10 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Star Ratings Dave Meltzer Got Wrong
The few times Meltzer dropped the ball.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is a grand institution within the hardcore wrestling fandom.
Since 1983, it has served as a valuable resource for generations of wrestling fans, enlightening them as to which talents and promotions to pay attention. Rarely in its rich, thirty year-plus history has its editor, the venerable Dave Meltzer, got it wrong - or at least not drastically so. By 'it', we are referring to his method of match appraisal, the star rating system, from which the phrase 'five star match' is (often incorrectly) bandied about.
There are certain matches, though, which I feel he may have been a little too critical or generous towards. The (tired) joke going the rounds is that Meltzer exhibits an anti-WWE bias which, while largely untrue - Shane McMahon has been bestowed two ****+ matches in 2017 - contains within it an element of truth. To date, Meltzer has awarded just five WWE matches the full five star treatment - a bit of a oversight at best, an indictment at worst.
To do this fairly, his own criteria must be taken into account. Meltzer assigns ratings based primarily on work-rate, the way in which storylines are progressed through utilisation of moves, the execution and difficulty of the moves themselves, the crowd reaction, and, if applicable, the history between the wrestlers contesting the match.
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.