EOTR Match Of The Week: British Bulldog vs Owen Hart

By @Phranchize19

It's always exciting to see new championships created, but the European title was the first new title introduced in the WWF in over 18 years (at the time). Titles can be made or broken by their first champion and they way that they won that title.

Background
The European Title was introduced in 1997 and a tournament was held to determine a new champion. The tournament was held in Germany and came down to the British Bulldog (who's actually from Europe) and Owen Hart (Bulldog’s brother in law). In an ironic twist, these two men were not only brother in laws but tag partners and the reigning WWF Tag Team champions. The story practically wrote it self. Hints of jealousy were dropped in as well as their family ties were used to sell this story.

The Match
Owen and Bulldog would start out with basic wrestling holds. Both men sold each other's offense as well as showed great athleticism. There was chain wrestling, brawling, high flying, and taunting. Owen would eye rake his brother in law much to the dismay of the Germans. British Bulldog would come out on top after a reversal on a roll up attempt.

Phranchize Rating And Analysis
This match was perfect. The crowd was hot for Bulldog and it showed. These are two of the greatest technicians ever and they went out there and put on a show. Bulldog coming out the victor was the right move and it didn't damage Owen's credibility. The announce team did well by selling their history and selling the tension the two have had (Could've done without Honky Tonk Man even though I'm a huge fan). This was the perfect match for a new title.

Rating: 9.5/10

-C. Yates