[2000-01-10-WCW-Nitro] Bret Hart vs Kevin Nash

[soup23]

I find it odd that I have always heard the Funk match talked about as Bret’s last one but here we are. Having that in the back of my mind, I expected another fingerpoke but nope they go right after each other. Why N W O imploded over the course of one night, I have no idea but that shows the desperation and pathetic state WCW was in at the moment. Hennan talking about how he cant wait for Sold Out just reeks of total indifference. I will say I think Bret looks better here than in the Funk match moving around and selling leg damage. The crowd has no idea who to cheer for and therefore makes no crowd noise. Also, they are flat out calling Funk’s group the Old Age Outlaws. Tony speculates they are cracks in the N W O, I would say so with two prominent members battling it out tooth and nail. Nash gets a chair when he is attacked by Anderson with a steel pipe. WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING AND WHO IS ALIGNED WITH WHOM? Sid runs down and gives Bret a wimpy chair shot as the cage lowers down. Sid gives Hart a powerbomb as Arn counts the pin and this is how we say goodbye to the Hitman. Funk burns Nash with the branding iron to close us out. This was not the same amount of output of course that Hart and Nash had in the 90’s but I was surprised that 6 days out, Hart is still featured prominently and acting like the big ace of the company. **1/4

[Loss]

This was Russo's last Nitro of his first WCW run. It was also Bret Hart's last match ever. I didn't hate the match, and I think of the things that mattered, this was probably pretty far down the list, but I do think it's telling that the main event on the other channel had guys working a fast pace with blood and over here we see a match built primarily around selling and working a body part. Don't get me wrong, as the latter definitely appeals more to my tastes as a wrestling fan, but I do wonder if main events like that only further contributed to WCW's image as a place for old guys. To answer your question, soup, they were teasing dissension in the NWO, but it was revealed to be a SWERVE on Thunder. It was just a weekly Russo storyline du jour. In a funny turn of events, both the WWF and WCW were running the exact same storyline with their top heel factions (fake dissension) during the same week of television.

[cramerjason87]

It is shocking how hard Bret Hart works in his physical condition here. This is a decent tv match. If only Bret had stayed healthy he could have had another run in him not that it matters.

[goc]

This match was pretty good especially considering what we know about Bret's physical condition at this point in time. I liked the story of Bret staying focused on Nash's legs and Nash did a good job at selling the knee. If Loss is right and on Thunder they just blew this off as "fake" dissension then that's just dumb as hell considering the way this match went especially with boys guys hitting a low blow on the other.

 

The ending stinks with just too much shit going on and I find it hard to believe that Arn Anderson would hate the nWo more than Sid but that aside, this is still a lame way to end the show. This era of WCW seems to have had a penchant for having the show go off the air JUST as some big type of moment or spot happens like the branding iron here with Funk and that just doesn't seem a great way to get those moments over.

[GSR]

Bret and Nash are both members of the NWO and the match has been made by Commissioner Terry Funk. After Nash has entered the ring we cut to Scott Steiner in the dressing room with the Old Age Outlaws (yuck!), and while Paul Orndorff and Larry Zbyszko hold his arms, Funks sticks a bar of soap down his mouth to wash it out.

 

Bret’s focus for this match is Nash’s leg and to try and take one of his wheels out from under him. He’s got great intensity here and I liked the way he sold his own head when butting Nash. Nash also does a real good job of selling his leg; he doesn’t just forget about it and is either shaking it out or limping on it for the rest of the match. Nash with a low blow and then ‘snake eyes’ for a two count, before Bret retaliates with a low blow of his own. As great as his selling is, his offense is the pits. Nash with a side slam and he heads outside to grab a steel chair where he is attacked from behind by a pipe wielding Arn Anderson. Bret picks up the chair, sees Arn, and starts saying something to him, when Sid Vicious comes running down the aisle and into the ring. When Bret turns around Sid kicks the chair which he was holding and it goes crashing into his face (this looked bad). Arn gets in the ring and the cage lowers (this had been used for the Jeff Jarrett/Jimmy Snuka match earlier in the card). Sid with a chokeslam, powerbomb and Anderson counts the ‘pin’. Commissioner Funk and his flaming branding iron head out and he brands Nash with it as the show goes off the air.

 

This one surprised me as I wasn’t expecting much but it was real good up until that stuff at the end. Bret worked hard and Nash’s selling was a pleasant surprise. He wasn’t on offense much either, so although his stuff looked ropey, it wasn’t a detriment to the match. He certainly didn’t phone in a performance which is what I was expecting from him. Shame about the ending, the outside interference and the non-finish, but guessing it was all done to try and build Souled Out main event and the belief that Sid will walk out of there the new Heavyweight champion.

[Kronos]

Solid match, with Bret working hard and Nash actually looking like he gives a damn. Of course, it has to be ruined by the usual cluster of craziness to support whatever wacky storyline is going on at the time.

 

Bret was supposed to wrestle Sid at the pay-per-view in a few days, but he couldn't do it medically? That's why we get Benoit and that weird title change?

 

I find it interesting that the WWF things I've been viewing from the same month are a lot easier to follow and pick up the emotions on. You get a sense of who the good and bad guys are, and you don't need a program, as it were.

[aethelred]

This episode of Nitro was built around Terry Funk and the old guys punishing the nWo. Jeff Jarrett ends up with a major concussion because of the top-of-the-cage splash/headbutt combo from Benoit and Jimmy Snuka...two murderers who destroyed their own brains...fucking wrestling.

 

This match was actually a lot better than I expected, especially considering the state Bret was in - I winced every time Bret used his head.

 

Brain damage, guys.

[Stiva]

Good little TV match that, if allowed to reach a conclusion that wasn't a total clusterfuck, would have rated pretty well. Nash is a dude who can work hard but rarely does and Bret always worked hard and did so, even when he really shouldn't have been. The leg selling was decent from Nash, as was Hart's working of it. The Sid interference is pretty bad with an incredibly dainty boot where his lovely new denim jeans don't allow him to lift his leg all the way up as the cage comes down for some reason. Then, Terry Funk begins branding dudes because if 5 million things aren't happening at once, it isn't a Vince Russo product. Not the most glamorous way for Bret to bow out but, it was definitely stronger than the Funk match from Thunder.

[Zoo Enthusiast]

This was good until all the crazy shit started happening with Sid, etc.

 

Only for it all to be saved with Terry Funk branding Big Kev at the very end.