In Your House 5 (Seasons Beatings) - 17th December 1995 - Hershey, Pennsylvania
I'm always fascinated by the lows of wrestling as much as the highs, and for many, there's no lower low than the WWF in 1995. The likes of Diesel and Mabel dominated the main event scene while more capable workers were often saddled with cartoon gimmicks or restricted to the midcard. It's refreshing to see, however, that even in a year as legendarily awful as 1995, there are some gems to be found on WWF PPVs, especially towards the end. I'll admit that I'm not going into this one completely blind, as I've been listening to the excellent New Generation Project Podcast (seriously, go and listen to it) who cover all the WWF PPVs of 1995, including this one. I've been making a note of any matches which interested me, and it seems as though there are some real hidden gems in the early In Your Houses. So far I've watched an excellent match between the highly underrated Hakushi and Bret Hart from In Your House 1, as well as a surprisingly compelling encounter between Bret and Jean-Pierre Lafitte (AKA Quebecer Pierre), and a stellar bout between Shawn Michaels and Jeff Jarrett (ain't he great?). Today's offering is from the fifth In Your House: Bret Hart vs. Manchester's own British Bulldog.
You may have noticed that three out of four of these 'In Your House highlights' involve Bret Hart. This wasn't intentional on my part, but nor is it a coincidence. In terms of pure in-ring work, Bret may be one of my favourite wrestlers, even though I've only started watching his matches fairly recently. He throws in so many little details which make his matches more compelling, and everything he does just looks so smooth, but in a way that's somehow also realistic and impactful. I'm a big fan. I've not encountered much of the British Bulldog's work before, but I've liked him in the few matches I've seen him in. Plus he's British, and his northern accent sounds comedically out of place in the 90s WWF world of hyper-American jocks. That makes him okay in my book.
The first thing I notice is that Bulldog has short hair. Didn't he used to have weird braids? He looks much better like this. The second thing I notice is that the pen from the infamous Arkansas Hog Pen match is still very much there, and what's more, the pigs are still running around in it. They've got prime seats at a WWF PPV and they don't seem at all bothered. Ungrateful swine. (I might have to go back and watch that match. I've heard it's actually better than it sounds. Plus, I'm a sucker for a weird gimmick match.)
Bret's out next and he looks so damn cool, even in 2018. I love his jacket, and also his music is fantastic. It's everything a wrestling theme should be. Cornette's Christmassy tennis racket cover steals the show though. Incredible.
The match starts with lock ups, but each time Bulldog pushes Bret away with ease. Bret's little glance to the side after the second one is the kind of touch which makes him so compelling -- it's the look of a man who's realised that he underestimated his opponent's strength, and is having to devise a new strategy.
They do some mat wrestling, and I'm impressed by how smooth Bulldog is for his size. After some rapid transitions, he lands a beautiful kip-up with ease. On commentary, Vince makes an interesting and unusually perceptive comment about Bret changing his style to suit his opponent, and 'always getting the best out of them. "The best"? As in has 'the best match' with them? Surely that comes rather close to exposing the business? Or was it just a poorly phrased slip of the tongue?
This taking place close to Philly, we get some EC-dub chants. It seems not everyone is a fan of the action in the ring, which is a shame, because it's very good. There's a lovely sequence where Bret slides out of the ring, back in, and then goes right into an inverted atomic drop. It's picture-perfect.
Bulldog gets Bret up on his shoulder... but them just puts him in the tree of woe. Why didn't he go for the running powerslam? You know your match has a big logical flaw in it when even Vince points it out on commentary... Bulldog hits the ref, but then... helps him up!? Was that a GENUINE REF BUMP?! I'm confused. "He is so powerful", says Vince, somewhat longingly, of Bulldog , obviously struggling to contain himself.
Bret attempts a crucifix but hangs for what seems like an age before Bulldog drops him backwards. Lovely stuff. Nice leg drop by Bulldog, but then he clamps on a chinlock for a bit. Cornette manages to get in a shot with his tennis racket when Bret is near the ropes and his 'innocent face' afterwards is one of my favourite things.
Bret hits his front-first turnbuckle bump which I pop for every time, even though he does it every match. They tease a three count, but Bret has his foot on the rope, and Cornette is apoplectic. Bulldog goes back to the chinlock and we get a shot of Diana Hart, who's doing her best to look concerned. Her resulting expression unfortunately reminds me of the "Jim never vomits at home" lady from Airplane more than anything else...
Bret hits a (fantastic) bulldog. On Bulldog. This coincidence is not lost on Vince, who thinks it's the funniest thing he's ever seen (or at least since the last time he saw midget wrestling, I presume). I'm rather fond of commentary-Vince, despite how bad he is a lot of the time. He's endearingly dorky and buffoonish.
Some great punches from Bret and then a sick piledriver, which Bulldog sells like he just died. He kicks out at 2 though. Bret goes for a superplex, but Bulldog crotches him HARD on the ropes. Ouch. I felt that one. Bret rolls out, but gets sent into the steps and then the ringpost. The camera cuts away for a bit, then returns and... oh God where did all that blood come from?! Bret's kneeling in a pool of it. I don't think of Bret as the type to blade, but boy does he go for it here. His face is a mess. I think I remember a story about this. Wasn't this at a time when blading was forbidden, and Bret had to claim he got accidentally busted open on the steps? Either way, his gamble paid off, because the ECW-loving crowd are suddenly 100% more interested in this match. They were never going to appreciate a mat-based technical classic, let's face it.
Bulldog smartly takes control with a crunchy piledriver of his own (though not quite as nice as Bret's). Diana shoots for 'worried' but hits 'bored'. Bulldog hits his delayed suplex, which is a thing of beauty. "ONE, TWO... NEW CHAMPIO...no, almost a count of three". Never change, Vince. To be fair, I can't blame him as he's presumably bricking it at the thought of having to defend himself against irate television executives and sponsors, who were going to grill him for letting such a bloody match air. "We do not need any close-ups", he says, trying to limit the damage. The split-screen showing Diana Hart's reaction lingers for longer than necessary, almost missing a lovely press-slam from Bulldog, but avoiding a large close-up of Bret's gruesome visage.
Bulldog heads to the top rope and hits a diving headbutt... to Bret's arse. A true head-butt. Bulldog then pulls out a Bow and Arrow Hold, which I wasn't expecting, and to make things more surprising, Vince even calls it correctly! Bret tries for the Sharpshooter, but is too dazed. Wonderful selling. Then Bulldog full-on FLATTENS Bret with a shoulder block, sending him flying out of the ring. Bulldog looks like a beast. He tries to suplex Bret back in, but Bret slips behind and hits a sweet snap German for a two. There's a double clothesline, and Cornette does the classic heel manager thing of 'accidentally' rallying the crowd behind the face by banging the mat. He's so good at this.
Bulldog takes a sick bump to the outside when he misses a charge, and Bret follows it with a scrappy plancha and vicious fists. This has taken a turn for the brutal. Bret goes for a springboard flying-nothing, but Bulldog catches it into his running powerslam on the outside! Flushed with success, he rips up the protective matting, but Bret reverses his suplex to crotch him on the barricade and then clothesline him off.
Back inside, Bulldog takes an upside-down bump off a whip into the corner, which is crazy for a guy his size. I'm not a wrestler by any stretch of the imagination, but it seemed super dangerous too... A superplex by Bret wipes them both out. Bulldog tries for a roll up and Bret reverses, but only gets a two. Was that the finish to the 1992 Wembley match? Vince implies as much on commentary. (I haven't seen that one by the way. It's on The List. I briefly thought I should have watched it before I watched this one, but then I also wanted to see whether this match stood up on its own. Spoiler: it does.)
Stiff uppercuts in the corner by Bret. He gets a boot up on Bulldog's charge, which allows him to apply a La Magistral cradle for the win. It's a surprisingly tame finish for such a bloody, brutal match, but I think it tells a good story. In the end, Bret didn't beat Bulldog at his own violent game. Bret won by doing what he does best: out-wrestling his opponent. Bulldog tried to turn the match into a drag-out brawl, but Bret stood firm and waited for the opportunity to put his superior technical acumen to good use.
Concluding thoughts: Unexpectedly great in many different ways. What starts out as an impressively fast-paced technical showcase soon turns into a wild brawl. The whole thing was expertly paced, with Bret starting to bleed just as the crowd were losing interest, signifying a radical change in tone. Bulldog more than held his own here, and I'll definitely try to watch more matches of his, but I felt that this was really a showcase for Bret Hart's extraordinary ability to, as Vince himself observed, 'bring out the best in his opponent', and tell a captivating story in the ring. "Best there is, best there was, best there ever will be"? I'm not sure, but he's really damn good, that's for certain.
Verdict: An epic clash which feels like a real war. Definitely worth watching.
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