We’re going to look at the 1985 Bret Hart vs. Dynamite Kid bout from WWF Prime Time Wrestling. Sometimes it’s just best to take one match from a card and allow it to breathe independently of that show.
On its own—and ultimately, you have to include its placing and contribution to the pace of the show—you might view it less favorably or more favorably. Also this show, we had Hogan defending the WWF World Championship against Greg Valentine.
That didn’t matter when compared to the performance of a young Bret Hart and Dynamite Kid. Sure, the fans lost their sh** for Hulk Hogan. At the time, he was the biggest thing Oreos crumbles in a milkshake but you were going to leave satisfied after this one
Bret Hart vs. Dynamite Kid (WWF Prime Time Wrestling 9/14/1985)
Forget the sizzle, there was no sizzle here. It was all steak. I prefer sizzle with my steak but this match was pretty damn exciting for 1985 WWF. Everything about it just seemed better than what you normally got.
These two were far from the largest wrestlers. Bret looked like a honed athlete and Dynamite looked jacked—even if there was some possible juice in there at this time. This match was doing 80 in a 30 MPH zone—or I’m guessing 128 KMPH in a 48. The point is the pedal was to the metal.
It wasn’t the fastest thing you’ll ever see for 80s WWF—that’s Dynamite vs. Tiger Mask—but it was faster than what you’d normally get on WWF television.
The blue and black attack Hitman was very aggressive here. Dynamite was aggressive as well but Bret Hart was on his ass as if he’d done something or there was gold on the line and he was in real danger of losing it.
At its core, it was a technical bout with some great counters but was exciting technical wrestling. It wasn’t a slow crawl based around precision and clean mat work leading up to something great, it was heated, competitive, and a bit frantic without being spotty.
Bret was throwing headbutts, punches, and hair pulls while Dynamite began returning the favor when he’d had enough and gotten fired up. His knee drops were a thing of beauty.
Hart flying into any turnbuckle will always get a smile from me because he always hit them in a way that was different from everyone else.
Usually, if someone gets whipped into the corner, they’re landing back first for something obvious like a splash, a knee, or a clothesline. Physics is different from Bret and he’ll go into the corner chest first and either bounce off with force or—in this case—go over the turnbuckle and almost bang his head on the ring post.
It’s the little things that make matches juicy, folks. Dynamite Kid picks up the win here.
Classics Spotlight Verdict: Gold Medal (4.25/5)
I’d say this is essential viewing. It’s not lengthy at all and the pace is high, so that’s a good use of 12-and-a-half minutes. If there was any gripe about it, I’d say these two deserved some kind of stake.
These two were going at it as if there was some beef or a title on the line. Hell, if this took place in the NWA and was on Saturday Night/World Championship Wrestling there probably would’ve been some tertiary belt on the line or presented as part of a documented on-screen rivalry.
Instead, this match was just presented as another bout on the card for television and when it deserved more. Bonus points for Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes on commentary.
They focused on the action and I don’t remember them promoting or advertising anything else during the match. No “See the Superstars of the WWF at the Nassau Coliseum” or any of that jazz.
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