10 HUGE Tests Wrestlers Failed

10. Bret Hart & Shawn Michaels Fail To Go The Distance

Bret Hart was the greatest North American pro wrestler of the 21st century, and the man who in effect trained your writer to appreciate the art behind the fad. It almost hurts to bury him.

But Jesus Christ was the WrestleMania XII main event a dud of a match.

It was ambitious. Bret's loyal fanbase appreciated his craft, and were prepared to go the distance he mapped, but an hour was a lot for the US in 1996, and the decision to go 0-0 was just dumb. Every established real sports precedent should have made this clear. This was a wet and windy Wednesday night in Stoke of a wrestling match, and the timekeeper took the best bump of a first 40-odd minutes that more or less felt like the commercial break of a TV match. It was just hold upon hold and a lot of laying about that was barely sold ahead of a crescendo that, while electrifying, arrived too late and felt disconnected from itself.

The fans lost interest - some even left - before Michaels realised his "boyhood dream" in a sudden death most would have taken at the 25 minute mark.