15 Stages Of Shawn Michaels & Bret Hart's Infamous Heat

10. WrestleMania XII: The Post-Match

For the post-match, Bret planned to leave the ring p***ed off and without shaking Shawn's hand. Because of the scripted controversial finish to their match, Hart stormed out of the Arrowhead Pond without congratulating the new champion, a gesture you'd expected to see after a babyface contest. I previously mentioned WrestleMania VI, the last time a babyface vs. babyface WrestleMania main event took place. After The Ultimate Warrior shockingly defeated Hulk Hogan for the title, the Hulkster grabbed the belt from the ringside area and, with a sullen look never seen before, presented it to Warrior. This was improvised by Hogan and was not part of the original script. Hogan hugged Warrior then sadly left the ring, riding the motorized mini-ring cart back to the dressing room generating tons of sympathy from the Toronto audience. This was considered by many as Hogan's greatest political performance, with many seeing it as the crafty Hogan upstaging Warrior despite having lost the match. The Warrior's reign would come to be viewed as a failure and many people point to this moment, just seconds after winning the title, as being why. This moment was most likely also recalled by Shawn on the night of March 31, 1996 as he didn't want Bret stealing his moment. So Shawn barked at Bret, as well as his longtime trainer Jose Lothario, to promptly leave the ring before he allowed the referee to present him with the belt. Bret left the ring visibly frustrated which was probably part-work, part-shoot, but was so believable that it even worked some of the boys in the locker room according to Bret's brother Owen. Bret would begin his summer vacation while Shawn would take the company's top spot as the new WWF Champion. The post-match scene was a sign that the heat was building - very slowly and perhaps partly under the guise of a work - but building nonetheless.