11. Shawn Michaels vs. Bret Hart - WrestleMania XII
Shawn Michaels was very passionate about becoming the top guy in the WWE during the mid-90s and as he became a more tenured superstar, he surrounded himself with the kinds of guys that could help him find a cozy spot with the company while he used his vastly superior in-ring skills to propel himself to championship status and money. Bret Hart was the veteran presence in the locker room and not the type to take kindly to HBKs questionable backstage happenings. Hart had been given the ball and asked to carry the WWE as its champion during some dark days when business was tanking out amidst rumors of scandal and steroids. He developed a reputation during those days as an honorable champion and a very hard worker; not to mention the best in-ring technician in the business. Mostly, the two had coexisted just fine, but HBK was being given Brets spot. Right from the get go, it was built as a spectacle match for Shawn Michaels to get over huge and become the next guy to carry the WWE. HBK famously descended from the rafters on a bungee cord. When the match started, the men cut a deliberate pace. Some would call it too deliberate, but it was the dominant theme of the majority of the match. HBK and Hart worked flawlessly, but the crowd sat on their hands for the most part. The occasional flurries of high spots were not enough to engage an audience that had not been prepped for such a match. Quiet fans politely applauded a technical masterpiece, but the lack of what they were accustomed to seeing kept them from getting very invested in it emotionally. Though it often has, the lack of crowd heat should not overshadow the incredible work that Hart and Michaels performed. Michaels won with Sweet Chin Music to capture his first WWF Championship just a few minutes into the surprising overtime period. The boyhood dream came true There might not be a more polarizing match in the history of WrestleMania. For much of the first 20 years of the event, people often called it the greatest match of all-time. It was named the #1 match in Mania history by the wrestlers prior to WrestleMania XX in 2004. Since then, its critics have grown in number.
"The Doc" Chad Matthews has written wrestling columns for over a decade. A physician by trade, Matthews began writing about wrestling as a hobby, but it became a passion. After 30 years as a wrestling fan, "The Doc" gives an unmatched analytical perspective on pro wrestling in the modern era. He is a long-time columnist for Lordsofpain.net and hosts a weekly podcast on the LOP Radio Network called "The Doc Says." His first book - The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment - ranks the Top 90 wrestlers from 1983 to present day, was originally published in December 2013, and is now in its third edition.
Matthews lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.
