Bret Hart vs. Jean-Pierre Lafitte
Bret Hart catches Jean-Pierre with a suicide dive as soon as the bell tolls, but almost lands on his neck. He then batters him down and strips him of the leather jacket that they’re fueding over, before rolling him in the ring. Pierre gets his offense of the match with a series of headbutts and forearms in the corner, he whips Bret to the other corner, but misses a splash.
Bret grounds hart, working on the arm and elbow of Lafitte. Bret gets a roll-up for a two, then grounds Pierre a second time with a drop toe hold, then straight back to the arm. Hart showing why he’s easily one of the best technical performers in wrestling history. Pierre slams Bret’s head against the ropes, then tugs it backwards to knock him over. He stomps Bret down, as he attempts to slow the pace of the much more agile Bret Hart.
Bret’s in control again, running circles around Lafitte, but Jean-Pierre dodges an attack in the corner as The Hitman goes shoulder first into the ring post. Pierre covers Bret, but only manages a 2-count. He charges Hart, Hart tips him over the ropes, but Pierre drags him along and slams him into the steel steps. Vince remarks ‘And that’s the match won right there’, trying to convince us that Pierre’ll get the clean count-out victory. It doesn’t get a chance to happen as Pierre gets tired of waiting and goes after Bret, as Bret starts to fight back with punches and a clothesline, but it’s reversed into a spinebuster.
Jean-Pierre’s wearing Bret Hart down with a headlock but he fights out of it, runs the ropes and dives into a sunset flip, for a very close 2-count. Jean-Pierre’s up on the top rope, the commentators tell us he’s going for the cannonball, but Lafitte goes for a mild leg drop across the neck of Hart instead. Pierre’s up on the rope again, this time he misses the cannonball. Wait what? This doesn’t make any sense. Oh well.
Lafitte’s failed finisher gives Bret time to get onto his feet as he clotheslines Pierre down and teases a sharpshooter, but Lafitte kicks Bret over the ropes, then goes for a springboard plancha and misses it! Great sequence here. Bret rolls his opponent back in the ring, takes him down with a Russian leg sweep and rolls him up with a schoolboy, but Jean-Pierre kicks out again. Bret goes to the top rope, but Lafitte catches him with a boot as both men are down.
Bret goes for a running bulldog, but Jean-Pierre gets a great counter as he pushes Bret straight into the ring post. Hart recovers quickly and knocks Pierre and his arms tangle behind the top rope. He dives at him, Lafitte dodges and Bret dangles helplessly on the rope! Some really great back and forth action by both here. Pierre goes for a top rope nothing and gets predictably countered, as both men are down. Hart’s able to lock in the sharpshooter from a prone position as he gets to his feet and apparently Lafitte taps or submits even though it’s not visible on the hard camera.
Winner: Bret Hart
Considering these two men are feuding over a jacket and Jean-Pierre is a fairly average performer, this match was great. There’s was great ring awareness, great use of reversals and counters, a constant back and forth between Bret and Jean-Pierre, it’s probably one of Bret’s most underrated matches. While there’s little to no story here besides Bret wanting his jacket back, this match made for a very pleasant surprise.
Cornette’s backstage as he reveals that Bulldog will be replacing Owen, kind of anti-climatic since we’ve already seen Bulldog tonight. Gorilla says he’ll be sanctioned as a tag-team champion, so if Bulldog loses Owen and Yoko’ll lose the tag belts, but should he get a pinfall, he’ll be the WWF or Intercontinental Champion.
