Bret Hart’s Greatest WWE SummerSlam Matches

wwe.com

WWF SummerSlam 1991, Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York

WWF Intercontinental Championship Match
Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect(c)

Result: Bret Hart defeats Mr.Perfect by submission to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship.

Rating: 4.0 out of 5 Stars

Bret Hart was beginning his departure from Jim Neidhart and the Hart Foundation around this time. His singles run was just beginning and he was placed in a huge match at SummerSlam. His opponent Mr. Perfect had built a reputation of being a technical juggernaut.

Mr. Perfect was going into his 9th month into his title reign and was looking unbeatable. With the coach in his corner Perfect was looking like he was never going to drop the belt. However, Perfect was suffering from a severe back injury that almost caused the match not to happen.

Being the champion he was Perfect competed, and Perfect and Hart put on a clinic at the Worlds Most Famous Arena. The match began with back and forth headlocks and take downs. Bret dominated the early half of the match causing Perfect to try and sneak out of the arena. This caused Bret to chase him down ripping Perfects wardrobe.

Mr. Perfect would then jump on the offense when referee Earl Hebner got caught between Bret and Perfect in the corner causing Perfect to sucker punch Bret and take control. Mr. Perfect began to then use a stiff style on Bret, connecting with stiff punches and kicks.

Mr. Perfect would continue to dominate the middle of the match. Every time Bret tried to gather and offensive explosion Mr. Perfect would cut him down.  After breaking Bret down Mr. Perfect hit his finisher the perfect-plex, but Bret kicked out. No one had ever been able to kick out of Perfect’s finisher, and with Bret kicking out it gave him the momentum to come back into the match.

Bret would regain control of the match hitting suplex’s and Russian leg sweeps.Bret would cover Mr.Perfect, but he remained to stay down. Bret was throwing everything but the kitchen sink but he couldn’t keep Perfect down. Bret would then work on cutting out Mr. Perfect’s legs to try and set up the sharpshooter.

Bret would try to connect the sharpshooter but the coach stepped on the ring apron distracting Bret and causing Perfect to low blow Bret and retake control of the match. Perfect tried to leg drop Bret, but Bret caught him and locked him into the Sharpshooter for the submission and the win.

With his parents in the garden Bret Hart won his first singles championship in one of the greatest matches in SummerSlam history. This win would help solidify Bret as a top star in the WWE for years to come, and would start a trend of Bret stealing the show at SummerSlam.

Next: Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog