Let's Talk About: Bret Hart and his 3rd WWF Championship Reign

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

Well, it has been awhile since I initiated on of these, so... here goes.

 

 

At the 9th annual Survivor Series Vince McMahon finally pulled the plug on the year-long Diesel experiment and placed the WWF Championship back around the waist of the most popular talent at the time- Bret "Hitman" Hart.

 

It was during this reign that many would argue that Bret was merely rebuilding the credibility of the championship for when it was time to pass it along to Michaels, who had been gaining momentum, from both a political standpoint and as an onscreen performer.

 

Bret would go on to have an exceptional main event with Davey Boy Smith, two matches with The Undertaker that mostly served to move him into a feud with Diesel and a blowoff cage match with Big Daddy Cool himself. All of this leading into the most ambitious WrestleMania main event, a one-hour iron man struggle, designed to usher in the new era of Shawn Michaels.

 

Looking back, what do you think of the way that Hart was presented during his 3rd championship reign? Did the WWF treat Bret as more of an afterthought during this period?

 

Also, I encourage discussion of other angles and stories from around this time, as to define the political climate of the company and the direction that they were taking the product.

[cabbageboy 0]

I remember being a little depressed by this title run after the initial enjoyment of it all. By the time the Rumble rolled around I knew exactly what the WWF had in mind, namely that Michaels was winning the RR and then the title at WM. As a junior in HS I (and a lot of others) was sickened by this obvious setup and would have rather Bret kept the title, but knew he obviously was jobbing.

 

Bret was presently pretty well at first, getting the win over Bulldog in a tremendous match that was way different from the SS 92 classic. But once the calendar hit 1996 he was booked like a lucky jabroni with the world title, having Diesel screw UT out of the title and then UT screwed Diesel at the Feb. IYH. Bret wasn't exactly being booked strongly.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

In hindsight, he was meant to be a transitional champ, though I didn't realise that as an eleven-year-old mark. On the other hand, he did have some good matches (specifically with the Bulldog at IYH). Furthermore, I think if anyone could go from a feud with Jean-Pierre Lafitte to WWF Champion in the span of 30 days and have it be believable while not hurting the title, it was Bret.

 

Though I'm a huge mark for his '94 and '97 runs with the title, I don't think of this reign as any lesser; but maybe his one-day reign in early '97 is propping it up.

[cabbageboy 0]

How many times did Bret even main event a PPV as champion? He did some in his first run with Survivor Series 92 and WM IX. But his best run in 1994? He won the title at WM X but didn't main event KOTR, SummerSlam, or Survivor Series. Ironically during this dubious run in 1995/96 he did at least main against Bulldog and Diesel on PPVs, and of course at WM vs. HBK. Then in 1997 his stuff with Patriot was midcard on PPV, but I guess the Montreal Screwjob was at least a main event.

[PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0]

It was also during this reign that, for the first time ever, the Royal Rumble match did not close the pay-per-view. Hart was in the main event of every pay-per-view for this run.

[Papacita 0]

I can see where the whole "lame duck" argument comes from, but as a mark I loved this reign. The Bulldog match from IYH was one of my favorite matches EVER, and it's kinda hard to say he was booked as an afterthought when two of the biggest stars in the company, Diesel and Taker, were breathing down his neck. Plus while WWF wasn't like it is now where shows undisputedly revolve around a single character, Bret was still quite arguably the face of the company during that reign.

 

Of course, by January, it was OBVIOUS that Shawn was taking the belt at Mania, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, BTW. Also, one might argue that the treatment following most of his major title defenses (getting laid out by Diesel following the title win, being spared by outside interference in the Rumble and IYH6 title defenses) made him look weak as a champion. If we were talking about a young wrestler in their first title reign, I might agree, but it's Bret Hart, who was already cemented as arguably best on the roster. Remember, at the time Bret was the only person other than Hogan to be a 3 time WWF Champion. That in itself is a pretty big statement about Bret's worth in the company at that point.