Bret Hart Vs. Shawn Michaels Complete History | Wrestling Timelines
October 30, 1990 - Phantom Title Change
The Rockers defeat the Hart Foundation in a Two out of Three Falls match for the WWF Tag Team titles. Only, this never “officially” happens.
Vince wants to push Bret, now one of the best wrestlers in the world, as a singles star; the Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan’s replacement, isn’t delivering great numbers at the box office. Bret isn’t primed to take that spot yet, but Vince is grooming him over the long-term: Bret is a perfect Intercontinental champion years before he wears it. The tag title change happens, but is immediately retconned.
This is a knotty story, and it changes depending on who tells it. Bret goes with the “top rope” story - one that will take on a life of its own. The imagined scene, of the Hart Foundation and the Rockers working a match with only the bottom and middle ropes intact, is exactly that: imagined. The top rope is however in a precarious enough state that it limits the planned action, resulting in a tentative, awkward, hurriedly improvised contest. Bret is furious; the match isn’t live, but the referee, Freddie Sparta, won’t halt it temporarily.
Shawn says Vince came to terms with Neidhart to stay on as a talent. Vince felt he needed Neidhart to do commentary to in effect repay his legal fees Vince footed (Jim was exonerated and then successfully counter-sued after he was charged with assaulting a USAir flight attendant). If the match lived up to the prior series, the timeline might change slightly here, but it doesn’t. It isn’t deemed good enough to air, and the titles are left on the Foundation.
Bret won’t be confined to the tag division much longer, however…