Jim Ross shoots on choosing Bret Hart to be a top guy
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- Опубликовано: 5 авг 2024
- For over forty years Jim Ross has been the Voice of Wrestling. From starting as referee in the regional territories to becoming the Executive Vice President for WWE, nobody has a story quite like Jim Ross. From recruiting and hiring some of the biggest superstars in the industry to providing the soundtrack for the most important moments in wrestling history, “Good Ole JR” was there for it all. Join us every Thursday morning as Conrad Thompson grills JR like you’ve never heard before, uncut and uncensored!
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Whether you're a Bret fan or not, he was there to carry the company through its darkest time. Mid 90s WWF, Lex failed, Hogan left, Savage left, HBK felt pressure, Hunter wasn't ready, Rock was a rookie, Diesel couldn't draw, Razor wasn't happy, Kane wasn't established, Undertaker had his top run. Austin wasn't over yet. Flair couldn't get business done. Bret was there to take on the challenge. Perhaps he didn't draw as well in the USA, but he did the best he could and fans worldwide.
he was massivly over in europe
@Yuvi Awell dark according to Vinces bank account and legal status where he faced potential jail time, but had a good legal team. Today is pretty good in comparison, just poor bc of lack of competition, and creative team, which suck, and make the product worse.
Bret was always reliable. Reason why a great wrestler like Jake the Snake never was champion for a length of time. You couldn't rely on Jake back then.
@@ramzy-1096 And In Asia
Hunter wasn't ready? He was destined to be a B wrestler until he started banging Stephanie.
They should have Never, I mean NEVER took the Narcississt gimmick off of Lex. I was sold on the Narcissist gimmick and it was a natural fit for Lex. Didn't cost as much either.
Come one, that bus tour couldn't of been that much lmao...
There were 2 problems with Lex keeping the Narcissist gimmick: 1) Mr. Perfect. There was only room for one "perfection gimmick" in the WWE, and that was held by "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, and 2) Shawn Michaels, who had been bringing a mirror to the ring since before the Narcissist arrived with his own mirror.
Stupid WWF gimmicks ruined the chances for a lot of great talent. Lex didn't need the gimmick. Sure, let him be a narcissist that he was, but he didn't need it as a title...
I definitely enjoyed his "Attitude Adjustment" pile-driver more than the human torture rack as a finisher.
He probably would have kept that gimmick longer had Hogan not left. Too much appeal to Vince that try and slide Lex in to be the next Hogan thinking maybe it would be possible to just plug and play with another jacked blonde dude. But of course that logic misses the intangibles Hogan brought which wasn’t solely his physique but his personality and charisma that Lex just didn’t have. And of course doing it right after Hogan leaves makes it pretty obvious that you’re trying to create a Hogan copy to fans. If there was any chance they needed to wait a bit to have fans actually want to see Lex transition to a good guy and then put the house behind him to get him there rather than trying to rush in a Great Value Hogan. And of course how things could change if Lex had the right attitude to embrace the transition which he didn’t have. The idea of how he didn’t want to stay and ride on that bus says a lot in the end. Sure it isn’t ideal and wouldn’t be anybody’s preference but somebody who’s ready to be the flag bearer would openly embrace that investment to rise to that level and devour the opportunity to make it work and Lex didn’t. Hard to put the boat behind someone who pushes back on six weeks of less comfort than normal comfort because they can’t see that a small sacrifice with that is keyed up to lead to long term reward. A Cena for example would’ve devoured the same chance in his rise up the ranks and that’s a lot of why Lex always had the potential to be that guy but never got there.
WWF creative didn't choose Bret, the fans did. Back when Vince still cared what the fans wanted.
When you can go out of business and still live like a king, none of that matters.
"You can't stop talent."
Vince said it best, that Bret Hart became champion the old fashion way, he earned it.
Yep 100% correct, fans flocked to Bret, while Lugar’s reception was lukewarm, Bret was revered. I know…I lived through it and was there😎.
More so the investors don't understand a goddamn thing about wrestling.
Still "The Best There Is, The Best There Was, And The Best There Ever Will Be!"
Yes Bret is the best.
I do know of a guy who is better than the best.
@Old Man The MachoMan Randy Savage is better than the best!!! Dig it!!! Ooohh YEAH!
@@regulardadhere8832 lololol! Love Macho Man too! 'The Cream Of The Crop! Nobody Does It Better!".
"He was durable."
DAMN YOU GOLDBERG!!!!
Never liked Goldberg you give a guy who's brand new? Let him come into the business and beat everyone on your roster. That makes your roster look like trash. It was a stupid short-sighted idea from people who didn't understand wrestling Goldberg should have never been a star period!!
@@deleteduser121 WCW was pretty much emasculating all their talent back then.
They did it with Sting for almost a year. At a certain point, at the end of every Monday Nitro, you could expect to watch him jump down from the rafters with a bat and beat up 30 guys all by himself.
Why would anyone want to keep watching that? It gets old quick. It was like doing the robo cop angle again, but this time they brought in Steven Seagall to beat up the entire NWO.
And they basically had no choice but to do that because almost everyone in WCW was NWO, so either Sting was going to beat up all of them up every week, or they were all gonna beat him up all the time, and it wouldn't work to have 30 guys put the star in the hospital every week for a year.
The NWO had one or two good ideas, and once they ran their course, the entire thing was garbage. It shouldn't have lasted more than 2 years.
I've always said, wrestling needs an off season. Something to make people miss it for a while, that will give creative time to plan out ideas that are not crap.
Also something to force Macmahon to stay home with his wife😬
@@StannisHarlock hmm never thought about a wrestling off season but the industry is super greedy so that's probably why they don't have it. Still think the worst idea is Goldberg. I really hate Goldberg cuz I'm a huge Bret Hart fan. But some people say the whole Monday night wars was a little concocted. What I'm saying is maybe even the competition from WCW and WWE was fake in itself. A sort of Freemason ritual there can only be one two into one sort of. It ended in 2001 and it started on September 11th, 1995 and ran for like I think it was 223 weeks or something like that
@@StannisHarlock also bischoff he couldn't come up with any new ideas. He was controlled by the wrestlers. He was not a wrestling guy. He was a TV guy. He didn't know what he was doing. He was way in over his head and I think he really shoulders most of the blame. When Russo came in, he at least tried new things. They had enough talent. They could have turned to things around with but they never tried anything else besides nwo and Goldberg and whatever they were doing with sting. Whatever happened there
Bret Hart was a 1990's Daniel Bryan type. The fans DEMANDED he was the top guy. Vince came back to him over and over and over. Incredible performer.
But Bret Hart was outstandingly talented and arguably the greatest of all time and would called a big guy by todays standards.
i actually think we missed his prime when he went to wcw in 97. thanks hbgay
@@devangpatel5227 by the time Bret went to WCW he was past his peak. Not to say he couldn't still put on a good match but to say we missed his prime when he went to WCW is crazy. We had already seen the best of Bret. By 98 he was all banged up.
@@stephanielopez6275 maybe not in the ring but on the mic he was really hitting his stride along with his in ring psychology. he def wasn't as quick and athletic anymore
@@devangpatel5227 on the mic I agree but that started and was pretty much perfected all in 97 imo with that Canadian heel gimmick.
I was a kid when Bret ascended to being a top guy, looking back I couldn't appreciate at the time how great he was.
The loss to British Bulldog (one of the bets matches I ever seen) was what catapulted Bret to the moon
When I was a young kid I didn't realize how good of a worker Bret was because I thought pro wrestling was real .
Yeah same I remember liking both Bret and Owen, Razor, Steiners. I really liked Adam Bimb too and thought he deserved more
I always hated Shawn because he won way too easily against some guys. I remember watching him flip up after a yokozuna belly to belly. It really p#ssed me off as a kid. Now I understand why it did, and why Shawn got away with that crap.
I can look back now and I just think Bret is miles ahead of anyone I've ever seen. Just perfect in so many ways
The fans chose Bret and Vince chose Shawn. So Bret had to go. I would’ve liked to have seen Angle vs Bret
Totally. I've often thought of two dream matches...
Bret vs Angle
Hart Foundation vs Midnight Express (either version)
Not really. From the time Bret lost to Shawn he spent eight months away from the company, came back and feuded with Austin, and then won the title a couple more times until he transitioned to Shawn at Montreal. The move where Vince asked him to go was because the fans chose Austin and the company was gearing up for him it for Shawn.
@@ferox965 I wonder what the buildups would be like.
@@Matt-cr4vv considering how Shawn was acting there was no way Vince could build a feud that last for years so it was literally a 1 time deal while Bret the constant professional had a good 5 years in him. Having Austin Bret The Rock Undertaker Kane Foley Angle and eventually HHH they really didn’t need Shawn but Vince did.
@@Matt-cr4vv I agree and the thing is before Bret returned they were building for a triple threat match between Austin Undertaker and Shawn for the Belt and how they were building Austin I do believe the belt was going to go to him - so in all honestly I think Bret returning scuppered Austin getting the belt that year; thankfully it was redeemed by them both putting on a great double turn match.
However, when things are looked at from Shawn Michaels' POV, he holds the Championship Belt during this time. This wonderful build to a triple threat match was suddenly gone, the Undertaker was eventually moved back to Mid Card (which would have pissed me off) and Shawn is being inserted as an afterthought RE: Hart & Austin, then Hart & Undertaker, just so Bret could be crowbarred into a storyline that had already taken off.
In all honesty had I been in the same position as Shawn Michaels I would have been livid having carried the weight of being the face for the Company just to have someone return, sh*t on them verbally and then take the spotlight from them. I do not like it when someone does not "do business" and drop the belt but in this case I do sympathise with Shawn Michaels and at least understand why he would not drop the belt in a match and instead forfeited it. Trouble is, instead of being a sneaky behind closed doors politicker (like Bret Hart and Hulk Hogan to name a couple, though there were so many more) Shawn Michaels was such an in your face, vocal politicker he gets dumped on so much his POV is rarely looked at.
JR has always been in Bret’s corner
I think it needs to he said: Bret was better than Shawn. I don't like the myth of Shawn as the greatest sports entertainer ever. He was excellent, incredible, but, his bumping and selling was tediously over the top. His offensive work was spectacular and easy to believe. However, while all the same might be said of Bret's bumping and selling, and about his offense, Bret was more deliberate and intelligent in his work and match psychology. Bret was more innovative than Shawn. Bret was more exact in everything he did. While Shawn has matches that are on par with anything Bret did, Bret has more matches that are significant as matches (and not as sport entertainment spectacles). Bret's greatest hits are always better than Shawn's. My apologies for the tirade.
Shawn really gets elevated by what he did when he came back in 2002. If Bret could have wrestled in that era i can only imagine the types of matches he could have put on. Bret was always best with a good storyline and a great opponent to feud with. They started that formula in the mid 90s with havibg oromo packages and storyies for every match on a ppv card, and perfected it by the mid 2000s , and the style of wrestling changed in those eras, wrestlers did more in the ring and athleticism was allowed to shine through more in matches, but old school elements were still there where it wasn’t just spot fests.
I was in high school back in the 90's, and while a classmate of mine was a fan of Hulk Hogan, my attention was drawn to Bret Hart and was my favorite at the time.
Did he just 'do it' for you?
@@MotherAlgorithm Eh...what? I appreciated his wrestling talents.
Most kids getting into WWF in the early 90's were...we didn't care too much about the vitamins and prayer Hulk Hogan's or the roided up Warrior's, we were drawn to the cool rock star looking guy in the shades and leather jacket
I absolutely HATED this period of the WWF but NOT because of Bret Hart! I saw him as the Bob Backlund of the 90s! Like Backlund with Bruno Sammartino Hart had to follow Hulk Hogan and the foes he had to face were boring! Jean Paul LaFite, Papa Shango, Hakushi, ZZzzz only by Bret's facing veterans like the heel turned Backlund, Jerry Lawler and his own brother Owen could make this fan stay awake long enough to care!
Stop lying you clown. You were a hulkamaniac and don't deny it
Bret was great. He deserved to have his anti USA persona years before
So glad Vince gave Bret the opportunity. There was obviously no doubt that he could work, but stepping into the breach post-slump and post-Hogan was never going to be easy. Additionally, Bret didn't look like the guys Vince had pushed before him. Imagine how much we would have missed out on if Vince had gone with some green bodybuilder instead of taking a chance on Bret.
i think bret's best qualities were sheer consistency and reliability. he wasn't a super fancy wrestler but his moves were always good, crisp, realistic, he understood proper selling and how to build drama. not the best on the mic in terms of flashiness but he still was convincing, which is what you needed in a guy like him. bret hart was basically a wrestler's wrestler.
looking back now, you can say probably his style would've been the best path forward because it was safe but still looked solid. there were probably better workers when it came to high or crazy spots and those people might have a more memorable body of work, but in some cases, their careers got shortened or worse. i think if Bret hadn't been injured, he probably could have gone for quite a bit longer because he was that good and believable.
the thing about bret was that when the flashier or mega egotistical guys wouldn't work out, you could always go back to Bret just because of his qualities. there was a reason why he was viewed as a hero since he took the business and his role seriously.
selfishly, i think one thing we did miss out on was some classic match ups between guys like barry windham or ricky steamboat vs Bret when they were in their prime. imagine a Bret Hart vs Barry Windham in say 89-90 or a Ricky Steamboat in 92 vs Hart. or just for fun give me the Midnight Express with Stan Lane/Bobby Eaton vs The Hart Foundation around 89-90. then have good 'ol JR calling those would be one heck of a ride.
Those match up ideas even got me to mark out a little😁
I would say that the fans chose Bret.
He was getting so much fan adulation that it was too hard to ignore.
As I understand it, Bret made a lot of effort in being available to the fans during his ascension.
In 1993 he was the people's champion.
Bret did Vince a massive favor in tearing up the contract and moving to WCW. He had every right to demand that the company must honor the deal -- and also stipulate creative control parameters moving forward. Bret had Vince over a barrel --- and got screwed in the end by being a good employee, instead of defeating Vince in the game of cutthroat businessman.
My issue with Bret is that he is very arrogant and whiny
@@joetamburello6292 Not arrogant when you can back it up and he has every right to be 'whiny' he got screwed over by Vince and then they killed his brother.
Agree to disagree
@@joetamburello6292 Id still be bitter if that happened to me.
@@joetamburello6292 Whats your point alot of wrestlers are arrogant and way worse than Bret. Hbk for example didn't want to dropntitles or do jobs for anyone except his buddies. And everyone nitpick one situation with Bret in Montreal. When Hbk wouldn't return the favor and drop the title back to him. Let's look at everything at all angles before we judge Bret
Back when Bret first began a singles run while still teaming with Neidhart I was always impressed by the level Bret took his matches to, they made sense and flowed perfectly. It was obvious he was one of their best talents even back then. Lex was terrible, great physique but that was where it ended
Lex wasn't "terrible". Was Lex a great worker? No, but he was big, athletic, he moved well in the ring and was serviceable as worker. He wasn't ever going to carry a match but he always held his end up.
@@joetamburello6292 His interviews were believable, that was enough.
It was very easy to buy in to Bret, especially when the rivalries started getting more meaningful and heated.
Better than listening to the other guys knowing it was never going to amount to as good a match. Mic skills are given a little bit too much weighting at times when assessing a wrestler's abilities, I think it's a bonus, but it's not that important.
What I think is important is a wrestler's ability to make you suspend your disbelief on kayfabe and Bret always managed to do that.
@@joetamburello6292 What do you disagree about?
@@joetamburello6292 Well, what is your opinion? How important to do you think mic skills are versus a memorable wrestling encounter?
Doesn't have to be some big argument or disagreement, I'm just curious because there's alot of irrational Bret haters out there that just shit on him and can never come up with a clear logical rationale as to why.
@@joetamburello6292 Shawn Michaels was never better than Bret, but I see where you might be coming from on how Bret comes off in shoots.
2:00 - 2:34
The reason why wrestlers don't get over anymore and haven't done since 2014 when Daniel Bryan last did.
There's zero psychology in high spot moves.
Fans just go into auto pilot with the default "this is awesome" chant etc.
Wrestlers get over with storytelling.
They don't get over with momentarily pops.
High spots can be great if they’re used right as part of an ascending action in the match. Watch Bret vs 123 Kid and you’ll see how someone who uses a lot of high spots can execute them with the proper psychology.
@@Thor-Orion 100% correct.
And done sparingly to support the story so the high spots are different from the any other.
End of the day, I can compliment you and you'll appreciate.
I compliment you again the next time and you think... 👍
3rd time? What de ya want?
4th time it's just patronising.
5th time insulting.
Man I never comment but I love smart takes like that. I struggle with this. Young bucks have been telling a story with a ton of high spots and the crowd exploded(Hangman and Kenny, Lucha bros cage) but you can't have those kinda matches all the time. Punk and Darby told a great story(Bret v kid style) and not everyone thought it was great as I did. Such a fascinating topic bro
@@dougdaniels9477 🤜🤛
"Spot" on.
Bret is the original "people's champ!" With or without the belt Bret is the best guy u got
And he didn't have to call himself that either. No one yelled die Hitman die liked with Rocky M
I'm a huge Bret fan, like all time favorite, but did it never occur to them that it was easier to see Bret as "the guy" for the fans and get behind them, because they already had? They'd seen the belt on him? That little "hypothetical" for a live audience for Luger doesn't count.
The crowd at Summerslam 93 was *hot* for Lex to get the belt. They should have done it and then judged between TV and Survivor Series whether it was going to work. Could have dropped it back to Yoko or put it on heel!Shawn or heel!Crush and then shifted to Bret again. Hell they still had Savage, too.
Luger was DOA after failing to beat Yoko for the title at SS. He was never the same guy after that even in WCW.
That match was garbage too which didn't help
He won WCW world title in the same building 1997
The scary thing is Bret had a good talker in him it just took so much outside stuff and years of pain to get it out. I wish he'd have been more Stu like he is now when he smiles and you just hear it ehehe 😈
They blew it by killing the Narcissist gimmick too quickly in a desperate attempt to make Hulk Hogan 2.0.
Lex was always a better heel than face.
Bret Hart was the man he worked circles around Michael Shawn Hickenbottom he just didn't have Vince's ear as Shawn or Paul did
since before bret became a singles guy, everyone knew he'd be special on his own, he was having the best matches on the card as I.c champion, most times better than the main event, even being a heel in the u.s and face everywhere else was genius, what a top guy he was.
JR always a year ahead on his PPV locations. He talks Luger-Yoko at SS 93 as being in Chicago, but it was in Detroit. Luger-Bret angle with co-winners for RR 94 was in Providence, RI not Tampa which was RR 95. I totally get it though, it was a million years ago, plus they go from town to town literally 24/7/365
Bret=GOAT
Summerslam 93 was at the place of auburn hills in Michigan not Chicago. Correct him already Conrad. Love you JR
Yeah I think he got mixed up with Summerslam ‘94 which was in Chicago.
Bret Hart vs. Rey Mysterio jr. Is the one classic we never had. Bret would've made a classic with Rey hitting all the spots. Thinking Owen Hart vs 123 Kid level workrate, but the deliberate methodology of Hakushi vs. Bret.🤔
It wasn't even the lose, it was the celebration after winning via count out. 1st and only time that happens.
Go back to the young Bret. Long before WWE. There was something special about him. He stood out. Like a teenage Gretzky was on the ice. Or the obvious gifts Ali had all along. That level is very rare.
Every match a ring a ding dong dandy!
But now...
In the meantime and in between time...😢
What did they think would happen when he didn’t get the belt. WWF dropped the ball not Lex
Hard to picture Lex Luger and Shawn Michaels as a tag team at even a house show... Like ever
But I guess I'm happy to hear it happened in the former territory of the World Wide Wrestling Federation
Luger should of stayed the narcissist. Bret was talented enough to get anyone over. Lex shouldn't of never been considered an option. His WWF title match at summerslam with the balloons and confetti celebration killed his run. Celebrates a count out victory like he won the championship derailed his character.
Bret should have been top guy years earlier he and rick Martel were heavily underrated in they're time
Neither could really talk and that was the problem. They could sell wrestling, not a persona.
@@jasonelliott7977 I know but u got to admit still better than most of today's they need promo training
I never blamed Lex Luger for leaving WWF the way he did. They deserved no explanation or anything on why Lex didn't resign and he also didn't let anyone know his contract was expiring. All that push for nothing. You or WWF pushed a star out the door.
Exactly. Lex sucked as a worker but it wasn’t his fault they gave him a horrible gimmick and segregated him on his own bus for a summer. When he went to WCW he got over huge as a face against the NWO organically
@@NateMac434 his whole career he has been screwed over. Bruiser Brody,against Flair many times especially that 1988 match in Baltimore at the GAB,Flair leaves,he wins the vacant championship from Barry,in WWF he is thee Narcissist,few months later he is Hulk Hogan,Royal Rumble 94 gets screwed and finally at WrestleMania 10 he gets disqualified. Oh he beats Hollywood Hulk Hogan on a random Monday when the showdown was that Saturday. They screwed Lex Luger so much but something about him is appealing to me. One of my favorites. He only did 2 things in returning to WCW. He shocked the hell outta everyone showing up and beating Hollywood Hulk Hogan bef Sting did.
@@larrystilltheeman39 Hall and Nash knew he was fucked over and it was his time. they were the ones that talked hulk into putting him over clean on nitro. I watched that recently the fans lost their minds. he was major over in 97 and 98
@@NateMac434 didn't know that. I think it was stupid. Wait until Saturday. Hog Wild was that Saturday. I am mad because I paid for that ppv. My moms asked was that match coming on free and I lied to her
Catbird seat! I always love hearing that. Always makes me think of Hawk Harrelson.
Feel like they could have tested Luger by having him win the championship at SummerSlam 1993, and then if it did not work, they could have had Luger drop the belt back to Yokozuna sometime between SummerSlam and Royal Rumble. Maybe Yokozuna pins Luger in their match at Survivor Series, then Corny comes on the following Raw and demands a title match where Yoko takes the championship back so the Undertaker could wrestle with Yoko at the Rumble, and have everything else play out the way it did. Having Luger drop the belt on Raw might have been a good way to promote Raw, which was still a new show at the time where titles rarely changed hands.
I liked Lex Luger, but he definitely needed to tap out to the sharpshooter, preferably at Wrestlemania 10.
As down on Lex as people can be people forgot how over he was on 97 he even briefly took the title from Hollywood Hogan and the people went nuts and were loving Lex. He could be a face but just not the red white and blue hulk hogan type
My favorite Bret hart wrestling match is vs Owen hart at wrestlemania 10 is was a good wrestling match i love it’s
Conrad sounds more like jr than jr
Really wish we had Bret Vs Sting for the world title in a compelling Storyline. This gets over looked,.. Bret was in a lot of memorable storylines.
@HEYHEYITSCONRAD Conrad, what are the tassels floating around in the background on top of your cabinet with all of the titles? I’ve been wondering and it’s been driving me nuts forever. Lol. Thank you and keep up the incredible work with all you do. I sometimes wonder how you get any sleep.
I feel like all these channels with wrestling content; podcast & shoot interviews grew the RUclips audiences for the wrestling boom today!
100% longing for the old days
I comment like once a month but that is a interesting point that I don't hear discussed enough. Maybe because they don't want the marks to get credit. Not sure.
They should have never tried to make Lex Hulk Hogan 2.0
I wish someone would ask if there was ever any thought of making the main event of WM 10 a triple threat match? That could have been interesting.
Why was the ending of Summerslam '95 so weird? Lex comes out to interfere in the Diesel/Mabel title match, gets punched by Diesel and runs back to the backstage area like it was all a misunderstanding and he didn't mean to offend Diesel.
Bret is my all time favourite!
I don't know how they pulled off having 2 people hitting the ground at the exact same time
IMO the simple fact as to why Bret was "chosen" is while the fan's did want and believe in Bret, deep down I think that when it's all said and done Vince is a true wrestling fan and appreciated good matches with in ring psychology. Nobody did that better than Bret....Period.
no one talks about this but bret was massive in europe during the 90s
And he had all of Canada. There was no one else that could take the WWF to a global level except Hart.
Bret is better than Shawn!
But Shawn had "the clique". Bret was never able to play the political stuff as well as them. Once the clique departed to WCW, The Rock and Austin took off in WWE. By that point Bret was both too old and in WCW after Vince and Shawn humiliated Bret.
@@ryanjacobson2508 Bret played politics, Jesus Christ you guys simply are delusional.
@Old Man I know, bret hart is like Cm punk, both marauders
@@kamfisher1714 Yeah, Bret playing politics is what got him ahead. Vince said it best saying that Bret became champ the old fashion way, he earned it. What makes you think that people would listen or believe what you say over J.R. or Vince. It simply is your opinion which you will never have evidence to back it up and why because it never happened. Who was great at politicking for themselves, Hogan, Michaels and HHH.
Lex is the most under rated world Champion of his era. The gimmick change out of nowhere combined with his start stop push completely derailed his first WWF run. If booked properly Lex wouldve been a perfect face champion to be turned later so the next "guy" can face him , beat him, and be put over. It really is booking 101. Instead we get Yoko & random Hogan run out of nowhere only for the storyline to be culminated with a shady cameraman fireball. Didn't do Bret any favors with that garbage booking either.
Ross is more of a straight talker than Pritchard.
The fans chose Bret therefore creative did. But i agree with JR Pat was a Bret guy. He deserved it he was the best at that time.
It's funny to hear JR criticize "spot guys" when he now works for a company with a roster composed almost entirely of "spot guys"
Unfortunately wrestling has changed like that. You're right and these spot guys and wrestling aficionados of today don't understand wrestling, story telling and more importantly selling as if you're in a physical tug of war! Its no one's fault really tho!
@@souryabanik You've hit on something there. The story telling aspect is something that Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Taker knew the value of, understood, and knew how to utilize. That's the reason why the series of four Wrestlemania matches they did are classics and stand the test of time.
I'd have to say you're right, and storytelling, to a large extent, is missing in today's wrestling. That goes for any brand. I don't care which promotion you're talking about.
Maybe it's people's short attention span. Who knows.
Like who? Other than say the young bucks. Those spot guys were all over ecw and I don't recall any complaints. RVD was one of them and the Hardy's were spot guys too, there were tons of that style in lighter weight matches
I’ve been saying that for months, and JR knows. You can hear it in his voice when he’s calling those constant high spots, hopefully punk and Danielson can slow those kids down
@@BeeBumper but not so much in the heavyweight/main event matches. To an extent maybe, but not to the extent it is now.
Lex Luger harmed himself by not embracing his "Made In The U.S.A." gimmick, particularly when he told the office that he'd rather "travel by plane" than take the Lex Express bus. The whole idea of the Lex Express was to build him up as a major babyface, who would go on to become the face of company. When I saw Lex "lose clean" to Shawn Michaels at a house show in Cincinnati in early 1995, I knew that Lex's WWE run was effectively over.
I am a HUGE Bret Hart fan but Lex should have beat Yokozuna for the title. The WWE put a massive amount of effort & time into that story-line building Lex. The fans deserved a payoff. The belt could have been transitioned later.
I am the biggest Bret Hart fan. I stopped watching after that summer slam than watched mania. I wish Bret and Luger had a match but Bret needed to best Yoko. They should have let lugar win at at SummerSlam. Lot of my friends stopped watching cause of the dq at SummerSlam. Countout as a SummerSlam finish. Yoko should have won than instead of count out. The rumble finish was awesome both winning. Lex and Bret would face each other two times in one week in wcw.
Hogan and Hart. My two all time favorites.
id love to see conrad step into the ring
Lex could've easily gone over. Look at Roman Reigns today. That's proof that if Vince wants somebody to get over and is willing to give it as long as it takes, they'll get over. If Vince is being indecisive, then you just end getting buried.
The Best There Is ,The Best There Was ,& The Best There Ever Will Be!!!!!!
Vince must've had a huge hard on for big guys who could barely work a match. My goodness you had Bret in his prime, not only could he out wrestle everyone but he made others look good in the ring too plus he had the support of the fans. What was Vince thinking during this time? He kept screwing up too and tried to push horrible guys like Mabel. Ugh.
Oh my yes, I remember when Mabel won the Ring of the Ring there were a group of us watching and yelling Wtf! The internet was on about who had ahold of Vince's balls for him to make that decision and then Mabel started hurting people in matches.
Vince loves monsters. For good or for bad.
@@conniecarroll7222 who had them? Hbk or Patterson depending on the day
You think Bret was natty 😂😂😂
I think the part that didn’t make sense is that is that not too long afterwards u give the title to bob backlund then Nash for a whole year , why not Lex go over at summer slam, and give him 6 months to see what he had and if nothing else, you have a much better wrestlemania match to look forward to with Bret goin over at the end. Lex had really good matches with flair , I think he could have done the same Bret. It could have also been an opportunity to start the heel anti American Bret hart character too.
SummerSlam 1993 wasn't in Chicago it was in MICHIGAN
Zero dislikes. Well done world
Remember seeing that Royal Rumble where Luger and Bret feet hit at the same time. And was watching Raw when Luger didn't show up. I liked him. Who else could pick up Yoko ?
I actually wanted to see Bret vs Lugar at WM baby face vs baby face
The Lex Express ran out of Gas.
Conrad has so much knowledge, I’m curious did he for Wwe or something?
THANK YOU BRET!!!!!!
Bret is definitely bigger than Shawn Michaels in totality right? Ive got in this argument so many times.
@@citizentoxie9875 impact, and yeah thats essentially my argument, Bret was truly global in his popularity even if Shawn may have been a bit more popular in the states.
Pat liked Brett for many reasons. Shawn Michaels too.
Personally I think Lex Luger should’ve won the title at Wrestlemania from Yokozuna and then lost it later that night to Bret Hart in a face vs face match
I agree with that
Yokozuna in two matches was tough to watch.
Lex would’ve accomplished his mission by taking the title from the evil sumo and Bret would then win against Lex and make a promise to honor America as much he does his home country
Yup.. lex vs bret in a 30 minute war. That would have been classic.
@@TheMan-je5xq
& continent-wise, bret would be a (north) american anyways, so the shoe fits!
Luger was a member of Wolfpack. Just think of a different universe where Luger never leaves WWF and eventually joins DX. 🙃
Bret Hart was not the answer. Before 94 ended Vince had soured on Bret and put the belt on Diesel
The main event at WM-X, could've been Bret vs. Lex for the title, in the final match, after Bret lost to Owen in the opener and Lex "barely" defeats Yoko in the semi-final match. You could have to faces fight for the Title, it has happened alot in wrestling, before and after. That's not uncommon at all. Which crowns one as a champion to feud with one another, or with a list of guys that include Yoko, Owen Hart, Mr. Perfect, Shawn Michaels (as heel, who could/would become a face, a bit later), Bam Bam, Razor Ramon, Diesel (Kevin Nash), and most of all, the Undertaker. I don't think anyone would object to any of them being champion or having an extended feud with Bret or Luger.
I have a feeling Lex may not have wanted to take the L to Bret, the big guys always had that complex about losing to smaller wrestlers and there may have been concerns that Luger couldn't possibly find a route back after that.
Ironically, Yoko was cool with it, but down on paper it made even less sense to go with him taking the L to Bret instead of Luger, so there had to be some kind of politics involved there. Luger's finish wasn't exactly clean either, so it was clear Vince was still trying to leave that door slightly ajar for Lex.
Both Bret and Luger were competing for the same spot, so maybe there were concerns from both men that the match would have ended up being a mess, for different reasons, so Vince might have thought it best that they did not compete directly.
It was summer slam 1993 in Detroit. They should put the belt on Luger to c what he could do
Vince's whims just point out how the worst thing to happen to Pro Wrestling was for the WWF and its silliness to become the standard! Bret's skills were woefully out of place in the WWF circus and it's unsurprising that his best matches were against other talented wrestlers, most notably Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold and his own brother Owen!
Mr perfect
@@paulbrennan3472 THANKS, I forgot about him! His WWF in ring career was too short for me!
Is this JR talking to parallel universe JR?
Lex should never have been turned face, and they should have kept him with the Narcissist gimmick. Face Bret Vs heel Lugar as the Narcissist would have been a great feud. Possibly Lugar takes the title from Hogan at Summerslam, then Bret chases till Wrestlemania 10.
Wouldn`t have been a very good match though, Luger was not a good worker.
I think that Luger could have gotten over, if they hadn't just marketed him as Hogan 2.0. At that point in wrestling, people were very sick of Hogan and they didn't do anything to change Lugers character other than putting him in the stars and stripes, he was still using the heel metal plate forearm finisher and was still the exact same character as when he was the narcissist, just one day instead of bringing a mirror to the ring he had a flag and fans were meant to cheer him now, then they wondered why he didn't get over as a babyface?? They could have had 2 stars in both Luger and Hart but WWF/WWE there is only room for one star at the top for some weird reason. Which is strange because they had their greatest success when there were several names at the top and matches weren't forgone conclusions. (Austin, Rock, Foley, Jericho, Angle, Benoit, Guerrero, Undertaker, HHH, Big Show, etc)
No chance they decided to drop lex from the title picture that summer. Vince initially wanted to wait till mania for lex to win it. He even programmed lex with yoko at the survivor series and the whole foreign fanatic vs the all americans. Where lex won but didnt pin yoko which kept the feud strong. The decision to go with bret obviously came from the fans reaction to the lex and bret royal rumble finale. They booed lex and screamed for bret. After that vince realised that lex was not gonna be the draw. And the belt went back to bret.
Vince was dumb and should have went with Bret from the beginning.
Bret hart was a flop champion. He was a mid carder at best.
I only like Bret as a heel! Just never liked him personally, he just seemed entitled to me, kind of how like Shawn Michaels was, when he was partying!
Luger could've won the title at summerslam, let's even say with a special count out title win stipulation. Then while luger is being tested, yoko and Taker could've been co main eventing the house show loop. Then have luger drop the title back to yoko the week before survivor series on their USA special (yes, there was one in real life, yoko wrestled bret) and then you are back on track for taker and yoko to start their feud during the match at Survivor series, those two go off to eliminate each other in a double count out, leaving luger to defeat borga and crush 2 on 1 to become the sole survivor and "get his win back" so to speak. Everything back on track.
I remember that yoko title reign being an absolute slog because you'd just come from bret constantly defending the title on tv, in an era where tv itself changed, then literally yoko won the title in August, defended it once on tv in NOVEMBER. once on ppv in January (under 10 min btw) and then dropped it at mania. A luger win in-between woulda broke it up
Hitman was the choice of the PPL in this era. Hogan couldn't get over any better in this era at the time and everyone was over Hogan crap. He never upped the ratings or drew any better. Bret Hart was the #1 baby face in WWF period from 1992-1997 (Until turned vs usa). Bret made me a WWF fan in 1991
Plus Hogan was ageing and had lost a ton of weight, he was also getting shorter due to back surgery.
More JR winsdom
Royal rumble 1994 wasn't in Tampa its providence
now there is no keeping secrets now..with internet so the only think shocking was CM Punk wrestling again
@9:06 See Jim Ross can be wrong the rumble 94 wasn't in Tampa it was in boring Providence, Rhode island
Summerslam 93 was also in Auburn Hills, just outside of Detroit. Not Chicago.
@@RobClooney I miss that part
Bret hart still is the best there ever will be
It's saint john new Brunswick
Does OOC know about this? 🤔
Wow
Bret was magic!!!
6:40 At least JR is aware of how awful the booking at Summerslam 93 was. Bruce just pretends everything was great and all their decisions were awesome. As a fan I was very pissed by them doing that, and the whole product was terrible throughout those years.
Bret hart 💗 is the man always
The entire Yokozuna reign sucked. Wrestle Mania 9 should’ve been Bret-Macho. Summer Slam 93 should’ve been Hogan-Bret. Wrestle Mania 10 should’ve been Bret-Luger.
that era was full of terrible booking decisions when they refused to give the fans matches they wanted to see