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(originally posted at TSM and Cawthon's site) Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin November 17, 1996 - Survivor Series Madison Square Garden - New York City The Tale of the Tape Bret ?Hit Man? Hart Height: 6'0 Weight: 234 pounds Finisher: Sharpshooter From: Calgary, Alberta, Canada WWF Career Highlights (up to that point) : Three-time WWF Champion, two-time Intercontinental Champion, two-time Tag Team Champion, 1993 King of the Ring winner, co-winner of the 1994 Royal Rumble "Stone Cold" Steve Austin Height: 6'2 Weight: 252 pounds Finisher: Stone Cold Stunner From: Victoria, Texas WWF Career Highlights (up to that point): 1996 King of the Ring winner The match begins with a staredown. Austin flips off Bret, leading to an exchange of blows. The match quickly shifts to wrestling, with Hart and Austin exchanging hammerlocks and working the arm. Austin switches gears and returns to brawling to take the advantage. Hart briefly manages to make a comeback, but Austin stops it with the Stun Gun. A slugfest ensues with Austin gaining the edge. Bret rallies back, hitting an inverted atomic drop and clothesline. Bret rolls up Austin from behind for a two count. Bret follows up with a Side Russian Legsweep for another two count. Bret goes for a bulldog, but Austin counters, sending Bret chest-first into the turnbuckles. Austin sets Bret on the top rope and attempts a superplex, but Bret counters by driving Austin face-first to the canvas. Bret hits the elbow from the top rope, instead of the middle rope like usual, for a two count. Bret attempts a pendulum backbreaker, but Austin counters by raking the eyes. Austin sends Bret to the outside, then rams him into the ring post. They brawl into the crowd, with Bret gaining the upper hand. Austin regains control by slingshotting Bret onto the announcer?s table. Austin climbs onto the table and pounds away relentlessly. Austin slams Bret onto the table, then drops an elbow from the ring apron. The elbow from the apron works well here, since Bret?s upper body had been weakened earlier by Austin?s Stun Gun and the bulldog counter. Austin suplexes Bret back into the ring, then hits an elbow from the second rope for a two count. Austin continues to work on Bret?s upper body and locks on an abdominal stretch. Austin uses the ropes for leverage, but referee Tim White catches it and forces a break. Austin, displaying his disdain for authority, shoves White. White responds by threatening to disqualify Austin. Austin backs off, which would normally be uncharacteristic. However, it works in this case, because it shows that Austin wants to beat Bret. Another slugfest ensues, but this time, Bret comes out on top. Bret attempts an Irish Whip, which Austin counters, but Bret counters again and nails Austin with his own Stun Gun. Bret follows up with an Oklahoma side roll for two. Bret hits a nice piledriver for another two count. Bret hits a backbreaker and goes to the top rope, but Austin stops him. Remembering what happened earlier, Austin weakens Bret with a series of chops. Austin climbs to the middle rope for a superplex, but changes his mind. Austin releases the suplex position, then further weakens Bret by pounding on him. Austin climbs to the top-rope and hits a superplex. With both men laying on the mat, Bret cradles Austin for two. Both men get back up and Bret walks up to Austin from behind. Austin reaches back and hits the Stone Cold Stunner out of nowhere. Bret?s close to the ropes, so Austin pulls him into the middle of the ring and hooks the leg...for a two count. The few seconds Austin took to pull Bret away from the ropes may have cost him the victory. However, Austin?s rationale in pulling Bret away made sense. Austin felt the Stunner would be enough, but he realized that Bret was too close to the ropes, so he pulled him away. However, Austin didn?t count on Bret kicking out, because no one had ever kicked out of the Stunner before. Austin pounds Bret and covers several more times, gaining a few near-falls. Frustrated at his inability to pin Bret, Austin switches to a new strategy: make Bret submit. Austin locks on a Texas Cloverleaf, but Bret manages to get to the ropes. Austin whips Bret into the corner, but Bret?s legs give out, sending him under the bottom rope and back-first into the post. Austin pulls him towards the middle of the ring and scores another two count. Bret fights out of a bow-and-arrow and goes for the Sharpshooter, but Austin gets to the ropes before the hold is locked on. Bret catches Austin in a sleeper, but Austin tries to counter by backing Bret into the corner. That doesn?t work, so Austin breaks the sleeper by countering into a jawbreaker. Austin gets to his feet first and sneaks behind Bret, measuring him up for an apparent submission hold. Austin pulls out the one hold he hasn?t tried yet...the hold that he used as his finisher upon entering the WWF, the Million Dollar Dream. Unfortunately for Austin, Bret?s been in a similar situation before. Bret walks to the corner, kicks off the turnbuckles, and lands on top of Austin for the pinfall victory. Austin made the same mistake that Roddy Piper did at WrestleMania VIII...he didn?t let go of the hold. Austin exits the ring and glares at Bret as if to say "You beat me this time, but it won?t happen again." Final Thoughts In my opinion, this is one of the best WWF matches of all-time. There weren't any blown spots, the crowd was into it, the psychology was sound, and it had a clean finish. Austin's persistence in beating Bret was played off pretty well, with Jim Ross noting that Austin's refusal to release the Million Dollar Dream cost him the victory. An absolutely tremendous match which I highly recommend to any wrestling fan.

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