10 Wrestling Matches One Second Away From Perfection
5. Owen Hart Vs Stone Cold Steve Austin (WWE SummerSlam 1997)
All fantastic until the final flourish, too many people know about the last few seconds of this SummerSlam classic without going back to review what made it so great in the first place.
Steve Austin's last technical masterclass until he finally got the surgery that temporarily rectified this very injury, this was a vintage display from a 'Rattlesnake' that had figured out exactly how to flit between brawler and mechanic. Owen Hart wasn't quite as perfect a foe as his older brother for Austin, but it begs the question what else they might have done had the closing moments not gone down as they did.
Keeping pace until the very last reversal, Austin met 'The King Of Harts' measure for measure in an unfathomably well-worked battle considering the crass stipulation attached. That made all the difference at the finale too - 1997 protocol wouldn't have allowed Austin to renege on his promise to kiss Owen's *ss if he'd lost, but the piledriver that just about broke his neck forced a cover that's as amazing as it is worryingly listless.