10 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Star Ratings Dave Meltzer Got Wrong

10. Bret Hart Vs. Owen Hart - WWF WrestleMania X

Actual Rating: ****3/4, Revised Rating: *****

“Arguments are made for make ups,” James Murphy sings on LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Dance Yrself Clean’. It works the opposite way in wrestling; tag teams and factions are often grouped together purely to facilitate a feud once the act runs its course. The aim of the seminal (if overlong) Bret vs. Owen Hart feud was precisely that, and Bret handily completed the objective of getting his younger brother over in a masterfully characterful way at the ‘Granddaddy of ‘em all’.

Initially reluctant to get stuck in, due to the mixed emotions experienced fighting his own brother, Bret expertly crafts the story and escalates the drama by adding extra oomph to his every clothesline and Russian leg sweep each time the bratty ‘Black Hart’ transgresses upon the pure wrestling code. Water is thicker than blood by the climax of the intense finishing sequence, which sees Owen squeak out a shocking win in a genius piece of forward-thinking booking.

It's hard to fathom why Meltzer didn't award this match a perfect score; it is an extremely rare fusion of emotion and technicality with a stunning finish, as well received as it was executed.