls through for the win at 15:09. Excellent match that probably would have hit five stars if Bret was established as a singles star. ****
Ted is doing the Million Dollar Champion thing at this point. Bret is coming off his first stalled singles push, but he still got a good singles match here and there. Especially here. No commentary for this for some reason, so you can hear Dibiase screaming “Shit” when he’s frustrated. Ted spends so much time taunting the crowd that Bret just gets sick of him and jumps him from behind. A Russian Legsweep gets two for Bret. Dibiase misses a swing and takes an atomic drop. After a crossbody, Ted decides it would be best to take a breather and get his bearings. Back in, Ted blocks a reverse rollup but gets small packaged for two. Dibiase gets tied in the ropes, but it’s all just a ruse as Bret misses his charge and tangles himself in the ropes. A vicious Dibiase pounces on him with a series of stomps to the chest and a wicked clothesline. He gets two off a suplex and argues with the ref about the count. Bret reverses a second suplex attempt, though. Dibiase starts getting frustrated with his inability to finish Hart off. Bret surprises him with a pair of small package rollups, so Dibiase tosses him to the outside. Back in, Dibiase slows the match down considerably with a chinlock. Bret comes back with the Hart Attack clothesline for a double KO. Dibiase recovers first and goes up, but Bret catches him and slams him to the canvas. They slug it out, and Dibiase begs for mercy. Bret beats the hell out of him but misses a charge to the corner and messes up his knee. Dibiase attacks the knee with the Spinning Toehold (they’re in Texas, stronghold of the Funks). Bret shoves him out of the ring and pescados out on top of him where both men are counted out at 15:59. ****
This is not the one featured on WrestleFest ’90, nor is it the infamous broken rope match. This is sort of a #1 contenders match for Summerslam. Demolition was about to turn heel with the addition of Crush. Both of these teams were over, but the Harts had a little more main event credibility. Bret starts out with Marty and does some nice stuff. Shawn tags in and crossbodies Bret for two. The Rockers doubleteam Bret but get clotheslined out of their socks by the Anvil. Janetty gets bullrushed out of the ring but slides through Anvil’s legs on a second charge. Anvil blocks an HBK bodyslam, but Shawn dropkicks him in the mush. We get our first Shawn vs. Bret match-up as Bret catches Shawn with an atomic drop and clothesline. Shawn plays face-in-peril as the Hart Foundation revert to their heel roots. Bret whips Anvil into a shoulderblock on Shawn, but it only gets two. Shawn sunset flips Bret for two as Demolition comes down to observe. Bret stops to yell at Demolition, so Shawn dropkicks him over the top rope. We come back from commercial to Bret continuing his domination of Shawn Michaels. He misses an elbow, though, and Shawn is able to dive into a tag. A fired up Janetty nails Bret with a reverse elbow and powerslams him. SUPERKICK! ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Bret reverses a whip, but Marty sunset flips him for two. Bret cuts off his momentum with a neckbreaker. Marty avoids the Anvil’s catapult splash, though. Shawn goes flying through the air off an Anvil shoulderblock. Anvil dumps Shawn to the outside where the Demos try to help him back in. Marty objects, triggering a huge 3-team brawl for the disqualification at 9:17. It was great stuff but for the brevity and lack of an ending. ***3/4
Neidhart looks like he’s going to surgery right after this match. Saggs takes a cheapshot to dominate Bret right off the bat. Bret comes back with a Thesz Press and atomic drops Knobbs. Bret catches Saggs’ foot and stomps him in the gut. Knobbs calls out the Anvil, so we get a brawl between those two. Anvil shoulderblocks him to the floor. The Harts dominate Saggs until Knobbs takes a cheapshot from behind. The Nastys work Bret over with a few chinlocks. Saggs gets two off a neckbreaker. Bret powers out of a chinlock, but the Nastys cut off a tag. Bret gets a false tag before the Nastys’s cheating backfires. Bret makes the HOT TAG for real and tosses Knobbs onto Saggs. The Nasty Boys colide, and the Hart’s deliver the Hart Attack. The ref tries to get Bret out of the ring, though, so Saggs takes Jimmy’s megaphone and smacks an unsuspecting Neidhart with it for the win at 12:11. **3/4
Vince finally pulled the trigger on the Bret Hart singles push after about three years of false starts. Bret quickly gets two off a crucifix. Bret and Perfect play cat-and-mouse with hair-pulling as referee Earl Hebner tries to keep up. Bret sunset flips him for two and takes him right back down into a headlock. Bret catches his leg and stomps him in the gut. They trade lightning quick moves, and Bret clotheslines him over the top. Perfect bails out, but Bret tracks him down and rips his tights in half. Perfect takes over with a cheapshot forearm and kicks Bret in the ribs. Bret takes a bump into the railing. Perfect brings him back in and whips him to the corner hard. They fight on the turnbuckle, and Bret falls into the ring. Perfect falls on top of him for two. Perfect tosses Bret across the ring with two handfuls of hair. Bret elbows out of a sleeper and goes for another superplex. Perfect counters to a Samoan Drop for two. Bret takes the “Bret Bump” to the corner. Perfect gets two more. The fans are eating it up with a ladle. PERFECTPLEX! ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Bret gives Perfect a pair of atomic drops and returns the crossring hair toss from earlier in the match. Vertical Suplex gets two. Small packages gets two. Russian Legsweep gets two. Second-rope elbowdrop gets two. Bret argues with the ref about the count, so Perfect jumps him from behind with a reverse rollup for two. Perfect goes into the ringpost, but Bret gets distracted long enough for Perfect to crotch him with the ropes. Perfect starts dropping legdrops to Bret’s midsection, but Bret catches the last one and reverses to the Sharpshooter for the submission and his first WWF singles title at 18:02. Perfect would take a year off to heal his injured back while Bret would use his IC reign as a launching pad to the WWF Title. Excellent match. ****1/2
Shoving contest to start. Davey shoulderblocks Bret all the way to the outside. They exchange headlocks and counters. Bret slips out of a slam and rolls Davey up for two. He gets two more off a small package and slings DBS back down into a headlock. Davey Boy manipulates him into a hammerlock, so Bret elbows him in the face and reverses to one of his own. Davey Boy gets a complicated reversal and takes Bret down into an armbar. Nice. Davey Boys slingshots him into the turnbuckle and goes back to the armbar. A crucifix gets two for the Bulldog, and he goes right back to the armbar. Bret tries to slam his way out of it, but Davey rolls through. Finally, Bret whips him off the ropes and knees him the gut. Crowd hates that. Davey Boy elbows out of a chinlock but runs right into a reverse elbow. Davey tries to counter to a crucifix, but Bret counters to a Samoan Drop for two. Davey Boy sends him off the ropes and delivers a reverse monkey flip to take over. He whips Bret back and forth between the turnbuckles but charges right into a boot by Bret. Bret rides him down with a bulldog and goes up. Davey slams him off the top but misses a dive off the top. Bret ducks down to avoid a reverse rollup, sending Davey Boy to the outside. He follows the Bulldog out with a wicked pescado and rams his back into the ringpost. Back in, Bret starts rocking Davey Boy back with uppercuts and dropkicks him down. A backdrop gets two for Bret as the crowd gets more and more hostile toward him. Bret suplexes him for two. Davey Boy pops up and gets a backslide for two out of nowhere. The diving elbow gets two for Bret. The crowd absolutely despises him now. Bret slaps on a sleeper hold. The Bulldog makes the ropes, so Bret kicks him right in the face and reapplies the sleeper. What an asshole. Davey Boy rams Bret into the turnbuckle over and over until Bret releases the hold. The Bulldog press slams Bret but accidentally drops crotches him on the top rope. A clothesline gets a close two for Davey Boy. Bulldog gets a stalling vertical suplex for two. Bret takes the “Bret Bump” off a corner whip. It gets two. POWERSLAM! ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Bret kicks out, astounding Davey Boy. Bret rolls to the apron. Davey Boy tries to suplex him in, but Bret slips over his shoulder and hits a Bridging German Suplex for two. Bret goes for a suplex, but Davey boy reverses to a SUPERPLEX for two! They clothesline one another for a double KO. Bret recovers first and applies the Sharpshooter. Davey Boy crawl to the ropes, much to Diana’s delight. Bret bounces off the ropes and hits a sunset flip. Davey Boy blocks it and hooks the legs for the pin and the title at 25:11. Bret is about to walk out on him, but he decides to come back and reunite the family. Ah. This is arguably the greatest non-gimmick match to ever be fought over the Intercontinental Title. Savage vs. Steamboat is right there too, but this was an all-time classic. *****
This is from the WWF’s European Tour. Spain this time. We even have Spanish commentary. I’m surprised they didn’t let Josh Matthews take a pass at this. Bam Bam, at this time, had a running behind-the-scenes feud with Vader over who was the best big man in the industry. General consensus says Vader, but in fairness Bam Bam would go on to wrestle Doink and the Dinks shortly after the summer of 1993. Hard to overcome that. Bigelow pounds away at Bret and no-sells a dropkick. Bret keeps him down with an armbar. Vader tries to pressslam him, but Bret falls on top for two. Bret elbows him to the outside and tries to follow off the apron, but Bigelow slams him into the ringpost. Back in, Bigelow goes to work on Bret’s back. A backdrop suplex gets two. Bigelow starts dropping headbutts on Bret’s back and drapes him over his shoulder in, of all things, a Canadian Backbreaker. Bret slips out and delivers a backdrop suplex. Bigelow gets pissed and just makes it worse on Bret with a Butterfly Backbreaker. Ouch! Bigelow goes for the coup de grace, but Bret rolls out of the way of the Diving Headbutt. Bret is revivified and gets two off a second-rope clothesline. A second-rope bulldog sets up the Sharpshooter, but Bigelow shoves him away and locks in a bearhug. Bret tries to backdrop suplex him, but Bigelow shifts his considerable weight and lands on top. Bret blocks a charge and mounts Bigelow’s shoulders to finish with the Victory Roll at 11:55. Well-worked, and Bigelow more than kept up his end. ***1/4
Both men are coming in with newfound life to their careers. Bret because he suddenly had a chip on his shoulder from the events of WrestleMania IX. As a result of Hogan taking months off, Bret wound up being the people’s champion. Perfect because he had turned face for the first time in his WWF run and was hugely popular as well.. Try to track down the Mr. Perfect vs. Doink the Clown qualifier matches if you can. That’s one of the most underrated series of all time. Bret’s coming in with injured fingers, and the winner goes on to face a rested Bam Bam Bigelow. He and Perfect do some nice reversals off Bret’s attempts to hold a headlock. Bret gets two off a surprise Crucifix. Bret crossbodies him for two, but Perfect’s kickout sends him all the way to the floor. Bret rams him in the gut and sunset flips him for two. Perfect shoves him to the ropes and knees Bret in the gut. A standing dropkick sends Bret to the floor. Perfect holds the ropes for Bret to get back in and then kicks Bret when he’s halfway through. Well, Bret really should know better. Perfect takes him back out and moidahs him with a chop. Heenan offers to take Perfect back as Perfect slingshots Bret off the apron to the security rail. JR busts out “sickening thud.” Back in, Perfect comes off the top with a missile dropkick. ONE, TWO, THR-FOOT ON THE ROPES! Bret takes the “Bret Bump” to the corner. Perfect gets another two and goes up again. Bret catches him and superplexes him. ONE,TWO, TH-NO! Brain is starting to root for Perfect, I assume out of habit. Bret starts kicking Perfect’s legs out from under him and applies a figure-four leglock. YOU LOVE THIS MATCH! Perfect scratches to the ropes. The crowd gives him a mixed reaction. Perfect stomps on Bret’s face to get out of a spinning leglock; then he tosses Bret across the ring with two handfuls of hair. Perfect locks in a sleeper. Bret makes the ropes. Perfect chops him and slaps the hold on again, wrenching Bret’s neck back and forth. Bret rams Perfect’s head into the turnbuckle and tosses him across the ring by two handfuls of hair. Receipts are a bitch, baby. Bret with the usual, but Perfect keeps kicking out. Bret goes for the Sharpshooter, but Perfect squeezes his broken fingers. AWESOME! Perfect goes for the Perfectplex, but Bret counters and suplexes them both over the top rope to the floor. Perfect rolls back into the ring and feigns injury. Bret moves in for the kill, but Perfect pops up suddenly and small packages him! ONE, TWO, THR-NO! Bret shifts his weight to his own small package! ONE, TWO, THREE! Bret moves on in the best match in King of the Ring history at 18:55. Perfect can’t believe it. He teases decking Bret before eventually shaking his hand. Aww. A nearly flawless match plus a classy ending between two babyfaces. ****3/4
The opener from WrestleMania X. Stiff tie up to start. It goes nowhere, so Owen proclaims victory. Nice headscissor counter of a fireman’s carry. Owen kips up and taunts his brother. Bret drops down, sending Owen to the outside. Owen comes back in and slaps Bret in the face. Bret takes him down and works the arm. Nice reversal by Owen using a handful of hair. Bret gets two off a reverse rollup and armdrags his brother down again. Owen elbows him in the face and shoulderblocks him to the mat. Bret gets a reverse monkey flip on another attempt and clotheslines Owen to the floor. Owen gets in Bret’s face again, but this time Bret slaps him across the grill and gets two on a schoolboy rollup. Bret gets two off a crucifix. Owen comes back with a beautiful spinning leg lariat as Vince wonders if Bret has enough killer instinct to beat his brother. See, Vince may be horrible at calling a match, but he knows what story he wants to tell. To the outside, Owen rams Bret’s back into the ringpost. Back in, Owen delivers a backbreaker and locks in a camel clutch. Bret elbows out but runs right into a nice belly-to-belly. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Owen springboards into a crossbody block, but Bret rolls through for two. Owen collapses and Bret gets two more. Owen kicks out, sending Bret to the outside. Bret tries to get in, but Owen catches him on the apron and tries to suplex him in. Bret slips over his shoulder, but Owen then reverses THAT to a bridging German Suplex. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Great sequence there. Bret reverses a suplex to a small package out of nowhere for two. Owen stays on top, though, with a Tombstone Piledriver. He goes up and comes off for a diving headbutt, but Bret rolls out of the way! Bret delivers an atomic drop and a clothesline for two. The diving elbow gets two more, and Bret argues with the referee. Owen begs off and then hits an enzuigiri. Bret blocks a Sharpshooter and goes for one of his own, but Owen rolls him away. Owen with a flying leg rollup for two. They tumble to the outside, and Bret injures his knee. Back in, Owen sees him favoring the leg and stomps away on it. He wraps Bret’s leg around the ringpost to further damage the leg. Back in, he mocks Bret’s limp and delivers a Dragon Screw Legwhip. A side Indian Deathlock follows, but Bret won’t submit. Owen drops a knee on Bret’s leg and delivers another Dragon Screw. FIGURE-FOUR! Bret…just…rolls…over…to the…ropes. Owen hangs Bret’s leg on the ropes and kicks at it. He goes for yet another Dragon Screw, but this time Bret gives him a little payback with an enzuigiri. Owen takes a Bret bump off a whip to the corner. Bret drops his injured leg on Owen’s face but can’t cover in time. A bulldog gets two for Bret. He delivers a piledriver. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Bret puts him on the top rope. SUPERPLEX! Both men are groggy. Bret rolls into a cover for two. Bret delivers a pair of forearm uppercuts, prompting Owen to miss a wild swing. Bret ducks and locks in a sleeper, but Owen makes the ropes and delivers a lowblow behind the ref’s back. Bret’s helpless, so Owen locks in the Sharpshooter. Bret powers up and reverses to one of his own! Owen makes the ropes. He whips Bret to the opposite corner and charges. Bret gets a boot up to block and goes for a Victory Roll. Owen stops short, putting Bret’s shoulder to the mat for the three count at 20:19. Great pacing and storytelling. There were some cool mirror images here such as Bret moving in on a helpless Owen being repeated later with the rolls reversed. Flawless execution here. One of the greatest matches in Mania history that turned Owen into a main-event challenger for the next few months. *****
This disc averages over ****/match, and we’re not even done!
More to come.
J.D. Dunn
