WWE: 29 Iconic WrestleMania Moments

WrestleMania XIII - A Masterstroke Of Storytelling

Steve Austin tells the story well in a podcast from a few years ago: he was sitting at home watching some wrestling, and heard it announced that he'd be facing Bret Hart at WrestleMania. "Great!" he thought. "Bret's fantastic," and then "WHAT?!" because it was also declared a submission match, and he didn't do submissions.

Well. For a bad guy who didn't do submission wrestling against a good guy who did, they sure made magic. This match set a new standard for storytelling AND technical proficiency. After 22 minutes that took us on a wild back and forth journey into the crowd, and back again, Hart had made Austin into an unlikely hero. If I had to choose the "best" part of WrestleMania as a concept, I'd say that it's the notion of possibility: at an event so highly anticipated, the possibility of memorable moments is inevitable, simply because we as fans decide that it's going to be. But the possibility of being surprised, of being thrilled by the unexpected, well that's EXACTLY why I look forward to WrestleMania every year. It's a distinct emotion that can be attributed to very few WrestleMania moments, and this is one of them.
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Follow me @kickyhick :) I hold a degree in English Rhetoric & Professional Writing from the University of Waterloo in Canada. I've done technical writing, executive presentations, and recruiting materials for BlackBerry, and I write for non-profit organizations. My favourite project so far has been combining my passion for writing with being a die-hard wrestling fan. It's a pleasure to write here for WhatCulture, and also for TJRwrestling.com.