Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart vs. Greg Valentine & The Honky Tonk Man

[4.0] "Compared to the previous match, this was an all-timer. However, on its own, this match is passable and this is sad to say considering it is WrestleMania and you have Bret Hart in the match. Not a lot of significance happened, the finish was not great and I will forget about this match within the next week."

[5.0] "This was fine. A massive quality jump from the previous match and Bret is starting to find his feet now."

[5.0] "Good Bret Hart performance here, but overall this was just a serviceable match that isn't all that memorable besides the fun finish where the Harts cheated and hit Honky Tonk with the megaphone. There's been nothing standing out on the undercard that really screams WrestleMania to me and this is reflected by the poor crowd reactions as I think they're just waiting for Hogan v Savage at this point."

[3.0] "The Hart Foundation did the bare minimum, but I found Valentine and HTM uninspired. I don't know the reasons for this alliance, but it didn't excite me much. In-ring quality: 1/5. Stakes: 0.25/2. Justification: 0/1. Placement on the card: 0.5/1. Suspense: 1/1. Bonus/penalty: none. Total: 2.75/10. Match watched on Netflix (FR)."

[5.0] "It's serviceable I dont know lol. Doesnt really have a chance to get going but the finish is funny whacking them with the megaphone. **1/2"

[5.0] "Bret Harts wrestlemania debut, and god damn is he already putting the backpack on and carrying the match. Honky & Valentine are both workers I've never been able to click with as a viewer, but the Hart foundation hope spot and ending was able to get me into this match (on my lunch break in the middle of a shift where I just wanted any escape). Ned's a bit green here, but still works laps around the other team."

[3.0] "I really disliked Rhythm & Blues. I wasn't a particularly big fan of either man as in-ring workers. They get absolutely carried through this one by the Hart Foundation. There's only so much one team can drag up a tag team match by the scruff of the neck. I think, like the previous Mania, there was a bloating of matches, and the majority were quite slow and boring. The action was okay. I really didn't like the ending at all. Am I supposed to believe the face team needed to cheat to beat the heels? Terrible idea."

[5.0] "Bret Hart and The Jim Anvil carried the match as long as they could and then aspects like the time of the match was okay, the level in ring wasn't bad and kick outs like the one after the cross body of Bret were good, 5/10 [***]"

[4.0] "The 3rd enjoyable tag team match on this card that is ultimately the weakest of the trio. The Harts are in their element but the end result is more average than truly good."

[5.0] "Its always fun to watch The Hart Foundation, they have so much chemistry together and they are very talented. This one was okay nothing went wrong but nothing stood out really."

[4.0] "i found this match fun but i cant realy call it good, the finish worked well with the angel and was done well, just not to much to say"

[5.0] "3 out of the 4 of these guys are super talented except the match had to be filed with the Honky Tonk Man with a horrible finish. Some of the match was fun but also a lot of I wasn't that great. Overall a pretty la match once again."

[5.0] "Good tag team action when Honky isn't in. Bret is obviously great and Anvil is a really good hot tag. Valentine keeps up well with these guys so we get periods of enjoyable wrestling. The finish sucked but they had to play into the Jimmy Hart split I guess."

[5.0] "Jimmy Hart split from the Foundation, leading to this tag match with some of Jimmys other charges. Thats probably why Jimmy wasnt invited to the Canadian Stampede. Although bad blood didnt stop them from inviting Bruce, so whos to say? R&B worked over Bret, although Bret was able to fight off the leg-brace assisted Figure Four. There was a good hot tag spot here, where Bret did an OConnor Roll to get the tag out to Anvil. Anvil ran wild, then ran off Jimmy Hart when he sat the megaphone on the apron. He tossed it over Honkys head to Bret, who clobbered him with it to get the win. A solid win for the freshly babyfaced Foundation. **1/2"

[5.0] "Perfectly fine match. Nothing super exciting about this but nothing about it was bad. Was just there to put all four of these men on the WrestleMania card."

[5.0] "This is a match that happened with no impact on the wrestling business or on this card. It was perfectly fine by 1989 standards, but falls short today."

[3.0] "Fine match, really dumb ending. Also this four could give something better surely, but end it with the faces cheating in order to win is just such a dumb decision."

[6.0] "Finish doesnt make any sense, no clue why the babyface Hart Foundation are cheating to win, even against the dastardly duo of Honky Tonk and Valentine. But the match itself was fine enough, Bret is just leagues ahead of what anybody else is doing this era and all the tags feel fluid and logical."

[7.0] "02/04/89 Wrestlemania WWF. Hart Foundation the big cheats. I really enjoyed this match, four legends really put in a good shift. Honky and Valentine work well together and the chemistry between the two tag teams was top notch. A snap suplex by Bret near the end was absolute magic. I got the ending Jimmy Hart former manager of the Harts and they were screwed by the helmet, taste of his own medicine. 6.5*"

[5.0] "I would have given this match 6 points if not for the finish. There's no reason the Hart Foundation should be cheating to win this match. It didn't make sense, and they could have gotten over stronger without it. Honestly, this is probably the best overall match on Wrestlemania 5, and that's really because it's the Bret Hart show. I'll never stop putting Bret over. His moves are so crisp and fluid, and he's in there for the vast majority of the match. Anvil is only in there twice in brief moments. Honky's selling is fun, and Valentine can keep up with Bret nicely. They both make for nice foils for him. Definitely not match of the year quality, but still a good match and easily one of the better moments from this pretty lackluster show."

[6.0] "I genuinely don't know why this one is rated so low. I actually liked this match, but there is a chance it was helped by how weak this card was overall. I thought this match was a lot of fun; I like face Hart Foundation vs a heel team with Jimmy Hart. Solid win for the Hart Foundation."

[5.0] "The Hart Foundation tried to work their magic and they didn't do bad, but there's only so much you can do with Greg and Honky, who aren't really tag team specialist. It wasn't bad, Bret was a joy too watch, but I just wished The Harts got an experienced heel tag team to work with."

[4.0] "It was cool seeing Hart against Valentine, and Neidhart had a pretty decent hot tag, but there just wasn't much to this. The Honky Tonk Man isn't very good and the match as a while never rose above 'fine's. Factor in that it was happening much too late in what was a very poor show and this ended up feeling very skippable."

[5.0] "When the Hart Foundation was on top the match was kinda entertaining the rest of the time it was a bit of a drag. Bang average tag match but nothing more"

[6.0] "Just be honest with yourself, you will watch this match because you are either insane and are watching the whole card or because you like Bret Hart. This is pretty decent and one of the few watchable matches on this dire show."

[5.0] "The Harts opened this with a fun opening shine that Valentine and Honky did a solid job bumping and feeding for. Valentine stopped the shine by evading Bret's patent elbow drop, and they worked a short but worthwhile FIP segment into this time filler bout. Neidhart came in with a hot tag and actually woke up the crowd a bit with the fire he showed. Things slowly broke down, but as Jimmy Hart distracted the ref so his team could use the megaphone, Neidhart intervened, giving Bret said object instead. Hart then used it to knock Honky out for the win, foiling the heels' plan to a shockingly good pop from the audience. A perfectly acceptable tag match placed in a dead slot of a dead PPV. [**1/2]"

[4.0] "Should have been the Harts and Rougeaus as they had an actual story going here and Honky and Hammer could have done the comedy spot against the Whackers since they had nothing going on at this point. Harts win over Proto Blues after using the microphone and it's poetic justice when the baby faces are able to use the mega phone and get a pin behind the refs back. Karma's a bitch!"

[5.0] "These four wrestlers did as much as they could in front of a clinically dead crowd, and even managed to get a reaction out of them by the end! That alone deserves an award. All jokes aside, this was all action for the seven minutes it lasted and it was quite fun to watch. The finish was cool too. [**1/2]"

[4.0] "More filler, but at least this is an opportunity to see Bret Hart. Honky lands his finisher early, with little fanfare and build-up, but decides to tag Valentine in lock on a Figure 4. Bret counters and tags in Neidhart and he cleans house. Hart Foundation scores the win after intercepting Jimmy Hart's megaphone when he was trying to throw it to the heels. The Hart Foundation looked motivated, whilst Honky and Valentine look like they were just out there for another paycheck. Fine for what it was, but this event would be a lot more palatable if they trimmed off the pointless filler matches like this."

[5.0] "Yet another decent match but one that just felt like something off a house show than the biggest show of the year. Totally forgettable but moderately fun."

[5.0] "A fairly forgettable, if competently worked, tag match. Rhythm and Blues is a moderately entertaining tag team, even if I'm never a huge fan of Honky, but he brings some pizzazz that boring mechanic Greg Valentine is lacking. And Bret Hart is in here, so you know it's going to be at least somewhat good. Jim Neidhart throws out some impressive dropkicks, too, so at least that's something, and I won't lie, I am often a sucker for the "heel tries to throw a foreign object, the face catches it and uses it" finish."

[5.0] "This was fine enough, in the end it's Valentine against the Hart Foundation, which is always going to produce something solid. However, I wasn't really a fan of the Rhythm and Blues pairing, I feel it was a waste of Valentine's talent pairing him with Honky Tonk Man, who was as average as always here. Overall, not bad though."

[6.0] "A perfectly solid, not especially memorable tag team match. Bret will probably draw the most attention but I thought the best portions of the match were carried by Greg Valentine, who has a gift for making his offense look bone rattling and knows how to play his role to perfection."

[5.0] "This was a pretty good tag match here mostly carried by the great Bret Hart. Hart & Neidhart were the babyfaces here while HTM & Valentine would eventually be called Rhythm & Blues. Fine tag match **1/2"