Pro Wrestling Chronicle

Match # 134: Bret Hart vs. Chris Benoit (Nitro 10/4/99)

Harley Race introduced arguably the most famous and pimped Nitro match ever, the Owen Hart tribute match from Kansas City, the building where Owen died.

Benoit wears an Owen t-shirt to the ring. The announcers are really respectful and serious here, which I appreciate. Both men get an intro and stay in their corners. It definitely captures some of the emotion that must have been felt during that night.

A lot of the early stuff is mat/hold/submission based wrestling, all under the great banner of technical wrestling. It’s basic, it’s classy for the moment, and it’s well executed. I’m honestly grading this on a harsher curve because it is the “obvious choice” as the top Nitro match, but so far it’s really living up to memories and the pedestal where it was put.

I like that the holds are wear down maneuvers and reversals, and not true submissions. There are a few Owen chants from the crowd. The announcing is really deep here, giving you a lot of background and texture. The wrestling is flawlessly snug and “real” looking, as opposed to spot-to-spot choreographed-looking. Bret’s knee to the abdominals and short leg drop were under rated moves in his repertoire. Benoit brings the chops, and a liontamer-like Boston Crab.

This match is fascinating in that there is no storyline or heel-face interaction, or tangible drama to buoy it, and yet because of the circumstances it has meaning and feeling to it.

The progression is nice as Benoit has the knee to the abs scouted the second time. We get one counts off back breakers or back body drops, which I love. There really are no big moves in the first ten minutes, and Bret ends up being the default Babyface over time. Sometimes, especially when Bret is in control, the match – or the moves – get a bit monotonous, but when they create movement the match moves, and the counters are like Lucha in the way they flow. Benoit pulls out a tombstone pile driver that gets a solid near fall, and they are both selling the totality of the match.

The idea that the pressure is on Bret because he is wrestling for his brother is a compelling one the announcers introduce. Benoit ends up using that knee lift to the abs on Bret. Also of note is the way Benoit would take a bump off a choreographed drop kick miss. These guys are both so willing to bump well for each other. I’m not as big a fan of the suicide dive by Benoit, as it looked too set up. All the near falls after the second commercial break are tight, and it’s a tragedy that the entire match isn’t available to anyone without commercial cutaways lost.

A dummy moment: Bobby Heenan has no idea these two have wrestled against each other on Nitro, including a few months before.

Bret focuses a lot of his late work on the back of Benoit, I’ll assume getting ready for the Five Moves of Doom. I’ve finally realized that both Benoit and Hart are very impressive in delivering or executing moves in the first half of matches, but all too often I’m not sure where the story really is until later in the match, when they pick something to focus on. Bret’s match with DDP or Booker T on this set seemed more compelling because it appeared to utilize more story telling devices through body language. Perhaps that’s the handicap of this ROH-like match.

They get a great double ten count after a Hart superplex that shows the crowd still engaged twenty minutes in. It’s also something HHH and HBK both wish they had in some of their more masturbatory wrestling matches. Sharpshooter tease into a crossface. Bret gets the ropes. Three Amigos from Benoit. He’s getting some heat as he hits the diving head butt. Two count. “Let’s go Bret” chant. Bret ends up hitting Benoit with a pile driver of his own. I like the little tit-for-tat these guys have going on, a lot of it style similarities. A lot of movement and reversals in this final stretch. The only thing it’s missing is palpable desperation by its characters. Bret has a great block of the Crossface, and moves it into a Sharpshooter for the tap out win in about 27 minutes.

It wasn’t dramatic, but it had feeling. Bret looks to the sky afterwards and sends off his brother with a salute. They embrace. Very- very good match, but given the reason for having it, I wondered at times where the heart and emotion was. These men are great because they are wrestling machines, but sometimes I think that’s what holds them back from having matches that transcend four and a quarter stars and wrap you up with feelings. It’s not about work rate at that point. The emotion conveyed compliments the work and hopefully transcends a simple wrestling contest. Bret only did it once, with Austin, but that run was the closest he would come to a character that could make for a five star match. Benoit did it with HHH and HBK, ironically, and had his real moment with Eddie. That’s what I wished for this match, and it fell just short. 3 ¾ and 7.2/10.