OWEN HART VS. BRITISH BULLDOG
(EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT FINAL)
Raw (3rd March 1997 Berlin, Germany)
Picture thanks to WrestlingDVDNews.com/WWE
I've put some nice homegrown talent and home promotions from England (well, Revolution Pro) so far, but for this match, we're back to the oxymoronic “mainstream wrestling” WWE.
This match was performed and the championship lineage starts from the date of this match's taping, 28th February that year, however, the match was aired 3rd March so that's the date I shall go with. To get it out of the way.
Owen Hart and British Bulldog are the co-holders of the tag team championships at this point and Bulldog beat Mankind and Vader to advance to this match. Owen had to beat Flash Funk and brother Bret Hart during a 6-day tour of Germany.
This match is available on Raw episode #199 on the WWE Network, and is also on the following WWE releases:
The interesting commentary team of Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Honky Tonk Man handle this match.
Owen enters first as McMahon says Owen and Bulldog haven't signed a single tag team match throughout the tour of Germany, and they've not spent much time together out of the ring either, however, they insist everything's fine between them. The quarterfinals and semi-finals were contested over house shows for the German tour, and we see the brackets.
British Bulldog enters to a pleasant and surprising crowd reaction, considering the animosity between German and English people, even in sports environments. Vince takes most of Bulldog's entrance (slowed by slapping hands on the way) to say both of these men are in their prime and not team `over 40' I don't know who called them that but yeah... The bell rings and Owen rolls towards Davey, trying to psyche him out. Bulldog doesn't move and we get a collar-elbow tie up. Surprisingly Owen backs Bulldog to the corner, but Bulldog reverses the momentum. Bulldog gets a clean break as HTM says it will be a scientific match. Vince agrees but says once tension and frustration sets in and one man starts cutting corners the gloves will be off.
Hart gets control of the left arm, but Davey flips out and reverses the wristlock. Owen athletically rolls out of the armwrench and kips up before flipping Davey to his back. Davey again able to regain control and he takes Owen down. Owen kips up and backs Bulldog into the corner. Bulldog sent hard across the ring but he cartwheels out of a monkey flip attempt. Davey blocks a hip toss so Owen flips over his hip to get the leverage and he finally gets Davey over. Bulldog kicks Owen off and we get our first standoff. Owen puts his had out and Davey slaps it. We have a split-screen of the action and the European championship. The first new championship in the WWF in 20 years since the WWF Intercontinental championship in 1977. Honky Tonk Man says it's a shame he wasn't able to participate in the tournament since the championship would look good on him. Bulldog wins a test of strength and bridges Owen back, but Owen fights his way back up and breaks the grasp of Bulldog in one hand. Owen jumps to the top rope, uses it to flip back in the ring and hits a hip toss! Owen jumps up for a hurricanrana but Bulldog powerbombs him down and sends him out of the ring with a catapult!
Bulldog shows the fans how agile he is with a front flip in the ring. We get a Milky Way Double Feature showing us what we just saw as Bulldog held the ropes open for his brother-in-law. Owen gets in quickly, not wanting to give Bulldog a chance to jump him and Vince says we've not seen a match where the opponents know each other's moves as well as this. This match is 3 years after the Hart brothers feud, not to mention other family feuds over the years. Just say it's “one of” to save your own ass. They circle and Owen gets a quick hammerlock, Bulldog quickly reverses it but Owen reaches behind and flips over. Owen grabs a waistlock and rolls Davey up for 2 before Bulldog powerfully kicks out. Bulldog hits an arm drag and he keeps Owen grounded with a top wristlock. Bulldog knees Owen's bisceps before bringing him back to his feet. Bulldog gets another hammerlock, Owen tries to escape but Bulldog drops him to the mat, Hart lands on his left arm as we go to commercial break.
British Bulldog's still in control as we come back, he lifts Owen into the air and slams him down on his back. Bulldog bends Owen's wrist back, changing focus to different parts of Owen's arm. Owen forces his way to his feet and uses Bulldog's hair to back him to the ropes. Bulldog is sent across the ring but he gets a crucifix! Owen kicks out at 2 as Vince says Bulldog can trade power with anyone in the WWF. Bulldog lifts Owen for a suplex but Owen slips down, Owen kicks but Bulldog catches it, and ducks the follow up enziguri. Bulldog locks in a surfboard as Vince says again that these 2 guys know each other so well. Owen grabs Earl Hebner to escape. Hebner explains to Bulldog as we get an advertisement for Raw is War slide on to the right of our screens, live at 3 minutes to the hour. Height of the Monday Night Wars, folks! Current WWF Champion Psycho Sid teams up with Undertaker before their main event at Wrestlemania 13. The less said about that match the better.
Bulldog forces Owen down to the mat and keeps control of his left shoulder. Owen gets to his feet but Bulldog sends him across the ring. Owen runs over Bulldog then ducks a leap frog before Bulldog catches him with a beautiful dropkick. Bulldog charges at Owen and he gets sent over the top rope to the floor. Owen celebrates in the ring like Bulldog did in the opening moments and holds the ropes open. British Bulldog's favouring his knee, but tentatively gets back in the ring. Owen quickly gets to his feet as Bulldog gets in the ring, not trusting Bulldog. Vince notes that Bulldogs talents are appreciated more by these fans because he's a fellow European. I point back to my England/Gemany sports comment from earlier. Owen slaps Bulldog's hand again. They cautiously circle and Bulldog gets a headlock takedown. Owen's shoulders go down for 2 as Vince mentions Ken Shamrock joining them next week from the Ultimate Fighting World (what they called Mixed Martial Arts and UFC in the early days.) Honky Tonk says this isn't the over-40 league and I've just caught on that it's a shot at WCW.
Owen gets back to his feet and shoves Bulldog off the ropes across the ring. Owen goes prone but tweaks his knee landing on the leapfrog. Earl Hebner tells Bulldog to hold off so he (Hebner) can check on Owen but Bulldog doesn't listen. Owen was playing possum! He attacks Bulldog's knee and drags him out of the corner. Bulldog kicks off the sharpshooter attempt and they get into a shoving match and Bulldog drags Owen into a headlock by his hair. Owen sends Bulldog off the ropes and hits him with a spinning heel kick. Owen dances around instead of covering and he kicks Bulldog in the midsection. We get a replay of Owen knocking Bulldog loopy with the spin kick as Owen brings Davey up for a backbreaker. Owen drives his knee into Bulldog's kidney area. JR mentions you can get a spasm in your back muscles just as you can your legs as Bulldog gets sent into the corner with velocity. Owen slams Bulldog and hits a leg drop and this time he immediately covers. Bulldog kicks out at 2.
Owen Hart slows things down with a chinlock as Honky Tonk Man mentions Stu Hart won't know who to cheer for in this match. The crowd will Bulldog to his feet and he elbows out. Bulldog charges and jumps over Owen but gets caught with a knee to the bread basket. Owen stomps Bulldog out of the ring as HTM mocks Stu Hart saying Owen has control of Davey Boy. The referee starts to count Bulldog out as I wonder what this would mean for the championship. They can't change hands on count out or disqualification in WWF under normal circumstances but this is to find the inaugural champion. Bulldog beats the count back in the ring and strikes first, shoulder barging Owen through the ropes. Davey flies in with a sunset flip and he gets a nearfall. Both men are on their feet and Owen catches Bulldog with a clothesline. Owen covers, holding Bulldog's shoulders down, but Bulldog still powers out at 2. Owen doesn't give Bulldog time to breathe as he applies another chinlock leading into a commercial break. We get shown the WWF rewind as Bret Hart attacked Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and the woman we would come to know as Chyna challenged Bret.
As we get back to the live action Bulldog is back on his feet and elbowing out of a headlock. Bulldog picks up speed but Owen hits an overhead belly-to-belly for another quick nearfall. Owen shoves Bulldog down and applies a camel clutch, pulling Davey's hair in front of Hebner. Bulldog uses his strength advantage to get to his feet without using his hands for assistance, and Owen's precariously on Bulldog's shoulders. Bulldog has to throw Owen off prematurely and Hart lands pretty rough from that. They get to their feet in opposite corners and Bulldog runs into Owen's boot. Owen folds Bulldog up and gets his feet on the ropes. Hebner doesn't see it but Bulldog still able to kick out! Owen thought he won it and starts celebrating, but Hebner bursts his bubble. Owen hits a neckbreaker and he dives off the middle rope with an elbow drop. Owen covers again but still only gets 2. Hart goes right back to the chinlock, stopping the oxygen getting to Bulldog's brain. Bulldog fights out but Owen Hart rakes the eyes and headbutts Bulldog. Bulldog is perched on the top turnbuckle and both men are showing some signs of exhaustion here, Owen might want to be careful with lifting Davey. Davey reverses a superplex attempt, landing on Hart, 1, 2, No!
Bulldog can't capitalise so Owen sends him across the ring when both men get to their feet. Bulldog ducks a clothesline before hitting a flying clothesline of his own. Two more running clotheslines each knock Owen down and Bulldog hits a vertical suplex for a nearfall. Bulldog sends Owen chest first into the corner and picks him up in a military press, Owen is crotched over the top rope and Vince thinks he lost his balance. JR isn't so sure, and HTM thinks if you can get an advantage you take it. Owen slips out behind Davey on a suplex attempt, bringing himself back in the ring safely. Bridging german suplex by Owen only gets 2. Owen hits a right hand as Bulldog gets to his feet and follows him to the corner, Bulldog reverses an irish whip, Hart this time floats over, no he gets caught but he holds on to the top rope for dear life. Fans are going nuts at possibly seeing a powerslam here! Owen uses Bulldog's momentum to land in a cover and hooks the leg but still gets a nearfall. Owen locks in a sharpshooter and rolls Bulldog over. Bulldog slowly crawls to break the hold. Hart thinks he's won the match! Hebner explains that Bulldog got the ropes as Bulldog gets to his feet. Owen charges at British Bulldog and lands on his feet in a tilt-a-whirl. Owen sets up for a tombstone and Davey shifts his weight. British Bulldog hits the running powerslam and covers Owen! 1! 2! NO! Owen's kicked out and Bulldog can't believe it. Owen rolls Davey with a victory roll! 1! 2! Davey rolls through! Davey wins the European championship!
WINNER: BRITISH BULLDOG (FIRST WWF EUROPEAN CHAMPION)
As soon as I decided on England being one of the countries for this series I knew I had to include either this match or the Summerslam 1992 match with Bret. Being as how many different times that match can be used in themed weeks, I decided to go with this hidden classic. It was one of Owen and Bulldog's few main events, and they made the most of their opportunity. “tag team champions fighting” is a tired story in wrestling but when it's done as well as this match there are no complaints. Owen seemed to have the heat on Bulldog for a majority of the match and he dictated the pace, picking it up and slowing it back down as he felt necessary. The friendly competition getting more serious throughout the match was a nice story arc, with both wanting to become the first champion representing Europe. The only thing that really irks me in Hart vs Hart matches (including the extended family) is the amount of Victory roll finishes in their matches. Although it could supposed to show their equality in the family through being trained in the Dungeon. – Rating: 7.6/10
British Bulldog celebrates becoming double-champion as Owen catches his breath in the corner. Now the competition's over both men embrace each other in the ring. Bulldog reminds Owen that they're still the tag team champions as Owen looks on enviously. Owen sees Bulldog's point and holds the belts in the air with Bulldog. Bulldog nervously keeps his eye on Owen but there are no shenanigans this time. Bulldog celebrates to the joy of the fans with his new championship around his waist and his tag team championship held high in the air as we fade to black.
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