Bret Hart vs. Tom Magee
Bret Hart vs. Tom Magee was a professional wrestling match between Bret Hart and Tom Magee, of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The un-televised match took place at the Rochester War Memorial Arena in Rochester, New York on October 7, 1986 as part of a WWF Wrestling Challenge taping.[2]
 The Rochester War Memorial Arena (now the Blue Cross Arena), the venue in which the match took place. | |||||||||||||||||
| Date | October 7, 1986 | ||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Rochester War Memorial Arena | ||||||||||||||||
| Kayfabe | |||||||||||||||||
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| Working | |||||||||||||||||
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| Result | |||||||||||||||||
| Tom Magee defeats Bret Hart[1] | |||||||||||||||||
Context
editThe infamous match, which was one of Magee's first after signing with the WWF,[3] was a carry job by Hart,[4] impressed WWF chairman Vince McMahon and Pat Patterson, who felt Magee was the next Hulk Hogan.[5][6]
Preservation status
editThe tape was thought to have been lost, as the WWE could not locate it in its vault.[7] This led many professional wrestling tape traders to consider it a "holy grail".[8] Professional wrestling photographer Mary-Kate Anthony had previously helped Bret Hart convert his VHS copies of his movies into digital, and Hart did not request the physical VHS tapes back.[9] In March 2019 Anthony announced on Twitter she had located the tape.[10] On May 13, 2019, the WWE Network aired a documentary entitled Holy Grail: The Search for WWE's Most Infamous Lost Match which detailed the legend behind the match and the recovery of the tape, and also featured interviews with Magee and Hart.[11]
References
edit- ^ "Former WWE Wrestler Horribly Beaten In A Dispute Over A Parking Spot". Inquisitr. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- ^ "WWF @ Rochester, NY - War Memorial - October 7, 1986 (8,200)". The History of WWE.
- ^ "Former WWF Wrestler Tom Magee Severely Beaten Outside Of His Home By Six Men". Fightful Wrestling. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- ^ "Tom Magee recovering after severe assault outside home". Wrestling Observer Newsletter/Figure Four Online. May 18, 2018. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- ^ "Documentary on WWE's most infamous lost match to air tonight after Raw". WWE. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- ^ "WWE Network to air Bret Hart vs. Tom Magee match, documentary". Wrestling Observer Newsletter/Figure Four Online. May 10, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- ^ Bixenspan, David. "Lost Tape Of Bret Hart's Finest Artistic Achievement In WWE Has Finally Been Found". Deadspin. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
- ^ "WWE To Air Infamous Bret Hart vs. Tom Magee Match For The First Time". ComicBook.com. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- ^ "WWE Requests Footage of Legendary Bret Hart vs. Tom Magee Match For Planned Feature". 411MANIA. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- ^ Anthony, Mary-Kate (March 26, 2019). "Which one of you were looking for this??! @Stuttsy @Statmark @davidbix @MikeEpsenhart ??!!pic.twitter.com/O8xZxJzqbz". @marykayfabe. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
- ^ "Bret Hart vs. Tom Magee 'Holy Grail' results and recap". Wrestling Observer Newsletter/Figure Four Online. May 13, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2019.