[1994-01-22-WWF-Royal Rumble] Bret & Owen Hart vs The Quebecers

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[El-P]

Good match, and great angle. It's too bad the Quebecers didn't get a longer, more consistent run because they were one hell of a team. It's a fine little territorial war too, as it's Calgary's Harts vs Montreal's Rougeaus basically (Oulette was trained by Jacques). Post match angle is awesome, Owen was just great in finally bursting out of frustration (and he was right to boot, Bret was selfish). And of course, the immortal words :

"I kicked your leg out of your leg."

[Marty]

El-P mentioned DiBiase's commentary in the other thread, and I thought it was the one thing that sucked in this whole thing, as both the match and the angle were good. Even Johnny Polo was fun at times. But hearing DiBiase's almost make Owen's turn not that special was a sign of the changing of the times, to say the least.

[FLIK]

(and he was right to boot, Bret was selfish).

Bastard shoulda taged, all he had to do was reach out his hand but stupid kids always gotta get their shit in.

[KB8]

I wrote about this earlier in the year as well, so I'll just C&P it since I can't see myself liking it any less whenever I get to re-watching it on this set.

 

I'm assuming most people remember this for the Owen turn and subsequent "That's why I kicked your leg out of your leg" promo (I know I did), in which case everything leading up to that has been lost in the shuffle, because this was a really fucking good match. Bret and Owen controlling things at the start is good, then Bret plays face in peril and that's good, then Owen comes in and throws the Quebecers around and THAT'S good. Owen has an awesome belly-to-belly, and as soon as he got the hot tag and started whipping the Quebecers into the ropes I was hoping he'd belly-to-belly suplex someone...and sure enough he did. Then we hit the part most people probably remember (other than the post-match), with Bret taking a spill out to the floor (because Polo held the ropes open as he was running off) and coming up clutching his knee. Bret is really awesome at selling the leg from this point on (not just in this match, but in the rumble match later). The only thing he manages to put together offensively the rest of the match is a half-assed sharpshooter that lasts about 3 seconds before he crumbles in a heap again. Other than that he just sells the crap out of the injury the whole time. There's a great segment on the floor where the Quebecers mug him and Owen keeps trying to come around and protect his brother. Jacques nails him in the knee with a chair, Pierre jumps off the steps and lands with his entire body weight on the leg, and Jacques sneaks all the way around the ring while everybody else has congregated at the other side so he can whack Bret in the knee with Polo's putter. Eventually the ref' throws the match out because Bret is borderline-crippled, and that's what sets Owen off. You can sort of see where he's coming from with this. He's RIGHT THERE for the tag, but Bret has other ideas even though he can barely stand up. Little brother is ready and waiting, but big brother tries to go it alone. All you had to do was tag, Bret. All you had to do was tag. I might've kicked his leg out of his leg, too.

[Loss]

There were definitely things I liked about the match, but it was my least favorite match of all the Quebecers ones so far. I don't blame them so much as I do the actual finish to the match (stopping it seemed unnecessary) and some of the other weird booking things (Ray Rougeau REALLY thought he could do an interview with Bret when he's being stretchered out?) I do think this was a great angle as far as the turn itself, but I didn't like this as much this time as I remembered liking it in the past. And of course, Owen with his post-match promo is one for the ages.

[flyonthewall2983]

I'm assuming '97 (and/or '91) is coming next, but the reconciliation between the two is one of the most genuinely moving moments in WWE's history.

[El-P]

I'm assuming '97 (and/or '91) is coming next, but the reconciliation between the two is one of the most genuinely moving moments in WWE's history.

I don't know about moving, but it was an awesome moment, especially with Bret's little smirk. Bret was so great in 97.

[flyonthewall2983]

Granted, Bret and Owen weren't going to win any Oscars for what they tried to capture, but it put a nice lid on both Bret's long turn and the feud between Owen and Davey Boy.

[Kevin Ridge]

Glad the video history package was included before the match. Well, this is my return to wrestling. I stopped watching WWF (all I watched for wrestling at that time) around late 90. Didn't have cable anymore and being the youngest with only one TV is the household, I didn't get much access to it. A friend of mine taped this PPV and I randomly just watched this the next night after the show. I loved this angle and immediately became a huge fan favorite of Owen and got sucked back into wrestling. So this show has some strong sentimental value to me.

 

I still think this match is very good after these years but doesn't seem as long in time as when I watched it originally. Quebecers do a good number on Bret outside the ring after he injures his knee. Bret not being able to continuing and the ref stopping the match doesn't seem as believable as it did at the time though. This seems too short now and referee jumped to this decision too quickly. But how can you not agree with Owen that all Bret had to do was make the tag.

 

Owen is none too pleased at this result and we get the turn and his wonderful post match promo.

[shoe]

This was another fun Quebecers match. The turn was pretty awesome. I thought Bret and Owen both looked great. Bret's selling of the leg was tremendous. Still the actual ref stoppage was kinda weak.

[Willninho]

This angle and everything is really done great. What impressed me the most was Owen's promo; I always got the impression it was just the one botch, but it's a pretty great promo with just one real mis-step.

[Exposer]

What the hell is wrong with Ray Rougeau? A part of me wishes he would have successfully gotten to interview Bret while he was getting carried out. It would have made things even more ridiculous. I laughed so at least that was funny. The match is pretty good but not great. Bret does a superb job selling the leg but they could have gotten Bret in the ring a little quicker. I was beginning to lose interest. The stoppage was bizarre and a lame way to end it. Why not have Bret take the fall? The post-match wouldn't have to be any different. Speaking of the post-match, I liked it. Owen's interview was classic. I think this is a pretty great angle so far.

[soup23]

This was worse and shorter than I remembered too. Vince really did have the rotating wheel on commentary during this time as now we have Dibiase in the booth. I think the stoppage could have gotten over more effectively if it had been emphasized that they didn't want to risk Bret not competing in the Royal Rumble. The match overall was good but was overshadowed tremendously by the turn of Owen.

[Cross Face Chicken Wing]

The camera angle behind the stretcher as Brett is getting wheeled out and Owen is cutting his promo on the big screen is just great.

[Matt D]

Owen's Jam Slam was awesome. Mitch Snow would be proud.

[Smack2k]

To me, this made Bret look like an asshole that couldnt trust his brother, so good for Owen for kicking his leg outta his leg.

 

To make it worse, Bret comes out and wins the Rumble on a leg he couldnt stand on an hour or so before? That was always stupid to me as well....so either his injury wasnt as bad and he wanted to make sure he was OK for the Rumble, so he made it look worse for the ref to stop it OR he didnt give a fuck about winning the tag titles as it would have stopped his chase of the WWF Title and he did this to appease the littel brother....then Bret has to be strechered out due to his bad leg, but again, shows up and wins Rumble?

 

Having Bret not in the Rumble at all due to injury OR have Owen get pinned due to something that he perceived Bret to not do would have been way better to me and made Bret look like a decent guy.

 

Either way, Bret looks like the asshole in this one to me,...but I was 16....and was looking it at from that angry standpoint....and always will!!!!

 

And poor Owen - his two biggest moments overshadowed by one bad line and then a huge wad of spit on his face after the Mania Win....

[PeteF3]

Good match but the angle surrounding it is better, and pretty masterfully built to. And yes, there's just enough there to give Owen the out that he was really justified--Bret *should* have tagged him (I remember the Apter mags taking Owen's side around this time). Owen rants on the video wall while Bret is being stretchered out in a fantastic scene--Owen's such a raving loon at this point that the "kicked your leg out of your leg" comes across as something he'd legitimately spit out. "There's no selfishness in me, there's not a selfish bone in my body!"

[garretta]

A lot of what I wanted to say has already been taken, which is nothing new. The match was good, but it really didn't matter in the grand scheme; this was all about Owen's turn, and while it should ​have been a great moment, it really wasn't.

 

The "all you had to do was tag" stuff was badly set up, mostly because Bret was nowhere near their corner at any point after he was thrown back in. We never saw Owen reach, beg, or anything of the sort. All we saw was Jacques and Pierre work on Bret's knee, and masterfully too. KB recounted some of the spots that they did off of the knee injury, and I'm sort of embarrassed to say that I didn't remember seeing them just a few minutes before. As I'm sitting here, I know why; Vince never tried to sell them as anything important. Sure, he sold the injury, but not the work Jacques and Pierre did to make it worse. To be honest, all the commentary sort of runs together in my head now that I think about it, and for better or worse, you can't say that about Vince too often.

 

At any rate, there was never the definitive moment that Owen could have used to say, "Aha! ​This ​is why Bret's a no-good selfish bastard!" There were no miscommunications which led to an accidental collision (Orndorff and Hogan), no one walked out in the middle of the match (Megapowers), and Bret never allowed their opponents to get a free pin on Owen (Rockers breakup; I'm referring to a singles match between Michaels and Flair from the '91 set). In fact, if you watch the match and see all the times that Owen distracted the ref, it seems at times that Owen was deliberately allowing Bret to take a beating as revenge for all the slights he ever suffered at Bret's hands. That would have been a wonderful story and a great twist............​if ​Vince had thought to sell it that way.

 

If it seems like I'm having trouble crystallizing my thoughts, I am. I just can't grab a hold of this turn for whatever reason. It was so well set up, but the execution wasn't, if you'll pardon the phrase, excellent. I needed to see Owen do something definitive and physical to cement the turn, and not just kick out Bret's leg. I'm talking the sharpshooter, a chair shot, wrapping the bad leg around the post, something. ​As it is, poor little baby Owen just threw another tantrum, that's all. When you boil everything down to its essence, that's all this was: a hissy fit by an immature little jerk. Bret doesn't need to wrestle him at Mania; he needs to turn him (Owen) over his knee and spank him, then stick a pacifier in his mouth, wrap him up in a blanket, and sit him in the corner and make him watch while he (Bret) beats Yoko. I don't doubt that their matches will be great, but I just don't feel the emotion most people seem to about the whole thing.

 

Who the hell booked Ray Rougeau to try and get an interview with Bret as he was being worked on? I've never heard of such a thing, and whoever made the suggestion ought to be fired. Maybe they just wanted Pat Patterson to come off as a tough guy for some reason.

 

Vince was back to being gratingly obnoxious early on, as evidenced by the return of "ONE....TWO.....THREE! HE GOT HIM! WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE DIDN'T? YOU'RE A LOUSY FIBBER!" several times early on when the Harts were in control. He actually got more serious was the match unfolded, and he did well putting over the impact of what happened in terms of what it meant for the Rumble.

 

As for Teddy, he needs to junk the Million Dollar Man character, particularly the laugh. It was effective in promos, but it's ridiculous coming from a commentator. So are all the references to buying titles, paying the price, and any other money-related clichés one can think of. Maybe that's why he became a manager fairly quickly; if he couldn't wrestle anymore, he could at least cut promos the way he was used to and keep up his evil reputation, which he couldn't have done in the booth.

 

Can we please not have any more referee's decisions for a while? We've had two decisions reversed and a controversial stoppage so far this month, and that's about all I can handle. The only thing I want to hear from a WWF ref for at least three months is the sound of his hand hitting the canvas when he's counting pinfalls.

 

I'll bet the Royal Canadian Mounted Police were thrilled to hear, "We're The Mounties" as the Quebecers' theme song. It's a good thing they didn't carry shock sticks like Jacques did in his singles days.

[The Russian Daydream]

This was a really good match. The angle was brilliant however. The one thing that let the angle down though was the ref doing the stoppage so suddenly. It would have worked better if he had seemed like he was checking Bret earlier and seemed conflicted about whether to let it go or not.

 

One point in the match I reall liked was where Bret does a roll up on Jacques who pushes him off straight into Pierre. I thought that was a really clever, simple tag team transition.

[Makai Club #1]

We're not the Mounties. We always get our maaaaaan!

Love it. This match was pretty good. Obviously just a match to progress a different story but it was great nonetheless. The opening minutes with Owen were a bit sloppy but nothing major and everything got on track soon enough. Wasn't a typical FIP match with pretty much even work and it was great, Quebecers were good at the smarmy heel work and Bret and Owen did some nice looking spots. Nothing was was spectacular, everything was very simple and basic but it worked. Then the Bret knee angle happened. This is where the match is the best. Bret's selling of the knee was top notch here. The Quebecers working on the leg was great, though the use of the cane was great, I loved it despite me hating it at the same time because the Quebecers are great heels. Another thing, Dibiase's commentary in this match is great. ***3/4

[NintendoLogic]

This is another pretty famous match that I saw for the first time only recently, and I was actually pretty shocked at how poorly executed the angle was. It started when Johnny Polo pulled down the middle rope for some reason instead of the top one, forcing Bret to do a tope to nowhere rather than being low-bridged. Once they got back in the ring, there was never a point when Bret had a clear shot to tag out. His best opportunity was after the Quebecers missed an assisted senton, but he was still on the opposite side of the ring. McMahon and DiBiase even asked why he didn't just tag while Jacques was holding him by the ankle and preventing him from moving. And of course, the referee stoppage came way too soon. As for the actual turn, it probably would have worked better if Owen had feigned concern for Bret and helped him up before kicking his leg out of his leg rather than telegraphing it by pitching a fit in the ring.

[Beast]

Seems like every PPV match Bret around this era was more than just a match, always with some storyline advancement. It's one of the reason he was my favorite as a kid, he was a major deal.

The famous Owen aspects here still hold up and Owen's performance after the match is stellar. That said, in my memory there was multiple times Bret could have tagged but didn't, so I ended up disappointed it was just one really. And even then, it was much more black and white than I remembered.

Bret moves out of the way of Pierre, starts to crawl to a corner, but then realizes he accidentally went farther from Owen. Well Pierre's leg is right there so might as well put on the Sharpshooter. Dibiase starts selling that Bret is choosing not to tag well before he even would have an opportunity to, which kinda detracted a bit. Less would have been more here from the announcers.

I rewatched this tonight after seeing the MJF turn on Cody and both felt too soon. The MJF deal especially, but this too, even knowing the storyline ended up practically perfect anyway for WrestleMania. Tim White is the real villain here, stopping the match because Bret collapsed once, and not acknowledging that its a tag match so he's got a fresh partner ready to go. You'd never even see matches stopped for this reason in singles competition, so this felt lame.

You need the Bret winning the Rumble aspect to the feud, but it would have worked well if they had a rematch on Raw or something and this time Owen walks out or one of the Hart's gets pinned due to miscommunication. Have Owen acknowledge that it wasn't Bret's call to stop the Rumble match, but then he gets mad seeing his brother win a title shot, thus effectively going back on his tag team career promise.

Unnecessary fantasy booking as what they did totally worked, but this could have been even bigger and drawn out without losing momentum.

All-time great turn either way and although Meltzer said in his review that Owen would need a manager to be a believable heel against anyone but Bret, I think his acting ability his super impressive here and his character only gets better in the following months.