Dan The Wrestling Fan.

#286: Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart, WWE WrestleMania X (3/20/1994).

At the 1993 Survivor Series, Bret and Owen Hart were apart of a Survivor Series Team in an Elimination Match that wound up victorious, despite Owen being the only man from the team to be eliminated. He didn’t take too kindly to this, and took his frustrations out on his brother Bret. After patching things up together during the holiday season, both men announced their intentions of going after the Tag Team Championships together.

At the Royal Rumble in January, they lost their match to The Quebecers, largely in part due to an injury to Bret’s knee. Owen had had enough of his brother’s shortcomings, and kicked his leg out from under him. He had officially turned his back on his own family, and declared his intentions of wanting to face him in a match. Later that night, Bret and Lex Luger would become the first co-winners of the Royal Rumble Match, and both would earn a shot at WWE Champion Yokozuna at WrestleMania X.

Bret was against wrestling his brother at first, but eventually came around to it, and the stage was set for the biggest show of the year. Bret would have to overcome his baby brother before he would challenge for the top title in WWE.

Bret has his iconic entrance here of the camera man rushing him, and then backing away as he comes to the ring. It’s in every video package about Bret Hart.

The bell sounds, and here we go. They lock up, and Owen believes he’s won the clean break. Fireman’s Carry takedown by Owen, and Bret goes right into a head scissors. Owen escapes, and we’re back to the feet. Bret takes the back, and takes his brother to the mat. Owen crawls fast to the ropes to break the hold. They lock up again, and Owen now takes Bret down. The Hitman is back to his feet, and he sends Owen to the outside.

Bret shoves Owen, and Owen slaps the piss out of him, all while trash talking him along the way. Owen hammerlocks the arm, and Bret does the same. Nice drop toe hold by Owen, into the side headlock. Bret quickly escapes and hammerlocks the arm again. He knees the arm, and now he twists it on the feet. Owen flips his way back into advantage, and he controls Bret’s arm on the mat. Bret kips up, and yanks at the shoulder.

Bret gets a quick roll up nearfall on Owen, before hitting an arm drag. He holds onto the arm, before hammerlocking it again. Owen with a back elbow to the face, and a shoulder tackle. Bret monkey flips Owen to the ropes, and then clotheslines him back to the floor. Owen tries to take a walk, and Bret quickly throws him back into the ring. Bret slaps Owen, and then rolls him up for a 2 count. Bret takes control of the elbow, and Owen tries to pull his hair to escape.

Owen is back to his feet, and nails a nice spinning heel kick. He stomps Bret repeatedly, until he goes to the outside. Back in the ring, Owen irish whips Bret into the turnbuckle the hard way, and follows up with a backbreaker. Owen goes into the Camel Clutch submission next. Belly to belly suplex by Owen, and Bret kicks out. Owen reverses an irish whip by diving off the middle rope for a crossbody, which Bret rolls through and gets a nearfall off of.

Bret reverses a scoop slam into a pin for a 2 count. Bret rolls to the floor for a breather, as Owen gloats. Owen grabs him from the apron for a suplex, and Bret counters it. Owen is still able to hit a bridging German Suplex for a 2 count. Standing leg drop gets the Black Hart another nearfall. Bret with a small package gets a nearfall. Owen hits a Tombstone out of nowhere – and not the one that he hit on Steve Austin in 1997. Owen goes to the top rope, and misses the diving headbutt. Bret with an inverted atomic drop, and a clothesline. It only gets him 2. Good punch to the midsection, and the side Russian legsweep gets the Hitman another nearfall. Bret connects with a backbreaker, followed right up with the second rope elbow to the head. Owen kicks out again. Bret is starting to show frustration with the referee now.

Bret grabs Owen, and eats an Enziguri out of nowhere. Owen reverses a Sharpshooter attempt, and pops off a backslide roll up for 2. Owen goes to the floor, and Bret hits a crossbody to his brother – and he hurts his knee on the way down. Bret limps towards Owen, and he kicks the leg out from under him. He swings the bad leg against the mat, and then drags his brother to the ring post. He swings it into the metal several times.

Bret hobbles away, and Owen mimics that, which was hilarious. Owen hits a Dragon Screw Legwhip, Tanahashi style, and then goes for an Indian Death Lock, Triple H style. Owen gets Bret in the middle of the ring, and applies the Figure Four Leglock submission! Owen is already celebrating, as Bret tries to find the will power to survive this. Bret is able to reverse the pressure, and Owen gets to the ropes. He forces Bret into the corner, and kicks at his bad leg. Somehow, Bret is able to hit an enziguri of his own!

Bret irish whips Owen into the turnbuckle, and Owen does Bret’s spot of slamming chest first into it. Bret with a standing leg drop, and Owen kicks out. Bret grabs Owen, and hits a running bulldog out of the corner, which Owen once again kicks out of. Bret connects with a piledriver, and Owen again gets the shoulders up! Bret places Owen on the top rope, and gives him a nice superplex to the mat below. Bret just barely gets his hand over Owen, who kicks out.

Bret applies a sleeper hold, and Owen uses the ropes and being out of the referee’s eyesight to low blow his older brother! Now Owen applies the Sharpshooter, Hart Family style, to the Hitman in the middle of the ring! Bret is able to break the hold, and he gets the Sharpshooter applied to Owen, who quickly makes it to the ropes. Hard irish whip by Owen, and Bret kicks him as he rushes in. Bret goes for a victory roll on Owen, who reverses it with a roll up of his own, and he manages to get the 3 count!

Owen Hart has upset his brother, and even he can’t believe it! Bret has a great look on his face, like he can’t believe he got caught. That was an unbelievable match. It gave me similar vibes to the Ricky Steamboat/Randy Savage match from WrestleMania III in that it had a lot of nearfalls, and just great back and forth chain wrestling. It had great intensity throughout, and a hot crowd that was appreciative of the technique.

I’d call this an even match right up until Bret hurt his knee, and that’s where Owen was able to take advantage. That knee is probably why Owen was able to reverse the victory roll into the roll up that got him the victory. Owen never looked out of place here, and he even seemed to cause Bret to have a hard time in keeping up with him. I also really liked how the ending keeps both guys looking strong. It gives Bret the chance to look like he got caught by surprise, but it still gives Owen enough credibility to say he not only beat his big brother clean as a whistle, but he also beat the guy who went on to the main event of this same show and became WWE Champion.

While I do personally prefer their Steel Cage Match at SummerSlam later in the year, there’s no denying just how great this was. I’d put it neck and neck with Triple H/Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30 as the best opening match in the show’s history. It was just flawless technical wrestling, with an even more flawless story behind it.