Bret Hart Vs. Shawn Michaels Complete History | Wrestling Timelines
November 20, 1996 - Resentment Fosters
A major press conference is held to drum up publicity for the 1997 Royal Rumble PPV in San Antonio, Texas. Bret is saddened by it; he’d just lost to WWF Champion Sid at In Your House: It’s Time five days earlier. The match was a stopgap. Bret at least for one big show is reduced to challenger of the month, something for Sid to do before he drops the title back to Shawn in a hometown win calibrated to reheat him as the top babyface.
In the ring, Shawn was absolutely awesome during the first reign. His frenzied, meta war with Mankind in September ‘96 was a uniquely compelling triumph, one of the best WWF matches ever. At the box office, Shawn can do nothing to arrest the promotion’s commercial slump - a bleak fact that does nothing to break his spiralling addiction.
Bret is wondering whether coming back was worth it - but he’s going to get his win back at WrestleMania 13.
February 2, 1997 - Sabotage
It’s a marathon day for the WWF house show loop; the promotion is running a double shot in Montreal and a third show, later that very night, in Ottawa. Bret is required to work in each city, and he goes last against Steve Austin on the Montreal matinee. He makes it explicitly clear that he’ll get to Ottawa late. This is accepted by the road agent team, who tell Bret not to worry. Bret’s tenure has for a long while allowed him to arrive when he pleases, a point he’ll mention to Eric Bischoff as a perk in his demands.
When he arrives, Austin pulls him aside. He tells Bret that Shawn and Hunter have been talking sh*t about him being late. Questioning Bret’s professionalism is, frankly, a joke. Bret is seething, understandably; Hunter isn’t over and has been in the WWF for a cup of coffee, and Shawn is becoming a professional nightmare. Bret very begrudgingly accepts Vince’s request to put Hunter over as a soft punishment in Ottawa. Hunter, who isn’t remotely great at this point, has the temerity to describe Bret’s in-ring work as lackadaisical after Bret does him a monumental, unearned favour in a Triple Threat match also involving Austin.
Imagine Hunter, in early 1997, saying that about Bret Hart. Scarcely believable at best, the remark underscores the extent to which Vince has fallen for Shawn.
In an era of rampant experimentation - Vince McMahon is doing everything to determine how he can defeat WCW - Triple Threats are being trialled in dark matches and on the house show loop. Bret just lost one to Sid and Shawn on January 31. The traditional craft and his top spot: both are ebbing away.
Later that night, Vince attempts to placate Bret. Doing a job for a failed project in Hunter Hearst Helmsley is hardly a good omen. Vince says that the original long-term idea - Bret was to get his win and title back from Shawn at WrestleMania 13 - is too predictable now. Instead, Bret and Shawn will wrestle a Hair Vs. Hair Ladder match. Bret will go over, Vince stresses, but Bret is convinced that Shawn has refused to lay down on his back for a three count to prove to the world that Bret is the superior wrestler.
Bret, the good guy in the tale, has a somewhat naive vision for pro wrestling. Post-Hogan and pre-Attitude, he sees the WWF as a meritocracy in which the best technicians and the nicest people succeed. It’s a nice idea. It also doesn’t draw.
Maddeningly, Shawn and Hunter’s competing vision, of an edgier product that they’re pitching constantly, is going to work.