WRESTLING MUSEUM: MR. PERFECT VS. BRET HART

One year ago this month, professional wrestling lost Curt "Mr. Perfect" Hennig. I remember watching Mr. Perfect as the quintessential heel on the old WWF Superstars shows and Pay-Per-Views. I remember seeing him in WCW as the leader of the West Texas Rednecks stable. I remember his return to the WWE during the Royal Rumble. I don't mind saying that I was giddy with excitement that night and didn't try to hide it. "He's perfect," I told my viewing companions. "He's Mr. Perfect!" Today, I remember Curt Hennig the best way I know how. Watching one of his greatest matches ever: 1991's Summerslam bout of Bret "Hitman" Hart vs. Mr. Perfect for the Intercontinental Championship.

As the challenger, Hart comes to the ring first. There's that familiar guitar riff. What I wouldn't give to hear it one more time for just one more Bret Hart match. Unfortunately, after a career-ending injury and an accident during his retirement, Hart is in no shape to wrestle today. In the Summer of '91, however, he was reaching superstardom. Bret comes to the ring and the camera shows the now late Stu Hart and his wife Helen in the crowd to cheer on their son. Hart gives his pink shades to a youngster in the crowd.

The symphony hits. It's Mr. Perfect in all his glory. He is accompanied by his manager, Coach. No relation to today's Jonathan Coachman. Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, commentating at ringside, says that Perfect, being the Intercontinental Champion, doesn't have to beat Hart, but Hart must beat Perfect. The bell sounds and we're ready to go.

Hart and Perfect tie up. Perfect sent into the ropes and hip-tossed by Hart. The toss itself is not the standard takedown, though. Perfect lands on the mat and spins around on his posterior and lower back to sell the move even more, then falls outside the ring with a frustrated heel look on his face. Perfect makes his way back into the ring for another tie-up. Hart jumps up from behind Perfect and executes a flawless crucifix into a pin. Two-count. This one will not be ending early. Perfect leaps back up and charges Hart only to be brought back down into a side headlock. Of course, Perfect pulls Hart's hair and is admonished by referee Earl Hebner. "You can't pull Hart's hair," states Heenan. "You'll get too many oil slicks on your hand."

Perfect tries to escape by going vertical and bouncing off the ropes, but Hart returns the favor and holds onto his opponent by gripping Perfect's golden locks. The crowd eats it up. Finally, Perfect breaks the headlock with a knee to the abdomen. Hart off the ropes into a flying cross-body. One, two, and Perfect violently throws Hart off of him and outside of the ring. The Hitman gets right back up, though. Sunset flip over the ropes and into another pin attempt against Perfect. Two-count. Perfect doesn't take a second to catch his breath and jumps right back up, but he is taken down once more into the side headlock. Some headlocks are only rest holds. These are very much part of the flow of the match.

Perfect nails Hart with a Flair-like chop to the chest. A lot of impact. Perfect with a kick, but Hart quickly graps the boot and sweeps Perfect's other foot to throw him off-balance. Hart holding both legs, and the crowd is screaming for the Sharpshooter. "He's wasting too much time," yells Roddy Piper working color commentary. "Go for it!" Bret teases his finisher but stomps Perfect in the stomach instead.

In the next exchange, Perfect slams Hart into the canvas and when he tries to cover, Bret boots him off with both feet. Bret runs over to cover Perfect, but the same move happens to him. "Another beautiful kick-out by the champ!" insists play-by-play great Gorilla Monsoon. Hart, feeling the momentum, waffles Perfect with a clothesline, sending the champion over the ropes and outside of the ring. Perfects looks as if he has had enough, waves an arm to his manager, and begins to walk backstage.

Hart will have none of that. He chases Perfect down, tugs on the blue ring attire it, and tosses the champion back into the ring. In doing so, Hitman tears Mr. Perfect's outfit. "He's pulling him apart," exaggerates Monsoon. Perfect goes aggressive. A hard right hand to Hart, followed by a swift kick while the challenger is down. Hart beaten to the outside now while Perfect waits in the ring for the referee to make the DQ count. Every time Hart tries to get back into the ring, Perfect forces him down to the concrete. Hart tries once more, but Perfect uses the spring of the ropes to send him sailing into the steel barricade and on top of a photographer.

Finally, Hart finds his way back into the ring. No more headlocks. Hart goes toe-to-toe with Perfect with a series of punches. Perfect manages to Irish whip Hart to the turnbuckle, but the Hitman stops himself before colliding, leaps backwards as Perfect closes in, lands behind the champion, and rolls him up for the pin. One! Two! Kickout by Perfect. Hart has the upper hand, but Perfect stiffs him with a hard punch to the face to steal his momentum. Perfect sends Hart into the turnbuckle again, but this time it connects with the challenger's back. "That moved the ring!" screams Piper.

Perfect has the clear advantage. He forces Hart outside of the ring again, but he isn't letting him take a break this time. Perfect goes after him. After some punches from both men, they try to climb back into the ring at the corner but end up struggling with each other at the top turnbuckle.

Perfect and Hart land punches. Exhausted, both men collapse into the ring. Neither the clear victor in that exchange. Perfect, however, lands a couple seconds after Hart and falls on top of him! The cover...and Hart reaches down deep and powers out. Perfect yells at Hebner that it was three. Bobby Heenan, definately backing Mr. Perfect, hopes that the champion doesn't touch the referee or he'll lose the match. "With a disqualification," Monsoon reminds him, "he'll keep the title." Heenan responds "Oh, then nail him!" Classic.

Perfect grabs Hart by the hair. A little continuity from earlier. This time, he is more forceful and tosses the Hitman by his mane across the ring. Hart pulls himself up, but Perfect sends him into the ropes, side-steps him, and latches on the sleeper. Referee checks Hart to see if he is still conscious. Arm falls once, twice...and on the third Hart raises his right arm as high as the can.

Bret thrusts his elbows into the mid-section of Perfect to break up the sleeper. Hart bounds off the ropes and jumps into the crucifix position again. Perfect doesn't take it. He arches his body backwards into a Samoan drop, crushing the challenger beneath his weight. Perfect leans back for the a lackadaisical cover. Two-count. Perfect rockets Hart sternum-first into the turnbuckle. Another cover and another two-count.

Perfect has tried everything to put the Hitman away except for one: The Perfect Plex. For those who don't know, it is strong fisherman's suplex into a bridge. Hart is primed for it. Perfect locks the head, hooks the leg, and brings on the suplex hard. Perfectly executed. Hart is down. Referee goes for the count. One! Two! Hart kicks out! "I can't believe it!" the announcers yell. Kicking out of one's finisher was, and to a lesser degree still is, very uncommon. In '91, it was something special. "Nobody's ever kicked out of that!" Heenan says in shock.

Hart begins to build momentum again. A crouching punch to Perfect's breadbasket. Another. Hart gets to his feet and levels the champ with an inverted atomic drop. The Hitman has had enough. He grabs Perfect's hair yet again and powerfully tosses him from corner to corner. Perfect nearly crotches himself on the ring post. Hart suplexes Perfect and goes for the pin. Two-count. The fans boo. They are dying for Hart to win.

Bret rolls Perfect into a small package. Another two-count. Russian leg sweep. Another two. Backbreaker followed by an axe-handle off the top ropes. Yet another two-count. Hart tells the referee what he thinks of all these two-counts, and while he is distracted, Perfect rolls Hart up. One...Two...kickout. Hart pushes Perfect not only off of him but out of the ring. The Hitman follows him and whips Perfect shoulder-first into the ring post. Hart brings the Perfect One back into the ring for prepares the Sharpshooter. Fans of their feet. It is halfway on, but The Coach climbs up to the ring apron and badmouths Hart. The challenger responds with a shot to the face. Very nice.

Hart is on the apron now, one of his legs inside and the other out. Perfect seizes the opportunity and kicks the rope up, crushing Hart's privates. Perfect walks over to the fallen wrestler and kicks him...well...let's just say in the upper thigh. The referee has some words with Perfect. The fans are giving Hart sympathy heat. "Let's go Bret!" they chant. Hart is on his back. Perfect drops a leg in that area again, but as he does, Hart latches onto that leg, spins his body so that he is on his stomach, stands up, and from out of nowhere, there's the Sharpshooter! Beautiful!

Mr. Perfect submits immediately. After a very strong eighteen minutes, Bret "Hitman" Hart is the new Intercontinental Champion!

Thank you for reading this month's Wrestling Museum and paying tribute to both great athletes. I will be writing up an account of another classic match soon. I have some ideas on what I want to do, but I am open to suggestions. E-mail me at Trophar@Lycos.com with your favorite classic match from a decade or more ago, and I just might pick it for March's Wrestling Museum.

Before that, a couple other Beauty in Wrestling projects to be debuted. Keep on reading.