Bret Hart vs The Total Package (WCW, 10-24-1999)

WCW Halloween Havoc, Las Vegas, NV

This match was set up by Luger attacking Hart with a bat on Nitro six days prior. Luger is now The Total Package which I will call him in the headline but not down here because “Luger” is easier to type and we all know who the hell he is.

Mike Tenay speaks with Bret before the match. Bret has a “severely injured” ankle and that he shouldn’t wrestle tonight. “I think that the fans are behind me, I can feel the fans behind me, and that’s all that counts.” Hart says Luger will be excellently executed.

Luger’s out first with Elizabeth at his side. Tony and Brain are hard. Luger gets spotlights and flexes and then some pyro from the ringposts. That’ll beat the WWF. Now let’s relive the Nitro bit. Here comes Hart, limping in a Calgary Hitmen sweater, no jacket, no glasses.

Hart goes right at Luger, slamming his head into the turnbuckle from the apron, and headbutts him down to the floor. Luger’s head rammed into the guardrail, then the commentary desk. Heenan hated that shit. Then into the steps. Back into the ring.

Luger begging off. Hart goes right to the legs and drops the headbutt down to the midsection. Right hand from Hart decks Luger again. Hart pulls Luger up, rakes his eyes over the top rope. Luger swings and misses (barely misses, Hart almost walked into one), and Hart batters him to the body, then chokes him down in the corner. Boot choke.

Hart in total control here. He pulls Luger up again and throws him through the ropes out to the floor. Hart follows again, driving Luger’s back into the apron. Hart totally controlling. Elizabeth tries and fails to get involved and the fight backs back into the ring.

Hart with a legdrop, another one. He’s straight up kicking Luger’s ass. Luger finally goes to the eyes and turns things around, dropping Hart with a right hand. Luger pawing at his own groin before dropping an elbow, then another. Tony hard over Elizabeth again. Another elbow from Luger. One count.

Hart up, shot to the body. Shot to the back. Now into the lower back with headbutts, four or five of them, then some punches to the lower back. Hart shakes his leg out again, then hits a Russian legsweep. Luger kicks out at two.

Inverted atomic drop from Hart, off the ropes, clothesline puts Luger down. Side backbreaker. Bret limping but up to the second rope, and he hits the elbow, covering for two. Bret going for the sharpshooter, but Luger goes to the eyes again.

They do the hiptoss reversal bit and tumble out to the floor, both down. Back into the ring, Hart up first but limping. Schiavone keeps having to say “The Package.” Hart can barely stand on the bad leg, which he bumped on the tumble out to the floor. Luger sees this, gets up, and goes to the leg, kicking away and bending it over the middle rope.

Luger pulls him out to the middle of the ring and locks on a single crab. Hart taps out. My God.

Rating: 3/5. It was pretty quick (less than eight minutes) and pretty entertaining, really, with Bret’s attack carrying things nicely, but my God, here’s Bret Hart back in action and after a month getting tapped out clean by Lex Luger at Halloween Havoc. Lex Luger: Submission Specialist. I mean, look, it makes sense with the story they were telling of the leg injury, but holy shit to even GIVE him the leg injury at this point to be tapped out by Lex Luger. That’s ’99 galaxy brain booking.