10 Shocking Aftermaths Of Wrestling Matches You Don't Remember
9. Diesel Ushers In The Idea Of The Main Event Tweener
A lost classic from an era full of them, Bret Hart's victory over outgoing one-time World Champion Diesel was both an independently excellent pay-per-view main event and a fitting climax to one of the more underrated trilogies in wrestling history.
They'd fought twice before on pay-per-view, with both matches for the company's richest prize. In each case, neither had been able to score a decisive victory, but this night (and indeed the WWE Championship) belonged to 'The Hitman' after he zeroed in on one last previously unexplored area on 'Big Daddy Cool' - his empathy.
Diesel had sent Hart careering through the Spanish announce table (a WWE first) just seconds before being unable to lift him for a match-winning Jackknife. In the split seconds 'Big D' took to worry about the welfare of his rival, the challenger grasped a tight near fall for the win. Livid upon realising he'd been schooled, Diesel snapped.
He shot a "f*cking motherf*cker" down the lens, battered referees, assaulted Hart and 24 hours later cut a scathing promo on the TitanSports marketing machine for diluting Diesel the entire time he had the belt. The first prominently pushed North American tweener had arrived, and would change the face of the industry at large just months later.