I've Been To The Hitman School

Bret Hart VS Mr Perfect - WWF Toronto 4/23/1989

CJD: I know you love the way these two work with each other. But I don't know if you've ever seen this early match from their rivalry?? This had a lot of the elements that would build their future matches, including the little bit of post match shenanigans. But where things fit and how they played out felt different, like a demo recording of what would go on to be a classic song. As such there's a rough around the edges quality to this match that I find endearing. I wish we had 10 more matches from these two that made tape, I'd love to see them wrestle once with the roles reversed. Bret's a better heel than he often gets credit for and young Hennig in particular was a great babyface. If only.

JJZ: I could watch these two for days. I would love to have all their house show matches on tape also. I'm sure they changed it up so much. Watching this match you get quickly reminded how amazing of a bumper Perfect was. I still don't understand why he never got a world title run. Bret brings the psychology while Curt sells his ass off. Classic heel VS face here, Perfect not being able to out-wrestle Bret so he does a few underhanded things to gain some offense. And I'm totally not trying to undersell Bret's bumping btw. Everyone loves that sterum first turnbuckle spot. I'd imagine since this is in Canada and the time it was given that this was the main event. I would have loved to have been there for it. Great pick baby cakes.

He Came In Like A Wrecking Ball

Bret Hart/British Bulldog VS Owen Hart/Bob Backlund - WWF Action Zone 2/26/1995

JJZ: As A kid I had Survior Series '94 on VHS and I must have watched Bret Hart VS Bob Blacklund 100 times. I loved that match. I loved the throw in the towel stipulation. This match is a build to their Mania match though. And I hated that match. But all four of these guys worked a fucking hell of a match here. They built to a hot tag that blew the goddamn roof of the place. Bret sold like a beast. Bret is one of my all time favorites and I'm always so happy when I get to see new to me matches of his. Davey Boy played his role perfectly. Great showing of power to start and came in like a wrecking ball on that hot tag. Hope you enjoy baby cakes. Owen and Backlund play some great heels. I always found myself getting so annoyed at Owen during his heel runs.

CJD: Todd Pettengill calling Davey Boy a role model and a True Hero given some of the allegations against him since is one I'm sure he'd like back. Man does he suck on commentary. What a shill. This was a fun house show main event style match. Good aggressive heat from the Owen and Backlund team. I thought for the talent in this one it was a little paint by numbers. But like you said it jumps out on paper as a match you want to see if you haven't. And there's something about Action Zone matches that pop me the same way I think SNME does for you. Plus you've given me countless possibilities for next week!

JJZ: I loved that Davey Boy was getting the shine. You never saw Bret getting owned liked that. Especially leading into a Mania match. It didn't hurt Bret at all but made the Bulldog look like a fucking beast. He is a brick shit house and this match made him look unstoppable.

CJD: That's a good point about Bret, it made the heels look really strong too. I had no problem with Davey Boy's role in the match, I just wish it was fleshed out more. He gets a reputation for being a lunkhead stiff which when motivated and not bursting at the gills with steroids I think was not the case at all. Like you pointed out last week, you can't have a career as storied and successful as his on physique alone. So I was a little disappointed this match did nothing to prove that reputation wrong even though he did his job well. I liked this match, I just didn't love it. I'll use a JJZ metaphor you dropped on one of my matches previously. I saw the names, I saw the auspicious Action Zone format, and I thought I was getting an Iron Chef meal. Instead I got Iron Chefs hosting an episode of Diners, Drive Ins & Dives. They kept it light and breezy and entertaining without putting too much thought into it. And I'll gladly take their take on a diner dash, especially when so many of these careers were cut short.

[editor's note - This match has been taken down since we originally shared it. We'll check back periodically to see if we can find a new link. We apologize for the inconvenience!]