When you think of Bret Hart and WWE Survivor Series, the Montreal Screwjob should be the first thing that comes to mind. The Excellence of Execution’s career at Survivor Series was more than that fateful night in Montreal.
In the 1990s, Hart put on some of the best matches of his WWE career at Survivor Series against a range of opponents. With the 2019 edition of Survivor Series right around the corner, it is a great time to look back at five of Bret Hart’s best matches at Survivor Series.
1992 Survivor Series vs Shawn Michaels
This was the first Pay-Per-View match of The Hitman’s initial WWE Heavyweight Championship reign. The “New Generation” of WWE got off the ground at this night. The Hitman was still an untested WWE Champion when he faced Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship this night. This was a match where both future legends were building their credibility as a singles competitor with fans. It was wrestled at a different pace than past Survivor Series main events.
Both men performed an enjoyable technical match. It wasn’t obvious at the time, but fans were seeing two of the biggest players in the WWE future. What was obvious was, the way that WWE would display their main events was changing.
Their rivalry produced many classic moments, this would be the first of many WWE Championship matches. Shawn showed fans that he was coming into his own as the flamboyant villain that could draw a crowd to see him get beat up in a ring.
Bret was changing the expectation of what fans could expect from a WWE Champion. This match largely gets forgotten due to their legendary rivalry not coming into its own until years later. The match is worth going back and watching to see both men finding their groove as future WWE main eventers while setting the expectation of the WWE’s new generation.
1994 Survivor Series vs Bob Backlund
Michael Jordan had an occasional bad game. This was a bad game for the Excellence of Execution. It is hard to point the finger of blame at any one participant in this match. Hart tried as hard as he could to make this feud with Backlund interesting. For its time, Backlund’s transition to an eccentric character was the best that WWE could do with him.
WWE did the best that they possibly could to make this match interesting. Everything from involving Owen Hart, Stu and Helen Hart, and the act of “throwing in the towel.” This was designed to mask the limitations that Backlund had. Hart would lose the WWE Championship to Backlund when Helen Hart threw in the towel to signify that her son had submitted to the Crossface Chicken Wing. This match wasn’t the main event of the night and it certainly didn’t feel like a match worthy of the WWE Championship.
It wouldn’t be difficult to believe that Hart lost the belt to Backlund, who would then drop the belt to Diesel, as a way to delay The Hitman losing the belt to Diesel so early in Diesel’s character ascension.
Regardless of what happened after the match ended, this isn’t a match that fans of The Hitman would add to their WWE Network playlist. Hart would have better matches in the future Survivor Series events.
1995 Survivor Series vs Diesel
Fans will debate how great Bret Hart was until the end of time. Due to his hot and cold relationship with WWE, he isn’t promoted as a legend as he should be. If fans ever wonder why Bret Hart called himself “The Best There Is, The Best There Was, and The Best There Ever Will Be”, the match that he had against Diesel is why.
Diesel had a long run with the WWE Championship in 1994 and 1995. From a business standpoint, his reign was in one of WWE’s most challenging years, Diesel did the best he could. It was a challenge in 1994 to have a 7 foot wrestler be a fan favorite. For years fans were conditioned to believe men of that stature were monsters.
The match was a masterclass in storytelling. Diesel dominated most of the match using his brute strength to control Hart. This was to show to fans how intimidating Diesel could be. In order for Diesel to look that powerful, The Hitman had to do what he did best, which was realistically sell the effects of a beat down from a larger wrestler.
The finish of the match was excellently performed. Diesel would let up for a second after he had Hart ready to be pinned. That is where The Hitman rolled up Diesel for a small package to win the WWE Championship. This lapse in judgement was the catalyst for Diesel to abandon his fan favorite persona and slide into more of a tweener role. The Hitman would then keep the championship until WrestleMania 12.
1996 Survivor Series vs Stone Cold Steve Austin
Everyone remembers the Austin 3:16 promo at King of the Ring. That was “the moment” that launched Stone Cold Steve Austin into a different stratosphere in WWE. What is forgotten is the challenging five months that Stone Cold Steve Austin had, from a character standpoint, after that iconic promo.
After that promo, Austin was a spark that needed gasoline to help him become a full blown firestorm. That gasoline came with his feud with Bret Hart. Their feud in 1996 helped both men tremendously. It gave Austin a credible rival that brought of the best out of him in the ring and on the microphone. Austin provided The Hitman was a great rival to begin the process of reinventing The Excellence of Execution from a traditional fan favorite to the edgier Hart.
For as great as their match at WrestleMania 13 was, their match at Survivor Series was just as good, if not better. Both worked incredibly hard to tell a story of the aggressive Austin going against the cagey Hitman. Hart would go onto win the match, using the same move that propelled him to victory against Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 8.
This match showed that Austin was a star on the rise. Their hero, Bret Hart showed was back for good, but there were new edges to his character. Both brought the best out of each other in a rivalry that altered pro wrestling forever.
1997: Survivor Series vs Shawn Michaels
By now, fans know what happened with this finish of this match. It has been documented to death, reborn, and documented to death again. There isn’t much meat left on the bone to intelligently discuss how the match ended. Shawn Michaels, Vince McMahon, and others screwed over Bret Hart in the middle of ring.
What gets lost in the post-match discussion is how exciting this match was. Both HBK and The Hitman were adding another classic match to their rivalry before it became one of the more legendary moments in professional wrestling history. They were both were at their prime at the same time in the ring and on the microphone.
This was a stark contrast to their match at the 1992 Survivor Series. They were showing everyone who watched, that they had fulfilled the potential they showed in their 1992 encounter. In 1997, they found the way that they were trying to find in 1992.
The match wasn’t as long as their previous matches, but the action was fast paced and believable. Both men traded offense inside and outside of the ring. The story, they were in the midst of telling, was how important winning the WWE Championship was. This match was one of the first matches that crowd knew going into it, this was the last match that Bret Hart would have in the WWE. The crowd in Montreal added to an electric match between HBK and The Hitman.
The previous two Survivor Series events, Bret Hart would cement the characters of Stone Cold Steve Austin and Diesel. After this Survivor Series match, he would help launch the career of Vince McMahon/Mr. McMahon and help change professional wrestling forever.