[1992-06-02-WWF-Ottawa, ONT] Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I was surprised by how much I liked this match. Both of these guys are iffy on smaller shows. I'm not sure that either guy busted out things you wouldn't expect to see from them in any semi-competitive match, but they both bring their standard stuff and have a really fun, solid match. Shawn in 1992 compared to Shawn in the last decade is such a different wrestler. Age is obviously part of that, but he's a really good striker at this stage. I really like Shawn's punches. I'm not sure what happened, but by 1996, that part of his game was starting to suffer, even as he was getting more flashy in his style. As for Bret, Bret isn't dogging it, which is more than I thought I'd be able to say. It's the five moves of doom and pretty standard, but as I said before, it's done well. They cut a good pace, get the crowd going with a few nice nearfalls and both get in their trademark moves and bumps.

 

Will make an interesting comp to the Survivor Series match. This also in some ways makes an interesting comp to the Iron Man match. I'm not about to argue that this is better or anything crazy like that. But there are certain aspects of their game -- specifically Shawn's -- that would have helped the Iron Man quite a bit; the more aggressive, deliberate style, for starters.

 

Not worth going out of your way to see, but a flattering indication of what their touring match was probably like at this point. This may be slightly better than we'd get on a normal day simply because of the cameras rolling, but it's probably not too far off.

[Tim Evans]

I mentioned earlier how I didn't like Sherri with Shawn but she really played her role great here. Loved the interaction between her and the ring announcer during the introductions and the finish was nice.

[shoe]

I enjoyed this. It wasn't close to a classic but it was a fun little touring match. Very similar to Hart/Hennig houseshow run except shorter so their wasn't as much stalling to reach the time limit. In the Hennig/Hart houseshows their was Bret selling and trying to get in the ring for 5 minutes to cut the time.Here we have Bret work the arm. Shawn takes a few fun bumps. They mix in some cool spots like Shawn taking a bump off Bret throwing him off a hammer lock. We get a strong finish with some really good false finishes. We do get some rest holds, but they are a hell of a lot more interesting than Bret trying to get in the ring and getting kicked out by Hennig.

[Kevin Ridge]

Immediately thought this was the ladder match at first. Good match. Shawn wasn't completely relying on headlocks in the match. Sherri wasn't too involved in the match in my view. Figured with the title on the line she would be more aggressive. She finally gets up on the apron to distract Bret but he avoids a Michaels charge and gets the roll up. Shawn didn't seem terribly upset after losing. Will be interesting to compare this again to their Survivor Series match later in year.

[jpchicago23]

I absolutely loved this match, i expected it to somewhat drag but it didnt. It showed why they let Shawn break off as a singles competitor and also highlighted how athletic Bret was. I dont remember him being so light on his feet with all the rolling reversals that you would normally see from Owen not Bret. Excellent match

[WingedEagle]

This greatly exceeded my expectations. These two looked faster, crisper and a cut above anything else going on in the WWF at the time. By the same token, they seemed to avoid putting on a main event style match with lots of finishers or huge moves as though they were saving that for the top of the card, but what they did they made count. Michaels was so fresh as an act with great mannerisms and facials, just bumping all over the place. Sherri may have taken a backseat for most of the match, but that only makes it a bigger deal when she does get involved. Any chance they were piping in crowd noise here? Really fun and simple with seamless transitions built around hope spots for Hart before the finish after a Sherri bump.

 

***1/2

[PeteF3]

Definitely some piped in crowd noise, but if you watch enough pre-Raw WWF you'll learn to tell visually how into things a crowd is, and they were definitely into this.

 

Anyway, there was some excessively long chinlockery here, but this was a fun match with a really fun closing stretch. Shawn is surprisingly good at doing cut-offs here, and the Sweet Chin Music so much more enjoyable when it's a hot countermove rather than a finisher with all the big stomping theatrics preceding it. Bret turning the teardrop suplex into a sunset flip was a particularly neat counter. I vaguely remember this and one other non-ladder CHV match that Shawn won by countout, so I even popped a little bit myself when Bret got the winning roll-up.

[MikeCampbell]

I liked this OK, but it doesn't really hold up well in a yearbook setting alongside so many other great workers and matches.

[garretta]

This wasn't a five-star classic, more like the type of match you'd get from these two on an SNME. Shawn's definitely not overmatched here, but Bret's clearly better due to having more experience as a singles wrestler. Shawn's strength is bumping, and we see plenty of good ones here. He even makes Bret's normal punches and kicks look devastating.

 

I think Sweet Chin Music is a better finisher than a rather random suplex, and I wish it could have been the finisher here. Still, Bret escaping the teardrop and turning it into a sunset flip is one of the batter spots in the match, so I'll live with it. Actually, these two do a pretty nifty finishing run for a CHV match. Of course, Sherri ends up inadvertently costing Shawn the match by getting up on the apron at the wrong time and getting leveled by one of his knees. Occasionally a finish like that is fine, but I hope it doesn't become a staple.

 

I liked Sherri actually leaning into the ring to pound on the mat, and her interaction with Mike McGuirk at the start of the match is priceless. Mike looks kind of scared when Shawn bumps and grinds in front of her; I wonder if she was expecting it or not.

 

The commentary is decent, but not much more. I've given up on Mooney ever becoming anything more than a miscast Events Center host, but His Lordship is closer to his prime mid-eighties form than he's been in quite a while. Maybe that's because he likes all three of the main participants, so he's able to be objective, which was always his strength when he was doing house shows with Gino. I agree that the fan who pushed Sherri from behind should have been ejected, and I wonder why Sean didn't throw in a warning to the audience not to touch the wrestlers when they go to live events. Somebody probably forgot to put it in his script.

 

They really didn't make a big deal out of Bret being a Canadian hero, although they mentioned it in passing. Maybe they'd have made a bigger deal about it if we'd been in western Canada closer to Calgary instead of eastern Canada.

 

It's going to be interesting to see how they keep up the issue between these two now that Bret's scored a pinfall over Shawn that made tape, even if it won't be seen for several months. Shawn's going to have to start specifically targeting Bret in promos instead of just making half-hearted noises like he wants to be IC champ. As it is, I'm wondering now what they'll do with Bret until the time comes to start hyping his match with Davey Boy at SummerSlam.

[paul sosnowski]

Available on the Network, Vault, Home Video Classics, 1992.   Rampage.  October 22, 1992.   Starts at 12:20.  

Also available on the WWE Shawn Michaels DVD "My Journey", disc one

[dawho5]

I will agree with the fun touring match comments.  Nothing really big, but good and entertaining.  Shawn bumping around for Bret is fun with a couple of too-overdone bumps thrown in.  They both end up making the other look great regardless of the outcome, so mission accomplished.