10. Bob Backlund vs. Bret Hart - Submission Match For WWE Title (Survivor Series 1994)
The Submission match at Survivor Series 94 is a tremendously underrated work of art. It was billed as Backlunds mastery of the Crossface Chicken Wing vs. Bret Harts excellently executed Sharpshooter. Yet, it was so much more. You cannot watch wrestling in a bubble. If you have no context to the Backlund vs. Hart match, then it makes it more difficult to appreciate it. On the surface, it is a 25-minute match with a 10-minute conclusion tacked on. The final 20% of the match features Bret laying on the mat locked in the Crossface Chicken Wing. It does, indeed, get a little tedious. It is the stipulation that the winner would be crowned by a representative throwing in the towel that makes the story brilliant. It came from Backlund having never lost the WWE title, but his former manager having thrown in the towel when he was locked in Iron Sheiks Camel Clutch just prior to Hulkamanias birth. Owen Hart, representing Backlund, was the wild card and the other part of what makes the match great. Those final ten minutes are spent watching him agonize over British Bulldog, representing Bret, being knocked out and unable to help his brother out of the dreaded Chicken Wing. The youngest Hart brother eventually convinced his mother to throw in the towel, costing Bret the title in the process. Owens face immediately afterward was priceless. He was so good at playing the annoying, jealous little brother. All the while, it was a story about Backlunda great story.
"The Doc" Chad Matthews has written wrestling columns for over a decade. A physician by trade, Matthews began writing about wrestling as a hobby, but it became a passion. After 30 years as a wrestling fan, "The Doc" gives an unmatched analytical perspective on pro wrestling in the modern era. He is a long-time columnist for Lordsofpain.net and hosts a weekly podcast on the LOP Radio Network called "The Doc Says." His first book - The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment - ranks the Top 90 wrestlers from 1983 to present day, was originally published in December 2013, and is now in its third edition.
Matthews lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.
