Random Wrestling Match Review (December 10, 2011)

Welcome to my first Random Wrestling Match Review. I have 379 WWE/WCW/ECW matches on DVD. I know that because I made a list and numbered all of the matches individually. All of the matches I will review for this column will be a match I own on DVD. I don't want to be biased and pick matches based on my wrestling style so I decided to randomly pick a number using a random number generator and then review the match that is attached to that number. The number I randomly picked was 59. The match I will review is...

Bret Hart vs. Hakushi with Shinja (In Your House- May 14, 1995)

Interesting first match. I'm not a big fan of Bret Hart and this isn't one of his most famous matches so that should tell you that these matches are truly random. I would have not picked this match myself but I know there are many Bret Hart fans so this is a good selection. I'm glad it's not a bad match. Although many of my DVDs are "Best Of..." collections that feature great matches, I also have 15 Pay-Per-View DVDs. Not every PPV match is great so I'm fortunate that I'm getting a match featuring a WWE Hall of Famer. Although I have this match on DVD, I don't think I watched the entire match before I randomly selected it.

The Facts

• This match took place at the Onondaga War Memorial Arena in Syracuse, New York. The attendance was 7,000. David Arquette won the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on April 26, 2000 in the same arena.
• This was the first ever In Your House Pay Per View. There were 28 In Your House PPVs from 1995 to 1999.
• The time for this match was 14:39.
• This match can be seen on Bret Hart's WWE DVD.
• This was the first of two matches for Bret Hart. The other match was against Jerry "The King" Lawler. The rivalry between Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler continued into King of the Ring, with the two facing each other at the event in a "Kiss My Foot" match.
• Bret Hart announced before the match that he was dedicating his performances to his mother because it was Mother's Day.
• Hakushi had a six month long undefeated streak before the start of the match. 
• Hakushi left the WWF in 1996.
• Vince McMahon and Dok Hendrix (also known as Michael "P.S." Hayes) were the announcers for this match.
• Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter gave this match a ***3/4 rating.
  

The Match

At the start of this match, Hakushi gets Bret Hart in a headlock. Hart reverses it and throws Hakushi into the ropes but right before Hart is able to knock Hakushi down, Hakushi does a cartwheel and gets out of the way. Hart and Hakushi lock up and two of them reverse holds for a little bit until Hakushi is able to get control. Hart once again reverses out of Hakushi's hold by throwing him into the ropes but Hart misses with a chop and Hakushi is able to knock Hart down. Hakushi goes for a cover but Hart easily kicks out. It looks like Hakushi is winning this match so far. Hakushi has Hart on the ground and he works on Hart's arm. Hart again tries to reverse the hold by throwing Hakushi into the ropes but Hakushi reverses that and throws Hart into the ropes. It looks like Hakushi tries to attempt a scoop bodyslam like the one Randy Orton does but Hart is able to avoid the move and turn it into a pinning maneuver. Hakushi is pinned but he kicks out after two. This is not a bad match so far but it's not quite my style. I'm not a fan of slow-paced technical wrestling. It is interesting to see this Hakushi guy out-wrestling Bret Hart so far. I don't know much about Hakushi but it looks like he would have been one of the WWE's best workers if he was in the WWE right now. I'm surprised his WWF career was so short.

Back to the match, Hart hits an armdrag on Hakushi and now Bret Hart is in control of this match. Bret is working on Hakushi's arm. Hakushi tries to reverse the hold by throwing Hart into the ropes but Hart is able to spring off the ropes and knock Hakushi down. Hart is in complete control now and executes two armdrags. Hakushi gets out of the ring to break Hart's momentum. This Hakushi guy is very smart. I can see why he's undefeated. Hakushi gets back in the ring. Leaving the ring was a smart move because Hart is no longer in control. Hakushi gets in a lot of offense. Hart again reverses out of a scoop slam and tries to push Hakushi into the ropes but Hakushi falls to the ring mat and Hart's momentum causes him to fall out of the ring. Outside the ring, Shinja (Hakushi's buddy) stomps on Hart a couple times while Hakushi distracts the referee. Bret Hart gets back in the ring and Hakushi is still in control. I don't know how Hart is going to win. Even if he does get control, it will be hard to win with Shinja at ringside. Hakushi gets Hart in the corner and starts choking him while Shinja distracts the referee. Good teamwork. I definitely think Shinja is making this match more enjoyable. Hakushi gets Hart to the middle rope and uses the rope to choke Hart. The ref breaks the choke and while the referee is talking to Hakushi, Shinja grabs Hart from the outside and chokes Hart using the bottom rope. Wow...this is an unofficial handicap match right now! Hakushi is still in complete control of this match. Hakushi throws Hart into the corner. Hakushi does a cartwheel towards the corner and slams his elbow into Hart's face. Hart tries to make a comeback but Hakushi quickly cuts the comeback off. This match is enjoyable but so far it's just a standard face vs. heel match. The only interesting thing so far is that Shinja is making it hard to predict who will win this match.

It looks like Hart tries to hit a sidewalk slam but Hakushi reverses it into a backbreaker. Hakushi climbs to the top rope and goes for the flying headbutt and he hits it. Hakushi covers Hart but Hart kicks out. Hakushi goes to the ring apron and attempts a springboard flying headbutt. This time Hart gets out of the way. Hart is now in control. He hits a side Russian leg sweep, a bulldog, a backbreaker, and an elbow off the top rope. Is that Bret Hart's version of the Five Moves of Doom with the fifth move being the Sharpshooter? I guess so because Hart is now going for the Sharpshooter. Shinja tries to enter the ring and that prevents Bret Hart from applying the Sharpshooter. Despite the distraction, Hart is still in control. Hart gets Hakushi on the ropes by the entrance ramp. Hart tries to bounce off the ropes by the announcer's table and slam into Hakushi but Hart is tripped by Shinja. Hart is obviously tired of Shinja constantly interfering in his match so he dives to the outside right onto Shinja. After Hart beats up Shinja, he gets back into the ring. Hakushi is no longer on the ropes and he hits Hart with a dropkick. Hakushi tries to suplex Bret Hart but Hart blocks it and suplexs Hakushi out of the ring!

Bret Hart was falling backwards during the suplex so he falls out of the ring too. That was a good spot. Hart tries to climb into the ring but Shinja stops him. Hart turns his attention to Shinja and while he does that, Hakushi gets on the middle rope and does a springboard moonsault onto Bret Hart!

Nice moonsault by Hakushi. That must have been rare to see in 1995. Hakushi quickly gets into the ring and Hart climbs onto the ring apron before the ten-count. Before Hart gets in the ring, Hakushi tries to suplex Hart into the ring. Hakushi is able to lift Hart into the ring but Hart quickly lands on his feet. It looks like Hart goes for a German suplex but Hakushi reverses it and now it looks like Hakushi is trying to hit a German suplex. Hart reverses it into a pin and Hart gets a three-count.

Winner: Bret Hart

Rating: ***1/4

This was an enjoyable match. I liked it a little bit more than I thought I would. I liked seeing Shinja interfering in the match and I liked that the ending wasn't predictable. While watching this match for my review, I forgot who won this match. I assumed Bret was going to win but it was interesting to see how he won because this match was very close. I like matches that are competitive and make you unsure of the outcome. I think this match might have deserved a higher rating than ***1/4 but unfortunately, this is a match that is a little bit less enjoyable when you know how it ends. I enjoyed watching it the first time but the second time was a little bit different when I knew that Bret Hart is going to win. The story-telling was good but other than the big suplex and the moonsault, the wrestling action was a little bit slow and boring. This is not a match I would want to see several times. However, this kind of match is rare in 2011 so I did enjoy watching a real wrestling match. This isn't one of my favorite matches but I appreciated the efforts by Bret Hart and Hakushi. This was a solid first match for my Random Wrestling Match Review column. If you want to watch this match, click on this link: Bret Hart vs. Hakushi.

I hope you enjoyed my first wrestling review. This review had almost a complete play-by-play of the match. I'm not sure if I will do that for the matches that are over 20 minutes but I do plan to continue to provide facts about the match and include a few screenshots of the match. I randomly selected my next number and the number I got was 267. You won't know which match it is until the next time I post a review but the matches on my list are ranked from oldest to newest so 267 means that it will be a post-Attitude Era WWE match. That review will probably be posted some time next weekend.