Many fans noticed that the match between CM Punk and Darby Allin at All Out shared multiple similar spots to an influential match from the past. Bret Hart faced the 1-2-3 Kid (Sean Waltman) for the WWF Championship in July of 1994. Punk would have been 15 years old at the time the match took place. In the build-up to Punk vs Darby, Punk mentioned that if he was 15-years-old, Darby would be his favorite wrestler.
A Bret Hart fan page on Instagram posted a video showing several spots where Punk and Darby Allin paid homage to Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid at All Out.
Sean Waltman Responds To Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid Homage During CM Punk vs Darby Allin
Sean Waltman responded to the homage recently on social media.
Waltman doesn’t always remember his matches with Bret as clearly, however. He responded to a thread about another match he had against Bret that took place in February of 1994.
Based on fan ratings from Cagematch.net, Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid is the 14th highest rated match of Bret Hart’s career. It was the 3rd best match of Waltman’s career according to the same website. The match received a 4.5 star rating from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
The full match between the 1-2-3 Kid and Bret Hart can be viewed in the player below:
