Welcome, welcome! Fellow fanatics for feigned fury, what's new?
This was a rough week for yours truly, a lot of stuff happening all at once, a complete lack of motivation, and deadlines getting nearer and nearer had me in a bit of a tailspin for a few days. But I knew I needed to stay consistent, I had to stay the course. If there's one thing I've wanted to stay consistent with, it's writing this blog. And I will. I won't let this fall apart on me.
So, read on and find out what match made it into the Wrestling Vault this week!
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| WWF |
Weekly Roundup
Here's what I watched for the week;
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Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart - WWF WrestleMania VIII - 04/05/1992
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| Tensions are high. WWF |
It was a tough week for finding something to watch. Depression sucks, friends.
To keep me occupied while keeping busy around the house, I've been listening to The Lapsed Fan and starting from the very beginning. I've made it to WrestleMania VIII in their 30 Week Journey between listening to current episodes and other pods that catch my attention. I didn't really feel like a fed match this week but when the match I planned on reviewing didn't catch my attention and the other match I wanted to review wasn't viewable (the RCA box we use to record my old VCR wasn't being recognized by my PC. So much for that Gorgeous George tape), I kinda had to resort to this match. Not that it's a bad one! Far from it! It just wasn't on my radar until the eleventh hour. So here I am, eleven and a half hours later, drafting this review up before the midnight deadline. Like I said, depression sucks.
The early 'Manias are uncharted territory for me. Aside from the real standout matches from each show, the rest of their cards are almost completely unknown to me. When TLF made it to 8, I remembered it for the "double main event" of Savage/Flair and Hogan/Sid, but that was mainly because I picked up a 'Mania 8 VHS a month ago and it had their mugs glaring at me the whole car ride home, but aside from that? Taker beating Jake was just about the only match I remembered, or so I thought. When they finished talking about Taker extending his streak to 2-0, they started talking about Bret and Piper, and the match came flooding back to me. This was one of those matches I sought out years ago to get a glimpse at just how good this Bret Hart guy was. Keep in mind, this was just getting back into wrestling after not watching for over a decade. I didn't know Bret Hart from Jimmy Hart for a lot of years, so when people talk about this guy being one of the best to ever do it, I had to watch more of him!
In a rare face vs. face encounter, Intercontinental Champion "Rowdy" Roddy Piper squares off against the former IC Champ Bret Hart. Funny enough, this is also a match between two Canadians! Bret and Piper are joined by "Mean" Gene Okerlund backstage to get their thoughts before this match starts. Piper, cutting a very Roddy Piper style promo, talks about how he knew Bret since he was but a wee lad, spending time training with his father Stu in Calgary. Bret isn't really giving Piper anything here, just standing there letting the Hotrod spew his verbal nonsense; until he puts his hands on Bret, that's when the mood changes.
All Roddy is trying to do is lighten the mood, bring some levity to the situation, but Bret is focused. All he wants is his Intercontinental Championship back. Bret lost the title to The Mountie earlier in the year, but he only held the title for 2 days before Piper swooped in and won his first piece of gold in the WWF. In Bret's eyes, Piper has something that still belongs to him, we're just choosing to ignore The Mountie here and I don't think that's gonna rub anyone the wrong way.
Piper is in Bret's face saying he'd rather have the match out in the ring where, as he says, "millions of people can watch," rather than backstage. The whole time, he's rooting around for something behind the title around his waist. When he turns to walk away, Bret snatches him by the arm and cocks a fist, saying "I would've had you." When Piper turns around, he has a leather belt wrapped around his fist, obviously hidden behind his belt the whole time, waiting for Bret to make the first move. His reply? "No, you wouldn't've" The situation is tense as Bret turns to leave and make his way down the ring, Piper standing with Gene and glaring at Bret as he walks away.
Bret makes his way to the ring in typical fashion, a couple high fives, handing his shades off to a child in the front row, the same as always. A no-nonsense, ready to fight kinda entrance. Piper makes his way to the ring focused and ready, eyes dead ahead and locked on Bret. He gives out a couple high fives as he marches down, but his eyes never shift, he's locked on Bret the entire way down the aisle. I'd also like to point out, before this match gets underway, this is Bobby Heenan's second WrestleMania and my god, he's in top form on commentary here. I don't usually point out commentary in these reviews, but it's Bobby Heenan for fucks sake, I'd be doing everyone a disservice if I didn't.
I mean, telling Gorilla Monsoon "have they ever met before in a ring? I don't know that," to which Monsoon retorts "you don't know a lot of things for a broadcast journalist!" Without skipping a beat, the unbeatable wit of Heenan responds, as indignant as ever, "I didn't care to find out! How do ya like that?" Incredible. God bless Heenan. You could enjoy this match for two completely different reasons, the quality of the ring work and the genius of the Brain on commentary.
The lockup to start this match is solid and tough, neither man wanting to grant the other any sort of advantage. Piper is the first to make a move, dropping down to send Bret over with a big 'ol armdrag. He collects himself before going back in on Piper, but this time it's Bret that gets Piper over with an armdrag, only dropping to his knees instead of flat out on his back. There's a third lockup, but Piper is quick to take control, pulling Bret down to the canvas and riding his back, some real amateur type shit here. They're back on their feet pretty quick, with Piper still holding a waistlock as Bret charges forward towards the ropes, rolling through the hold at the last minute to send Piper tumbling through the ropes to the floor below.
Piper wastes no time getting back inside the ring, getting in the face of Bret and firing off a wad of spit at his challenger, the tension really starting to boil over in this match, and quickly to boot. Piper holds both hands high to call for a test of strength, with Bret obliging. They lock knuckles and crash together in the centre of the ring, with Piper reversing into an arm wringer, only for Bret to twist Piper around into one of his own. Punches to the ribs only serve to annoy Piper as he tries to escape Bret's grip, but he's holding on tight. He chops his chest over and over and tries to pull away again, but Bret is holding fast. Bret twists him aorund another time, but this time, Roddy is determined to break it. Grabbing just enough of Bret's hair, he uses this leverage to lead Bret to the corner, driving him into the turnbuckle pad shoulder first, but Bret still has Piper by the wrist! He refuses to let him go!
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| "Let me go, dammit!" WWF |
Chop after chop lands on Bret with wild swings from the Hotrod, frantically flailing as he tries to pull himself free of Bret's grip. This proves to be his downfall, however, as Bret lets Roddy's legs go out from under him as he flails around, transitioning into a hammerlock when Piper lands flat out on his stomach. Back on their feet as Bret pulls Piper up by the arm, he's eventually able to break Bret's grip and shoot him into the ropes. Bret ducks the 'line and goes for a dropkick on the rebound, grabbing at his shoulder when he lands, the same shoulder Piper sent into the buckle.It's always the little things with Bret. The referee holds Piper back as he tries to tend to Bret's shoulder, and Piper reluctantly obliges, standing to wait for the go ahead to strike.
But it's Bret who goes for the kill! Without warning, he snatched Piper with a small package and holds him tight for the pin, but Piper survives. Back on their feet, Piper wastes no time lacing a slap across the face of Bret, with the referee quick to get in his face for such a blatant strike to the face. They square up face to face again, with Bret shoving Piper on the return as they trade verbal barbs back and forth. Going in for a lockup, a lighting quick slap catches Bret under the chin, seconds before Piper pulls him into a side headlock. He didn't spend time boxing just to improve his footwork, those hands are quick as ever.
Bret reverses into a side headlock of his own before getting sent into the ropes again, jumping over the prone body of Piper before nailing him with a crowssbody that sends both men tumbling over the top rope to the floor. Piper is back inside first, with Bret stumbling around on the floor. In a surprising show of sportsmanship, Piper holds the ropes open for Bret! He's reluctant to oblige Piper, I mean, who wouldn't? He's got a mean streak a mile long and is as unpredictable and wild as they come. He's got every reason to want to lash out at Bret tonight, given everything that's just happened, so why wouldn't he here?
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| How trustworthy does this guy look? WWF |
Bret is reluctant, but he eventually climbs inside the ropes, figuring that maybe he can trust this guy! Piper further shows how much he's changed by gesturing to Bret's boot, telling him his laces are a bit loose. Not thinking anything of it, Bret bends down to adjust his boots-and that's when Piper strikes. A quick uppercut catches Bret in the side of the head, dropping him to his stomach. Finally finding an opening, Piper seizes on Bret, punching and kicking him while he's down. Bret crawls around to try and collect himself, blood now dripping from where Piper's knuckle caught him moments before. Bret tries to collect himself in the corner, wiping blood from his eye, but Piper slams his head into the top turnbuckle pad instead, dropping Bret in a heap in the corner.
A bulldog out of the corner gives Piper his first pinfall attempt, but he escapes in time. Piper is firmly in control at this point in the match, whipping Bret into the corner hard and driving his knee through the head of Bret before another pin attempt. There was a real sense of Bret trying to do everything he could to stay a step ahead of Piper in this match. His refusal to let his wrist go to maintain control, how quick he was to send him to the floor, Bret knew that if he gave Piper an inch, he'd carve his way to a mile. He was in a good spot for a while there, but when he let Piper lure him in with his false display of sportsmanship, it gave him all the opening he needed to take over the match.
Piper is laser focused on the head of Bret, punching the open wound over and over. Bret nearly gets this match turned around with a quick sunset flip into a pin, but Piper uses his legs to box Bret's ears and break the hold. Again, back on their feet, Roddy uses his boxing background to fire off quick jabs to the open wound of Bret, each shot making the Hitman wobble just a bit more on his feet, until a quick cross punch drops him flat out. Trying to match Piper shot for shot, Bret drills him with a few quick punches of his own, but Piper stays vertical. Knowing he needs to do something to really knock this guy down, Bret hits the ropes and rebounds with a nasty forearm shot, sending Piper stumbling backwards and through the ropes to the floor.
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| Eat your Hart out, AJ Styles. WWF |
Piper is right back inside and goes to clothesline Bret, but Hart has the same idea, resulting in both men getting laid out flat in the middle of the ring. Exhausted, they lay there for a moment, catching their breath and collecting their thoughts. Heenan makes the good point of saying that the ref should be counting the pin, as Piper's head is resting on Bret's torso, technically meaning he's being pinned, but he doesn't. Shoddy officiating? You tell me. Piper sits up first and climbs to the apron, ascending to the top rope, but Bret suddenly springs to life! He catches Piper with a gut punch that drops him crotch first on the turnbuckle, with Bret grabbing him by the hair and pulling him out completely horizontal, the only thing keeping Piper suspended are his feet holding the top rope. With complete abandon, Bret drops Piper face first on the canvas, pulling him up in the middle for an inverted atomic drop and a vicious snap vertical suplex. Bret is building up some momentum.
A pin is attempted but Piper survives, with Bret going for a side Russian leg sweep and a backbreaker to keep the pressure on Piper, doing whatever he can to keep him down. Staggering around the ring to collect himself, Bret goes for the sharpshooter but takes a moment to look out across the crowd. His moment of hesitation allows for Piper to respond, catching the foot of Bret as he tries to step through for the hold. Abandoning the hold, Bret tosses his legs aside and drops the point of his elbow into Piper's face, opting for a more direst way to inflict punishment.
Seeing if he can find more success on the ropes, Bret climbs to the middle turnbuckle and leaps, but Piper was lying in wait. Different from how most people take this move, landing feet first and then catching the boot, Bret catches Piper's foot nearly the exact same time his feet land, making this looks twice as devastating as it could be. It looks like his entire weight was put into this elbow drop and Piper just rearranged Bret's entire jaw with his boot. It's nasty stuff, folks.
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| Dentures may be required after this one. WWF |
Piper is on his feet but only for a moment, going to strike Bret but falling to his knees as he throws the shot, his legs too weak to keep him vertical. They trade punches back and forth until they fight their way to their feet, with Bret getting Piper in a side headlock as he backs him into the ropes, only to get shot off himself. Leaving the ropes on a bit of an angle, no doubt from the exhaustion and possibly from blood trickling into his eye, Bret collides with the referee and sends him crashing to the canvas. Back on his feet, a lariat from Piper sends Bret out to the floor, with Piper following close behind to drive Bret into the steps face first.
Taking advantage of the lack of a referee, Piper grabs the ring bell and walks around ringside with it in hand, the crowd responding with boo's as they know what Piper has in store for Bret. Climbing inside, you can hear the pitch in the audience change to shrieks and pleas to stop, to think twice. Piper urges Bret to his feet, holding the bell above his head with full intention to bring it crashing down into Bret's head-but he hesitates. He looks out across the crowd, the thousands in attendance trying to make Piper think twice about his actions. He adjusts his angle of attack-and again, thinks twice. He looks out across the sea of people, bell now held loosely in one hand, twisting his head around one way, and then another, the people assuring him that he's making the right move not attacking Bret with the bell.
He yells in defiance, winding back again as Bret struggles to get to his knees, and the people shriek in terror and disgust, their last attempt to try and slow the Hotrod. Reluctantly, Piper tosses the bell to the floor, deciding that he wants to retain his title fair and square. He pulls Bret to his feet and cracks him with a shot to the face, ducking a wild swing from Bret and catching him from behind, wrapping him up for a sleeper hold. Bret is on his feet, fighting to stay alive as he moves towards the corner, no doubt looking to break the hold with the ro- no! Instead, Bret opts for a counter. Kicking his feet up, he pushes himself off the top rope, landing upside down on top of Piper. With arms entangled and Piper flat on his back, the referee crawls back to life and counts the pin. One, two, then three! Bret wins!
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| Excellent execution. WWF |
Piper learns in real time that he's lost his title, on his feet before Bret can collect himself and have his hand raised in victory. Snatching the title from the referee, Piper stands over Bret with his, well, what was once his gold, held firmly in his hand. Bret is seated before Piper, waiting for a strike or something, anything to come his way. Instead, Piper places the title on Bret's shoulder, a sign of respect among peers, between equals. He extends a hand and helps Bret to his feet, with Bret accepting the former champions help. Standing behind Bret, Piper clasps the title on the waist of Bret, the ultimate sign of respect. They embrace in the centre as Piper holds the ropes open for Bret, with both men walking down the aisle together.
What a fantastic little match this was! It should come as no surprise that two men as competent as Bret and Piper were able to have a great match with each other, but this told a tight little story that I really enjoyed! Bret always excels at telling a story through the little, tiny details. He's a very rewarding wrestler for fans who love to watch a match with a magnifying glass, like myself. Piper isn't a slouch either! He's up for the task and played his part perfectly, giving Bret a good challenge to overcome on his way to regaining the Intercontinental Championship.
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There we have it, another week behind us! I think I already said this once, but it bears repeating. I won't be apologizing for only doing one match per week if I need to. My wrists really started bothering me in this review and I didn't write this one until the last minute, and I hate putting writing off. I like to give myself time to formulate a review, I don't work well when I have a deadline right around the corner. I'll try and do better next week. Key word, try.
So, until then; be well, stay safe, love each other.
Cliff Morgan
cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com
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