#10 Bret and Owen go to war
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Despite the rise of Kevin Nash, Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels, there is really only one storyline that deserves to be spoken about as 1994’s signature feud, and that is the sibling rivalry between Bret and Owen Hart.
After the initial animosity between the two at Survivor Series 1993, everything seemed to be pointing towards some kind of showdown between the two at some point in the future. While many fans simply expected a one-off match between the two on an episode of RAW or maybe even a PPV, the feud actually kept us entertained for the entire calendar year. Starting at the Royal Rumble 1994, Owen turned on his brother yet again after the pair failed to win the Tag-team Championships against the Quebecers.
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The showdown between the two was then announced for Wrestlemania 10 after it was decided that Bret would need an opponent while he waited to find out who he would be facing in the main event. To this day, this match still stands as one of the greatest openers to a WWF PPV of all time. It was a technical masterpiece with expert mat-based grappling and some extra acrobatics thrown in for good measure. Owen surprisingly got the win, which paved the way for a title match between the two later on in the year.
That title match would come at Summerslam inside of a steel cage. The bout would earn the WWF its second 5-star rating of the year from Dave Meltzer, which has prompted many a debate amongst the WWE Universe as to whether this was, in fact, better than their Wrestlemania meeting. Whichever side you fall on in this debate, you wouldn’t hear too much argument from me.
Perhaps my personal favourite Owen and Bret moment, however, came at Survivor Series. Bret was involved in a programme with the returning Bob Backlund and would meet the former WWWF star for the championship.
Owen was ringside throughout the match and appeared to turn babyface after he became increasingly concerned for the fate of his big brother. Bret had been placed in the cross-face chicken-wing by Backlund with the Hitman visibly struggling to reach the ropes and break the hold. After quite a lengthy period of time, Owen began to beg his mother to throw in the towel as Bret was in danger of passing out.
This led to a highly emotional series of events which saw Owen arguing fiercely with his parents about what to do. Eventually, Bret’s mother did decide to throw the towel, ending the match and gifting the WWF Championship to Backlund. This all turned out to be part of Owen’s master plan, however, as he soon started celebrating at ringside after getting one over on his brother and costing him his belt.
While not directly involved in the match itself, Owen Hart proved here that he is one of the greatest personalities the wrestling business has ever seen. Looking back, it’s a real shame that he was never given an opportunity to hold the WWF Championship belt himself, as who knows what the King of Hearts would have been able to achieve with the spotlight well and truly on him.
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