WWE Classic of the Week: Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog from in Your House 5

It was no secret to Bret Hart that his third WWE Championship reign was meant to be a transitional one.

Heck, it was clear to even the most clueless wrestling fans that Vince McMahon had anointed Shawn Michaels the future of his company and come WrestleMania XII would rely on Hart to put the so-called Showstopper over in the night's main event. 

Hart was not necessarily happy with his role but understood. A company guy, he had seen countless other stars pushed ahead of him, despite none of them being able to bring the same consistent greatness to their ring work that he had. He was hellbent on continuing to prove himself as the absolute best the industry had to offer regardless of how bright the spotlight shined on his peers.

His championship victory came in November 1995 at Survivor Series by way of a victory over Diesel in a No Disqualification match. That contest was easily one of the best in the event's long and illustrious history and ignited a string of matches that reaffirmed Hart's place as the premier wrestler working in the industry.

The second?

A WWE Championship defense against brother-in-law "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith, a match that would rival their classic from SummerSlam 1992.

The Background

Smith's heel turn in the summer of 1995 breathed some life into a character that had grown stale earlier in the year. Suddenly, the once-beloved competitor found himself atop the WWE mountain as one of its most hated characters.

With James E. Cornette guiding him, the British Bulldog became a legitimate headliner for the first time in his entire career.

At In Your House 4 in October, Smith main evented his first pay-per-view in five years, this time as the top contender to the WWE Championship. His opponent at that show? The struggling face of the company, Diesel.

Unfortunately for Smith, his first shot at main event glory was a failure of epic proportions.

The match was awful and would have been more than enough evidence to justify the elimination of Smith from the main event scene. 

Bret Hart's interference in that match helped set the stage for the match between he and Smith in December. The underwhelming October show took did not deter McMahon from pushing Smith as a headliner.

His persistence would pay off, as Smith delivered one of the best performances of his career against the brother-in-law who was responsible for his shining moment at Wembley half a decade earlier.

The Match

Analysis

In 1995, WWE was still very much geared toward families, so to see Hart as bloody as he wound up being during his title defense against Smith was a surprise.

At the same time, the images of a crimson-mask-wearing Hart battling from underneath not only put him over as a resilient champion but also established Bulldog as more of a championship threat than anything McMahon could have attempted without Hart.

The action was crisp, the story phenomenal and the finish completely different from any fans would have expected. Hart outwrestled his relative and opponent, using a La Magistral suggested to him by a young Chris Jericho the night before to pin Smith's shoulders to the mat.

The match, an example of professional wrestling at its finest, remains one of the most underappreciated gems in the WWE library.

Aftermath

Smith would rise to the top of the industry once more in the spring of 1996, challenging Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship at In Your House: Beware of Dog and King of the Ring.

From there, he would partner with his other brother-in-law, Owen, to make up one of the most dominant duos of that era.

Hart, on the other hand, would disappear from WWE programming in April following a loss to Michaels at WrestleMania.

When he returned to the company late in 1996, he encountered a wrestling landscape that was changing. Gone were the days of heroes and villains, and Hart's disenfranchisement with the direction the industry was heading played out in front of millions each week.

Eventually, he turned heel and recruited brother Owen, Smith, Jim Neidhart and Brian Pillman to reform The Hart Foundation, a faction that would headline the company until Hart's departure in 1997 at the Survivor Series in Montreal.