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Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart

5K views 49 replies 27 participants last post by  truk83 
#1 ·
Will there ever be a better matchup specifically the 60 minute Iron Man match @ WMXII?

I know there has been some great matches over the years but can this be beaten in terms of technical wrestling ability on the biggest stage of them all? There are some that come to mind but for a gruelling 60 monutes was this the best matchup ever?
 
#3 ·
A lot of people consider that to be the greatest match of all time, and I can definitely see why. In many ways, I agree. In MY opinion, HBK/Angle at WM 21, though not 60 minutes, is just as good if not better. Even though there was no title on the line, the story those 2 told in the ring was so intense. My only regret is that we never got to see an Angle/Bret match. That would've been perfection.
 
#5 · (Edited)
says the guy with Wade Barrah as his avatar,but its true,the match is nothing special,not even one of the better iron man matches.
 
#6 ·
bret vs hbk iron man match isnt even the best iron man match ever let alone best match of all time!infact its not even a particularly good iron man match.
 
#9 ·
Its without doubt one of the greatest matches of all time and a match that helped to make the world championship look like a million bucks in the process. Two ultra talented athletes sweating it out for the top prize in an exhausting, admirable bout. A real shame that these two never had a Mania rematch....

The backstory for the match is also interesting with WWE showing HBK training like a lunatic and Bret jogging in the snow and being caught in a headlock by an old man. Okay that old man is wrestling legend Stu Hart but still it was very obvious the message that Vince was trying to send out - HBK is young, hip and the future and Bret is old, fatigued and the past.
 
#12 ·
Its without doubt one of the greatest matches of all time and a match that helped to make the world championship look like a million bucks in the process. Two ultra talented athletes sweating it out for the top prize in an exhausting, admirable bout. A real shame that these two never had a Mania rematch....
You realise thousands of people walked out during that match, right?
 
#21 · (Edited)
Alot of people complain it was boring because it was 0-0 for 60 minutes. These people are what's wrong with wrestling fans today. All they want is chair shots, blood and swearing and complain when it doesn't happen.

This 60 minute iron match was a classic, it told an amazing story throughout the match and climaxed at an amazing finish. You also have to understand the whole story behind the match, the promos building up to this match were great as well. If you didn't enjoy it then you really have no idea and I won't even bother going on explaining it.

And to the people saying "oh people walked out during the match". I am not sure people walked out, they were probably grabbing a drink or going to the toilet as it was a long match. And if some people actually did walk out then well those people are retards because if you walk out the main event of wrestlemania when you paid for a ticket then you must have some mental issues.
 
#24 ·
You said it was its without doubt one of the greatest matches of all time that was your original argument not what you are talking about above.
Right so you're arguing about a choice of wording. I am not writing an essay. On a forum like this its fun to banter and declare that matches are great or poor without having to put "in my opinion" at the start of every sentence. Obviously its my opinion that it is a great match and not the opinion of everyone.


In my opinion however the pacing of the match was its greatest strength. As Bret said in his book it was not realistic to go out all guns blazing if you know that you have to fight for an hour. They tried to make the match feel as authentic as possible within the realm of professional wrestling.
 
#29 ·
Bret Hart had better Iron Man matches with Owen and Ric Flair.

Their November 1992 match was superior in my opinion.

Better hour long matches:
Misawa/Kobashi vs. Holy Demon Army 10/95
Bob Backlund vs. Greg Valentine 1979
Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich in Hawaii [I consider the best ever]
Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham
Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
The Destroyer vs. Giant Baba 1969
Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk II
Dick Murdoch vs. Butch Reed
 
#32 ·
Bret Hart had better Iron Man matches with Owen and Ric Flair.

Their November 1992 match was superior in my opinion.

Better hour long matches:
Misawa/Kobashi vs. Holy Demon Army 10/95
Bob Backlund vs. Greg Valentine 1979
Ric Flair vs. Kerry Von Erich in Hawaii [I consider the best ever]
Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham
Ric Flair vs. Jumbo Tsuruta
The Destroyer vs. Giant Baba 1969
Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk II
Dick Murdoch vs. Butch Reed
Not this overrated piece of shit.

Also I doubt you saw Destroyer vs Baba.
 
#35 ·
I personally believe that the Iron Man Match at WrestleMania XII was the best match in WWE history. At the very least, it's my favorite. But I'm not going to compare it to Japan, or ROH, or even NWA/WCW because the WWF style at the time was so far different than the time periods where when the others were spitting out hour-long matches.
 
#36 ·
One of my all time favorites. You need to understand wrestling to love this match.

The only minor complain is that there were some places where the psychology didn't hold, for example HBK working few minutes on the arm and Bret Hart doesn't sell it too much, but fuck it, the match was going for 60 minutes and wasn't boring one single minute. In fact, the match told a great story and was a nice mixture of mat wrestling, high flying and some cool spots.

I remember the start of the match with multiple combinations of pro-style mat wrestling and amateur wrestling and the tension that was builded in the final minutes of the match. Just a great match overall.
 
#37 ·
Hhhhhmmmm I have mixed feelings about this match. Its funny how when I was younger, I used to sit down and watch this match all the time, but nowadays I cant sit through it anymore. While there's no denying that it is a classic match especailly for the techinical fans but for someone like me who has grown to be used to the fast paced style matches of today, I find it quite boring watching it again. I much prefer the iron man matches of Brock lesnar vs Kurt Angle on smackdown back in 2003 compared to this one.
However Im not saying its not a good match. It is definitely one of the classics for the WWE. I think these were the early days of when wwf/e started to do 'story-telling' wrestling. Both guys had alot of history between them, the match started out slow, each guy being very cautious, but the pace then picked up nicely as the clock began to wind down.
 
#45 ·
Where I was mainly coming from on the post was that this was probably the best "match up" in terms of the two wrestlers (with the concept of being a 60 minute Iron Man). I think both wrestlers suited eachother in terms of size/ability/agility etc & granted if they had got on better then the bar would have been set even higher.

I am glad the WWF had the balls to do such a high profile match based on the technical wrestling ability linking in with the eventual Boyhood Dream Winner story which for me really worked well.
 
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