Trevor Murdoch/ Edge vs. Bret Hart/Harley Race
Solie: Former NWA Heavyweight Champion, Trevor Murdoch, is a wildcard in this match. He’s as tough and hard headed as multiple time holder of the same belt, Harley Race. Bret Hart certainly has all of the moves and attributes of a great champion, but one could say the same for Edge, who may have an advantage in innovation. Truly the randomizer has given us two well matched teams.
Hart and Murdoch start off. After they circle each other a few times, they finally lock up. Hart finds himself in a headlock, but is able to escape quickly, putting Murdoch in a top wristlock. Murdoch grabs Hart’s hair, but the referee is on top of the situation. Murdoch changes tactics to stomping on his opponent’s foot to escape the hold. He puts Hart back in a headlock. Hart backs his opponent to the ropes and sends him off, but Murdoch holds on to his hair and goes right back to the headlock. Hart tries the same move and gets the same result. Murdoch brings Hart to his corner where he tags out, releases the hold and gives Hart a knee to the stomach. He whips Hart against the ropes and drops down. After Hart steps over Murdoch, he’s knocked down by a spinning heel kick from Edge, followed by a quick cover…
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Hart kicks out.
Edge puts Hart in a rear chinlock, but Hart escapes and puts Edge in an armbar. Edge reaches for his partner, but Hart rolls him backward, away from the corner. Both men get to their feet and Edge is a little faster with a punch. Hart drops to his knees for a fireman’s carry takeover, which puts Edge in his corner. Hart rushes to his corner to tag out. Murdoch and Race come rushing in and commence to punching each other reminiscent of a hockey fight.
Solie: This is the Pier 6 Brawl that we expected from these two competitors. Harley Race and Trevor Murdoch are two of the best punchers that this commentator has ever seen. Who will get the upper hand for his team?
Solie’s question is answered by Murdoch getting a few punches in a row and making Race take a few steps back. Race then paralyzes him with a headbutt. Race takes Murdoch to his corner, where Hart’s foot is on the top rope and Murdoch’s head is introduced to it. Race tags out with Murdoch practically out on his feet. Hart does a belly to back suplex then picks up Murdoch’s legs. Edge comes in, but the ref catches him. Hart drops his elbow onto Murdoch’s leg while Race comes in to stomp on him with the ref’s back turned. Race claps his hands and tells Hart to get out of the ring. They bicker for a moment until the ref gets involved and makes Hart leave. Race picks up Murdoch and hooks his leg for a fisherman suplex, but Murdoch gives him a few shots to the ribs to escape. Murdoch gives Race a suplex then steps over him to go for the tag, but Race trips him. In the struggle on the mat, Murdoch lands a kick to Race’s jaw, which allows him to reach his partner. Edge comes in and tries to whip Race against the ropes while Murdoch goes for the low portion of a sweet and sour. Race winds up on the mat anyway.
Solie: We’ve seen some miscommunication on the part of both teams. This is a standard hazard when they are drawn together with no notice. They definitely did not get as much of Harley Race as they wanted to with that combination.
Edge brings Race to his feet and this time successfully sends him into the ropes. Edge lies on his back for a monkey flip, but Race controls himself and jumps up for a headbutt, only for Edge to roll out of the way. As Race grimaces in pain, Edge puts him in an armbar then twists the arm again to put him face down on the mat. Edge turns the hold into a hammerlock and drops his knee on the elbow. Before Edge can follow up, Race scrambles to his corner to tag out.
Hart comes in and Edge strikes him across the chest then whips him into the ropes. Edge is prepared for a back body drop but gets kicked in the head. Hart then hits an inverted atomic drop, followed by a backbreaker. Hart drops an elbow, but Edge gets out of the way. Hart gets up and is immediately taken down by a spear. Edge goes for the pin…
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Hart gets his foot on the rope. Edge pulls Hart to the middle of the ring and grabs the legs trying to put him into the Edgecator, but Hart rolls him up into a small package for 2. Edge is the first man to his feet and gets the advantage with an old fashioned punch to the head. Edge takes Hart down into a crossface. Hart can’t reach the ropes and begins to rock himself. He eventually rolls back, putting Edge’s shoulders on the mat for a two count. Edge releases the hold to escape the pin and both men are soon standing. Hart dodges a punch and lands one of his own followed by a side Russian legsweep. Both men stay on the mat as the referee counts them both down. Edge is closer to his corner and is able to tag out.
Murdoch runs right past Hart and clobbers Race. Race tries to come in for revenge, but the ref stops him, which allows Murdoch the opportunity to choke Hart for an extended period of time. The ref forces Murdoch off of Hart after getting Race out of the ring and Murdoch releases the choke then pulls Bret to his corner. He stomps on the ribs then climbs to the middle rope. He taunts Hart and waits for him to stand. Murdoch jumps for a blockbuster but Hart moves out of the way. Hart looks to Race, but gets tripped and dragged back to the opposing corner, where Murdoch shouts some instructions before tagging out.
Murdoch picks up Hart for what appears to be an atomic drop, but holds him in a wheel barrow hold. Edge comes in and spikes his head into the mat. Edge covers Hart, but the referee is distracted by Murdoch stopping Race and is slow to the count…
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Hart gets a shoulder up. Race and Murdoch are still going at it and the referee as well as Edge get involved. Race is holding his own, but the referee finally gets between the two nonlegal men and both back toward their corners, never taking their eyes off each other. Hart pushes Edge into Murdoch, which gets Murdoch to hit him back. Hart takes advantage of this by going back to his corner to tag out.
Race comes in and pounds his opponents’ heads together. Race whips Edge into the ropes and meets him in the middle of the ring with a high knee. Race goes to Murdoch and gives him a side belly to belly suplex. He then goes to his corner. Hart puts Race in a soft headlock and the two partners run into Murdoch like a battering ram, then do the same to Edge. Hart holds Edge on the mat while Race drops his head onto Murdoch’s for a pin…
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Solie: Bret Hart and Harley Race move on to the battle royal and things might not be over between Edge and Trevor Murdoch, but that will be settled on another day. We now have a few words from some of the yet to be seen participants.
Promos
Hulk Hogan
Well y’know somethin’, brother. I’ve got the numbers on my side. Not only do I have the 24 inch pythons, brother, but the battle royal is just a way to throw out 19 other guys and my partner better not get in my way. I am the immortal one, jack. This whole tournament was made for me, dude. I’ve taken wrestling to a new promised land twice and I’ve got it all for a third run. So when I’m in the ring, when all the so called champions are falling to the side, the last man standing will be the Hulkster.
Jerry Lawler (in full regalia)
When I was first approached about this method of selecting a champion I said, “just save some time and give me the belt now.” But like any good king, I’ve learned some good can come out of this. When my partner is randomly selected, I’ll know who’s polishing my boots and the ICW belt before I put down all of the jesters who come after my crown.
Sting stares at the camera silently with a baseball bat in Crow makeup. He walks away.
Randy Savage (carrying an lit candle)
A lot of great wrestlers are here to be the first ICW World Champion, yeah. But they can’t hold a candle to the Macho Man. This is what I think of them (blows out the candle)! This is what I think of Hulk Hogan (tears the candle in half)! This is what I think of Edge (breaks a piece in two)! This is what I think of all the wildcards (breaks another piece)! This is what I think of Randy Orton (breaks another piece)! JOHN CENA THIS IS WHAT I THINK O’ YOU (mashes all of the pieces together)! Nobody is as good as The Macho Man! DIG IT!?
Solie: And with that display of confidence, we will return soon with more mat mayhem.