During its first years on television, Monday Night Raw had a much different identity than the one it has today. When it first debuted in 1993, it was a one-hour, pre-taped show of mostly squash matches, interviews, and angles. This could be attributed both to the viewer base of the TV show being mostly prepubescent children, as well as the fact that the company was struggling financially at the time. Bret Hart was in the midst of his second run as WWF Champion and was already faring much better than his first, which was crippled from the start by a lack of legitimate contenders due to top acts like British Bulldog and Ultimate Warrior being forced to leave the company after their releases during the infamous WWF steroid trial. With Hulk Hogan World Championship Wrestling-bound, and a failed attempt at making Lex Luger into a Hogan clone pushing the audience further into his corner, Bret Hart was finally the de facto top act in the company without having to worry about people sabotage him (yet). Enter The 1-2-3 Kid; this would lead to the underrated Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 match in 1994.
The 1-2-3 Kid
Sean Waltman, known in 1992 as The Lightning Kid, was a young and agile competitor who had made a name for himself in the Memphis-based promotion Global Wrestling Federation against fellow light heavyweight Jerry Lynn. Together, they helped spearhead a revolution in the structure and style of light heavyweight wrestling. He also made a name for himself in Japan against fellow junior heavyweight breakouts Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, and Jushin Thunder Liger. His style was unique and truly ahead of his time, constructed mostly of martial arts-style kicks and high-flying offense. He was also only 20 years old at the time, making him all the more alluring to bigger promotions who needed fresh faces. WWF was certainly one such promotion.
In 1993, Waltman joined the company and would quickly be moved to television. While his start may have been somewhat auspicious due to him suffering a pinfall loss to Doink the Clown in his debut, and cycling through multiple names week to week, (“Kamikaze Kid”, “Cannonball Kid”, then finally just “The Kid”) Waltman finally found his footing when he scored his famous upset victory by pinfall over Razor Ramon. This victory and the subsequent rivalry between the two would have helped launch Waltman into stardom as “The 1-2-3 Kid”, the company’s premier underdog.
Fast forward a little over a year, and The Kid had multiple pinfall victories over top acts such as Razor Ramon and Ted Dibiase, cementing him as a credible threat for a title and not just a flash in the pan underdog. During the 1994 Hall of Fame, Bret Hart picked The 1-2-3 Kid by name as a challenger he wanted to defend his WWF Championship against, claiming he wanted to measure himself against the youngest and best the company had to offer. On July 11th, Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid was set, marking Waltman’s first ever one on one World Championship match.
Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid
Out first is 1-2-3 Kid, the challenger, to an impressive crowd reaction from the Bushkill Pennsylvania crowd. Bret Hart enters next to an even larger reaction, which is unsurprising given he was at the height of his popularity at the time. Don’t let the reactions fool you, however; this crowd is going to be going back and forth all match. Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart come down to the ring after Bret enters, attempting to harass him and distract him, but the officials at ringside are quick to corral the two men and eject them from ringside. They comply and leave back up the ramp, but not silently, as Owen verbally abuses his brother the whole way up, referring to him as a “scaredy-cat.” (Much to the chagrin of commentators “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Jim Ross) Despite Bret’s distraction, The Kid does not attack “The Hitman” from behind, but instead lets the moment pass and waits for the match to begin to go on the offense. Right away, we know The Kid is not here to win through questionable means or gain unfair advantages; he’s here to beat the champion clean and prove just how good he is.
Finally, the bell rings and Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid begins. Both men circle the ring a few times, sizing each other up, before locking up in the middle of the ring. Kid wastes no time in grabbing Hart’s arm and wrenching it downward, arm dragging Hart down to the ground with force and velocity. Hart sits up and very subtly raises his eyebrows, begrudgingly impressed, realizing already that he may have underestimated Kid’s skill. After getting up, Hart initiates a Greco-Roman knuckle lock, which the Kid very quickly uses to take control again with an armbar, bringing Hart to the ground again. After struggling back to his feet, Hart attempts to body slam the Kid to get out of the hold, which works, but Kid kips up to his feet almost immediately, not allowing Hart to seize control.
The Realization of “The Hitman”
So ittle has happened in this match and at the same time so much; Hart realizes now that he may have underestimated the Kid’s skill as well as his speed, and that he’s going to have to rely on his experience and his power if he doesn’t wanna fall a step behind, and he’s not used to relying on those two things. When you’re a world champion and against someone faster than you, however, plans change. Another collar and elbow lock up and once again 1-2-3 Kid has taken control of the match with a side headlock into a hammerlock. Hart attempts to snapmare his way out of the hold, but Kid is pugnacious and simply rolls through with the hold, maintaining the hammerlock. The Kid is actually out-wrestling Hart.
It isn’t long before Hart finally gets frustrated, whipping The Kid into the ropes and nailing him in the mouth with a brutal looking back elbow, dropping The Kid to the ground instantly, opening him up for a side headlock. It’s a short-lived dominance though, as The Kid fights back to his feet and shoots Hart off into the ropes. Hart answers with a body tackle, but The Kid is quick to try and trip Hart up coming off the ropes again.
This doesn’t work either, so he hops to his feet like a cat and leapfrogs over Hart, further disorienting him, and allowing Kid to nail him with a reverse enziguri to the head, knocking Hart against the ropes. Finally, Kid hits a jumping spin kick (which actually misses but thanks to the beauty of camera angles and Hart’s selling, ends up not looking too bad) to knock Hart over the top rope to the floor below. By now it’s clear as day: The 1-2-3 Kid had the WWF Champion’s number as we go to our first commercial break.
Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid Becomes More Competitive
Returning to Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid, we see Kid still in control, working an armbar on Hart again. Not just sitting in it, either, as he’s wrenching and pulling away at it the whole time, fighting Hart’s attempts to escape the hold multiple times. Eventually, Hart fights to his feet again, and shoots Kid off the ropes for a violent knee to the gut, taking him to the ground instantly.
Now it’s time for Hart to get the heat, turning up the aggression another notch to isolate Kid and build sympathy for him from the crowd. Hart begins meat and potato-ing the young challenger, taking him to the nearest corner and pummeling him with VICIOUS European uppercuts to the jaw, lifting Kid’s feet off of the ground. After mauling him further with elbows and boots, Hart nails a big swinging neckbreaker for the first near fall of the match, at last fully in control of the momentum and able to slow the pace down to his liking.
After further asserting his dominance over Kid with a devastating Irish whip into the corner, hard enough to move the ring, Kid manages to hit a crossbody on the champion when coming off the ropes for a close nearfall out of nowhere, showing signs of life even in the midst of a horrible beating. Hart wastes no time in seizing control back though, and immediately drops a pair of deadly accurate elbows to the head of the Kid, knocking him back down to the ground. After another attempt at a backdoor victory via sunset flip is thwarted by Hart who simply drops to his knees in time for a near fall of his own, Kid goes for a crucifix pin but is once again outsmarted by the veteran Hart, who drops to his back, taking the wind out of Kid’s sails.
An Honorable Champion
Bret Hart pins The 1-2-3 Kid, the referee counts to two, and the Kid gets his foot on the rope. The referee is unable to see this from his position though, and counts the three anyway, declaring Hart the winner and still the champion. Bret Hart, ever the fighting champion, refused to have his hand raised or accept the victory, telling the referee that Kid had his foot on the rope before the three count; therefore, Bret does not deserve the victory. After about a minute of the two bickering, and another official entering the ring to straighten things out, it is decided that the match will be restarted as we go into break, further showcasing why Hart was such a popular character in the company, as well as one of the best babyfaces they ever produced.
After break, we see that The 1-2-3 Kid attempted yet another roll-up victory via a straddle pin, but Bret Hart was able to kick out in the nick of time. At present, however, Bret is in control of the match, nailing a picture-perfect butterfly suplex on the Kid for a near fall of his own, and a chinlock for isolation once again. Rallying the crowd behind him, Kid struggles to his feet and out of the hold, thwarting an attempt from Hart at hip tossing him off the ropes with a backslide and a near fall of his own. Hart answers quickly with another pair of nasty-looking elbows to the temple before Kid can get to his feet. After more meat and potatoes and another near fall from Hart, Kid catches the champion coming off the second rope by raising his leg and kicking him in the face.
The Match Draws Near
Hart makes it to his feet first but Kid ducks him coming off the ropes, and hits a jumping spin kick that ends up being more of a leg lariat than anything else, but is effective nonetheless. The Kid retreats to the corner, seemingly in desperation, and Hart follows suit. It turns out to be a trap, and The Kid does a switch in the corner and nails Hart with a barrage of front kicks to the chest, and an absolutely deadly-looking spin kick to the face. He may not have gotten all of it the first two times he went for it, but he definitely got all of it this time. Now it’s time for the big comeback.
The 1-2-3 Kid sends Bret Hart into the corner and hits another brutal running dropkick to the face, opening “The Hitman” up for the big Moonsault he used to beat Razor Ramon. (More of a turning crossbody really) It doesn’t put the champion away, though it gets the closest near fall of the match, and started getting fans very excited at the potential for a title change. Wasting no time on theatrics, Kid picks Hart up and immediately hits a big powerbomb on him despite their size difference, and goes to the turnbuckles yet again to nail Bret with a top rope leg drop Bobby Eaton would’ve been proud of for another near fall.
The Finish
Hart makes it to the ropes as he struggles to his feet, but Kid is all offense as he senses the end of the match may be near, and clotheslines Hart over the top rope before hitting yet another move off the top rope, a rolling senton on Hart to the floor outside. Rolling Hart back into the ring, the underdog Kid takes one risk too many and comes up short when going for another senton bomb, opening him up for a Sharpshooter from a now desperate, dazed, and confused Hitman. Realizing the danger he’s in, Kid immediately grabs the ropes before Hart can turn him over for the hold, saving himself from defeat yet again.
In an attempt to soften his opponent up, Hart nails a big running bulldog to The Kid and goes to the top rope for his own maneuver. It ends up being in vain though when Kid recovers faster than Hart expected and throws him off the top rope to the middle of the ring a la Ric Flair. In a last-ditch effort to put the champion away, The Kid goes to the top rope one more time, looking for a big missile dropkick on the champion, only to get caught by his legs and locked into the Sharpshooter for an instant and sudden submission victory for the champion Bret Hart!
Following Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid
Following the match, both men received a standing ovation from both the crowd and the commentators Ross and Savage, whom it is worth noting both more than pulled their own weight, and added quite a bit to the scale and importance of the match, both proclaiming it was one of the best professional wrestling matches either of them had ever seen. After recuperating and celebrating his victory, Bret helps The 1-2-3 Kid to his feet, hugging him and raising his arm to the audience. The emotion on Waltman’s face is palpable, and most likely very genuine, as he has stated in interviews since that he always appreciated the job Hart did in making him look so good that night.
Bret Hart vs. 1-2-3 Kid is not only one of the greatest matches in Monday Night Raw history, but many have argued that it might very well be the greatest. While that is a point of contention, there’s no arguing that this match is well worth the 18 minutes it takes up, and holds up in any time period and in any style of pro wrestling.
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