Wrestlemania Rewind- Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels

The granddaddy of them all, WrestleMania is just about a month away. The anticipation for the extravaganza is sky high among the WWE Universe. And since the pay-per-view is richer than Richie rich when it comes to history, we have decided to take a look back at some of the best WrestleMania matches with this latest series.Over the last thirty years, WWE fans have witnessed some great WrestleMania matches.As we continue our journey on the road tp Wrestlemania, here’s another blast from the past- HBK vs The Hitman. Shawn Michaels Vs Bret Hart. At Wrestlemania 12.

#1 The Build Up

In retrospect, Bret Hart was at the peak of his career and was the leading force of the organisation. This is the phase when he was the face of technical perfection.

He was a marquee guy.

Another competitor you just could not and will not ignore was the Heart Break Kid. His arrogance and confidence seeped through to the spectators watching in the arena or at home. He was surely a brat. And he was churning out legendary matches, one of them being the iconic ladder match between him and Razor Ramon. If there was anyone who could compete with the technical prowess of Hart, it was this man. It was as if Joker met Batman, Real Madrid meeting Barcelona or simply Superman finding his kryptonite- but this was the ideal combination for a great rivalry.

And like clockwork, they met in several matches which Shawn Michaels could not win.

Then came the Royal Rumble and HBK won it for the second time in a row and as is the tradition, he was set to compete for the biggest prize in the company in the biggest stage of them all. And it was then that, history was in the making.

Although, it is important to note that there were already vibes of backstage heat between Hart and Michaels. Hart wrote in his book that when HBK turned babyface, it took a whole new turn in the locker room. He looked set to face the biggest babyface that was Bret Hart and obviously get the support of the audience becaue he was a relatively new face. But Hart believed that HBK only wrestled well with those who suited him unlike Hart who could get a great match out of anyone.

And then came the Klique and how they just spread their attitude all around backstage and that gave rise to more animosity between the two.

He felt the difference between him and Michaels was that Hart respected the undercard and Michaels was just full of himself.

#2 The Match

Many call it the greatest Wrestlemania match ever. It was technically superior to any other main event in the WWE and in retrospect it is extremely relevant to WWE’s history.These two were the best rivalry of that era and their personal differences turned this into something more dramatic than what the storyline was made out to be. In the storyline, Shawn Michaels was the new star, the new young talent on the rise. Off-screen he was considered to be a darn snob by many in the locker room.

HBK defeated Hart in a 60 minute Iron man match. The match went a little over the set time limit. The scores were tied at 0-0. Yes,nobody scored a pinfall or submission. For sixty minutes they told one heck of a story by just wrestling. And then, HBK hit Hart with a Sweet Chin Music and that was it. The boyhood dream came true.

One standout moment is when Michaels held onto the title but refused to celebrate until Hart left the ring. He wanted to celebrate his moment alone like a lone survivor on top of the mountain taking in all the glory.

Hart looked furious and clearky disrespected.

This was only one the beginning.

#3 The Fallout

The animosity only got worse. It was so bad that in those times of thriving kayfabe, the news about their differences spread like wildfire and everybody knew what was up between these two. Michaels even accused Hart of having an affair with Sunny and there is also this story about Michaels refusing to lose the title to Hart. Their on- screen promos often seemed to contain non-fictional details related to their feelings towards each other.

The drama reached its crescendo during the Montreal Screwjob.They have since buried their differences.

There is no doubt that these two have been relevant to the rich history of this company.