Minimum Wage Nerd

To say WrestleMania 13 isn’t particularly memorable, on the whole, is a pretty fair statement. It is not on the lows of WreslteMania 9, 11, or 27, but there isn’t much that stands out either. This is due to WrestleMania 13 being smack in the middle of the WWF’s most important transitional periods as WrestleMania 14 the next year would cement the Attitude Era’s arrival.

The irony is that this same, largely unmemorable WrestleMania delivers, arguably, the greatest match in WrestleMania history. It would be the second one-on-one pay-per-view meeting between ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin and Bret ‘Hitman’ Hart, this time in a No Disqualification Submission match. Former-UFC Superfight Champion Ken Shamrock would serve as the special guest referee ahead of making his in-ring debut for the WWF.

All this would coalesce into a match still considered the gold standard for double-turns in professional wrestling, along with simply being a great, chaotic, story-driven match.

How did they get there?

To figure out how Austin and Hart found themselves at WrestleMania 13, we have to jump all the way back a year to WrestleMania 12.

Hart had lost the WWF Championship to Shawn Michaels in a 60 minute iron man match that wound up going to overtime as neither man could score a fall against the other within the 60 minutes. Michaels would ultimately score the winning pinfall after not even two minutes. Hart would then step away for much of 1996 before announcing his in-ring return would come at Survivor Series in November.

On the undercard of WrestleMania 12, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin was making his WrestleMania debut after debuting for the WWF in December of 1995. Austin originally debuted under the moniker ‘The Ringmaster’ and was managed by Ted DiBiase. It quickly became clear, though, that ‘The Ringmaster’ wasn’t clicking and it was ditched for what would ultimately become ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. Over the next several months, Austin would ditch DiBiase become more involved with more of the WWF’s main event scene.

As Hart would announce his return, Austin would begin calling out the ‘Hitman’ every chance he could. Hart issued his direct challenge to Austin for Survivor Series, in response, in a match that would also decide the next number one contender for the WWF Championship. Hart would win in a near-30 minute classic still looked at in very high regard.

It wouldn’t be the end of the pair’s rivalry, though, as they would be tied at the hip for the next year, all the way up to Montreal Screwjob and Hart’s WWF exit. It was the road to WrestleMania 13, though, that would see the peak of this rivalry.

The two found themselves, along with others including The Undertaker, Sycho Sid, and Vader, chasing the WWF Championship heading into 1997. It was made more chaotic due to Shawn Michaels vacating the WWF Championship due to a reported knee injury, though there has always been speculation it was Michaels’ way of getting out of an allegedly planned WreslteMania rematch with Hart that Michaels would lose.

Things between Austin and Hart would reach a boiling point in the final weeks before WrestleMania, and the two would be set for a no disqualification submission match.

The match coincided with Hart beginning to get on fans’ nerves with his complaining which, while justified, was turning fans off because of Hart’s own inaction whenever he got “screwed,” as Hart put it. Austin, meanwhile, was becoming more and more popular because of his loud, in-your-face, unapologetic style and physical matches.

Add Ken Shamrock, who had just signed with the WWF after a successful tenure in the UFC, as the special guest referee to sell the seriousness of this match, and fans in Chicago would be treated to something truly special.

The Match

Austin and Hart would be third-to-last on the show and followed what had largely been an underwhelming show to that point. Nothing had been bad but there was nothing of real note that happened either. It would set the stage perfectly for what was to come.

Austin would make his entrance first as he would walk over shattered glass on his way to the ring. Hart would follow, joining Shamrock who was already in the ring. Austin wouldn’t waste time and immediately tackle Hart down to the mat after Hart entered the ring. The two would trade blows in and around the ring before Austin would send Hart into the crowd by dropping the ‘Hitman’ on the railing and sending him over with a clothesline.

The two would continue brawling around the crowd, even working their way up to one of the cement stairways. It was here Austin, who appeared to be setting up a piledriver on the stairs, would suffer a back-body drop from Hart onto the stairs, though the it couldn’t be seen clearly because of the crowd.

Austin and Hart would work their way back to the ringside area, where things would continue to escalate. The pair start by making use of the stairs, throwing each other into them or picking up a piece of the stairs to slam into the other.

The match found its way back into the ring and it was here that Hart began doing what he did best. Hart, widely regarded as one of the best technicians in pro wrestling history, began targeting Austin’s left knee. Austin began wearing a knee brace on his left knee due to years of wear-and-tear from college football and professional wrestling.

Hart was methodical with his work on the knee, but never feels plodding. The ‘Excellence of Execution’ lives up to the name with perfectly timed and executed offense to Austin’s knee in preparation for the Sharpshooter.

Austin eventually scores and opening and hits a desperation Stone Cold Stunner to create some space between himself and Hart. It would be for naught as Hart would take back control with a kick to the left knee and drag Austin to one of the corners. Hart wrapped Austin’s legs around the post and locked in a figure-four, but Austin refuses to submit.

After failing to score the win there, Hart would introduce a steel chair to the match and use it to further damage Austin’s knee. It was when Hart goes to the top rope to seemingly “Pillmanize” Austin’s leg in the chair, ‘The Rattlesnake’ slips out of the chair and is able to crack Hart in the back and knock him off the turnbuckle.

Austin doesn’t waste time as he hits Hart with another chair shot to the back before raining down punches and kicks on the ‘Hitman.’ Eventually, Austin starts applying different submission holds to Hart, allowing Austin to remind everyone that he is talented technical wrestler in his own right. It would change as the years went on and Austin became more of a brawler as he accumulated more injuries, but at WrestleMania 13 he was still in good enough shape that he was considered a “workrate guy.”

The two found themselves once again on the outside, where Austin attempted to Irish whip Hart into the timekeeper’s area. Hart reversed it and sent Austin flying into the timekeeper’s table and guardrail behind them. When Hart picked Austin up, Austin was bleeding from the head as result of hitting the guardrail. Hart ramped up the viciousness, in response, by slamming Austin’s head into the post and stairs to worsen the wound. Once they were back in the ring, Hart continued using the chair on Austin’s knee but still couldn’t lock in the Sharpshooter.

Austin is able to get back to his feet in one of the corners and, with no hesitation, delivers a low blow to Hart in order to catch his breath from Hart’s onslaught. Austin then fired up against Hart, hitting him with plenty of kicks and suplexes.

While all this chaos has been happening, the crowd has been hanging on every move from Hart and Austin as the match went from the ring to the crowd and back. Austin has been getting more and more of a babyface reaction as the match has unfolded and the crowd gets behind him for continuing to fight back. Hart is still being cheered, but there are noticeable boos from the crowd as he shows a more vicious, frustrated side to his offence.

After getting his licks in, Austin grabs the ring bell and some cabling to try and end the match. He wraps the cabling around Hart, who is sitting on the apron while Austin is inside the ropes, and begins choking the ‘Hitman.’ However, Hart is able to get his hands on the ring bell and hits Austin in the head with it to send him flying backwards into the ring. Hart doesn’t waste time as he gets in the ring and is finally able to apply the Sharpshooter.

It is here where fans were treated to one of the most iconic shots in pro wrestling history.

Hart has the Sharpshooter locked in near the center of the ring. Austin is bleeding from his head and screaming in agony, but refuses to quit. After failing to get to the ropes, Austin attempts to push back and brute force his way out of the Sharpshooter. It appears to work momentarily as Hart gets pushed forward and seems to lost his footing. Unfortunately for Austin, Hart is able to keep the hold locked in and Austin cannot escape.

Eventually, Austin appears to pass out from the pain and forces Shamrock to call for the bell for Austin’s safety. Hart is declared the winner after a physical war but doesn’t appear satisfied with the victory. He continues attacking Austin’s left knee and forces Shamrock to become more involved to break it up. Hart ignores this and tries to lock in the Sharpshooter again, forcing Shamrock to waste-lock the former-WWF Champion and toss him to the side to protect Austin. Hart attempts to walk down Shamrock, but the former-UFC Superfight Champion doesn’t back down. This causes Hart to back off, something that was uncharacteristic if Hart up to that point, and received a smattering of boos from the crowd as he walked to the back.

Austin finally comes to after a few moments as referee Mike Chioda helped him to his feet. In exchange for helping him, Chioda was hit with a Stunner as Austin refused help from anyone and walked to the back on his own to a round of applause and cheers.

The Aftermath

The Raw after WrestleMania 13, Hart’s heel turn was cemented as he came out and berated U.S. fans for turning their back on the ‘Hitman.’ He said he remained grateful to his fans around the world who stood by his side while he was being “screwed” by everyone in the WWF, and that his ire was only aimed at the U.S. fans he felt abandoned him.

By the end of the show, Hart will have reunited with his younger brother Owen and their brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith, aka the British Bulldog, to form the new Hart Foundation. Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart would return to the WWF shortly after to rejoin his former-tag team partners and Brian Pillman joined over the summer due to his history training in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, at the famed Hart Dungeon and starting his wrestling career at Stampede Wrestling.

Austin, meanwhile, would acknowledge the cheers he received from fans but reiterated that he didn’t care if he was cheered or booed and that he wasn’t done with Hart by a long shot.

Hart and Austin found themselves as prominent parts of the Hart Foundation vs. U.S. storyline that dominated the WWF from then until Survivor Series in November, where Hart’s time in WWF came to a chaotic end.

Austin moved on to win the 1998 Royal Rumble then to WrestleMania 14, where he would defeat Shawn Michaels for the WWF Title. While the Attitude Era was already in affect by this point, Austin’s win here would cement the era as being in full swing.

After being crowned champion, Austin began his iconic feud with Vince McMahon and became the centerpieces of WWF at the end of the 90s and heading into the 2000s. Austin made McMahon’s life hell on TV and crowds ate it up week after week, excited to see what Austin was going to put his boss through every week.

Austin’s other major rival during this time would prove to a be a young, third-generation upstart named Dwayne Johnson, better known as The Rock. After shedding his early Rocky Maivia character, The Rock would begin his rise to prominence in The Nation of Domination before taking over the group from Faarooq. Rock eventually broke out on his own as McMahon’s hand-picked champion coming out of Survivor Series 1998. Rock and Austin would then have their first WrestleMania collision at WrestleMania 15 in 1999 and remain in each other’s orbit for the next several years.

Hart, meanwhile, would go to WCW and debuted as the special guest referee for the much-anticipated Sting vs. Hollywood Hogan match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Starrcade 1997. This match would mark the start of a tumultuous run in WCW for Hart as Hogan would allegedly sabotage the finish by telling referee Nick Patrick to do a normal three count when he was meant to do a fast count that Hart would then wave off, paving the way for Sting to win the title and finally defeat the nWo’s leader.

While Hart would find himself working with most of WCW’s top names, it was clear in hindsight that something about Hart in WCW wasn’t clicking.

Things came to a screeching halt in December 1999, when Hart was scheduled to defend the WCW World Heavyweight title against Goldberg in the main event of Starrcade. This is the infamous match where Goldberg delivered a thrust kick to Hart’s head, causing him to suffer a severe concussion. Hart was able to finish the match and retain the title, but it quickly became clear that Hart was not well after the match.

Hart continued to work for a few weeks after Starrcade, turning heel once again and forming the nWo 2000 with Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and Jeff Jarrett. However, Hart vacated the WCW World Heavyweight title a few weeks into 2000 due to the injuries he suffered at Starrcade. He appeared a handful of times on WCW TV after that at various points in 2000 before he was released by WCW via FedEx letter in October and announced his retirement from professional wrestling shortly after.

Closing Thoughts

The importance of this match cannot be understated.

It was this match that set the table for what Austin and Hart would experience over the next few years. Austin would be the figurehead for one of the WWF’s most successful periods while Hart experienced the closing months of WCW’s height before the company began its two and a half year spiral that results in its purchase by WWF for $4.2 million.

Within the chronicles of WrestleMania matches, it still stands as one of the best of all time as well.

WrestleMania has seen its share of amazing matches in the years following WrestleMania 13, especially as in-ring styles became more athletic, physical, and flashier. That said, Austin and Hart’s match still holds up because the story told within the match is executed to perfection. The two went to the ring that night knowing they had to make this double-turn work, and as a result, fans were treated to two of the all-time greats showing why they are in the conversation.

Hart got to showcase his technical skills at their arguable peak, with so much of his offense looking smooth and measured. He was able to show he could get physical, too, with how he brawled and used weapons in the match.

The same can be said of Austin, though going the other way. He is starting to put together who ‘Stone Cold’ is and how he operates in the ring with his physical and, at times, chaotic brawling. But Austin still in good enough physical shape that he could match Hart at the technical level, reminding fans why he was regarded as one of best in-ring wrestlers in the world during his tenure in WCW as ‘Stunning’ Steve Austin in the early 90s.

These are two wrestlers who know who they are and what they are about in the ring. They don’t need to do anything to flashy or crazy to hook the crowd since they are already hooked on the pair’s animosity and the more it can look like a wild brawl, the more the crowd bought into the match.