10 Ultra-Rare Unreleased WWE Matches We’d Love To See

4. Owen Hart Vs Chris Benoit (June 7th, 1995)

Kurt Angle Owen Hart
wwe

Then a New Japan Pro Wrestling icon, ECW standout Chris Benoit had several tryouts for Vince McMahon just months before signing with Eric Bischoff thanks to the friendly relationship between the Atlanta outfit and his Japanese spiritual home.

Having lost to both Bob Holly and Adam Bomb during the dark portions of June television tapings, 'The Crippler' had what most considered his finest moment of the tenure with fellow Canadian and Stampede Wrestling survivor Owen Hart.

Reviews from the few that saw it in person spoke of a dynamic match filled with the high flying and technical feats both were known proponents of. Having wrestled each other years earlier, the match would most likely have been one of the best the company was capable of producing during a notoriously barren spell.

Benoit ultimately signed for WCW in October 1995, but actually worked against a McMahon talent one more time as part of a December show in Calgary to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Stu Hart's first match. The novel contest saw him defeat Rad Radford in a rare WWE vs WCW contest, but Radford's shoulder going up at 2 was missed by the referee in a finish designed to politically protect both companies.

Both this and the Owen encounter are nary likely to be included in any official company release, and the decision still remains tough to fault.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett