10 Most Heartbreaking Major WWE Defeats

6. Steve Austin Vs. Bret Hart (WrestleMania 13)

The WWF landscape was changing by 1997. Former favourites like Bret Hart were now considered old hat as babyfaces, and a new kind of hero had surfaced. In Steve Austin, fans had someone they could live vicariously through. Stone Cold may have been a 'bad guy', but holy crap was he cool.

Seeing him pass out in a pool of his own blood at WrestleMania 13 hammered home why people should embrace Stone Cold. Austin never gave up even when he was locked in Hart's trademark Sharpshooter submission, and that meant everything to a generation who were eager to back the anti-hero over the sugary-sweet goodie.

This double-turn felt organic, completely reshaped the WWF's main event scene for the rest of the year, and set the tone for the soon-to-be coined 'Attitude Era'. In just one match, Austin had become a bad-ass with the kind of never-say-die character that would define his career.