From Tag Team To Top Guy: Bret Hart's Ascension To The WrestleMania Main Event

Even though he was once again the Intercontinental Champion, WrestleMania VIII saw the groundswell of fan support for Bret Hart be taken to an entirely new level. If WWF management didn't know it before, it now had to know that the Hitman was ready to take the next step up the ladder and be given an opportunity in the main event scene.

Four months removed from 'Mania VIII, Bret would drop the IC Title to his brother-in-law, Davey Boy Smith, in a true all-timer of a match at London's Wembley Stadium. But while the Bret Hart character was left dejected at having lost to the British Bulldog, the real-life Bret Hart was about to get his shot at the big time.

When that shot came, though, it was a little out of left-field in how it all happened. Hart would defeat Ric Flair to become the new WWF Champion at a non-televised October live event in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan at a time when Bret had only had four televised matches - three squash matches and a mildly competitive contest against Blake Beverly - in the two months since losing to the Bulldog.

In a pre-internet age, the first wrestling fans - well, apart from those in Saskatoon on that night - knew about Hart's shocking victory was when they tuned into the 17 October 1992 episode of WWF Superstars. There, the show opened with Gene Okerlund interviewing the Excellence of Execution as Bret declared how "the biggest dreams can still come true".

Still, even though he was now the WWF World Heavyweight Champion, Hart had yet to reach the main event of a WrestleMania.