18 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Shawn Michaels
5. He Insulted Bret Hart At WrestleMania XII
At WrestleMania XII, Royal Rumble winner Shawn Michaels and WWE Champion Bret Hart had one of the greatest bouts in WWE history - a babyface-versus-babyface Iron Man match where the man who scored the most decisions in an hour would be the victor and champion. After 60 minutes, neither of the evenly-matched competitors had scored even a single fall, so they went into overtime. Less than two minutes later, Michaels pinned Hart to win.
The win was hailed as the culmination of a boyhood dream for the ultra-popular Michaels, but in real life, he wasn't so much of a babyface - he had already become a headache for anyone with whom he had to deal.
Following Michaels's victory, a frustrated Hart, still in character, attempted to shake the new champion's hand as a sign of respect and endorsement. Michaels rebuffed Hart, reportedly telling "The Excellence of Execution" to "get the f*ck out of [his] ring."
Though the cameras missed that exchange, Hart's anger as he leaves the ring and heads to the back is very much visible, and undoubtedly as much shoot as work. This ushered in the bad blood between the men, which would eventually become WWE's most famous real-life feud.