Bret vs. Austin from Survivor Series '96

[Guest rawmvp]

I just watched this match. How in the hell can this be considered a ***** classic? I found it quite boring and unimpressive. Austin uses his right elbow a little too much for my liking and the two blown spots ( a botched backbreaker by Bret Hart among one of them) detract from the match.

 

Sure, the match was six months in the making and surrounded by a phenomenal storyline, but the actual match was uninspiring and didn't evoke as much crowd involvement as I had hoped.

 

The match is ***1/2 - **** in my opinion. It's surely a great match; however, it isn't the classic that it's incessantly touted as, at least in my opinion.

[cawthon777 0]

Okay.

 

I personally loved it but others have differing opinions - so more power to you. From a wrestling standpoint, I prefered this over WrestleMania XIII. From a historical perspective, I give the nod to Mania.

[Guest Dynamite Kido]

The match kicks ass. I don't know if I would give it ***** but I liked it better than WMXIII just because there was more wrestling involved than in the WM one which was more of a brawl......

[Guest BAR]

****3/4, my second favourite WWF match ever. Owen/Bret: 20/3/94 being number one. Much superior to 23/3/97 as a match.

[iliketurtles 0]

Match had great ground wrestling, great pyschology, and jesus christ...any match where Austin pulls out the fucking Texas Cloverleaf is pretty damn good.

 

Want to talk about overrated? Look no further then Austin/Hart @ Mania 13.

[Big McLargeHuge 0]

It wasn't a botched backbreaker. Austin raked Bret's eyes to escape the hold.

 

And yeah, it's *****.

[Tawren 0]

I think both matches are overrated, neither one over **** in my books. People get wrapped up in the good storyline and think the matches are great, which they aren't.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

The matches are both 5 stars.

 

Bret and Austin wrestle their ass's off. They build up to the finish the whole way through the match and told the story with their actions perfectly.

 

Both are textbook examples of how to work a crowd and put on an excellent match.

 

A match isn't 5 stars unless it gets the crowd on the edge of its seat, because that's what the wrestlers job is.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

Well I must disagree. IMO this is easily the WWF MOTY for 96 and better than WM13 on every level except historical significance.

 

***** without a doubt from me.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Well I must disagree. IMO this is easily the WWF MOTY for 96 and better than WM13 on every level except historical significance.

 

***** without a doubt from me.

I agree, although the drama in the Mania match is also greater.

 

As for MOTY 1996, this match bitchslaps Mind Games so badly that it must have been the reason for HBK's crippling smile injury.

[Guest wildpegasus]

Bret vs Austin is not overrated. I can't remember the Survivor Series too well but do remember liking it better than Wrestlemania. The ending is absolutely awesome as Austin's own stuborness costs him the match as he refuses to let go of the Million Dollar Dream. This spot first done in Bret vs Piper has even proven to mean a lot more in the future as Austin busts it out once in a while during big matches. In fact in Austin vs ROck at Wrestlemaia XVII Austin's evil turn is foreshadowed when he releases the million dollar dream instead of hanging on to it like he did previously against Bret. He's simply not the same Austin anymore.

 

As for the WRestlemania match, it's without a dobut one of the best WWF matches ever. A fantastic story that has Bret becoming what he detested in order to fight Austin and a turn to the face side by Austin as he although still heelish in certain aspects stays true to himself(never quits, doesn't pretend to be what he isn't). As RRR rescently pointed out the bell shot by Bret onto Austin during this match is storytelling from the previous Bret vs Piper bout at Wrestlemania. Piper here was the one here who was tempted to go to the dark side by using the ring bell against fellow face Bret. However, he resisted. Now, fastforward back to Bret vs Austin at Wrestlemania. Bret uses the bell in an innovative spot against Austin signalling he has turned to the darkside.

Now, along with this great story being told in the ring we have a great match going on. A great back and forth battle with Austin doing his comebacks at crucial points in the match such as the footstomps in the corner, the chair shot and the pushup sharpshooter spot which pop the crowd to no end. Fantastic stuff which is one of the most rewatchable bouts ever.

[Guest The Real Nosferatu]

Storylines are what makes the matches. Without it, your doing a WCW job by throwing 2 guys in a ring and tell them to do whatever.

 

Crowd Reactions is a major part of a great match. Without it a match is boring and drops to like ***. (just estimating)

 

Ring Psychology is another factor. Of course the wrestling is important and this was before Austin became a bad worker, even though he continued having pretty good matches after breaking his neck.

 

Both matches had all of that, and both had great endings. (I marked for Bret pulling out the WM VIII pin to upset Austin) The WM XIII match was super hot, but wasn't as good wrestling wise. *****? maybe not, but its close enough.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Come on, which Austin fans here didn't mark out when he used with the Million Dollar Dream?!!

[Guest Loss]

Austin v Bret was the last great non-gimmicked wrestling match before the main event brawling style took over. It's the only US feud ever to come close to Ric Flair's best work. It is one of only three WWF matches ever that gets ***** from me, the other two being the Austin/Bret WMXIII I Quit match and the 10-man tag at the Canadian Stampede PPV.

 

Coincidentally, all matches were part of the Austin/Bret feud.

 

I love HBK/Foley, but it's so different from Austin/Bret that it's hard to compare the two. I'd put it at ****3/4, in that it's a ***** match with a DUD finish.

[Guest TheZsaszHorsemen]

It certainly doesn't have a DUD finish, Loss. It just doesn't have a clean finish. I personally thought that The Undertaker laying a beatdown on everything at the end of the match was pretty kick ass, but I don't give ***** unless the finish is clean.

[Guest The Rising Star]

You people are very generous with the star ratings, I must say. The only ***** match I've seen is Misawa vs. Kobashi from 1997, with Kobashi falling unconscious at the end. 40 minute plus match with the best storyline, psychology, crowd and moves ever.

[PLAGIARISM! 0]

I'll have to view it again, but I can certainly remember preffering it to Shawn/Foley.

[Big McLargeHuge 0]

You people are very generous with the star ratings, I must say. The only ***** match I've seen is Misawa vs. Kobashi from 1997, with Kobashi falling unconscious at the end. 40 minute plus match with the best storyline, psychology, crowd and moves ever.

Most of us don't really think that ***** matches have to be perfect, because there are no perfect matches.

 

That sort of thinking is a bit ridiculous to me, personally.

[Coffin Surfer 0]

You people are very generous with the star ratings, I must say. The only ***** match I've seen is Misawa vs. Kobashi from 1997, with Kobashi falling unconscious at the end. 40 minute plus match with the best storyline, psychology, crowd and moves ever.

How much All Japan have you seen, because you can make a very good argument that there are at least five better All Japan matches.....Kobashi vs. Hansen 7/31/93, Kawada/Taue vs. Kobashi/Misawa 12/3/93, Misawa vs. Kawada 6/3/94, Kawada/Taue vs. Misawa/Kobashi 6/9/95, and Kawada/Taue vs. Misawa/Akiyama 12/6/96.

 

I personally would also argue that their were several other better singles matches in the companies history.

 

And the best crowd comment is ludacrious when you compare it to how well timed their chants were in 6/3/94 or how insane the crowd heat was in All Japan during early 90s.