10 Most Effective Wrestling Blade Jobs Ever
1. Steve Austin Blades His Way Towards Megastardom
Re-watch the last three minutes of Bret Hart Vs. Steve Austin from WrestleMania 13.
It's the season, not that you need an excuse. Bret Hart is influencing pro wrestling in 2022, not that you need an excuse. The match is the greatest ever worked in the promotion's history. No excuse is needed.
That's because it never feels worked at any point; the finishing sequence in particular is as authentic a selling performance as you'll ever see. The sheer anguish on Steve Austin's blood-drenched face is so believable that it was filmed almost exclusively with a close-up shot. You can see the blood pouring onto his teeth, dripping from his nose, but the crimson mask is just that: a mask. The blade job - ultimately a visual effect to convey what is happening to the gutsy babyface internally - is all in the eyes. Austin clenched his shut in an infamous, legendary bid to ignore the pain swelling throughout his legs, which had been slowly, meticulously destroyed by Hart's incredible technical prowess, worked here with a nasty edge to inform his intra-match turn.
Austin didn't become a ratings sensation and household name overnight - but this was very much the genesis behind wrestling's last mainstream boom period.