Bret Hart Vs. Shawn Michaels Complete History | Wrestling Timelines

May 19, 1996 - Disgust

Curtain Call
WWE

May 19 is the night of the infamous Curtain Call.

In the main event of a Madison Square Garden house show, Shawn Michaels (babyface) defeats Diesel (heel) in a Steel Cage match. After the bell rings, their real-life buddies Helmsley (heel) and Razor Ramon (babyface) enter the ring. All four men share an embrace - the Curtain Call - to wave goodbye to Diesel and Razor, who are leaving for World Championship Wrestling. While no grown adult believes wrestling is real, the WWF still presents the facade, and has yet to play with the idea that it is a work within the narrative.

Bret isn’t around, but he’s disgusted by it, and spots another problem. “Someone,” he will later, passive-aggressively write in ‘Hitman’, has encouraged young fans to enter the ring and mimic what he describes as Shawn’s “Chippendale dance” on the live event circuit. “It rankled many of us,” Bret says.

At this point, Shawn’s substance abuse issues have reached a new severity; the new WWF champion, a role Bret took with the utmost seriousness, is now being babysat and chauffeured around by referee Tim White. Shawn is unable to adequately take care of himself.

Bret: “I’d known [Shawn] as a person who respected the business, and the wrestlers and fans, upon whose shoulders we stood. But that person seemed to be gone”.

Bret is also wary of Shawn’s demands for his own dressing room, even going as far as to compare him to Hulk Hogan.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!