WWE: Bret Hitman Hart – The Dungeon Collection DVD Set Review

“For nearly 30 years, Bret “Hit Man” Hart travelled the globe proving he was “The Best There Is, The Best There Was, and the Best There Ever Will Be”. From his roots in his family’s own Stampede Wrestling, to the bright lights of WWE, WCW, and his watershed return to the ring in 2010, no Superstar could match his unmistakable presence in the ring. Now in Bret “Hit Man” Hart: The Dungeon Collection, the Hit Man himself compiles his best matches never-before-released on DVD. Bret takes the viewer behind each match in a brand new, revealing interview detailing the inside stories surrounding these rare matches. Over 8 hours of in-ring action is presented, including classics from the Stampede Wrestling vault as well as vintage WWE bouts against the top stars of the 80s and 90s.”

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 410mins (6hrs 50mins)

Discs: 3

Disc 1 Chapters

A Real Privilege
Untapped Resources
My Backyard
Stampede, December 1978 – 2-out of-3 Falls Match for the British Commonwealth Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Bret Hart v Dynamite Kid
World Tour
Georgia Championship Wrestling, September 1979 – Bret Hart v Buzz Sawyer
A Lot of Promise
Stampede, January 1983 – North American Heavyweight Championship Match: Bret Hart v Leo Burke
The Best It Gets
Capital Centre, September 1985 – Bret Hart v Dynamite Kid
Energy
Philadelphia Spectrum, March 1987 – WWE Tag Team Championship Match: Hart Foundation v The Islanders
A Sign of Respect
Milan (Italy) April 1989 – Bret Hart vsAndre the Giant
The Right Formula
Maple Leaf Gardens, April 1989 – Bret Hart v Mr. Perfect

Disc 2 Chapters

This Is For Us
Duluth (Minnesota), May 1989 – Hart Foundation v The Twin Towers
The Greatest Super-Card of All-Time
Tokyo Dome, April 1990 – Bret Hart v Tiger Mask II
Change of the Guard
New Haven (Connecticut), November 1991 – Intercontinental Championship Match: Bret Hart v Ric Flair
On the Threshold of Greatness
Madison Square Garden, January 1992 – Bret Hart v Undertaker
The Best Big Man
Milan (Italy), April 1993 – Bret Hart v Bam Bam Bigelow

Disc 3 Chapters

Evolution at That Time
King of the Ring 19th June, 1994 – WWE Championship Match: Bret Hart v Diesel
Masterpieces
Stockton (California) March 1995 – No Holds Barred: Bret Hart v Owen Hart
Powerhouse
In Your House 3 24th September, 1995 – Bret Hart v Jean-Pierre Lafitte
Time Off
Sun City Superbowl 14th September, 1996 – Bret Hart v Stone Cold Steve Austin
Simultaneously a Hero and a Rat
In Your House: Ground Zero 7th September, 1997 – WWE Championship Match: Bret Hart v The Patriot
Wrestling Injured
Nitro 25th January, 1999 – WCW United States Championship Match: Bret Hart v Booker T
Misjudging Sting
Mayhem 21st November, 1999 – Semi-Finals Match for the WCW Championship: Bret Hart v Sting
Trip Through Memory Lane

“The best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be!”

Anyone who was a fan in the early-to-mid-90s will recognise that catchphrase and be able to utter it in the same speech pattern as the man who made it famous; Bret “Hitman” Hart.

Whether you believe that statement to be true or not (and surprisingly, during one of his links, Bret Hart himself gives the honour to someone else), you can’t deny that Bret Hart has left an enviable legacy in the world of professional wrestling.

There have been a number of collections released to chronicle “The Hitman”, so you may wonder why WWE have released another one. The answer is simple; with such a back-catalogue of matches, there are bound to bouts you haven’t seen and it’s this mantra that runs through the Dungeon Collection.

19 matches that have either never been seen or only been available on the original broadcast / release are linked by Bret Hart himself as he relays either his reasons why the match made the cut or his thoughts on the opponent(s) we’re about to see him face.

Overview

Of the 19 matches on the set, some of them are worthy of the “hidden gem” accolade. The WWE singles bout against Dynamite Kid is wonderful and the bout from In Your House 3 against Jean-Pierre Lafitte is one of my favourite matches from the era.

Other bouts to make a good impression for various reasons are the ones against Bam Bam Bigelow, Steve Austin, The Patriot, Mr. Perfect and Tiger Mask II. In addition to that, the match for the WWF Title against Diesel was a great example of how to keep the title on the champion while also making sure the challenger remains strong once the final bell has rung.

Negatives are genuinely few and far between. The match against Andre the Giant is nothing to write home about, but this can mainly be put down to the condition of Andre at this point in his career. Bret Hart only has himself to blame, however, for bemoaning Ric Flair for sticking to a formula during his matches. For Bret, the original owner of the “Five Moves of Doom” sequence, to castigate anyone for sticking to a trademark sequence shows he is blind to his own faults.

One final issue is that some of the video quality is well below the standard expected, but again this is not the fault of the WWE production team and is simply down to having to work with what they have. The two matches that really suffer from this are against Buzz Sawyer and Andre the Giant (the latter of which seems to have been shot on a mobile phone).

If you’re a fan of Bret Hart, this is must-buy set for you to add to your collection. Of course, if you’re not a fan of Bret Hart, the chances of you actually reading this review is slim-to-none anyway, so that comment was possibly moot regardless.

The original commentators on all of the bouts is a great masterstroke as it keeps things in the era they took place and for those who lived through at least one of them will have a nostalgic smile on their face.

All in all, this is a very good release and has some genuine classics that, thanks to WWE’s extensive library, have been saved from obscurity.

If you decide to plump for the Blu-Ray, you also get -:

BD Disc 1 Blu-Ray Exclusives

Dream Matches
Travel Schedule
Sleeping on a Plane
Survivor Series with Bob Backlund
Masked Man
Trumpet Sound
Customs with Owen
Lost at Sea
Prized Possession
Two of the Best in Japan

BD Disc 2 Blu-Ray Exclusives

Super Skilled, Super Athletic
RAW November 1993 – WWE Championship Match: Bret Hart v Yokozuna
Doing It Old School
Albany, New York October 1994 – Bret Hart & British Bulldog v Owen Hart & Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart
A Good Soul
RAW 24th July, 1995 – Bret Hart v Hakushi
Cement Truck
Friday Night’s Main Event 29th August, 1997 – WWE Championship Match: Bret Hart v Vader
The Artist
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