12 Incredible Behind-The-Scenes WrestleMania Photos

2. Change Of Plans

The Rock Paige Ronda Rousey AJ Lee
WWE

At some point during the day this photograph was taken, these three men would all have conversations that would change the events due to take place that evening, and alter the course of WWE's entire future.

This shot of Vince McMahon, Hulk Hogan and Bret Hart is from backstage during WrestleMania 9, which was due to feature the in-ring return of 'The Hulkster' in the midcard, so not to overshadow Bret 'Hitman' Hart's triumphant title victory over Yokozuna.

Things would turn out very differently, following Hogan's persuasion of Vince McMahon that he end the show with the World Heavyweight Title so he could lose it to Bret at SummerSlam later in the year.

Whilst the first part of Hogan's scheme would go down as planned, but he'd be long gone before the August supershow. In fact, he'd never appear for a live WWE audience as Champion again until June, when he'd drop the title instead to Yokozuna in his last appearance with the company for 9 years.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett