10 Times WWE Didn't Deserve To Be Unpopular

7. WrestleMania 13

Punk Bryan OTL
WWE

WrestleMania 13 drew the lowest buy rate in the history of the Show of Shows. WrestleMania 13 also yielded what is perhaps the greatest match in company history.

It's that somewhat distressing, art means less than you'd like it to scenario surfacing once more. Nobody knew exactly how superb and transformative that Submission match would be, but the omens were there: the Survivor Series match was a blistering, molten brawl in which Bret Hart had no choice but to fight fire with fire. A match of near-perfect build, the same can't quite be said of that year's biggest pay-per-view.

The strangely-timed ECW invasion removed focus from an event that was already mired in chaos. Clearly, it was snake-bit, following Shawn Michaels' decision to relinquish the WWF Heavyweight Title, but the resulting swarm towards it was the sort of spellbinding television that is meant to drive interest in the monthly specials. Bret Hart was in career form as a promo, venting his frustrations with such expletive-laced fury that it created a defining conflict within his ardent fans. Steve Austin was an entertainment machine. Sid was irresistible in his own career-best character form, and, faced with so many moving parts, the WWF had aligned them to perfection in the storytelling masterclass that was the main event of In Your House: Final Four.

This inspired reactive booking somehow contrived to make everything so much more vital than desperate, but it didn't matter.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!