For more than a decade, Bret Hit Man Hart and Shawn Michaels engaged in perhaps the most storied rivalry in the history of sports entertainment, from their teams (the Hart Foundation and the Rockers), through battles for the Intercontinental Championship and the richest prize in the business, the WWE Championship. Their enmity spilled out of the ring, and led to the most infamous incident in the history of professional wrestling, The Montreal Screwjob. More than a decade later, the two men buried the hatchet as both are now WWE Hall of Famers. Now, for the first time ever, the two sit down together and rehash their intertwined destinies in Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart. These new, never-before-aired, interviews will shed new light and insight on issues and controversies fans have speculated about for years.
This set is due to release on October 25, 2011 Here is what you can expect to see on the 3-Disc DVD and 2-Disc Blu-ray sets.
*DISC ONE*
San Antonio vs. Calgary
The Rockers vs. The Hart Foundation
Heartbreak Kid vs.The Hit Man
Intercontinental Champion vs. WWE Champion
Showstopper vs. Excellence of Execution
Progressive vs. Traditional
Fantasy vs. Reality
Respect vs. Trust
Redemption vs. Reconciliation
Hope vs. Peace
*DISC TWO*
The Rockers vs. The Hart Foundation
Madison Square Garden - 25th November, 1989
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Wrestling Challenge - 10th February, 1990
The Rockers vs. The Hart Foundation
Tokyo Dome - 30th March, 1991
Ladder Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Portland, Oregon- 21st July, 1992
Intercontinental Championship Match
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Syracuse, New York- 29th April, 1992
WWE Championship Match
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Survivor Series - 25th November, 1992
Steel Cage Match
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Utica, New York - 1st December, 1993
*DISC THREE*
Iron Man Match for the WWE Championship
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
WrestleMania 12 - 31st March, 1996
WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Bret Hart's Induction
Chicago, Illinois - 1st April, 2006
Bret Hart Returns to Raw
Raw - 4th January, 2010
WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Shawn Michaels' Induction
Atlanta, Georgia - 2nd April, 2011
*Blu-ray Exclusives*
Vince McMahon Interviews Shawn Michaels & Bret Hart
Raw - 3rd February, 1997
Bret Hart Promo In Ring
Raw - 12th May, 1997
Hart Foundation Promo In Ring
Raw - 19th May, 1997
WWE Championship Match
Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels
Survivor Series - 9th November , 1997
*Extra Interview Segments*
The First WWE Ladder Match
SummerSlam 1992
Winning the WWE Championship for the First Time
Bret's WCW Regrets
Cameras Rolling Between Takes
If the first set in the WWE: Greatest Rivalries is any indication then we wrestling fans are in for a treat for years to come. The first correct choice they made was using Jim Ross as the interviewer, he has a real history with these two Superstars and has a true passion for their story. This is a whole other level than the creepy and constant camera shots of Matt Striker grinning and acting cheesy with the Rey Mysterio compilation. Good Ol' JR is quick to the point and asks smart follow questions while always being respectful of these two legends.
The main feature runs 2hrs5mins total and there was hardly a dull moment. We start off with Shawn and Bret talking about their mutual respect for each other and how they felt their respective tag teams were the new blood that could steal the show instead of the lumbering giants that had dominated the 80's. From there it moves onto there single careers and how they were on a collision course to the top. They both speak openly about how they were close friends and Shawn would hang out with Bret and his family. It was nice to see them reminiscing and smiling about it. About halfway through the run time we get into the more juicy stuff I know me and a lot of fans have been waiting for. The odd thing is that it was for the longest time them both adding fire to the flame for business to improve and backstage were on the same page. Then in late 96 is when things went down hill and Bret felt hurt that Shawn explicitly told him to his face that he would not drop the WWE Championship back to him, despite that being to Harts knowledge their original plan, and if things had been different that they would have worked matches together for another 10 years and this story would never had lead to the screw job.
1997 rolls around and Shawn claims injury so the WrestleMania XIII opponent for Bret became the on fire "Stone Cold" Steve Austin , HBK actually jokes that "well you guys just stole the show, good consolation prize". HBK states that the he always felt he didn't get the pat on the back from Bret that he was always looking for and Bret said that he thought it was implied that it was coming and he does regret not doing it earlier. They comment on their brutally personal jabs at each other on RAW during 97 and the "Sunny Days" remark. All of this leads up to about 30 minutes worth of detail on Survivor Series 97. We have heard so many sides of the story over the years that it is such a relief to see Bret so open about it, despite Shawn being a little more guarded. They are both emotional during this part of the interview and I'm sure many fans will find it cathartic if they were a huge fan of either man to this day. The aftermath is discussed and Bret hated going to WCW but he was gutted by how he was treated. He talks about his stroke and how he had his phone in the hospital not hooked up for more than 10 minutes and Vince called with a pep talk and they talked about future plans for him to return and produce a DVD of his career, that call lead to 7 years of events that brought us to Dayton, Ohio live on Monday Night RAW where the reunion of Shawn and Bret happened and they embraced in mutual respect and regrets.
The main themes of this face to face is respect and regrets. My personal all time favorite is Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart was always in my top 5. Bret moved up a couple notches with this set due to his being so honest and open about every subject and just telling how it all went down with a storyteller ease. It's great to see him so proud again and moving on with his life as well as rebuilding the friendship with Shawn. Shawn Michaels was very good on here as well but he didn't seem his usual charismatic self and he came across defensive on certain subjects. I feel it was more due to him still feeling deep regret for the events that transpired and being a born again Christian he wants to move on with the great man he has become since that infamous day in Montreal. Every wrestling fan owes it to themselves and these two legends to purchase this set on release day. 10/10
WWE: Greatest Rivalries arrives on DVD with a 480p transfer in the original aspect ratio of 1.78:1. We'll start with Disc 1 where the majority of the footage is a newly HD shot interview at WWE Studios and it exhibits natural skintones, warm colors, and deep blacks. Fine detail was strong with visible stitching on HBK's baseball cap and individual strands of The Hitman's hair. The video highlight segments that lead into the next subject feature tons of vintage photographs and match clips. The colors were quite bold from that era and while the image at times showed a slight softness that was sue to the tech used at that time. There is a HBK logo and Hitman logo that flank the sides of the image during these segments as well as the matches on Disc 2 & 3.
Audio is provided by a Dolby Digital Stereo 5.1 track. The main feature on Disc 1 exhibited crisp and clean dialogue from the participants and the tastefully done music score that plays over video highlights sounded great with some decent bleed to the surrounds otherwise this is a front heavy affair. The matches on Disc 2 & 3 had clean play-by-play commentary and the them music for Shawn and Bret came across full bodied in the front two channels. There was hardly any surround effects to report. A solid listen all around. 8/10
