Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker vs. Vader

[6.0] "This match would be a lot better without Vader in it. There's good star power here but this is just a pretty boring and long brawl with stupid rules. You can go through the ropes and fight outside all you like but over the top rope is elimination? Fuck you and your SMW rules Cornette"

[8.0] "A surprisingly great No DQ brawl despite a tired build. The four veterans make the chaos work, highlighted by Vader's brutal eye injury and Undertaker's huge pop-inducing comeback. It's messy and aimless at times, but full of grit and energy; more raw than Shawn's recent title bouts, though less structured. A wild, bloody, entertaining clash with real attitude. ****"

[10.0] "What a war between 4 of the finest wrestlers this industry has to offer. Screw the flips and no-sells, the kids these days should take notes from this match. The brutality and insanity of it all. This was basically 4 men trying to kill each other for the WWF championship and it's glorious. The storytelling here is just top-notch too, Stone Cold doesn't even really care about the title he just wants to screw over Bret Hart. Even though he's still technically a face here, Bret is well onto his heel arc and def sprinkles that in to make Undertaker the clear babyface. Oh and Vader just wants to wreck shit. It's great before don't get me wrong, but once Stone Cold gets eliminated, shit gets real. One of my favorites matches from Stone Cold's rise to greatest wrestler ever."

[7.0] "From bell to bell it's a brawl that truly feels like everything they're doing is being called out in the ring. That feeling is emphasized by how disorganized and messy things become at times, which is something I actually enjoy a lot. The other idea that kept things at a constant rhythm is when one wrestler is done brawling with the other, they then go and pick a fight with the other pair, and they exchange combat partners, which is quite nice. I did not find this match great, nor did I think it was particularly strong, but it's the kind of action that you just grab your popcorn and kill some time with a fun watch, and much of the fun comes from the pace staying on a constant flow outside of maybe two moments where it slightly dips as they communicate where to take things next. There is an idea that gets repetitive for two-thirds of the match where one pairing stays inside the ring while the other pair brawls outside; however, the action keeps things interesting. My favorite part came around the 15-minute mark when Vader and Bret were exchanging some vicious blows, then Vader very obviously called a shot for Bret to kick his balls, which popped the crowd. ***1/2"

[7.0] "this was disjointed and insane. vader put bret hart in a sharpshooter outside the ring. lol they are also supposed to dump each other over the top rope. lol just hilarious in a weird way, if you haven't seen it."

[9.0] "An all out brawl for the WWF title. Vader is the highlight here just beating everyone up while bleeding all over the place. Bret and Austin at each others throats the whole time trying to cost each other the title. Hitman gets him another title reign(if only for a day) ****1/2"

"5.0 - One of the most stacked Four-Way matches ever, but in typical WWF In Your House fashion, nothing really happens in it. Despite four of the most talented wrestlers of the era and 25 minutes to fill, the match is tragically short on spots and signature offense. I swear there's a universe next to ours where these guys were given a bit of prep time to craft a match with some cool spots, maybe a beginning-middle-end, and in that universe maybe this is one of my favorite matches. But that's not what I got here. No one takes a tombstone, no one takes a Vadersault, there's one Sharpshooter that doesn't earn an elimination, and one of stunner that doesn't earn a pinfall (sold really badly by Big Mark, who takes it like a halfhearted neckbreaker). There's no buildup to the eliminations, and there's no buildup to the big moves. In fact there are no big moves. There's almost no 2-on-1 or 2-on-2 offense through the whole thing which leaves the performers spending most of the match paired off to do a lot of aimless punching and kicking. Now it's some of the best aimless punching and kicking that 90's WWF had on offer, but that only gets a match so far."

[4.0] "Star-studded chaos. I think this match is too long and the stipulation was a bit confusing at times. I get Bret and Austin wanting to stop the other from being eliminated because they want the honor of taking out each other, but why was Vader and Taker doing that as well? Became really fun in the last couple of minutes, and the best part of the match was Vader's eye being busted open."

[9.0] "I love this match so much. Vader's bleeding job was excellent and this was his bets match in the WWF. Four absolute legends in a four-way brawl. The only thing I didn't like was the over-the-top-rope stips, but everything else was pure awesomeness."

[8.0] "Good fun match, first time ive seen a stipulation where you can be eliminated by over the rope or by pin. It built undertaker vs austin and bret vs austin. I enjoyed it."

[8.0] "A classic to be sure, but this elimination match has a weird over-the-top-rope stipulation to it. Vader gets a chair to the eye early, which busts him open. This match is a violent brawl. Vader is just beating the fuck out of whoever is in his way. Soon he and Bret are brawling in the audience. We even get a vadersault in this match. Bret with some heel moves in this match too, with eye rakes and nut shots. Teasing his eventual heel turn. I consider this one of the key matches in the Bret/Austin feud. Lots of fun and very violent."

"Doing a rewatch of the Monday Night War and I had never seen or heard of this match before and it exceeded my expectations. These 4 guys beat each other up all night long. Vader looked like a monster."

[7.0] "While not the greatest match these competitors have had and definitely disorganized at times, I appreciated how wild and chaotic it was, contributing to an unpredictable atmosphere. Vader bleeding added a gritty and intense visual that enhanced the overall feel. The match flies by quickly and adds further elements to the ongoing Hart/Austin feud, making it an engaging watch. Recommended."

"Great, exciting match. Definitely Vader's best match in the WWF up to this point. All four made the match look absolutely brutal."

[8.0] "Wild and chaotic, yet more grounded in logic and reality than perhaps any other 4-way of note. Much of this is isolated brawling, which keeps the house rocking and is further unlocked by a spectacular Jim Ross call. The content is unable to become redundant either, with a horrifying cut on Vader ensuring that there's always something of significance taking place, even if unintentionally so. At 24 minutes, that's no mean feat, still managing proper escalation with such consistently frantic action, producing an electric stretch to close. ****"

[8.0] "Vader's run in WWF was not good, but this match is at least one bright spot. He gets busted open early and despite being absolutely the most banged up looking person in the ring because of his bloody gushing, he also looks the most unstoppable and terrifying. The match whirling around him is a chaotic brawl, sometimes exhilarating, sometimes messy, always wholly unique in its meandering violence. I would have preferred maybe a slight bit more structure, in the middle portion when it was clear that it was largely audibles, but everyone is so good here that it's hard to really complain. Obvious big story beats too, with Bret and Austin's feud firing off, and Taker looking back in anger."

[9.0] "in my opinion, the greatest fatal 4 way ever, Bret/Taker/Austin and Vader are all great wreslters and thus wrestled a pure action pack match, it's a bit of a spot fest but an absolute amazing one. [****1/2]"

[8.0] "Thus was an awesome match with a ton of star power. Vader gets busted open and bleeds almost the whole match, which was really badass. Austin had some really great character work here, Bret won with a little bit of help from Austin."

[9.0] "This was a very fun and chaotic match. Vader gets busted open really early in this match and it is an awesome visual. The pacing of the match was excellent, with there being no dull moments. ****1/2"

[6.0] "A fine match ahead of it's time, but that does't make it a good match. A bit of a weird match form, but props for giving it a go and trying to make it work. Vader was bloody within 1 minute and holy hell did he bleed alot... Good charcter work by Austin by refusing to leave the match"

[7.0] "JR was clearly having a great time in this match. These 4 beat the absolute hell out of each other, it was fun at points but was a bit too disorganised for my liking, you can see multiple times the guys looking around wondering where to go or what to do next. In lesser hands this would have been a train wreck but the 4 guys are all legends so were able to keep everything mostly on course."

[9.0] "Excellent chaotic match back at a time when multi-man singles matches and blood loss was rare in the WWF. You'll never get a ruleset in an elimination match that will satisfy everyone but with everyone eliminated by going over the top rope, this does protect everyone in the match. The match makes full use of the stipulation with chaotic brawls happening all over the arena. Vader gets cut on his eye very early in the match and it is a gruesome sight to say the least! The manner of the eliminations are very dramatic and in the end it does play out as like a redo of the controversial Royal Rumble match. Everyone here looked like a star, especially Austin despite being the first man eliminated!"

[8.0] "Youd have to actively go out of your way to ensure that a match between these four in February 1997 wouldnt be excellent. All four were healthy enough to work at the level needed to make this into a great Main Event, and all four could hold their own in a frantic brawl based environment like this. The match ended up being one of the best early examples of the WWF taking the ECW formula and making it their own, with the result being a tremendous fight that had the crowd losing their mind as it entered the closing stretch. This may have been Vaders best night in the WWF in some ways, as he looked the part, wrestled the part and got over as a big scary dude who only really got eliminated because he took a chance from the second rope that he didnt need to take as he already had things in hand. Just a great brawl and well worth going out of your way to see if youve never seen it before"

[6.0] "Hmmm the rules were definitely different and odd but I thought this still couldve been really good given the talent involved. But ultimately this was a disappointment no clue how it got such a high rating from meltzer and here on cagematch. A really sloppy brawl for majority of this match that had its moments but few and far between. Eventually because just a standard 4 way inside the ring then went to triple threat before becoming a standard singles. Too sloppy and all over the place for my liking and also did lack excitement the time all the guys were inside the ring. 3.25/5"

[6.0] "I guess I'm going against the consensus on this one. I just found this match to very boring for the most part. Vader bleeding was a badass visual and Bret's Superplex was nice, but most of the rest was just plodding brawling around the ring and the outside. The eliminations being done like a battle royale was an interesting twist. Would probably be a 5 but the crowd were very into it and got me through it a bit so its a 6"

[7.0] "WWE is trying its hand at the Four Way, some reactor problems when two wrestlers clash where the other two are no longer filmed at all for a long time. All eliminated wrestlers go over the top rope while you can Pin or Sub in this match. It's still cool even if there's nothing really memorable about it. (3*3/4)"

[7.0] "It was chaotic but in a good way, as they didn't go from spot to spot and made it feel like an actual fight. It was something new back in 1997 so the crowd were losing their minds for every thing that would look normal in today's day and age, but they were also invested in every wrestler. The fact that it was a grudge match helped with making it feel more brutal and Vader's nasty injury added even more danger factor to it. 25 minutes really flew by and they managed to make it even more chaotic at the end with Stone Cold interfering. The only thing that bothered me was the number of low blows, as they stopped feeling painful after a few of them."

[9.0] "I love this main event. An awesome brawl between four great workers. Violent, gritty, physical, believable. Tremendous match."

[9.0] "Awesome main event. I understand how this was something new and different back then, but it seems like AEW does multi-man matches like this almost every week. None of those matches can hold a candle to this. Yes, it was hard to follow at times, but that was the point. All four of these guys had a grudge against one another and with the added bonus of the world title on the line, they didnt hold back. Props to Vader. He was one tough son of a bitch. That cut looked nasty and painful. Im surprised Austin was the first eliminated especially considering how soon this was to their WrestleMania classic. Every elimination, the crowd went insane. Overall, underrated gem that should be viewed by all. 9/10. ****1/2"

[7.0] "Good, enjoyable main event, even though I think it didn't come up to my expectations. A little gem from that period and the only match that deserves to be watched of the event it's part of, but nothing more than a good match in my opinion"

[6.0] "In contrast to the good of the battlefield, this match has the usual ills of mass combat. Overall, the feeling that nothing leads to anything beyond making time and that the main moments are not handled that well. The eliminations which was the most important thing didn't please me either: Stone Cold eliminated without preamble by Bret, Vader eliminated just when something else is happening (Steve Austin interfering back in) and the overboobed final elimination of the Undertaker."

[8.0] "This was chaotic. We might see multi-man matches on a weekly basis in 2022, but this felt fresh and the crowd came alive for this. Undertaker kicks a steel chair into Vader's face and he bleeds a right gusher. Vader bleeding through his mask made for a harrowing visual that will stick with me for a while. We get a lot of brawling around the ring and up the aisle. Bret Hart can brawl as well as he can wrestle. Seeing Vader and Austin clobber the crap out of each other makes me feel sad that we didn't get a proper program between them. Austin is eliminated first by Bret, but that won't be the last time we will see him tonight. The over-the-top eliminations were obviously put in place to protect everyone, but I don't think it hurt the match. Bret gets one last babyface hurrah before his world comes crashing down on him and he finally turns heel."

[7.0] "BRET HART ELIMINATES AUSTIN! With a fire mans carry of all things 18 minutes in. Austin leaves without much argument. I raise an eyebrow to that one. Taker gets knocked outside by Bret and Taker then Bearer smacks him with the urn. Bret superduperplexes Vader then puts on the sharpshooter. Taker knocks him outside and Austin does a run in and beats on Bret. Vader takes down Taker and goes for the Vader bomb but Taker sits up and hits him in the nuts which sends him over the corner and out! Crowd goes nuts! Bret gets beat on by Austin in the ring, Austin is sent away then Taker chokeslams Bret and the crowd is solidly behind Taker of the 4. Taker goes for a tombstone but Austin mucks it up and all three scuffle by the ropes. In the cluster snork, Bret clotheslines Taker out and wins the vacant world title and his 4th belt overall. Crowd is mixed. Psycho Sid walks out and confronts Bret and they discuss things. Bret would only hold the title for 24 hours before losing it back to Sid after outside interference, further sending him down the heel path."

[6.0] "a great coronation for the hitman. the match itself was barely adequate, but it was entirely well constructed, with several brutal moments and a good display by all involved."

[8.0] "The concept of the match was probably initiated to protect all men by not having them eat pinfalls but it works here. Taker and Vader mainly fight each other, and Austin and Hart do as well to continue the two rivalries. The match is a chaotic brawl but everyone here works hard enough to make it work. That blade job by Vader was nasty, when he took the mask off it looked worst. Austin helping Bret despite trying his hardest to prevent it was funny.****1/4"

[9.0] "This was such a unique match for the WWF/WWE to be worked in the way it works outside of the company. The rules were easy to catch up, but the match initially was a bit hard to follow where all men spilled out of the ring and brawled all over the place. It was fun and wild as the action returned to the ring which was a great piece of work. All four men had an excellent showing here with Vader standing out as a different breed. According to the rumors, Austin was supposed to win but his knee tweak during the match paved things for Bret to take the role over which is pretty much a safe option as he would be over with the crowd in his sleep. 4.5 out of 5 stars!"

[8.0] "This worked as a concept. Much more than a pinfall version of this would? ve. It allowed for different, but still effective false finishes. Relatively keeping those involved protected while giving the winner an actual accomplishment at the same time. All the performances were upto par as well. Stone Cold injured his knee towards the end but before that, he was excellent as the sneaky pest of the match and continued to be so even after being eliminated. Bret truly came off like the best of the four which was the perfect way to go as the winner but Taker and Vader got their shine also. Speaking of Vader; he got cut badly and it got everywhere. One of the better bladejobs of the era and it? s so under-rated. ****"

[8.0] "Definitely a great brawl, but I think this match is a tad overrated as it was pretty slow in some spots where I just wished someone would get eliminated. However, the match was really good and I enjoyed watching it. ****"

[7.0] "A four person battle royale may not be the worst stipulation ever, but it's certainly one of the dumbest. It was an entertaining brawl out of context, but as an actual match it was hurt by none of the eliminations happening by pinfall or submission, and by it taking too long for the first elimination and the others happening so quickly after the first. It was still great fun, but not quite the masterpiece it's sometimes claimed to be - and in retrospect it's not helped by knowing the result would be made meaningless the next night."

[6.0] "Felt pretty let down by this. A pretty slow and clunky match, where the guys just kinda plod around and whack one another. Seen this done way better in other places. Gross wound on Vader though, goddamn"

[10.0] "Crazy how these guys provided the archetype for multi-man matches, chaotic and sloppy, with every guy always having something to do, and nearly 25 years later it still hasn't been topped."

[8.0] "Very enjoyable match , seeing Vader get his eye busted open added alot of drama to the match , all four men put on a fantastic 4 way , loved it."

[9.0] "A chaotic, messy, heated brawl and makes me long for what multi-man matches really should be. There isn't any elaborately planned synchronized spots or group sequences here, these are four guys going out there and wailing on the first guy they see. Vader really is a victim in this match and it is rather enthralling. If you wanted to call it The Passion of The Vader, I wouldn't argue. All the storylines weaved into the match perfectly in a natural fashion and it built to an exciting end."

[8.0] "This was a really great brawl, very chaotic and entertaining to watch. Everyone just went around beating the hell out of each other and it was great stuff. Vader especially looked like an absolute monster with his bloody eye. All guys looked very good and ended up having a great match, with Stone Cole inadvertently helping Bret win by distracting Taker. ****"

[9.0] "Incredible match, one of the matches that made me a lifelong wrestling fan. This one is chaos from bell to bell, bloody, intense and violent. Very few 4-way or multi-man matches have come close to being this good since, I consider this essential viewing even if it's not quite a 5 star match."

[6.0] "I love all 4 men in this match so I really wanted to like it and be one of the raters giving it ****+ stars but unfortunately this fell flat for me. It wasn't BAD but it dragged on and there were some really sloppy parts (quite a few). This stipulation was rather weird as well and it felt like they were just doing random stuff to fill their timeslot. The highlight by far was Vaders eye pouring blood for 90% of the match, very brutal to look at. Again, not BAD but not GREAT. (***)"

[10.0] "This was a fantastic brawl, with great non-stop action from start to finish. It had the kind of intensity that WWE hasn't had, at least outside of certain Brock Lesnar matches, in a very long time, and Vader bleeding really added to that intensity."

[8.0] "Just a senseless brawl at the end of the day, but an entertaining brawl at that. There's isn't much in substance to this match and there's really no memorable spots either. Vader bleeds like a motherf**ker from the eye which is probably the most memorable thing about this match, credit to him for that, it only happens about 3 minutes into the match. The story in this match is solid enough, two hot rivalries in Austin v Hart and Taker v Vader going at it with some occasional overlapping. The action never slows down and you'll never get bored but maybe just a bit underwhelmed. Still, very fun match. ****"

[8.0] "An entertaining brawl with Vader looking the most dangerous, Austin the most dastardly, Undertaker the most solid and Bret the most durable. Well-paced with some good spots and a nice flow. It also furthered the epic Bret vs Austin feud resulting in their classic Mania match. ****"

[10.0] "This holds up with any 4 way match today. Stiff, vader looked like a serious contender in this match. This is top 3 after Michaels/Taker HIAC and Austin/Hart WM13 for 1997. Tremendous match for its time. ****1/2"