SummerSlam Top 10 Countdown – By Michael Owen
No.6 (25 Points) Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (August 29th, 1994)
Only in the World Wrestling Federation would you see two brothers enter a cage to settle a feud.
It all started way back at Survivor Series ’93. It was The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Bruce Hart and Keith Hart) vs. Shawn Michaels & His Knights (Shawn Michael’s, The Red Knight, The Blue Knight and The Black Knight). Michael’s eliminated Owen after he bumped into his injured brother on the ring apron. The Hart Foundation would go on and win the match but Owen was furious and perceived Bret to be at fault for his elimination. Martha Hart was at ringside and was visibly upset at her son’s argument and near fight.
In the following weeks Owen would begin to mock Bret and adopted the Sharpshooter as his finisher and also wore Bret’s outfit and glasses to try and enrage Bret into accepting his challenge. The hart family begged both Owen and Bret to make peace and the issue seemed to be settled. The two went as far as to tag together again and at the ’94 Royal Rumble faced the Quebecers (Jacques Rougeau & Carl Ouellet). This was the point at which the feud really began, during the match Bret injured his knee and was no longer able to compete, the referee decided to stop the match and awarded the victory to the Quebecers. Owen would snap after the match and attack Bret’s injured knee.
The strange thing was that Bret would later in the night co-win the Royal Rumble with Lex Luger thus meaning they would bother receive a title shot at WrestleMania X. This sent Owen crazy and he tried everything to get Bret to accept a match with him. Owen would claim that Bret had held him down and forced him to wrestle as The Blue Blazer because he feared that Owen would become more popular than he was. After weeks of constant abuse and torment Bret would accept the match and it was set for WrestleMania X.
I’m sure everyone that is reading this now has seen the match between at WrestleMania X and I’m sure that you’ll all agree that it is one of the greatest matches in WrestleMania history, it was also the opening match on the card due to the fact that Bret would be in the main event that evening too. In what was a shock to many people, Owen would beat his brother and get his perceived revenge. Bret would have the last laugh again though, beating Yokozuna for the WWF Title in the main event and once again infuriating his little brother.
Owen was desperate to get a shot at the title and his brother and was prepared to go to any lengths to get it. Bret faced Diesel at King of the Ring ’94 and was accompanied to the ring by Jim Neidhart. We would find out later in the match that Neidhart was under orders from Owen to help Bret retain the title but nothing more. Diesel and Shawn Michaels’ viciously attacked Bret after the match and Jim Neidhart walked away. He would reappear later in the night in the corner of Owen as he battled to be crowned King of the Ring ’94 against Razor Ramon. Owen would win the match with help from Neidhart, becoming King of the Ring and more importantly securing a shot at Bret and the title he felt he deserved at SummerSlam ’94.
What can we really say about this match that hasn’t been said before? Dave Meltzer awarded it a 5* Rating when it actually meant something, so what can we really say to give this incredible match justice? This.
It is possibly the greatest cage match in professional wrestling history, it features two of the greatest workers to grace a wrestling ring in one of the greatest feuds we have ever seen, and that’s why it has been voted Number 6 on TWM SummerSlam Top 10 Matches.
Click Below for Number 5!