9. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels - WWE Championship (Survivor Series 1992)
It was in 1991 that Bret Hart began his game-changing run atop WWEs depth chart. He had dazzled the audience with the best one year stretch of matches up to that point in WWE history. He knocked one out of the park at Summerslam 91, followed with a forgotten classic at WrestleMania VIII, and then put together a truly epic match with British Bulldog at Summerslam 92. The NWA/WCW had routinely featured excellent stretches of critically acclaimed matches, but it was a rarity in the WWE. The Hitman brought the term workrate into the WWE lexicon. Shawn Michaels was coming on strong as Brets successor to the face of the IC title division role that Hart left behind when he became WWE Champion in September 92. In one of the very few Champion vs. Champion matches in WWE PPV history, Hart and Michaels engaged in a borderline classic at the 92 Survivor Series. It was, interestingly, Brets first PPV title defense (emphasis on interestingly because of the history that would follow between them). It was a very good encounter, but there was not much of a story behind it and the bout predominantly took the form of a mat wrestling showcase. It was slowly paced, but it did not have the feud behind it nor the antics of another wrestler on the outside to up its entertainment factor. Subsequently, it received very little consideration for a higher ranking despite the star ratings it has generally been given in the past.
Chad Matthews
Contributor
"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.
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