5 reasons why Diesel vs. Bret Hart is the most important Survivor Series match ever

#3 It cemented Bret Hart as one the greatest ever

The Excellence of Execution

Bret Hart, the 2x WWE Hall of Famer and multi-time champion, had already won the WWF title twice as well as the Royal Rumble match and King of the Ring tournament by the time of Survivor Series '95, but it was his third taste of gold that solidified him at the very top of the pecking order.

The Diesel match put him in rare company of 3x WWF champions (very rare accolade at the time), it proved he could still carry the company at an advanced age of 38, and it completed the storyline narratives of him gaining back the championship he had lost in controversial fashion to Bob Backlund exactly one year earlier, and defeating his nemesis Diesel whom he had two previous matches with that ended without a definitive winner.

Hart vs. Diesel at King of The Ring '94 ended with Jim Neidhart interfering, costing Hart the match by disqualification. The 1995 Royal Rumble saw Hart and Diesel face off in another match for Diesel's title that had been newly won from Backlund, but it ended as a no contest due to interference by Shawn Michaels, Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart.

Without the definitive win over Diesel at Survivor Series, the in-storyline question of whether Bret truly was the best there is, was, and best there ever will be could not have been answered. Thanks to the small package roll-up that quickly closed the match, he proved his nickname to be true.