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Post by stunninggrover on Apr 11, 2018 23:53:42 GMT -5
1992-08-29 Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith [WWF Intercontinental Championship] (WWF Summerslam @ Wembley Stadium in London, England)
Bret Hart defended the WWF Intercontinental Championship. This is one of the most legendary WWF matches ever. Tremendous performance by Bret Hart, who carried Davey Boy Smith to one of the all-time great matches in WWF history. Diana Hart is in attendance to watch her brother Bret battle her husband Davey. Bret is in subtle heel mode because it’s in Davey Boy’s home country.
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Post by microstatistics on May 2, 2018 1:08:52 GMT -5
This match has become pretty underrated actually. Incredible Bret performance, playing the subtle heel vs. the hometown hero. Amazing heat and great drama. Second.
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Post by elliott on Jul 17, 2018 21:15:25 GMT -5
I'll third this. What can you say. Great match. Great carry job. The plancha neckbreaker thing is one of the great accidents ever. Thank god they never tried it again.
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Post by superstarsleeze on Jan 20, 2019 17:20:29 GMT -5
Maybe the best carryjob ever? Bret is the King of the Babyface vs Babyface so good at playing subtle heel. Bret is the heir to Lou Thesz and would have been a great NWA Champion.
WWF Intercontinental Champion Bret "Hitman" Hart vs "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith - WWF Summerslam 1992
We talk about Ric Flair carrying broomsticks to great match, but in no match is the phrase "carrying a broomstick" more apropos than here where Bret Hart carries Davey Boy's mindless body to not just a great match but the best match to take place in the WWF in 1992. It is very clear that Bret is forced to work into a chinlock to call the next sequence and then return to the chinlock to do much the same. Bulldog was sloppy at times and I would imagine very dangerous to work with. Bret looked pissed in his usual understated manner. Some of those strikes coming off the ropes looked extra stiff. The boot in the corner looked brutal. Then the Bret plancha to the floor may have been the most dangerous Bret spot ever because Davey Boy was out of position and Bret just said "Fuck it" and then yanked him down by the neck. Bret basically was getting in his payback for Davey Boy being blowed up and forgetting the entire match.
Since we are in full Bret Hart ring general mode, we get a superb NWA Champion touring match. Bret was the heir to Lou Thesz and should have led the NWA into the 1960s with his amazing penchant for thriving as a champion in babyface vs babyface matches as a subtle heel in hard fought contests. Things like being subtly outwrestled early and resorting to a hard back elbow to escape a hammerlock is so old school I love it. Nowadays thats a meanginless spot, but built right you can come off like King Prick. Of course, a lot is added that "NWA Champion" Bret Hart is taking on the Hometown Hero, British Bulldog in front of the rabid Wembley Stadium so it adds that NWA touring Champion feel of the match. I thought the shine was pretty good and I think Davey Boy was still coherent at the time. The shove that sends Bret spiraling out of control to the floor was superb. Bret sold it well and it really put over the British Bulldog as a force to be reckoned with. Bulldog working in and out of an armbar while going for early pinning combinations was a smart way to put him over as a challenger looking for a win. The Crucifix Pin is always over in my house. Like I said, Bret was very chippy in this match in contrast to Bulldog working holds & pinning combinations. The Brain posits that these two are on equal footing because neither man is too bright. He was resorting to hard back elbows and a stiff kneelift ala Nick Bockwinkel. It is these subtle touches that heels Bret in the match, but not in the long term once the match is over.
The silver lining of Bulldog being a zombie was that Bret was forced to put himself in positions to overcome Bulldog's offense. Usually Bret would ragdoll his opponent but here he actually set Bulldog in motion and then would cut him off masterfully. Bret quashing the next Crucifix pin attempt was great. That boot in the corner was stiff as hell. I really liked Bret's bulldog. There's a great sequence where Bulldog press slams Bret off the top rope but then misses an ugly splash from the top rope. Bulldog ends up on the outside and thats where the crazy Bret plancha happens. Theres a very obvious moment where Bulldog is zonked out of his mind as he is just standing taking Bret's offense and Bret cant get him to bump until he hits a dropkick and Davey Boy's instincts kick in. Bret is so good at offense and just grinding out a match. He is in his element after the plancha cemented his advantage. Bret cant negotiate the pinfall after any of his Five Moves of Doom so he resorts to bieling Davey Boy by the hair and this draws the ire of the partisan British crowd. Great spot as Bret really puts Bulldog as the wronged babyface. Bret goes back to the chinlock to call a sleeper sequence. The "three arm" drop is such an epic moment in wrestling and signals the Bulldog comeback. Bulldogs blows a spot they have done a thousand times in Hart Foundation vs Bulldogs matches where Bulldog military presses Hart and falls back with him so that he crotches himself on the top rope. Like I said it was probably very dangerous for Bret to be working this match and I was surprised he let Bulldog press slam him again. Delayed Vertical and Running Powerslam only get two. Usually this would be the death knell for the hometown hero. Hit your finish and kickout means the heel is taking this. Bulldog hits a superplex for two. Bret is really calling for all the stops. One thing I noticed in this match was there was a lot of rushing. They were not really milking the moments as much as they could and I think it is because one was a zombie and the other was freaking out that he was in there with a zombie. Bret's Bridging German was a cool spot that you dont see often from him. Bulldogs kicks out and as they lied in a heap Bret applies the Sharpshooter! Honestly, if you didnt the finish but know the rhythm of pro wrestling with Bulldog blowing his wad (running powerslam) this should be the finish. I feel like Bret was working the smarts here in a good way. Bulldog makes to the ropes and then the iconic finish with Bulldog kneeling down on a sunset flip attempt for the win and a MASSIVE ROAR is let out from the British Faithful!
Bret proves why he is one of the all-time great ring generals here as he works the touring NWA champion babyface vs babyface match against a Hometown Hero Zombie. There are too many chinlocks (that are more jarring in how they break the rhythm) and general sloppiness to say this contends as one of the best matches of all time. Still, even with no sliding scale this match is incredible. Bret is the king of the babyface vs babyface match playing the subtle heel to perfection here. The match is built perfectly I loved how Bret had to earn his heat segment in the middle match. So many cutoffs and it was the plancha really won him that control. The finish stretch was electric and I loved the Running Powerslam nearfall before the Sharpshooter. I think that really added to the drama. One of the best individual performances in the history of pro wrestling as Bret Hart proves why he is an all-time great in the business. ****1/2
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Post by KB8 on Feb 29, 2020 5:38:27 GMT -5
I've never loved this and think their In Your House match a few years later is much better, but it's one of those matches your Bret Hart fans will often point to as one of his definitive performances. With pretty good reason as well -- he was good in this and clearly carried the load because Davey - WHO WAS ON CRACK!!! - is fucked to bits after about six minutes. Bret works subtle heel and it was decent stuff. He grabs Davey by his hideous dreadlocks and yanks him up off the mat and I bet it hurt like a bastard because I don't think Davey was in any shape to cooperate with the bump. Bret's strikes look rock solid as they usually do, those stompy punches again and his European uppercuts were a nice addition, but he laid them in a little extra this time. Couple of his stomps to the face looked mean and he popped Davey with a real potato shot elbow. Heenan: "Right in the ol' fish and chips." Bret starts getting some nice heat after throwing Davey out the ring and Heenan ponders, "Why are these limeys booing? It was a good move!" Can we really argue with him? Bret's plancha looks way nastier on account of Davey being too gassed to know where he is and about getting his neck wrung when Bret needs to adjust. At one point Davey just chucked him from a military press position into the ropes and Bret landed all awkward and no wonder he talks about Davey being fucked up during this. They do lots of shots of Diana in the crowd showing ANGST and Heenan asks if it's Mike McGuirk. Someone please find that video of all the times Heenan tears into Mike McGuirk. Jeez Louise he was great; maybe the greatest. Match drags quite a bit in the middle, but it likely would've stunk outright if just about anybody else in the company at that point was in there with Davey Boy so absolutely fair play to yer Hitman. He's clearly trying his hardest to make a purse out of a pig's ear, and for a guy you'd never say was an obvious spot-caller there are points where he's obviously in Davey's ear (and I'm not saying that to knock him). Biblical reaction for the finish. They should run Wembley again. You know, the new one. Unless they're worried it starts pishing rain and everybody's fake tan gets streaky.
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Post by mvz on May 2, 2023 9:35:15 GMT -5
I haven’t seen this in a really long time and liked it more than I expected. I dug the matwork at the start, Bret kept it engaging through the middle even if Bulldog was out of it, and then the finishing stretch was dramatic without being excessive. Bret really rose up in the face of the challenge.
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