WWE: Ranking Bret Hart's 14 Matches At WrestleMania

4. WrestleMania 8 vs. Roddy Piper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dbrrz-n2uXE This was one of those hidden gems kind of matches that sometimes people forget, but when you watch it again you remember just how good it was. Roddy Piper wasn't a guy that won a lot of titles in WWE. In fact, his Intercontinental Title win in 1992 was his first and only singles title in his WWE career. Bret Hart had already been IC Champion before, but they had this match at WrestleMania 8 in Indiana with both guys as babyface friends. There was an interesting dynamic with both guys as faces because there was a point in the match where they each did some heel things too. There was also a spot where Piper whipped Hart into a turnbuckle and Hart came up bleeding. In his book, Hart admitted to doing a blade job although he told Vince McMahon that it was a legit cut. The company had a no blood policy at this point, but I guess Hart felt the need for some color here. Later in the show, Ric Flair bled too and that was an obvious blade job. The finish came after a ref bump and some drama from Piper. With the ref down, Piper grabbed the ring bell. He thought about using it. Instead, he thought better of it and threw the bell down. Piper was a heel for most of his career, so a lot of fans expected him to cheat. Instead, he wanted it to be a fair match. Piper put Hart in the sleeper. Hart put his feet up against the turnbuckle, pushed back and fell back on top of Piper for the clean victory after 14 minutes of action. I really loved the pace of this match. Slow start, but then it really picked up. That's something Bret was really great at doing. I loved the intensity as well. It was also booked in a way where you got the feeling that either guy could win the match. I liked how Bret won with a very impressive counter hold. Also you might remember that Bret also used that finish during a classic match against Steve Austin at Survivor Series 1996. After the match, Piper put the IC Title on Hart's shoulder and helped him to his feet. They hugged in the center of the ring. The crowd loved it. It was a veteran putting over a guy on the rise. A simple story to tell. Later that year in 1992, Hart went on to win his first WWE World Title too. His performance in this match showed that he was ready for it.