The Week in Wrestling: Bret Hart reflects on one of his favorite matches, ROH’s Briscoe brothers prepare to do battle and more.

SI.com’s Week in Wrestling is published every week and provides beneath the surface coverage of the business of pro wrestling.

Bret and Owen Hart blazed a trail at ‘WrestleMania X’

Courtesy of WWE

Bret Hart returns to the WWE Network on Monday at 10 a.m. ET for a sit-down interview on Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions, where the two will discuss their iconic match and double-turn at WrestleMania 13.

Hart still remains active in pro wrestling, with appearances scheduled for signings during WrestleMania at WrestleCon on April 3 and 4. He is coming off an active weekend, signing autographs and meetings fans at the Big Event in Queens, N.Y., then making the drive to Webster, Mass., for a Big Time Wrestling show. As soon as he finished with Big Time, Hart jumped in the car for a signing at WrestleFest 2 on Sunday in Albany, N.Y.

“When you’ve gone up and down the highways and traveled the world the way I have, you always remember the real fans, the ones who’ve made wrestling what it is today,” Hart told Sports Illustrated on Saturday night. “Coming back to New England, and New York and Pennsylvania, it’s a huge nucleus of amazing wrestling fans that watched a lot of great wrestlers long before I ever came along.”

The Big Time show was unique because it presented an opportunity for a Hart Foundation reunion. Hart shared the ring with “Dangerous” Danny Davis and “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart, with visions of battles against the British Bulldogs dancing through minds in the audience. Missing from the reunion was Jim Neidhart, who passed away in August 2018.

Hart was serenaded by the crowd with chants of “Thank You, Bret!” But echoes of “Let’s go, Bret!” still reverberate in wrestling venues the WWE used to inhabit. That chant was repeated on three separate occasions during Hart’s WrestleMania X match against Owen Hart at Madison Square Garden in March 1994.

That 20-minute match pitting Bret against his younger brother Owen was significant for a number of reasons. Hart wrestled two matches at WrestleMania X, and he was scheduled to win the world title from Yokozuna later that night in the main event. But first he needed to ensure that Owen would establish himself as one of the company’s top heels in their match, which opened the card. It remains on the short list of greatest WrestleMania openers.

The two had been feuding since the previous November, when Owen was the only Hart brother eliminated in a Survivor Series match that included Bret, Keith and Bruce. The program intensified at the Royal Rumble, where Owen turned on Bret in a tag team title match against The Quebecers.

After originally refusing to wrestle his younger brother, the match became a necessity after Hart and Lex Luger were both declared winners of the Royal Rumble. Since Luger won the coin toss to go first in his title match against Yokozuna, Bret opened the card against Owen.

Nearly three decades later, the match remains a masterpiece. Featuring a dazzling array of counters and technical excellence, the match was a display of wrestling not traditionally on display in the main event of WWE’s signature show. The match will forever be remembered as the moment that turned Owen into a bona fide star, and opened the door for a new generation of stars that did not fit the Hulk Hogan/Ultimate Warrior style or build.

“I think it certainly opened the door for guys, like Punk and Daniel Bryan, that did some great wrestling after my era,” said Hart. “For our time, Owen and I was a great match.

“The hardest thing about the match with Owen that people overlook is that we’d never wrestled each other before. When you’ve never danced with someone before, you don’t know what you’re going to get. For our first match, that was a really good match.”

Hart revealed that the original plan for the match was scrapped only days before WrestleMania X.

“There’s a funny story about that match,” said Hart. “Owen and me had a match worked out that we worked on for three or four weeks. We were all set to do the match, we had it all locked in. Then I called him the night before we left to fly to New York. I said, ‘Meet me up at Dad’s house, we need to change the whole match.’ So we met in ‘The Dungeon’ and changed everything.”

Bret believed Owen had the tools to be one of the top villains in the company, and he was proven correct over the ensuing years. But, in order to reach that point, Owen needed to generate some animosity from the crowd at WrestleMania X.

“Owen was too babyface,” explained Hart. “He had too many nice moves. I remember I said to Owen, ‘You’re a heel now. You’ve got to stay that way.’ If Owen did a bunch of dropkicks off the top, they’re going to go, ‘Why are we booing this guy?’ We needed him more mean, more nasty, more cheap shots, doing anything to win—the ball shot, biting and bending my finger. If you watch that match, he really got heat.”

There are multiple exchanges in the match, including a reversal into a Tombstone piledriver by Owen (The Undertaker, remember, was not on this card), a suplex from Hart off of the top rope, and an innovative sharpshooter reversal.

The finish was brilliant, with Owen wrapping up his big brother in what appeared to be a victory roll-up for Bret. The shocked look on Owen’s face quickly turned insidious, as he taunted his brother following the win. Their program was successful, with a steel cage match at SummerSlam and some long-term storytelling with Owen costing Bret the belt to Bob Backlund in a submission match at that November’s Survivor Series after guilting Helen Hart into throwing in the towel on her son.

“All the endings to my matches were mine,” said Hart. “The only match I can think of, off the top of my head, that the finish was done the way I was told was probably that Survivor Series where I lost to Backlund. But that whole match was my match. It was a very complicated match. Vince laid the outline, and then was like, ‘Figure it out. This is how it’s going to happen.’

“It had the towel and all that. Every single person’s timing was so important to the other wrestlers. There’s Davey Boy, my mom, my dad, Owen, Bob Backlund, myself. A lot of moving pieces. That’s what I love about that match as you watch it back. That was a complicated story to tell but it was smooth as butter, first time we ever did it, last time we ever did, and a great moment.”

After reminiscing about his star-studded past, Hart noted that his trips to Big Time Wrestling take him back in time.

“Very much so,” said Hart. “I saw a lot of fans I remember from Providence, Boston, and Worcester, fans that made all those journeys with me. It was an honor to be with them again.”

The Briscoes preparing to battle each other at Ring of Honor’s ‘Past vs. Present’ show

Courtesy of Ring of Honor

Ring of Honor fans are in for a rare sight this weekend, as Jay Briscoe meets brother and tag team partner Mark Briscoe at Saturday’s ROH: Past vs. Present show at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas.

The match, which is available on ROH’s HonorClub streaming service, highlights past and present ROH stars, and this is a rematch ROH fans first saw in 2002.

The 11-time ROH tag team champions most recently squared off in October 2018 during the semifinals of Chris Jericho’s Sea of Honor tournament on his cruise. Jay won the match, which was appropriate considering he used to regularly beat up his brother.

“Growing up I could whoop Mark’s ass all the way up until we got in high school,” said Jay. “Then the fights got a lot more even.”

Jay is only a year older than Mark, but he took his responsibilities as the older brother seriously. One of the foremost principles serving in that role is to ensure you win all the fights, which Mark learned the hard way.

“Jay got me for the first decade-and-a-half of my life,” said Mark. “Once I got him figured out, that’s when things got interesting.”

Vegas will make a more glamorous venue than the farm in Sandy Fork where the two brothers were raised and that served as the center of the universe for their battles.

“But it’s a little different now,” added Mark. “We don’t have much to prove to each other. But we are going to prove to the wrestling world that, 20 years in, we’re still the two toughest bastards out there.”

Jay did not disagree, but he also added—and those with a sibling can likely relate—that he still plans on being just a little better than his brother.

“I plan on proving to Mark that I’m better than ever right now and I’m sure he is planning on doing the same,” said Jay. “We hold each other accountable in the ring. Neither one of us wants to let the other down. We both stay at the top of our games. But who wants it more?”

The night before Past vs. Present is ROH’s 18th Anniversary pay-per-view. The Briscoes will meet the team of Dalton Castle and Joe Hendry in a match that should determine the next top challenger for the ROH tag titles.

At first glance the matchup looks as if all the pieces don’t fit, but this should be a tremendous clash of styles that offers more chemistry than previously imagined. Hendry is seeking to prove he is one of the company’s emerging stars, but the bigger story at play in the ring with the Briscoes is Castle. A former ROH world champion, Castle would be a household name in wrestling had he not dealt with nagging back injuries over the past three years. The charismatic character is also incredibly strong, making the matchup with the two heavyweight chicken farmers even more appealing.

“We love mixing it up with different styles,” said Jay. “These dudes are both real deal grapplers that will drop you on your head. We pride ourselves on being able to adapt to any style and Friday night we will do just that.”

Mark won his first ROH tag title with his brother Jay in November 2003 when he was only 18 years old. That reign ended with a loss to the Second City Saints, better known as CM Punk and Colt Cabana. Since then, they have practically wrestled any and all tag teams that entered ROH.

“I’m just excited to be wrestling a new pairing,” said Mark. “We faced them in a three-way tag match earlier in the year and I’m really intrigued to see how we match up in straight up tag action.”

The Briscoes dropped the belts to the current champs, Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham, in past December at the Final Battle pay-per-view. Lethal and Gresham defend the belts against Villain Enterprises’ Marty Scurll and Flip Gordon at Friday’s pay-per-view, and the Briscoes want the next shot at the titles.

“We want whoever the champs happen to be after this weekend,” said Jay. “Personally, I hope it’s Lethal and Gresham. We have unfinished business with those two.”

A taste of singles action on Saturday will have no lasting effect on either Mark or Jay, who both reiterated that their focus is on chasing the tag titles for a record-setting 12th time.

“I do believe that either one of us could capture singles gold at any time if the opportunity should present itself,” said Mark. “But the tag team ranks are always the focus.”

“The tag team division is where we belong,” added Jay. “Tag team wrestling is hotter than ever in 2020 and we want to continue to show that we can throw down with anybody.”

The (online) week in wrestling

It’s a good time to be Mojo Rawley.

Randy Orton and Edge took the next step in the build toward WrestleMania, but MVP only got in the way on Monday.

There is an intensity and electricity apparent in every episode of AEW’s Dynamite, and the past four weeks have been absolutely superb… but next week’s “Blood & Guts” WarGames-style match is on an entirely different level.

The beginning of AJ Styles’s promo calling out The Undertaker on Raw was a highlight of Monday’s show, but Styles calling out ’Taker’s wife is a clear indicator that Styles is not winning this match at WrestleMania.

On the subject of wins and losses, a WrestleMania victory for Shayna Baszler will establish her on the main roster and elevate a new talent to the top of the card.

David Starr vs. Jon Moxley headlines Over The Top Wrestling’s ScrapperMania 6 this Saturday in Dublin.

My all-time favorite Jake Roberts promo took place before his WrestleMania VI match against “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase, but Jake’s performance on this past week’s Dynamite was outstanding.

On the subject of phenomenal promos, MJF absolutely delivered last Wednesday following his pay-per-view win against Cody Rhodes.

Scott Steiner suffered a heart scare this past weekend, but all signs point to a healthy recovery.

GCW co-owner Brett Lauderdale articulated the massive stakes on the line for indie promotions that have the potential to be shut down during WrestleMania week due to the coronavirus.

Sami Zayn added a little political commentary on Twitter two days before winning the Intercontinental title.

Tweet of the week

With news of the coronavirus as rampant as ever, here is Braun Strowman asking everyone to stay sanitary.

Justin Barrasso can be reached at JBarrasso@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinBarrasso.