WWF Coliseum Video Collection: The Hart Foundation (1987)

 

WWF Coliseum Video Collection: The Hart Foundation (1987)

Coliseum Video compilation. The front cover... is very pink... and features the Hart Foundation with their WWF Tag Team title belts

Craig DeGeorge hosts from the control center

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The British Bulldogs v The Hart Foundation: From Superstars on February 7 1987 (taped January 26) in Tampa Florida. I feel like I’ve covered this one before, but I can’t find any documentation (and I’m pretty good with that), so I guess not. Davey Boy Smith comes in fighting both heels, and he hits Bret Hart with a hanging vertical suplex, then dumps Jim Neidhart to the outside, as Dynamite Kid sells a megaphone shot that happened before the bell on the outside. Smith keeps dominating both challengers, and he hits Jim with the running powerslam, but referee Danny Davis is too busy checking on Kid, so no count. Davey goes to drag him in, but that allows Bret to attack, and the Foundation double team. They hit Davey with the Hart Attack, and we have new champions crowned at 2:49. There wasn’t much to it, but it was a great moment, and coupled with a great angle. ½*

The Hart Foundation v The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers: From New York City on September 22 1986, aired on the October 9 episode of Prime Time Wrestling. Jim Neidhart and Raymond Rougeau start, and he goes right at him with fists, but Ray fights him off. Tag to Jacques Rougeau, so Bret Hart comes in without a tag, but the Brothers clean house. The dust settles on Bret and Jacques, as the commentators discuss how there are several other Rougeau brothers we haven’t met yet. I don’t think that ever went anywhere, and I’m kind of surprised they didn’t sell Pierre as a brother later on. Jacques knocks Bret to the outside with a nice dropkick, and he passes to Ray, who grabs a standing side-headlock. Hart escapes, so they criss cross, and Ray uses a shoulderblock. Rollup, but Bret blocks, so Ray dropkicks him over the top instead. Tags all around, and Jim wants to match power, so Jacques wisely tries to wrestle. He grabs a headlock, but Jim quickly escapes, and forces him to match power. That goes badly for Jacques, but Neidhart gets outsmarted, and ends up in a Boston crab. Bret quickly saves, and Jim tags him in to hit Jacques with a combo for two. The Foundation work Jacques over, until Bret misses a 2nd rope elbowdrop, and Ray gets the hot tag - Roseanne Barr the door! Ray gets Jim in a sleeper, but Bret saves, so Jacques chases him around ringside. Jacques ends up getting clobbered out there, allowing the Foundation to double up on Ray, but Jacques comes back with a slingshot sunset flip on Neidhart at 14:35. Good tag psychology, and great execution, especially from the always fantastic Hitman. ** ¼

Bret Hart v Ricky Steamboat: From Boston Massachusetts on March 8 1986, aired on Prime Time July 28. I just did this one within the last year, but the version from Prime Time was clipped, and this appears to be unclipped, so I’ll give it another look. Bret attacks before the bell, and goes to town on Ricky in the corner. A cross corner whip gets reversed, however, and now Ricky unloads in the corner. Steamboat with a snapmare to set up a few chop drops, and he puts Bret in an armbar. Hart fights to a vertical base, but Steamboat sends him shoulder-first into the corner, and cranks on the arm again. A criss cross ends in Ricky using an armdrag into an armbar, but Hart slugs free. He tries a headlock, but Steamboat quickly whips him into the ropes, and wins the resulting criss cross with a hiptoss out of a reversal sequence. Back to the armbar from the Dragon, but Hart escapes. He tries a side suplex, but Steamboat lands on his feet, and pops him with a superkick. Ricky looks for a backdrop, but Hart is ready with a swinging neckbreaker, which nicely sets up a legdrop for him. Steamboat tries a charge, but ends up going flying out of the ring, and Hart vertical suplexes him back inside for two. Bret goes to the mat with a side-headlock, but Steamboat gets to a vertical base, and slugs free. Bodyslam, but Hart topples him for two. Hart tries a backbreaker from there, but Ricky blocks, countering into a bodyslam to set up a splash - only for Bret to get the knees up. Hart dumps him to the outside for a bodyslam on the floor, but Steamboat beats the count, so Hart hits him with a running powerslam for two. Bret pounds on him with mounted punches as punishment for the kick out, and a backbreaker sets up a 2nd rope elbowdrop, but Ricky rolls out of the way. That allows Steamboat to go on the comeback trail, and a knife-edge chop is worth two. Steamboat with a side suplex for two, and a facebuster sets up a fistdrop for two. Ricky rattles him with a turnbuckle smash, and he unloads in the corner, with the referee warning him. Ricky tries a cross corner whip, but Bret reverses back into the original corner, and the referee gets bumped. Hart with a hangman clothesline, but there’s no referee to count. Bret with a bodypress as the official recovers, but Ricky rolls through at 15:09! It was worth rewatching this to get the full version. You wouldn’t think that much would be lost, considering it was mostly the armbar stuff from the early going that was clipped, but it made a difference to the overall piece. ** ¾ (Original rating: * ¾)

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Davey Boy Smith, Tito Santana, and Junkyard Dog v Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, and Honky Tonk Man: From a TV taping on January 6 1987 in Hershey Pennsylvania. Davey and Bret start, and Hart nearly takes a bump over the top off of the freakin’ collar-and-elbow. Bret was a special breed of awesome. A criss cross ends in Bulldog bodyslamming him, so Honky runs in, and gets the same. That draws Anvil in, and Smith has to give it a couple of tries, but Jim takes a bodyslam as well, and the heels all bail to regroup. The dust settles back on Smith and Hart, and Bret goes to town n the corner, but Bulldog blocks a cross corner whip, and uses a victory roll for two. Tag to Honky, so Smith passes to Dog, and JYD unloads with headbutts until Honky happily tags out to Neidhart. Jim shoves Dog around, but an attempt at a triple team in the corner goes badly, and JYD throws headbutts ahead of a tag to Tito. He puts Jim in a front-facelock, but he can’t get him grounded, and Jim tags Honky while in the hold. Tito immediately gets him in a headlock, but Honky whips him into the ropes. He tries a backdrop, but Tito blocks with a kneelift, and uses a pair of bodyslams. Tag to Bret, and he suckers Tito into a cheap shot on a break in the corner, but Santana cross corner whips him in response. Over to Davey for a wristlock, and the babyfaces take turns abusing the Hitman. Neidhart catches a tag and blocks JYD in the corner, which is enough to turn the tide. The heels work Dog over, as Bobby Heenan gets a funny line in about how they’re all managed by the same guy, so even if they forget to tag once in a while, it’s all good. Honky misses a 2nd rope fistdrop to allow the hot tag to Tito, and he pops Honky with the jumping forearm right away, but Anvil breaks the count at two. That allows Bret to tag in, and he hits an atomic drop to set up an elbowdrop, but they collide during a criss cross. That allows Tito to pass to Smith, and Bulldog fights off a double team from the Foundation. A hanging vertical suplex on Bret gets two when Neidhart saves again, and Roseanne Barr the door! The heels all get rammed together, and Davey covers Bret at 12:14. Really fun, but a little long for what it was. That heat segment could have lost three minutes, or so, and the overall piece would have been better for it. * ¾ 

Gene Okerlund hosts a special investigative report on the offices of Jimmy Hart’s stable. They have offices? Anyway, the place is basically Gene Heaven, as it’s stocked like a trout pond. Though the fact that we keep hearing random women screaming in the background is a little dark

Next up, the Danny Davis Story, as we see Davis openly trying to heel it up on the February 14 1987 episode of Superstars, so President Jack Tunney chases him down to ringside, and gives him a lifetime suspension. That draws Jimmy Hart out, and he leads Davis to the back with him, bringing him into his stable. I’ve never actually seen that angle before, so I appreciate the inclusion

The Hart Foundation v Jim Powers and Jerry Allen: From Superstars on March 7 1987 (taped February 16) in New Haven Connecticut, with the WWF Tag Team title not on the line. This is mostly included here since Davis is now in their corner. The Foundation with the Hart Attack at 1:46. DUD

We get clips of the six-man from WrestleMania III, and I’m glad they didn’t bother including it in full, since it (even then) was widely available elsewhere. It’s worth this inclusion because it’s important to the angle they’re highlighting

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The British Bulldogs v The Hart Foundation: From November 1 1986 in Boston Massachusetts. Dynamite Kid and Bret Hart start, and Hart quickly takes him into the heel corner, but Kid fights off the attempted double team. The challengers bail to regroup, and the dust settles on Davey Boy Smith and the Hitman. Smith with an atomic drop and a corner whip, but the charge in misses, and Bret hooks a rollup for two. Tag to Jim Neidhart, and Bulldog drills him with a shoulderblock, then gets a standing side-headlock on. Jim escapes, so Davey tries a bodypress, but gets caught in a bodyslam, and Bret tags in with a slingshot splash for two. Bret adds an inverted atomic drop to set up a pointed elbowdrop, and a backbreaker follows. Back to Neidhart for a matslam for two, and the Foundation hit him with a combo for two. The Foundation cut the ring in half on Smith, until he manages to fight out of a sleeper from Bret, and then press-drops him across the top rope. That allows the hot tag, and Kid runs wild. A snap suplex on Bret sets up a headbutt drop, and he gets a sleeper of his own on, but Neidhart saves - bumping the referee in the process. That allows Neidhart to put Bret on top of a limp Kid, but the referee is still loopy, and we get a delayed, dramatic two count. Neidhart slams Kid and puts Bret on top again for another dramatic two, and Jim looks like he wants to murder this poor referee now. And he just might, but Smith recovers, and rolls Neidhart up at 13:41. I’m glad they included this, even if it’s out of order, because it’s nice to have a proper match between them, one where Kid was actually an active participant. It’s not an especially exciting match, but the execution was flawless throughout, and you really can’t go wrong with this pairing. ** ¼ (Original rating: ** ¾)

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Hart Foundation v The Killer Bees: From February 23 1987 in New York City. Jim Neidhart and Jim Brunzell start, and Brunzell gets a wristlock applied. Tag to Bret Hart, and the Hitman throws a fist on a rope break, but loses a reversal sequence when Brunzell hooks a sunset cradle for two. Brunzell goes to work on the arm, and B Brian Blair tags in for a wristlock of his own. Hart throws a fist again, and then pops him with a headbutt, but a clothesline misses, and Bret ends up getting tied in the ropes. Anvil frees him up, so Blair sends Bret into Neidhart with a catapult, but Anvil manages to pull the Hitman to the outside to break the momentum. That works, allowing the Foundation to take control of Blair, and they cut the ring in half. Blair manages to send Bret into the turnbuckles, and he tries a bodyslam, but Anvil topples it - Blair rolling through for two. Unfortunately for him, he gets clobbered, and the Foundation go back to work. Blair manages to fight Bret off long enough for the hot tag to Brunzell, and he catches Bret with a dropkick for two. The bell rings, but it was a flub by the timekeeper, and they keep going. In the confusion, Danny Davis sneaks in, and nails Brunzell, allowing Bret a cradle at 13:31. This was okay, but nothing special. * ½ 

BUExperience: This is a great tape, with lots of good wrestling, and highlighting one of the best teams of the era. Plus, very little bullshit with the host, or anything else, just getting right into the good stuff.

A great addition to your Coliseum Collection.