Opening the show with WrestleMania's second ever battle royal was a gamble with an entire tournament to get to, but Bret Hart's runners-up role carried far more weight than Andre The Giant himself when he was chucking 'The Hitman' onto his partner two years earlier.
Getting turned on by another heel isn't typically the best start to a babyface run, but Hart's fire raged enough following Bad News Brown's backstabbing that his trophy-smashing exploits did at least get him over.
The dreary match fans were forced to suffer through - to a soundtrack of unnerving disinterest from the Trump Plaza crowd - just to get to it did not justify the payoff. Not least when The Hart Foundation's actual switch still had to play out on television. Andre's legacy may be celebrated through one of these every year, but the 'Show Of Shows' crap history with the contest reflects the grim reality of the gimmick.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, 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
