The gift of SummerSlam keeps giving for This Day in Wrestling History, and we’re celebrating one of the best matches in the event’s history between two of the best ever to step foot into the ring.
On August 29, 1994, WWE World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart faced his brother in a steel cage for the championship at SummerSlam in Chicago, Illinois.
The leadup to this match was awesome, as was their entire feud, and they came through like they always did with some extra curriculars mixed in for good measure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5xP0zWvH18
Into the action
Few are able to explain the inner workings of his matches than Bret Hart, and we want to give special thanks to @awrestlinghistorian for the excerpt.
“For the next thirty minutes we brawled up and down, back and forth, until finally Owen made a last escape over the cage. I climbed up to the top and managed to catch him by the hair and pull him back inside. I suplexed him standing off the top corner; falling backward, I held him safe and secure. Then I tried to escape, but Owen caught me by one foot, dragged me back and twisted me into the sharpshooter. I’ll never forget the pride I felt when I heard the crowd pop even without the blood. I slowly reversed the sharpshooter as Owen frantically fought his way to the ropes.
“Below us, sitting behind Bruce, was Jim, who was doing a great job looking like a school bully slouched at his desk. Owen and I climbed over the top to the outside. Owen discreetly braced a leg through the bars as I gave him one last bash into the cage, and he fell back, hanging upside-down, as I dropped to the floor. The crowd exploded. Right on cue Jim jumped over the railing and took Davey out from behind with a clothesline, while Davey purposely flipped Diana over the railing to get her involved. They thought this was clever, but it infuriated me and Owen.
“Jim and Owen worked me over inside the cage until Davey peeled off his shirt and led my brothers in a charge over the top to rescue me. Jim and Owen made a quick getaway, and while I was being helped out I looked up to see an amused Smith straddling the top of the cage, posing and flexing his muscles. When it was all over, it was hailed as the greatest cage match of all time, which it certainly wasn’t, but it was surely the best one without blood.” – Bret Hart, Hitman book.
While there’s a legitimate belief that a steel cage match should have blood for realism, since getting smashed into anything metal generally causes cuts and abrasions, this one has been able to hold up over the years.
In some ways it may not be the best steel cage match in history, but it is definitely one of the best, but is there any doubt when the Black Hart and Excellence of Execution get in the ring together?
There are times where it’s next to impossible to create a perfect This Day in Wrestling History moment, but this was one of those.
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