Obviously, this feud gets a lot of attention for what happened in 1996 and 1997, and rightfully so, but many people tend to forget that their feud over the WWF Title was the third stage of their rivalry. It all started in the tag ranks, with Shawn's Rockers feuding with Bret's Hart Foundation. It was a rivalry that could have been much bigger at the time, but it was already time for Bret to begin transitioning into a singles star, with Shawn not that far behind him. As singles workers, they got into a feud over the Intercontinental Title, putting on some very entertaining matches, including the very first Ladder Match in company history, nearly two years before Shawn would face Razor Ramon in one at WrestleMania 10. Sure, none of that compared to the sheer hatred that we all got to see in their feud once they were main event guys. It became an all-time great rivalry, simply based on the fact that we weren't watching them pretend to dislike each other. When they cut promos, they were speaking from the heart. Bret Hart hated Shawn Michaels, and Shawn Michaels didn't exactly have Bret Hart on his Christmas list. They went from being involved in tag team matches back when the WWF was more "cartoon-like", and they continued feuding right up until the beginning of the Attitude Era, sending Bret packing on his way to WCW. While not as long a feud as, say, Midnights VS Rock 'n Roll, it was still something that went from one "era" to the next, letting us all in on the evolution of their characters.
Columnist/Podcaster/Director at LordsOfPain.net for nearly seven years, with nearly 2000 total columns written. Interviewed and/or involved in interviewing the likes of Tyler Black/Seth Rollins (twice), Diamond Dallas Page, Jimmy Jacobs, Christopher Daniels, Uhaa Nation and more.
