WWE Greatest Rivals: Shawn vs Bret
By Matt Kulacki
If you watched professional wrestling in the mid to late 90s, there was no rivalry that stuck out more than that of Bret “The Hitman” Hart and “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels. This DVD Chronicles the careers of two of the greatest superstars to ever grace the squared circle while hall of famer Jim Ross walks us down the paths of these two wrestling legends.
As young upstarts with their respective tag teams, The Rockers and The Hart Foundation, Bret and Shawn established themselves in the WWE. Eventually the vast potential of these two athletes led them to solo careers that put them on a collision course at the top of the WWE. The controversy that surrounded Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels is still remembered and talked about in the wrestling community today, so it is only fitting that World Wrestling Entertainment gives true fans the opportunity to re-live the battles these two juggernauts of the industry had and for the new fans to dig deeper into the hall of fame careers of The Show Stopper and The Excellence Of Execution.
In Greatest Rivals: Shawn vs. Bret, good ol’ JR asks Shawn and Bret to describe from their points of view the ins and outs of their storied rivalry, digging into the personal lives of these two superstars and looking behind the scenes at the lifestyles of both and what eventually drove them in two different directions inside and outside the ring. On one hand you had the established technical good boy in Bret Hart and on the other you had the arrogant risk taker in Shawn Michaels. (Kudos to Vince McMahon and the writers of the WWE for pitting these two mega-stars against each other) It made for some of the best wresting to date and one of the most fearsome feuds sports entertainment has ever seen. Little did they know at the time that this rivalry would spill out of the ring and back into the locker room.
Bret and Shawn pretty much tell it how it was in this revealing piece, from the early days when the two had mutual respect for one another, to quotes like, “I hope I don’t have to run him over with my car I hate him so much.” The story finishes with a happy ending though. After over twelve long years Bret made it back to Monday Night Raw and received a long awaited apology from Shawn Michaels. The time of controversy was over and the rivalry finally put to rest. The emotional ending to this saga was unscripted and off the cuff for Shawn and Bret, making it a genuine moment in the crazy business that is professional wrestling.
After the interview was held and the story was told, I had the viewing pleasure of watching the matches dubbed the best matches of Shawn and Bret, from the ladder match for the Intercontinental Title to the 60 minute Iron Man Match for the Heavy-Weight Championship, to the infamous Montreal screw-job that left Bret heading for WCW. This DVD has eight of the most entertaining matches to ever be put on film. I was so fired up watching these matches it felt like the first time around all over again. I found myself waiting to see what comes next even knowing that I have seen all of this before. Listening to the entire back story before just gives you that added spark and makes you watch for new subtleties.
The stories were intense, the matches were unreal, and capped off with the induction of these two Superstars into the WWE Hall Of Fame. This two disc set has pretty much everything. I want to thank Vince McMahon, WWE Entertainment, Bret, Shawn, JR and everyone responsible for putting together this masterpiece of a rivalry DVD. If you love wrestling or just good old fashion drama, this video is where it’s at.
http://www.amazon.com/WWE-Greatest-Rivalries-Shawn-Michaels/dp/B005BYBZCM
