10 Most Anticipated Wrestling Matches Of All-Time (That Actually Happened)

9. Bret Hart vs. Sting

A man born into the business, training his whole life, taking on a guy who barely knew what professional wrestling even was until his 20's-- on the surface, it doesn't seem like the type of match any fan would be interested in, let alone almost unanimously. Bret "The Hitman" Hart and Sting fit that mold, however. Both prominent babyface superstars for their respective brands, both Hart and Sting were heavily featured throughout the early to mid 1990's, without ever coming in contact with each other. Sting was WCW's franchise player, carrying feuds against the likes of Ric Flair, Vader, and Hulk Hogan, while Bret Hart would take on the likes of Bob Backlund, Yokozuna, and Shawn Michaels. Just as Hart's decade plus-WWE run was coming to an end, Sting's character was undergoing a drastic change. The two also had another major thing in common- their submission finisher. The Scorpion Deathlock, in which Sting popularized in America, was one of the finest submission holds of its day, one that Bret Hart admitted inspired him to adopt the move. Hart's version would become known as the Sharpshooter, a hold in which would be passed along to seemingly every Canadian wrestler since. Following the Montreal Screwjob in 1997, Bret Hart made a huge jump to WCW, a promotion full of fresh match ups and new feuds, many of which WCW never bothered exploring. The potential in a Sting/Bret Hart program left fans salivating, and was too much for WCW to pass up, as the two were set to face one another at Halloween Havoc 1998 for the United States title. In true WCW fashion, the company booked the two for the Monday prior on Nitro, in which ended in a DQ. Despite a KO finish in which saw Bret Hart apply a Sharpshooter to an unconscious Sting at Halloween Havoc, the two wouldn't meet again for another year, when the two had a series of matches on Nitro and Mayhem.