Diamond Dallas Page vs Bret Hart (WCW, 11-22-1998)

WCW World War 3, Auburn Hills, MI

Page had beaten Hart on the October 26 Nitro to win the U.S. title, the night after Halloween Havoc. Then they had a couple more run-ins. Here they meet for the belt again, in the de facto main event of World War 3.

This starts fast with Hart outside the ring, and Page slingshots out onto him. Page whips Hart into the guardrail. Tony doesn’t think this match will be long so of course it will be. I mean his logic is sound — they hate each other so much that the fight will be too intense to last — but logic rarely works with wrestling.

Into the ring, they’re trading rights and DDP gets the best of that. This show has the three ring setup so they’re taking advantage of that early, going around outside and changing into a different ring than they started. Right hand from Page and Hart falls out of the ring again. Hart snaps Page’s neck over the top rope from the apron, which is the hardest part of the ring.

Hart back in with an elbow to Page’s neck. Page fighting back with rights, but Hart headbutts him and chokes him in the corner. Hart stomping down onto Page. A boy in an Austin 3:16 shirt does suck-its to Bret from up in the crowd. Meanwhile, Hart hits a DDT for two.

Hart staying in control, choking Page over the middle rope. Page with a right to the belly, another, but Hart is shaking those off. Snapmare into a chinlock. Tony says Bret has a split personality. Tenay talks about Bret’s recent level of violence. Page with a shoulderblock, off the ropes, they do the hiptoss bit they do and it results in the usual swinging neckbreaker from DDP, getting two.

Page goes for the diamond cutter, Hart slides out and gets out of the ring. Page out to the floor, Hart rakes the eyes and bangs his head into the steps. “It’s one of the things this sport’s all about!” says Tony of using foreign objects. He’s not wrong.

Inverted atomic drop, clothesline, and a boot choke from Hart back inside the ring. Russian legsweep gets two. Hart picks Page up for a tombstone, Page counters with his own. Page gets two on that big move. Busting out some new shit for the big match, these fellas. These veterans. These WCW stars.

Hart takes the advantage again and hits a side backbreaker, then his quick legdrop for two. Hart with the headbutt into the abdomen. All the classics. European uppercuts in the corner from Hart, something he hadn’t been doing much in recent matches. Page reverses a whip to the corner, gets a waistlock, ducks a back elbow, and catches Bret with a belly-to-belly for two.

Page with rights, lefts, discus lariat. Now going for the flapjack move out of the piledriver position, Bret’s knees come down first so it looks like ass. Page misses a clothesline, Hart doesn’t and they’re both on the floor as a result.

Hart goes back in and gets the knux on, but Page dives at him and knocks him over for two. That knocked the knux off and Charles Robinson has them now. Robinson wonders where the object came from because he hasn’t watched the last four months of Bret Hart matches.

Page with the worst sharpshooter in history. I would like to apologize to The Rock and Charlotte Flair for ever suggesting one of them may have done the worst in history. It happened on November 22, 1998, at WCW’s World War 3. An absolute atrocity. A crime against us all. “It was a darn good sharpshooter, now wasn’t it?” Tony asks. That’s the worst lie Tony ever told.

Anyway, Hart gets back on the offense pretty quickly after he kicks Page in the balls. Bret going to the leg, of course, focusing his attack. Bret shoves the steps over and drags Page to the ringpost, then throws the steps out of the way, then wraps the leg around the post. Now he’s going for the figure four on the post. He holds until four and Chuck Robinson really gave a long count there. Now Hart twisting the leg around the post, Page finally gets free and tries to crawl away from the post.

Hart back into the ring, stalking DDP. Ass splash to the knee. Hart with the figure four in the center of the ring. Hart gets the ropes for leverage and takes another count before breaking. All about doing damage.

Hart staying on the leg, bending it and cranking over the ropes. DDP is a hero to college students and high school students. People can relate to him. Anyway Hart’s punching him in the knee, then snaps it over, rolling through. Another ass splash to the knee. He goes for it again and Page uses his good leg to kick Bret in the ass, over to the floor. Then he whips Hart into the steps that Bret threw a couple minutes ago.

Page drops Hart’s knee over the guardrail. Page continues to sell the knee with everything, doing a solid job as usual. Page drags Hart over to the post and oh no he’s gonna try to do the figure four. He gets it! Fair enough!

Uh oh, now Page has the chair. He goes to swing it, Chuck stops him, and Hart shoves Page into Robinson, and Chuck is down. Hart goes over to Robinson to dig in the referee’s pocket and retrieve his KNUX. “That object.” The nWo referee is in, Page shoves him down, but he turns around into a lethal punch from the Hitman.

Hart with the sharpshooter on the unconscious Page. The nWo idiot is calling for the bell. “He’s not a referee!” But the bell sounds. Everyone’s booing. The idiot has the belt, gives it to Hart, but Mickey Jay is in to knock this shit off. Page up, turns Hart around, DIAMOND CUTTER, Robinson makes the count, and DDP retains his U.S. title.

Rating: 3.5/5. This was good if you like these guys, which I do. Obviously I clearly am in love with Hart, but I enjoy Page, too. It’s certainly not a GREAT match, but it’s a good one, more or less wrapping up the Page-Hart feud with the right guy winning.