10 Best WWE Moments That Have Ever Happened In Chicago
2. The Double Turn - Wrestlemania 13
By many accounts, Wrestlemania 13 was a dud of a major show. One of the top wrestlers in the company, Shawn Michaels, had to forfeit the WWF Championship due to a knee injury, and his role for Wrestlemania was downgraded to guest commentator. The main event for the championship was between Undertaker and Psycho Sid, hardly the money match that many were expecting. The undercard was riddled with blasé bouts, including a babyface Intercontinental Champion Rocky Miavia defending against The Sultan, with whom he had little-to-no beef with. To make things worse, he was losing crowd support quickly. Other matches included a Tag Team Turmoil match with middling teams, a Tag Title match between two heel tag teams, and a Goldust vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley match that had been done twice over on Pay Per View. Little did we know that this show would have a match that would change the course of history of the WWF forever: Bret Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin in a submission match. This wasnt even the match that was originally booked for Wrestlemania. The original match had Bret Hart defending the WWF Championship against The Undertaker, but the night after In Your House: Final Four (where Bret won the belt), Steve Austin cost Bret the championship against Sid on Raw. Around this time, a phenomenon was happening. The clean-cut hero Bret was getting booed for complaining of unfairness a little too much, and the deplorable villain Austin was getting cheered for his rough but straight attitude. The decision was made to accelerate both parties toward a new path in the span of a single match, and the crowd in Chicago was more than willing to aid them along. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIkhd9KcMaE The match itself is widely considered to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, WWF matches of all time. The image at the end of the match of a blood-soaked Austin refusing to submit to Brets sharpshooter, before finally passing out from the pain, is forever etched in the minds of fans who watched that match. Once the bell sounded, The Hitman, once a face, was now a heel. And Austin, once a heel, was now a babyface (albeit a reluctant one). The story of both men having to deal with their new roles were the driving force of the WWF in 1997, and contributed not only to the bitterness behind Brets departure from the company later that year, but to Austins ascension as the top star in the wrestling business and the beginning of the Attitude Era.
