100%. He was such an intimidating figure that it almost didn't matter if the writers made him heel or babyface. He was pretty much over with fans no matter what.
He had been doing a slow heel turn for months before Mania. He was setting up for the double turn and did it like only he could. This stretch here is one of the defining periods that make him the GOAT.
I actually commend you sir for not watching it during the two-hour traffic Jam as that would still be a very irresponsible thing to do as you are operating a vehicle and watching a video at the same time would not be a good idea even in a traffic jam. Besides I bet the video Hit so much better when you got home anyway because you were able to devote all your attention to it.
Well until after he won the belt back at SummerSlam and then Shawn Michaels turned heal and took the spotlight away from Bret. Bret despite being the champion was stuck in a mud card feud with the Patriot.
I just love how after he finishes the shoving match with Sycho Sid, Bret Hart spots The Undertaker through his peripheral vision and jumps through the second rope to attack him @ 35:24 😃
You've summed up the time period perfectly - a great time to be a wrestling fan. Bret Hart was the man in 1997. One of my favourite episodes of Raw. WCW had the big angle with Hogan and Sting but seemed to be trying to cram too much into a two hour show. Better to have less matches which last longer rather than loads that didn't get past five minutes.
The dude was also an absolute *beast* in WCW vs. NWO Revenge. He could score TKOs with basic strong strikes, his strong grapple powerbomb, and his shoulderbreaker special.
Im only on episode 22 since I found your channel late, but this episode of RAW is my favorite all time. I can't wait to actually watch this episode. The cage fight and the brawl at the end between Sid, Taker, Austin and Hart was incredible. Austin wanting Bret to win the title and Taker wanting Sid to win, was a great spin off too. Loved it!
One of the best episodes of Raw. Remember watching it live and loving the Bret Hart segments among others. This is when Raw really got consistently good and didn’t look back.
That Bret Hart promo is still one of the best during that time you could literally feel his frustrations of once again getting screwed out of the WWF championship
It's funny, I remember watching WCW at the time and the matches never felt that short, but the show was the one I watched more than Raw, 18 months from this, different story
This was one when I was so conflicted with Bret Hart. When he hit Pat Patterson and Vince almost cussed was 1 of the 1st times I knew something had changed in the Dubya Dubya Eff. Best episode ever in my eyes.
I was 10 & a huge Bret Hart fan. What made it so great & so tough for us Bret fans, was that there was a hint of truth behind what was going on. Bret really felt he wasn’t appreciated & didn’t like the turn the WWF was taking w/ Vince promoting heels & fans loving it. I really didn’t like Stone Cold for a while because I felt he was the end of Bret when I was that age lol
@@carlosortiz0086 Mankind winning the belt when Stone Cold came out was probably the wildest & loudest pop/crowd in wrestling history. I’d sell my soul to go back in time & be in that arena that night. As Vince is in character, acting livid, he had to be thinking, “We did it…”… He had us fans LOCKED in & he knew it was the beginning of an insane era…
I really love the Bret Hart promo. Hold on wait... if Vince Russo had taken overhead writing duties at this point. Oh boy, next year or soon, if Reliving The War continues, Wrestling Bios don't have to worry about Glacier, or Too legit 2 Quit. Raw is War is doing very good. But then the worst thing that happened in the history of Professional Wrestling called...The Brawl For All. Lord, give Wrestling Bios the strength he needs. Can't wait to see Wrestling Bios review of Wrestlemania 13. Looking forward to that. :)
You are not wrong but the July 21 Raw from Halifax I feel is better. Crowd is hot that night & Bret going after Vince after finding out Shawn Michaels would be the ref between Bret Hart & Undertaker at SummerSlam
I have to say that one of the most impressive things of this whole series to me is how you keep updating that intro video. I absolutely love it, you're doing amazing work sir. It's the little things that are so wondertastic.
Yeah even by this point WCW was stale. With Hogan promos every week. Feuding with wrestlers he had 10 plus years prior in the WWF, who were long past there prime. Even by this point the NWO had ran it’s course IMO it was the undercard which kept WCW alive and interesting. No one could get over though as stars such as Hogan wouldn’t get out the way. WWF was fresh, coming into a new era and about to hit the attitude era.
the best time to be a wrestling fan 1996 to 1999 you had three promotions that were absolutely killing it no matter what they did I always loved the outsiders tag team running because it was fun watching them actually use the gimmick of the tag they would cheat they would hold they would do what they could they would utilize anything that nobody does that anymore like that is tag team wrestling
I was a diehard WWF fan at the time. (and ECW). But almost everyone else I knew who watched wrestling watched Nitro almost exclusively. Felt that weird loyalty to the underdog WWF.
Just started watching the series just finished the whole thing hour later you come out with the next episode perfect timing!! Great stuff I feel like apart of this time!
You could tell the WWF was headed in a new direction and the attitude era was starting to take shape. Even by this point WCW was starting to feel stale with NWO on top and Hogan promos every week.
As usual another good episode! And the promo by Bret and the chaos at the end were amazing to watch. They set up the double turn at mania so damn well.
Two honorable mentions. The needle/thread accuracy of the person that nailed Scott Hall right in the head with a pretty full sized beer is absolutely phenomenal 😂 and the fact that Bulldog lifted/carried Vader multiple times with ease 🤯
I got the same vibes. Come to think of it - to many coinkidinks. A small screwjob here, a small one there, McMahon slowly starting to get fed up with Bret under that big ol' pokerface of his. And in about 8 months from There it culminates with THE Screwjob. I think i'll be joining Team Hall on this one.
I love your content so much. The combination of knowledge, insight, production value, how much you clearly have a passion for pro wrestling, and your humor, it's one of my absolute favorite things on here. The fact that you put out so much content so consistently is incredible. Much appreciated!
Nothing like having a stressful day at work then to come on RU-vid and see a new episode of Reliving the War. I want to thank you for making the great content that you do.
In 97 Farooq was one of my favorites. Wasnt alota black wrestlers at the time and Farooq was asking all the questions 8 year old me wanted to know. "When was the last time a black man got a shot at the title". Priceless
@Isaiah James Everyone knows Vince is a racist POS - hell, he's good friends with Trump, and the tangerine Palpatine had to be sued before he'd rent to black people. (Not to mention, his retweeting Stormfront memes throughout during his presidency.) Only reason Vince stopped making his racism as obvious as it was during the 80's and 90's, was because he didn't want to get sued like WCW. But that won't stop him from squashing black babyface champions, even if he has to write them out of character. Like Kofi. Like Bianca. Then again, McMahon always preferred to chase the dumbest and least demanding fans, even at the cost of losing everyone else. Making anything decent requires genuine collaboration instead of throwing senior tantrums and rewriting everything every 15 minutes or so.
I’m so excited for the Wrestlemania XIII video. My dad took me to that show at the Rosemont Horizon (now know as the All State Arena) and I couldn’t tell you a thing about the show almost 25 years later. But I still remember just having the time of my life watching that show while my dad sat there watching me enjoy myself.
the first wrestling bios video I watched was about hart vs Austin wm13. Like two and a half years ago, had like 10k subscribers. Looking forward to the next one, thank you Mr bios.
The truth is that in much of 1997 Raw was superior to Nitro. Unfortunately the results don't immediately show because the fans were too enamored with WWF-South to know any better. WWF had the better product and they didn't firmly take the lead until they went full-on Jerry Springer in 1998.
Very few wrestling opinions I value as much as yours.. When you say you’re excited for an ending, I get excited. I watched all of this live, but I was 10 in 1997, so it’s awesome watching it back with your commentary!
We are at the point that I'm starting to remember certain moments from when I watched them as a kid, like the ending of this episode of RAW. And props to the WWE that is a really cool visual with half the cage taken down and the wrestlers coming out and fighting in the ring. It looked very chaotic and cool. Wish they'd bring back the big blue cage.
Your energy and enthusiasm, especially commentating on the Raw finale here is utterly brilliant and addictive listening. Fecking Brilliant. Reminds me of going on and on about Raw and Austin to my friend at the time in school, as we awaited what WM13 would result in. And with this retrospective and your voiced hindsight, you are right on the money. WWF was firing on all cylinders, but nobody really knew just how big the WWF /wrestling in general was getting. Really looking forward to the analysis on WM13 and Nxt weeks RTW episode. 👏👏👍👍
It’s Thursday night, which means it’s time for another episode of reliving the war. This was one of the greatest episodes of Raw ever and the beginnings of the attitude era had really came into play by this point. Everything being set up for WM13 and the start of The Hitmans heel/face turn. One of the greatest wrestling angles and storylines in history. WWF was really putting on a much better Monday night show by this point than WCW. Over on Nitro we had the same old show. A good undercard. With a stale Hogan and the NWO on top, the same as every other week.
@@godfather71190 The attitude era was all about risk taking. Now if you wanna say his age was a factor.....maybe maybe not. But he was over enough for a short reign as wwf champ . Sid was a babyface i would've had him beat sid. Farooq vs Bret....hart foundation vs the nation. Bret gets the title. And that would have been a better way for rock to take over the nation after he lost the championship The nation was criminally underutilized in the attitude era kinda like how the wyatts in this era or the hurt business. For all the personnel that group had....they should be right there with the horsemen, nwo, dx, or bullet club for best stsble ever
Most RU-vidr's are stressing out of their next idea for a video that'll get some views. But you my friend, have hit the jackpot. You've got a good mine of video paydays. Even after the "war" is over, there still plenty of wrestling to cover.
