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Worst in the World: Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XXVI

WrestleMania 37 kicks off tonight, which means that it's only fitting that I look at a notorious stinker that took place on the Grandest Stage of them All in this post. Considering how I've done almost 150 of these over the years, I've covered most of the absolute worst matches that have ever happened at the Colassol Tussle. However, there's one infamously match from the history of WrestleMania that I've never looked at. And it might honestly be the worst in the 36-year history of the entire show. It's Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon from WrestleMania XXVI.
Now, the bad blood between Bret Hart and Vince McMahon is no secret. After Vince screwed Bret with the Montreal Screwjob (you might've heard of it) in 1997, Hart left the WWF and joined WCW, while McMahon became the biggest villain in the history of the business. It would be eight years before Hart did any kind of business with the WWE when he took part in a documentary DVD about his career. It's worth noting, however, that before Hart signed on for the project, it was originally going to be less of a celebration of Hart and more of a smear similar to the Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior. Hart has gone on record saying that WWE basically said "get on board or we'll run you over." After being inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006 and making a pre-taped cameo on Raw in 2007, Hart officially returned to WWE in 2009. After burying the hatchet with Shawn Michaels over Montreal (at least in storyline), Hart tried to do the same with McMahon, only for Vince to ask him what the capital of Thailand is.
Hart would challenge McMahon to a match at WrestleMania, but after a confrontation, Vince declined. Seemingly leaving WWE, Hart was involved in a car accident in the parking lot that badly injured his leg. With Hart barely mobile, McMahon pounced on the opportunity, accepting Hart's challenge and goading him into the match. However, after a No Holds Barred stipulation was added and the contract was signed, Hart revealed the ruse, the accident was a set-up, and Hart wasn't injured at all. So now, we have a full-strength Vince McMahon against a full-strength Bret Hart at WrestleMania...except, not really.
See, Bret Hart's leg might've been fine, but Hart himself was far from physically able to compete. All the way back in 1999, Hart took on Goldberg in the main event of Starrcade. During that match, Hart took a mule kick from Goldberg that gave him a severe concussion. That, along with Hart continuing to wrestle for almost a month after the injury, left him with post-concussion syndrome, which forced him to retire from the ring. Three years later, Hart would suffer a stroke. WrestleMania XXVI would be Hart's first match in over a decade. But even then, having Hart even take bumps is too risky. So, how do you even have a match when one guy can't even physically wrestle anymore? Let's find out.
Hart makes his entrance first, dressed not in ring gear, but a t-shirt, jean shorts, and sneakers.
I was initially going to give out about how sad this version of Bret looks, but Jerry Lawler does make a pretty valid point that it's a street fight, so he's in street clothes. Fair point, but it doesn't excuse Hart wrestling in this get-up in later years. Vince comes out and grabs a mic, saying Hart deserves a WrestleMania-sized screwing. Vince says he's decided to turn their match into a Lumberjack match with a special guest referee, and that not only he'll screw Bret, but his entire family will. Outcomes all the Harts, including the Hart Dynasty of Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith (Davey Boy Smith Jr.), and Natalya, Bret's brothers Bruce & Smith, and his sister Diana, who's presence allows me to throw up this image.
Bruce doesn't stop at ringside, however. Instead, he gets in the ring and unbuttons his shirt, revealing a referee's shirt. Somewhere in Ireland, the OSW Review boys are marking out.
Bret takes the mic and lays into his family for backstabbing him...OR DOES HE? Hart says his family told him about the deal, and that they're on his side tonight. Bret & Bruce hug before the bell rings. Bret immediately floors Vince with punches. They don't look anywhere as good as they did when Hart was in his prime, but they're not the worst I've ever seen. Bret drags Vince's face across the top rope before stomping away at him in the corner. Vince crawls out of the ring, where all of the Hart Dynasty and even Smith Hart beat down Vince before Kidd & DH Smith hit a Hart Attack, with Kidd diving off the top rope for the clothesline. The Harts throw Vince back in the ring, Bret locks in the Sharpshooter and Vince immediately taps out, giving Bret the win and closure after over 12 years.

The Verdict

...
Yeah...the match isn't over. It really should've just ended there, it didn't need to go on a second longer...but it didn't, and it keeps going. Instead, we get more of Bret beating down Vince, who rolls out of the ring and tries to crawl under the ring. The Harts drag Vince back out, only for Vince to threaten them with a crowbar. Vince enters the ring and tries to hit Bret, but Bret dodges and it beats down Vince. Bruce proceeds to hand the crowbar to Tyson Kidd...who then hands it to Bret, who beats Vince down with it for over a minute uninterrupted. Bret calls for the Sharpshooter and locks it in, and Vince taps out.

The Verd-

Except he doesn't, instead teasing the Sharpshooter, then just hitting him with the crowbar a few more times. Bret teases the Sharpshooter again...only to instead stomp Vince in the gut. Bret slowly stomps away at Vince for over a minute before DH Smith slides him a chair. Instead of hitting him, Bret decides to take a timeout and takes a seat as Vince crawls around in pain. This is actual agony. As Vince gets to his feet, Bret smashes Vince with some pretty brutal chair shots. But even then, this goes on for way too long, as Bret spends TWO WHOLE MINUTES just beating the shit out of Vince with a chair. It borders on uncomfortable, which is not the feeling you want to convey when a man is fighting the man who screwed him over a decade ago. Mercifully, Bret finally ends the match with the Sharpshooter for the submission win after over 11 minutes. Bret celebrates by stepping on Vince...so Bruce does the same because why not.
The entire Hart family gets in the ring and celebrates to close out this segment.

The Verdict

This match should've been a maximum of two minutes. Bret should've gotten his shots in, Vince tries to escape, the rest of the Harts gets their licks in, and then Bret submits Vince with the Sharpshooter. There was absolutely zero reason for this match to go any longer than two minutes, let alone 11. What we get is an uncomfortably long beatdown. This is legitimately the only match in the history of WrestleMania that I think can actually compete with Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler for the worst in the show's history. Is it worse than Cole vs Lawler?..No. It's bad, and it's going towards the bottom of the list, but it's still better than Cole vs Lawler. That being said, don't watch this match. There is no enjoyment to be gained from this.

Rankings (Best to Worst)

  1. Rick Rude vs Jake Roberts-WrestleMania IV
  2. Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998
  3. Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns-Greatest Royal Rumble
  4. Ernest Miller vs Norman Smiley-Fall Brawl 1998
  5. Shane McMahon vs Eric Bischoff-SummerSlam 2003
  6. The Tag Team Gauntlet-Extreme Rules 2010
  7. Randy Orton vs Bray Wyatt-WrestleMania 33
  8. Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000
  9. T&A vs Head Cheese-WrestleMania 2000
  10. Triple H vs Sgt. Slaughter-D-Generation X: In Your House
  11. Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI
  12. Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV
  13. Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV
  14. Shelton Benjamin vs Viscera-New Year's Revolution 2006
  15. Steve McMichael vs Reggie White-Slamboree 1997
  16. Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party-Super Showdown 2019
  17. Alexa Bliss vs Bayley-Extreme Rules 2017
  18. The Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match-WrestleMania 13
  19. Tag Team Battle Royal-WrestleMania XIV
  20. The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991
  21. The Natural Disasters vs Money Inc.-WrestleMania VIII
  22. Ivan Koloff vs Paul Jones-Clash of the Champions IV
  23. ODB, Taylor Wilde, and Roxxi vs The Kongtourage-Genesis 2009
  24. Ivory vs Tori-SummerSlam 1999
  25. Giant Baba vs Bulldog Bob Brown-WrestleRock
  26. The Reverse Battle Royal-Impact! (10/26/2006)
  27. Jerry Blackwell vs Boris Zhukov-SuperClash II
  28. Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede
  29. Alex Wright vs Steve McMichael-Halloween Havoc 1997
  30. The Great Khali vs Kane-WrestleMania 23
  31. Savio Vega vs Crush vs Faarooq-Ground Zero: In Your House
  32. The Shockmaster vs Awesome/King Kong-Starrcade 1993
  33. Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013
  34. The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998
  35. Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII
  36. Paul Ellering vs Teddy Long-Capital Combat
  37. Dusty Rhodes vs Big Boss Man-Saturday Night's Main Event (10/31/1989)
  38. Konnan vs Scott Hall-Fall Brawl 1998
  39. Tyson Tomko vs Stevie Richards-Unforgiven 2004
  40. Kane vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2009
  41. Rick Steiner vs Scott Steiner-Fall Brawl 1998
  42. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild
  43. Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Souled Out 1997
  44. Dustin Rhodes & King Kong vs Awesome Kong & The Equalizer-Battlebowl
  45. Finlay & Little Bastard vs The Boogeyman & Little Boogeyman-No Way Out 2007
  46. Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V
  47. Yokozuna vs King Mabel-In Your House 4
  48. Dusty Rhodes vs The Honky Tonk Man-SummerSlam 1989
  49. Sting & Hawk vs Meng & Kurasawa-Clash of the Champions XXXI
  50. Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998
  51. Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999
  52. Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006
  53. Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007
  54. British Bulldog & Jim Neidhart vs The Dancing Fools-Fall Brawl 1998
  55. Stevie Ray vs Konnan-World War 3 1998
  56. Vampiro vs The KISS Demon-Bash at the Beach 2000
  57. Team WCW vs nWo Wolfpac vs nWo Hollywood-Fall Brawl 1998
  58. Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999
  59. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania III
  60. Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton-Battleground 2017
  61. Van Hammer vs Terrance Taylor-Clash of the Champions XVI
  62. Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic
  63. Chris Jericho vs "Goldberg"-Fall Brawl 1998
  64. Roman Reigns vs The Undertaker-WrestleMania 33
  65. The Undertaker vs Goldberg-Super ShowDown 2019
  66. Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988
  67. Jim Duggan vs Big Boss Man-Royal Rumble 1990
  68. Meng vs Jim Duggan-Uncensored 1995
  69. Jim Steele vs The Equalizer-SuperBrawl IV
  70. The Undertaker vs Giant González-WrestleMania IX
  71. Sting vs Tony Palmore-Battle 7
  72. D-Generation X vs Brothers of Destruction-Crown Jewel
  73. Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai-WrestleMania
  74. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar-WrestleMania XX
  75. Edge vs Triple H vs Vladimir Kozlov-Survivor Series 2008
  76. Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V
  77. Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998
  78. Scott Hall vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl IX
  79. Boris Zhukov vs Paul Samson-Beach Brawl
  80. Roddy Piper vs Hollywood Hogan-Halloween Havoc 1997
  81. Kane vs The Great Khali-Breaking Point
  82. Hollywood Hogan & Dennis Rodman vs Diamond Dallas Page & Karl Malone-Bash at the Beach 1998
  83. PN News & Bobby Eaton vs Steve Austin & Terrance Taylor-Great American Bash 1991
  84. Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin
  85. Hollywood Hogan vs Roddy Piper-SuperBrawl 1997
  86. Batista vs The Great Khali-SummerSlam 2007
  87.  Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV
  88. Super Invader vs Todd Champion-WrestleWar 1992
  89. Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez-Crown Jewel 2019
  90. King Kong Bundy & Jim Neidhart vs Yokozuna & Jake Roberts-Heroes of Wrestling
  91. Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII
  92. The 8-Divas Tag Match-Survivor Series 1999
  93. The Fabulous Freebirds vs The Renegade Warriors-Halloween Havoc 1990
  94. The Knockouts Gauntlet-One Night Only: Live! 2016
  95. AJ Styles vs Frank Trigg-No Surrender 2008
  96. Rick Rude vs Masahiro Chono-Halloween Havoc 1992
  97. Mike Awesome vs Vampiro-Halloween Havoc 2000
  98. Bray Wyatt vs John Cena-Extreme Rules 2014
  99. Brothers of Destruction vs KroniK-Unforgiven 2001
  100. Mabel vs The Undertaker-King of the Ring 1995
  101. Wendi Richter vs The Fabulous Moolah-The Brawl to End it All
  102. David Flair vs Kimberly Page-Mayhem 1999
  103. The Truth Commission vs The Disciples of Apocolypse-Survivor Series 1997
  104. Daffney vs Miss Hancock-Bash at the Beach 2000
  105. The Bushwhacker vs The Fabulous Rougeaus-WrestleMania V
  106. The Beverly Brothers vs The Bushwhackers-Royal Rumble 1992
  107. Teddy Long vs Eric Bischoff-Survivor Series 2005
  108. Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling
  109. Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling
  110. Major Gunns vs Miss Hancock-New Blood Rising
  111. Bradshaw & Trish Stratus vs Christopher Nowinski & Jackie Gayda-RAW (7/8/2002)
  112. Triple H vs Scott Steiner-Royal Rumble 2003
  113. Goldberg vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Super ShowDown 2020
  114. Santina Marella vs Vickie & Chavo Guerrero-Extreme Rules 2009
  115. Kevin Nash vs Scott Steiner vs Goldberg-New Blood Rising
  116. Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998
  117. Mr. T vs Roddy Piper-WrestleMania 2
  118. The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994
  119. The House of Horrors Match-Payback 2017
  120. The Blacktop Bully vs Dustin Rhodes-Uncensored 1995
  121. Team Dos Caras vs Team El Canek-Leyendas Mexicanas 2017
  122. Pat Patterson vs Gerald Brisco-King of the Ring 2000
  123. The Wyatt Swamp Fight-The Horror Show at Extreme Rules
  124. The Four Doinks vs Team Bigelow-Survivor Series 1993
  125. Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011
  126. Bret Hart vs Mr. McMahon-WrestleMania XXVI
  127. Oz vs Tim Parker-SuperBrawl
  128. Brock Lesnar vs Braun Strowman-Crown Jewel 2018
  129. Brock Lesnar vs Ricochet-Super ShowDown 2020
  130. The Mighty Maccabee vs The Iron Sheik-Maccabiah Mania II: Shekel Slam
  131. Van Hammer vs Doug Somers-Halloween Havoc 1991
  132. Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)
  133. Jeff Jarrett vs Sting-Halloween Havoc 2000
  134. The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996
  135. Kane vs The Undertaker-Judgement Day 1998
  136. Rebel vs Shelly Martinez-One Night Only: Knockouts Knockdown
  137. Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/2010)
  138. Sabu vs The Sandman-November to Remember 1997
  139. Seth Rollins vs "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt-Hell in a Cell 2019
  140. Michael Cole vs Jerry Lawler-WrestleMania XXVII
  141. The Bushwhackers vs Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff-Heroes of Wrestling
  142. James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007
  143. John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012
  144. Hulk Hogan vs The Giant-Halloween Havoc 1995
  145. Ultimate Warrior vs Goldust-In Your House 7
  146. Los Villanos vs Los Psycho Circus-Triplemania XXIII
  147. Jenna Morasca vs Sharmell-Victory Road 2009
Thanks for reading! Be sure to share if you enjoy and leave any suggestions for matches you'd like to see covered in the Worst in the World in the comments. Next time, I'll be taking a look at a New Japan show, which featured the least "New Japan" match you could ever think of. Until then...

Comments

  1. Yo man, I think you mean XXVI.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right, thank you, I totally missed that

      Delete
    2. All good my man. Also, you're Irish right? I've read a few of these and never picked up on it until you used "give out". Dead giveaway.

      Delete
    3. Not Irish, just watch a lot of OSW Review and stuff like that just kind of became a part of vocabulary.

      Delete
    4. I'm not from Ireland is what I meant, but my family is Irish

      Delete
  2. I have to completely disagree on you with the concept this should have been a two minute match. This one is about the storytelling: a man that was robbed and ridiculed by his nemesis finally getting the chance for revenge. McMahon never gave Hart mercy, and with a long beatdown like this, it is retribution for Bret and the entire family. Plus, from the "smark" perspective, it is Vince willing to take a prolonged beating to allow Bret Hart to get out the anger built up in him for years from various sources caused by Vince McMahon.
    In the present, when I see/hear discussions of what it would take for CM Punk to come back, I think back to this match, and that maybe Punk wants/deserves/needs a Bret Hart at Wrestlemania XXVI moment in order to get out his resentments toward Vince, Triple H, or whomever.

    PS: On a rankings note, I feel this should NOT be ranked worse than when Jeff Hardy ruined the main event of a PPV by getting high/intoxicated.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Understandable. Maybe two minutes was being a bit harsh, but I still think 11 minutes was too long for an uninterrupted beatdown like this. A length somewhere in the middle still probably wouldn't have been good, but not as bad as what we actually got.

      As for ranking it worse than Hardy vs Sting, while Hardy/Sting is also incredibly bad, The thing that puts Bret vs Vince below it is the length. I feel like if I had to re-watch one of these matches (not that I want to), I'd be more willing to watch Hardy/Sting despite it being really uncomfortable. Both matches have nothing good in my opinion, but I'd rather watch a minute and a half of bad wrestling than 11.

      Delete
  3. Miss Wrestlemania Battle Royal from WM25 was absolute trash

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the suggestion! This match 100% deserves an entry. I have a few of entries written already and scheduled, so after those are up, I'll get to work on this one

      Delete
    2. Another potential dud to have on the list: Starrcade 1997's main event. That is, of course, if you can stomach another Hulk Hogan match/political maneuver.

      Delete
    3. Thanks for the suggestion! And yes, I'm always willing to make fun of Hogan

      Delete

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