Match of the Day - The Hart brothers take on those guys with the thongs on their tights

Bret and Owen Hart vs. Well Dunn - WWF Wrestling Challenge (1993)

This week I was looking to see if there were any matches that took place on my birthday. This match between the Hart Brothers and Well Dunn (Timothy Well & Steven Dunn) was the closest match I could find that was at least aired around by birthday (dated November 14th). This match was probably one of the first times that Bret and Owen Hart teamed together on WWF television in a build up for the Hart Family vs. Jerry Lawler match at Survivor Series. You know, the Hart/Lawler match at Survivor Series that never happened. You know, that match that turned into the Hart Family vs. Shawn Michaels and a bunch of jobbers dressed as knights.

Anyways, he's a nice little piece of history from the first day of my life.

Match of the Day - Special guest referee 4-way ladder match... must be WCW

Bret Hart vs. Scott Hall vs. Goldberg vs. Sid Vicious - Texas Tornado Ladder Match for the WCW US Heavyweight Championship WCW Nitro (1999)

Today is the first time I have actually heard of this match. It's a four man ladder match featuring Razor Ramon - I mean Scott Hall, Bret Hart (who was in the first WWF ladder match - though Hall's ladder matches are more recognized as firsts), Sid Vicious, and Bill Goldberg. Oh yeah, and the special referee was Kevin Nash because fuck it this is WCW and there needs to be a special referee in a match where one person wins by climbing a ladder to retrieve a belt hanging high above the ring and that's it.

One must also put into account that WCW at this point was essentially the Kevin Nash/Scott Hall show and lacked a lot of substance. So, in a not so surprising turn of event, Nash knocks out Bret Hart who has the title in his grasp with a nightstick at the top of the ladder... Nash then miraculously catches the title as Hart drops to the mat which allows Scott Hall to climb the ladder and snag the title from Nash's hands.

There was also a bit with Rick Steiner and his heel run as he comes out to attack his former friend, Sid Vicious. WCW wasn't the Rick Steiner show though so his little spotlight and impact was overshadowed by what Nash and Hall were really up in this match. Steiner, who was the TV champ at the time would soon lose the title at Mayhem because he was too injured to compete. The title was then given to, yep you guessed it, Scott Hall. 

Scott Hall eventually throws the TV Championship away a week later...

Literally though, he throws it into a trashcan on Nitro.

All in all, this is not one match you will be seeing on a ladder match compilation anytime soon (unless the next Ladder Match DVD runs out of good or legitimate ladder matches). 

It is however a hell of a good look at what WCW was like in 1999. 

Match of the Day - That time Owen Hart won the World Title

Owen hart vs. Bret Hart (c) - WWF Coliseum Video Exclusive Lumberjack Match (1994)

Remember when Owen Hart won the WWF World Heavyweight Title?

No? Well don't worry, I don't either. Not just because this was a Coliseum Video exclusive (usually matches that were taped only to be released on special video packages) but because he actually doesn't.

Turns out even though this match looks like it ends with Owen Hart getting the pinfall on his older brother, Bret thanks to Jim Neidhart hitting "The Hitman" in the back with his anvil-tough arm, the decision is soon called-off thanks to the interference and the match is restarted and officially ends with Bret retaining his coveted gold. However, you don't see that part of the match as most of the "Owen Hart wins the WWF Title" videos online have this important part of the match cut out.

It's a shame that Owen didn't ever win the title though. Maybe not so much this way, but it would have been a really nice change from super face champion to bitter heel shadow-of-his-brother-no-more champion. Maybe this would have led to an earlier Attitude Era? I doubt it though. If anything Bret would have just won the title back at Survivor Series (where Bob Backlund beat "The Hitman" via submission) of that year.

Anyways, here's Owen Hart versus Bret Hart, brother versus brother, in a Lumberjack match featuring the oddball characters of 1994 and the closest time Owen Hart ever got to becoming a World Champion.

Oh yeah, and this happened in Portland, Maine.