Bret Hart — page 5

The SmarK Rant for WWF Survivor Series 97 – 11.09.97

Yes, as promised, let’s finally take another look at this one, since the last time I watched it was 1999 (!!!!)

Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan are hosting as usual.  There are technical difficulties to start because the Barbarian is in the production truck playing with the controls.

The Ultimate Warrior-Smash bout from Superstars is the first match on the broadcast.

Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, and Jim Neidhart are in the booth, doing the last taped broadcast from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The Booker T-Chris Benoit Best-of-Eight Series

DISCLAIMER: This article represents my point of view about a series of wrestling matches by two performers with tremendous ability in the ring. The article’s angle judges the art rather than the artist. I understand if you cannot separate the two, but I hope you will enjoy my critique nonetheless.

Vince McMahon, Randy Savage, and Roddy Piper are in the booth, broadcasting from Omaha, Nebraska, the site of the recent Saturday Night’s Main Event.  The show’s opening now has a generic country beat with some wrestling highlights, continuing a downgrade from the Ultimate Warrior introduction a year prior.

Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan host another episode.  Heenan brings out a mannequin dressed like McMahon and rips the hair off because Mr. Perfect alleged last week that McMahon’s hair was not real.  McMahon walks out and Heenan pulls the pants down on the mannequin, saying he has always wanted to do that to McMahon.

The Tito Santana-Mountie match from Saturday Night’s Main Event is shown.

Vince McMahon and Randy Savage provide commentary for this episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event, which was taped in Omaha, Nebraska on April 15.  According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show drew a crowd of 9,400, with 7,000 fans paying to attend.  According to oswreview.com, the show drew a rating of 7.7.  While it is impossible to compare to the prior edition because of a lack of data, this show outperformed the 7.2 rating that Saturday Night’s Main Event XXVII earned in July 1990.  This would be the last Saturday Night’s Main Event to air on NBC until March 18, 2006.

WWE Returns “Aren’t Stopping Soon”

In recent weeks a number of former WWE Superstars have returned to the company and it appears that the hits are going to keep on coming.

Goldberg “Done Apologising” To Bret Hart

WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg has discussed ending Bret Hart’s career in WCW and explains why he is “done apologising” to The Hitman for it.

Shawn Michaels Comments On Vince McMahon’s Reported NXT Changes

Shawn Michaels has disputed reports that Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard were heavily involved in the production of NXT 2.0.

Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, and Jim Neidhart do another round of commentary for the tapings in Reno, Nevada.

“What We Do Is Not About The Moves” – Triple H

Speaking in a new interview Triple H has played down the importance of wrestling moves within the presentation of a match.

Ex-WWE Star Claims John Laurinaitis Allegations Are “Tip Of The Iceberg” 

A former WWE Superstar has hinted that more allegations centred on John Laurinaitis could be be on the way, describing the stories to date as the “tip of the iceberg.”

Vince McMahon Didn’t Know The Finish Of SummerSlam Classic In Advance 

The ending to one of the most celebrated matches in SummerSlam history was a surprise even to Vince McMahon!

All References To Vince McMahon Gone From WWE Backstage Areas
Vince McMahon’s presence and name backstage are now nowhere to be found after retiring from WWE.

Triple H Names Biggest Regret From His Rivalry With The Rock
Triple H and The Rock had a rivalry for the ages, but The Game has revealed that he still has one regret from their time working together.

Bret Hart Thinks British Wrestling Is “Lousy” Compared To American
Bret Hart has been critical of British wrestling before the turn of the century, and knew that once American wrestling took hold it would spell the end for what was happening on shows at the time.

Paige Provides Major Update On Potential AEW Switch

Saraya, formerly known as Paige has given a major update on her wrestling future and whether she will be heading to AEW.

What Happened After WWE SummerSlam Went Off The Air? [Video]

WWE SummerSlam ended following the brutal Last Man Standing match between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, but what happened after the camera’s stopped rolling?

“They Didn’t Even Care” – Bret Hart On Backstage Reaction To SummerSlam 1992 Match

Bret Hart has opened up on the backstage reaction, or lack thereof, to his SummerSlam 1992 main event match against the British Bulldog, Davey Boy Smith.

“Shawn Stole The Idea, Just Stole It From Me” – Bret Hart

Bret Hart has broken down how Shawn Michaels ended up stealing one of his ideas to create an iconic WrestleMania moment.

“Personally, I Don’t Want To See It” – The Undertaker On Ric Flair’s Last Match 

The Undertaker has admitted that although he’s pleased to see Ric Flair doing well, he won’t be watching his final match.

Bryan Danielson Admits He Tried To Get Fired On Talking Smack 

Bryan Danielson has admitted that he actively tried to get fired while he was working on Talking Smack.

Claudio Castagnoli On How He Saved WWE Star’s Job With An Uppercut 

Claudio Castagnoli has revealed the bizarre story of how while he was in WWE he saved a fellow Superstar’s job with an uppercut.

Vince McMahon, Randy Savage, and Roddy Piper are in the booth, starting a new taping cycle in Las Vegas, Nevada.  According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on March 26and drew a crowd of 14,000, with 7,000 paying to attend.

The Rock Open To In-Ring Return

https://itrwrestling.com/news/the-rock-on-if-he-would-wrestle-again/

Cody Rhodes Discusses Surgery And Recovery

https://itrwrestling.com/news/cody-rhodes-opens-up-surgery/

Bret Hart Reflects On Feud With Shawn Michaels 

https://itrwrestling.com/news/bret-hart-reflects-feud-shawn-michaels/

Goldberg Responds to Bret Hart Criticism

https://itrwrestling.com/news/it-sucks-goldberg-on-heat-with-bret-hart/

New AEW World Tag Team Champions Crowned On Dynamite

https://itrwrestling.com/news/new-aew-world-tag-team-champions-fyter-fest/

Ric Flair Slams Chris Jericho As “Shawn Michaels Wannabe”

https://itrwrestling.com/news/wwe-hall-famer-chris-jericho-shawn-michaels/

“Mom, can we see Ric Flair?”
“We have Ric Flair at home.”

Welcome back to more Dream Matches! Today, we’ve got a wild mish-mash of WWF stuff, as we get the weird time when Buddy Landel was a regular WWF guy until an ice patch, not his own demons, caught up with him! And Buddy gets a shot against the WWF Champion, Bret Hart!

Then it’s the true debut of “Team Extreme”, as Matt Hardy takes on Essa Rios (w/ Lita), and Essa’s had enough of his manager! Then we have Marty Jannetty vs. The Repo Man as Marty gets ready to face Shawn Michaels at the Royal Rumble! There’s also an interesting jobber match, as the Steiner Brothers take on Al Green and a very young Mike Awesome! Vincent vs. Damian on WCW Saturday Night, as they continue to give VINCENT of all people a mini-push on that show!  Then it’s one of those throwaway Nitro spotfest matches, as Psychosis, La Parka & El Dandy take on future Dragon Gate guys CIMA Nobunaga, Tokyo Magnum & Judo Suwa!

WWF WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE:
BRET “HITMAN” HART vs. BUDDY LANDEL:
(WWF Mania, Jan. 15th 1996)
* Yes, it’s the hilariously short time BUDDY LANDEL was in the WWF- an ill-timed injury slipping on ice ended this, what could have been his most lucrative run ever. Though he jobbed to Ahmed Johnson in like 45 seconds on PPV, so I don’t think they had high hopes for him. His “Ric Flair Wannabe” gimmick was in full effect, with fancy robes and he even used Flair’s WWF entrance music! This is actually taped before Buddy’s injury and aired after it- he was only in one-off WWF matches after this.

The Battle Royal: in an era of jobber vs. jobber matches making up almost all TV wrestling, this iwas the only way to get to see a TON of big stars in one place!

It’s another Dream Matches column! This time I find a Battle Royal from 1992 with a very unexpected victor! A 40-man battle royal with an incredible SEVENTEEN jobbers getting paydays, and extended runs by guys like Kato and a beyond-done Texas Tornado! Read on!

I also find some disparate stuff- Crush vs. Damian Demento from a 1992 WWF Mania, as I find an incredible smorgasbord of horrible low-grade matches on that program! Essa Rios vs. Jeff Hardy from 2000, as the Hardyz push REALLY starts to get in gear and “Team Extreme” is ready to form! WCW midcard glory as Glacier faces Lash Leroux! Then it’s a request, as we see a very young MIKE AWESOME in late ’80s WCW, as he faces the “Z-Man” Tom Zenk! And finally, some throwaway lucha stuff as Juventud Guerrera & Super Calo face Silver King & El Dandy in a match that ends in a REAL mess of miscommunication!

BATTLE ROYAL:
(Bret Hart, The British Bulldog, Sgt. Slaughter, Rick “The Model” Martel, “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, I.R.S., The Nasty Boys, “El Matador” Tito Santana, “Texas Tornado” Kerry Von Erich, Virgil, High Energy, Skinner, The Beverly Brothers, The Berzerker, Kato, Jim Powers, Barry Horowitz, Jumping Jim Brunzell, Duane Gill, Joe Milano, Rick Johnson, John/Tom Star, J.K. Goodman, Chico Martinez, Bob Bradley, Bruce Mitchell, Bob Knight, Terry Davis, Joe McMullen, Al Tucker, Barry Hardy, Nick Danger, Scott Palontonio?)
(WWF Prime Time, July 6th 1992)
* Okay, so while Scott Keith HATES Battle Royals, I LOVE them. I mean, in an era where your weekly main event was like Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Koko B. Ware, seeing THIRTY GUYS in one match? That was incredible! Plus it was fun to see guys go out almost in the exact order of importance. This one’s a real mish-mash of the most “1992” acts possible, including Kato as a singles act, the Beverlies, High Energy & Skinner. I don’t recognize most of the seventeen (!) jobbers, but there’s a pudgy short guy in a red singlet who is AMAZINGLY bad-looking, and Johnson is some huge, ripped dude. Bruce & Bob look like a tag team in matching black tights & white boots. LOL some asshole fan on the right is grabbing all the babyfaces by the arm and not letting go, resulting in a bunch of dudes (Virgil, Kerry) spinning around, probably giving him an earful.

Gorilla Monsoon and Roddy Piper are in charge of commentary, broadcasting live from Miami, Florida.  According to profightdb.com, the show drew a crowd of 16,000.  On pay-per-view the show drew a buyrate of 2.4, the equivalent of 440,000 buys.  This was an increase over the previous year’s show, which drew a 2.0 buyrate (260,000 buys).

Since the Gulf War had commenced days earlier, the WWF plays the national anthem for the crowd.  Piper is also amped up, wearing a yellow ribbon around his arm for the troops watching the show from the Middle East.

In 1990 the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) decided to pivot from the formula that made it a global brand.  Hulk Hogan, the company’s longtime champion, wanted to get into Hollywood and spent much of the year offscreen.  At WrestleMania VI, Intercontinental Champion the Ultimate Warrior defeated Hogan for the WWF Championship.  The match was supposed to make the Warrior the new face of the company, and the WWF hoped that the Warrior could continue Hogan’s profitable run into the new decade.  However, the Warrior quickly proved to be a flop, drawing poorly on house shows against Rick Rude, having an awful television title defense on Haku on Saturday Night’s Main Event a month after WrestleMania, and ending up as the third wheel in the Legion of Doom’s feud with Demolition.  His run was also hurt by the WWF not fully committing to his run, giving Hogan the prime feud of the summer against Earthquake.