Goody Bag 49: The One With Bret/Magee

Bret Hart v Tom Magee: TV taping dark match from Rochester New York on October 7 1986 - originally supposed to air on TV, but never did. I won't go into the whole back-story here (if you're reading this, you probably already know it, and there's a nice little feature on the Network about the legend anyway), but this match is has been the holy grail of lost matches for me since reading about it in Bret's book back in 2007. And given all the stories of people who WORKED for WWE unsuccessfully trying to get copies, I never thought I'd see the day where it was available at the click of a button on the Network. I'm beyond excited to see it, though I'm also a little sad, because now this great holy grail of matches is no longer something to look forward to. Joined in progress with Bret working a headlock, but Magee fights free, and sweeps Bret's leg to block a kick. Magee celebrates with a gymnastics routine, so Bret charges, but Tom is ready with an armdrag into an armbar. Bret's selling it like he's being stabbed here. Hart forces a criss cross, but Magee is ready with another armdrag into an armbar, and again Bret is selling like crazy. Hart fights into the corner to force a break, and starts unloading cheap shots right away, but a cross corner whip backfires when Magee back flips off the top rope, and sends Bret to the outside with a pair of dropkicks. Hart regroups out there for a bit, and rakes the eyes to fight Tom off on the way back in. That allows the Hitman an inverted atomic drop, and a pointed elbowdrop follows. Bret ropechokes him a bit, and a bodyslam sets up a legdrop. Magee's selling is so all over the place that Bret has to stand around waiting for him to get into position for the legdrop so long that he just ends up doing it with Tom out of position anyway. Into the corner with a turnbuckle smash, and Bret unloads, but telegraphs a backdrop, and Magee hooks a sunset flip for two. Tom's selling is laughable here. Hart keeps control with a backbreaker to set up a 2^nd rope elbowdrop - which looked like Magee was supposed to dodge, but forgot. Hart with a snapmare for two, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Bret takes his usual chest-first bump in the corner. Full speed, too. Magee makes a comeback with a backelbow and a small package for two, followed by a schoolboy for two when Bret's in the ropes. Dropkick, but Bret stops short, and Magee wipes out. Hart dumps him to the outside, then tries a suplex back in from the apron, but Magee slips free, and hooks a rollup at 7:42 shown. Yeah, so, this absolutely lives up to the hype, and was totally worth the wait! It's not a five-star classic, but no one was ever selling it as such, and if you're going in expecting that, you're going to be disappointed. What it is, is a totally solid TV match, where Bret takes a green rookie (Tom wrestled his first pro match about a year before this in Stampede, but hadn't laced up the boots at all in the six months before this match), and makes him look like he's just a bit of polishing away from being a star performer. It's an absolute genius performance on Bret's part, accentuating Magee's strengths, while structuring the bout in a way that hid most of his many weaknesses. As Sean Waltman said in the mini-doc that plays on the Network along with the match, Bret really was every bit as good as he said he was. ** ½

Ted DiBiase v Tom Magee: WWE Network lists this as a dark match from a TV taping on December 7 1988, but both HistoryofWWE and Cagematch.net don't have any record of the match. If it is December 7 1988, it took place in Tampa Florida, where there was indeed a TV taping on that day. DiBiase gets in his face at the bell, so Magee gives him a hard shove, and uses an atomic drop for two. He works an armbar from there, but DiBiase gets into the ropes to escape, and throws a cheap shot. Ted unloads on the ropes, but a criss cross goes badly when Magee uses a superkick, and DiBiase ends up on the outside. Ted stalls out there for a bit, so Tom brings him back in hardway, and unloads in the corner. He does all sorts of flips to try and disorient DiBiase, but ends up hitting boot on a corner charge, and Ted dumps him to the outside. DiBiase follows for a bodyslam on the floor, but Magee starts to beat the count, so Ted puts the boots to him on the apron. DiBiase with a 2^nd rope axehandle for two on the way back in, and he whips Tom into the ropes to set up a stiff looking clothesline for two. DiBiase with a vertical suplex for two, and a bodyslam sets up a 2^nd rope backelbow drop, but Tom rolls out of the way of that one. That allows him to try a rollup, but DiBiase blocks, so Magee throws a spinheel kick instead. He starts making a comeback, using a dropkick for two, but running into a powerslam as they criss cross, and DiBiase hooks the leg at 7:19. This was fine. Honestly, Magee didn't look any worse than a lot of guys on the roster at this point. His execution was terrible a lot of the time, but he was energetic, and really, was he any worse than guys like Dino Bravo? * ¾

Shawn Michaels v Steve Austin: Dark match from a TV taping in Corpus Christi Texas, March 10 1996. I believe this is the first show where Austin started going by 'Steve Austin' and not 'Ringmaster.' He's still got those stupid white boots and that giant elbow pad on, though. The Network guys are also good enough to include the ring announcer running down the TV stations where tonight’s taping will air for the live crowd before the match - which is exactly the type of little pointless stuff I mark out for. Shawn introduces his trainer, Jose Lothario, to stand in his corner, in one of his first appearances. They would tape his TV debut the following night, but it wouldn't air until the end of March. Feeling out process to start, dominated by Shawn on the mat. Austin finally catches him with a backelbow during one of the criss crosses to turn the tide, but he gets cocky, and Shawn escapes a reverse chinlock attempt into a chinlock. Another criss cross goes Austin's way with a Thesz-press, but it triggers a pinfall reversal sequence - ending in Michaels using a sunset flip for two. Steve bails to regroup, and tries to sucker Shawn into a cheap shot on the way back in, but HBK is too smart for him. They criss cross instead, with Austin absolutely leveling him with a clothesline to win it, and he puts the boots to the Boy Toy. Backelbow gets him two, so Steve works a chinlock. Shawn fights to a vertical base and turns it into a slugfest, so Austin uses a well placed mulekick to buy time - doing a wonderfully devious distraction job of the referee in the process. Steve dumps him to the outside for an axehandle off of the apron, and he drops Shawn throat-first across the guardrail out there. Never liked Shawn's 'drop into the rail' bump. For a master level worker who took that one often, it almost always looked phony. Michaels beats the count, so Steve welcomes him with a kneedrop for two, and it's back to the chinlock. Shawn escapes, and tries forcing a criss cross, but ends up taking a dramatic bump over the top. Steve follows for a piledriver in the aisle, but Shawn manages to counter with a backdrop, as these two are bringing it for a fucking dark match. Back in, Austin tries a bodyslam, but Michaels topples him for two. Shawn with a sleeper, so Steve drops down with a jawbreaker to escape, but Shawn stays on him with right hands, so Steve goes to the eyes. That allows him a straddling ropechoke, but Michaels dodges, and throws a series of clotheslines. Corner whip sets up a jumping forearm on the rebound, and he tackles Steve down for some mounted punches. Shawn tosses him over the top as a receipt for earlier, so Steve tries leading him into a chase, but Shawn cuts him off with a clothesline. He drops Austin across the rail for another receipt, and a flying axehandle hits on the way back in. Crowd is pumped to see a Superkick, but Austin avoids, and hits a hotshot for two. He looks for a follow-up, but Shawn slips out of his grasp, and there's that Superkick at 18:29. This actually turned into a hell of a match by the end, with both guys going above and beyond for a dark match, and you could tell there was real chemistry there that would likely yield a much better match on a bigger stage at some point. This was also much longer than you'd expect, as generally the stars were not going out there and doing twenty minutes for a taping dark match like this. Shame we never got that definitive great match between the two, before they were both too destroyed by injuries. *** ¼

Skip v Dwayne Johnson: Dark match from a TV taping on March 11 1996 in San Antonio Texas. This is the future Rock's second WWF tryout match, the first taking place the day before against Brooklyn Brawler at the Corpus Christi taping that the Michaels/Austin match is from. It's kind of funny thinking that he went from being unknown as Dwayne Johnson, to really famous as Rock, and then even more famous as Dwayne Johnson again. Like, if you watched this match in 1999, you'd be telling your friends, 'oh, that's Rock before he was famous,' while in 2019, I'm sure there are people watching old WWF shows, and telling their friends, 'oh, that's Dwayne Johnson before he was famous.' Feeling out process to start, and a criss cross ends in Johnson hitting a sloppy monkeyflip, then armdragging Skip over for an armbar. Magee was working smoother than that! Skip forces another criss cross, but Johnson ducks a leg-feed enzuigiri, and hits a pair of armdrags into an armbar. He looks like a wannabe Ricky Steamboat at this point. But, hey, there are worse guys to try and emulate. Another criss cross ends in Ricky Johnson using a bodypress for two, but a 2^nd rope version misses, and Skip takes control. He uses a snap suplex to set up a legdrop for two, and a snapmare leaves Dwayne in a chinlock. Johnson escapes, and tries a sunset flip, but Skip reverses, and throws a clothesline to keep Dwayne down. Skip is just doing ALL of the work at this point. Gutwrench suplex gets two, so Johnson tries turning it into a slugfest, but eats another clothesline. Skip with a bodyslam to set up a flying splash, but Dwayne dodges, and starts making a comeback. Sloppy powerslam gets two, but a trip to the top rope ends badly, and Skip uses a rana off the top at 7:10. And Johnson even kicks out right at three! What chutzpah! Kind of funny to think that this green dork who could barely manage an armdrag without looking foolish would be Intercontinental champion a year later, while the guy sent out to evaluate him wouldn't even be with the promotion anymore. ¾*