Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 111: DDP vs. Bret Hart (Nitro 10/26/98)

Never been a huge DDP fan, but the guy works hard, especially when he’s in with a skilled guy, and Bret still had some fire in WCW as long as it was a motivating match up. This has promise, I say hesitantly.

The U.S. title is on the line, Bret’s got it, and he’s your bad guy. Page is “positively” your babyface.
Hart had such a good heel persona with the way he’d look at the crowd before and after moves, playing to them and whipping up some heat. Great movement in this match and some fun counter-wrestling that isn’t mat-based, and it works. I can’t get over Hart’s facial expressions. WCW really screwed up with turning him so many times, not one of the turns really making sense or having a sizable impact. Page, not to be forgotten, shows a lot of awareness in this match. He’s holding up his end, with short comebacks and some sincere selling. I can see both sides of the under-rated/over-rated argument on him. In the bigger matches I always felt like he gave a great effort and usually delivered on his end.

Hart’s Russian leg sweep still holds up as possibly the best ever. He’s using some great heel short cuts in this match, be it the ropes, chokes, or the dreaded head butt to the lower abdomen/ groin. DDP’s big punching comeback rules, but the crowd seems into this match more as famous wrestlers rather than wanting one guy to win. Oh yeah, and Hart’s superplex is beautiful. This match has more effort and realism the longer it goes. DDP’s desperate selling gets more dramatic as it goes on. I love this match.

So of course there’s a ref bump. Crap. Hope it tells a good story. Yep, it does. Bret tries to wake the ref after putting on some brass knux, he swings at Page, and Page ducks it right into a perfect Diamond Cutter. 1-2-3, DDP is your new U.S. Champ in about 11-12 minutes. The way Hart epically destroys DDP’s knee post match is some of the best chair shot work I’ve seen in years – seriously. This is the best Bret Hart match I’ve seen as far as Nitro is concerned (The Owen Tribute versus Benoit is still a year off at this point). Great match. 3 ¾ and 7.3/10.