Survivor Series 1992: Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels Wrestle the Future Into View

The Headshrinkers and High Energy open with exactly the sort of match this card needs and then stay a little too long in Koko B. Ware's heat segment. Owen Hart is the obvious accelerant. His dropkicks, bodypresses and final burst off the hot tag make the ring feel faster whenever he enters, while Samu and Fatu already understand how to use their size without wrestling like statues.

The middle drags because the structure is familiar and Koko spends too much time being isolated, but the finish restores some snap: Samu catches Owen coming off the ropes and Fatu follows with the splash. Cagematch currently sits at 5.31, the Observer went 2.25 stars, Leighty gave it 2 stars and SmarKDown went 2.5. C-plus / 6.5 is a modest reward for a competent opener with one wrestler clearly operating at a different speed.

The Big Boss Man-Nailz feud had enough hatred to justify something ugly. The match instead becomes a short sequence of choking, climbing, falling and waiting for somebody to retrieve the nightstick. The crowd is invested because the feud was sold aggressively, but heat can only carry a stipulation so far when one participant is Nailz and the supposed violence feels safer than the promos promised.

Boss Man finally gets the stick, loses control of it, survives Nailz using it and wins with the Boss Man Slam. The finish arrives with the abruptness of somebody discovering the rental hall closes at ten. Cagematch is at 2.69 and the Observer gave it 1 star; SmarKDown went only half a star. D- / 4.2 gives credit to the crowd and brevity, which are the two best workers in the match.

Tatanka and Rick Martel have a simple story: Martel stole Tatanka's ceremonial eagle feathers, Tatanka wants them back, and an eleven-minute pay-per-view match should be enough to finish the matter. Instead, the match settles into facelocks and methodical control while Doink the Clown appears in the aisle making balloon animals. The audience naturally begins watching the clown, which is a difficult vote of confidence to recover from.

Martel is technically sound and Tatanka's comeback has energy, but the pace never justifies the length. Tatanka wins cleanly and recovers the feathers, so the story at least reaches its proper conclusion. Cagematch currently has it at 4.15, the Observer at 1.25 stars, and both Scott Keith and SmarKDown describe the match as dull. D-plus / 5.2 is fair: nothing is disastrously wrong, which is also the nicest thing to say about it.

This is the show finally remembering it has stars. Mr. Perfect returns to active competition as Randy Savage's uneasy replacement partner, Ric Flair reacts to the betrayal as though Perfect has stolen his house, and Razor Ramon supplies the heavy offense while the other three bounce around him. The story is already working before the bell because Perfect has to prove he will not abandon Savage when the match gets difficult.

Savage takes the long beating, Perfect briefly considers leaving, and the crowd talks him back into the fight. The hot tag lands beautifully. Perfect looks astonishingly comfortable after his layoff, throwing Ramon around, trading with Flair and hitting PerfectPlexes until the heels finally produce enough chaos to earn a disqualification. That finish costs the match because the work had built toward a more satisfying conclusion, but the energy is excellent. Cagematch rates it 7.01, the Observer 3.25 stars, and Scott Keith and SmarKDown each went 3.5. B-plus / 8.4 rewards the match WWF had to invent after the advertised one disappeared.

Yokozuna's first WWF pay-per-view match is not designed to create suspense. It is designed to create a problem. Virgil throws dropkicks, briefly finds openings and then discovers that none of them matter very much against a man WWF is already presenting as a future catastrophe.

The match lasts only 3:34, which is exactly why it works. Yokozuna hits the belly-to-belly, the legdrop and the Banzai Drop without wasting time pretending Virgil is about to derail the company's newest monster. Cagematch does not place the match in its matchguide because it is under five minutes, so there is little value in manufacturing a consensus score around it. C-minus / 5.9 grades the assignment rather than the difficulty: as a squash, it does its job and exits.

The only actual Survivor Series match on Survivor Series feels like somebody remembered the trademark after the card had already been printed. The four tag teams work under a rule where eliminating one wrestler removes his partner as well, which reduces the traditional format without making the match more interesting. There are competent stretches, especially when Money Inc. is controlling the pace, but the match has almost no sense of escalating consequence.

The Beverlys disappear after Earthquake pins Beau, Money Inc. eliminates the Natural Disasters, and Jerry Sags immediately rolls up IRS to end the whole thing five seconds later. The closing sequence is so compressed that the match seems surprised by its own finish. Cagematch is at 3.28 and the Observer 1.25 stars; Scott Keith called it a boring waste of time. D / 4.8 gives the wrestlers credit for basic competence and little else.

Historically, this is the first WWF coffin match. Mechanically, it is Undertaker and Kamala having another short match while the coffin waits nearby to become the actual attraction. Kamala hits slams and splashes, Undertaker survives, and the urn becomes the route to the finish before Undertaker pins him and seals him inside the coffin.

The concept matters because WWF would refine it into one of Undertaker's signature stipulations. This version does not. The action is clumsy, the finish is more theatrical than competitive and the most memorable image is Undertaker laboring with hammer and nails after the pin. Cagematch currently has it at 3.41 and the Observer called it a DUD; TJR named it the worst match of the night. F / 3.7 separates the historical first from the wrestling quality.

Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels do not wrestle this like men trying to predict 1997. They wrestle it like two ambitious workers being given 26 minutes to prove the main event no longer requires a giant at center stage. The opening is patient to the point of testing patience, with arm work, facelocks and long control segments establishing that Michaels can stay with the champion rather than merely bump for him.

Then the match keeps getting better. Bret's signature offense begins arriving in combinations, Shawn's bumps make every comeback look violent, and the near falls finally create the sense that Michaels might steal something nobody expected him to win. The finish is excellent: Michaels comes from the middle rope, Hart catches the legs in motion and turns the landing directly into the Sharpshooter. There is no interference, no disputed referee and no protection device. Bret wins because Bret is better that night.

Cagematch currently rates the match 8.26 from 283 valid votes and the Observer awarded 4.5 stars. TJR went 4.25, while Scott Keith and SmarKDown also landed at 4.5. A / 9.4 stops just short of masterpiece territory because the first half can be over-deliberate, but the final stretch and historical clarity are exceptional. This is not the most famous Bret-Shawn match. It may be the easiest one to simply enjoy.