The John Report Wrestling Blog

We are down to just eight matches left in the tournament to determine the greatest WrestleMania match ever. The winner of this matchup rolls onto the final four. Before we get to that, let’s see the results from round two in the Berzerker bracket.

1) Austin/Hart @ WM13 (84%) d. 4) Money in the Bank @ WM21 (16%) – A thrashing.
3) Michaels/Hart @ WM12 (56%) d. 2) Ramon/Michaels @ WM10 (44%) – Very close win by the Ironman match over the ladder match.

Now to see who moves onto the final four…

1. Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin @ WM13
From my column about this match: I will never be tired of seeing this match nor will I ever be tired of talking about it. I will never forget Bret using the figure four around the ring post. I will never forget when Austin cracked Bret in the back with a chair. I will never forget the sight of Austin’s blood dripping into his mouth. I will never forget the pop Shamrock got for pulling Bret off Austin. I will never forget the standing ovation Austin received after delivering the performance of a lifetime. Everybody involved in the match deserves a standing ovation because what they gave us on March 23, 1997 was a terrific match that I will never forget.

This match had everything that is good about the wrestling business. Two great competitors, a terrific storyline, an extremely high workrate, plenty of crowd heat, one of the greatest blade jobs ever and the greatest double turn in the history of the business.

VERSUS

3. Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart @ WM12
From my Top 20 HBK matches column written in 1999: The first thirty minutes is kind of slow until Shawn goes for the superkick, Bret slides away so Shawn leaps over the top onto Bret outside the ring in a wonderful spot. After some near pinfalls Shawn takes an insane backdrop over the top rope that could easily blow a knee out but this is Shawn Michaels so somehow he escapes unscathed. The next few minutes see Bret working over the back while solidifying his heel role by going after Jose Lothario, Shawn’s mentor, a bit. The final ten minutes of this match are awesome as Michaels begins to mount the offense because we are supposed to believe that a draw would allow Bret to retain the world title. In the span of about two minutes Shawn unleashes a flurry of offense that includes a dropkick, a double axehandle, a top rope elbow and a moonsault among other things. Just as Shawn is set to come down on Bret again the Hitman puts him into the Sharpshooter as time expires which leads us to believe that the match is a draw. President Gorilla Monsoon comes down, orders the match to continue to the dismay of Bret and Shawn quickly hits the Sweet Chin Music but is too banged up from the Sharpshooter to make a cover. Great selling by Michaels there. Shawn gets up again, Bret hobbles to his feet and Shawn drills him with the superkick again as the ref counts the three for Shawn’s first world title. Bret left for 7 months while Shawn went on to have a fabulous year, at least in terms of quality matches (not so much as a draw), as the world champion. As I said earlier, I fully understand why people love this match because I am one of those people. It’s the one you may remember more than any other one, but it is not the best of either man’s career.

Here’s the poll for voting…

Thanks for reading, watching and voting. Back tomorrow with the next matchup in round three.

JC