40 Years Of Fascinating WWE WrestleMania Facts (Part 2)

3. WrestleMania X8: Bret Hart Returns To WWE Less Than Five Years After Montreal?

The Rock Gennifer Flowers
WWE

WrestleMania X8 was a pretty divisive WrestleMania with a pretty abysmal aesthetic, so have a picture of a pretty divisive WrestleMania with a gorgeous one instead.

The image finds Bret Hart entering the ring for his 1993 title defence against Yokozuna before Hulk Hogan spoiled everything, but the creative crimes committed against 'The Hitman' were nothing compared to what happened to him in 1997. And though it took until 2006 for the two sides to mend fences and 2010 for Hart to appear on WWE television, one of the wilder stories to emerge from 2002's 'Show Of Shows' was that 'The Excellence Of Execution' was wanted as a referee.

He noped it, and that was probably for the best. Vince McMahon's creative juices had stopped flowing by 2002, and despite the event taking place in Canada, Hart's planned placement in the main event - with one of the architects Triple H as the babyface and fellow Canadian Chris Jericho as the heel - wouldn't have worked in the slightest.

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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