10 WWE Pay-Per-View Matches That Surpassed Expectations

6. Bret Hart Vs. Hakushi (In Your House I)

Great Khali John Cena One Night Stand 2007.jpg
WWE.com

The very first match on the then-WWF's new pay-per-view concept, In Your House turned out to be one of the best the event series would ever see.

On the surface, it'd be easy to attribute that to Bret Hart, but to do so would be incredibly unfair. Hakushi more than played his part in the success of the bout.

The WWF of 1995 didn't see a lot of innovation, and that fact only made Hakushi vs. Hart all the more striking. Later, Bret was scheduled to face Jerry Lawler in his second match of the night, but that didn't stop him from working his tail off against the underrated Japanese performer.

Even Vince McMahon on commentary seemed impressed, wowing along with the audience as Hakushi deftly executed high-risk dives and Hart underpinned the match with some solid ground work.

If anything, officials likely expected this opening match to thrill fans due to a Bret Hart win. They surely didn't expect to get the match of the night from both men, but that's exactly what ended up transpiring.

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.