Looking back on the epic feud between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart - by Bill Banks
Perhaps the most celebrated athlete ever to rise out of the depths of his family's famous dungeon in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Bret Hart remained faithful to the "old school" style of wrestling. Stu Hart stretched his sons for hours on end in the makeshift sweat shop, and soreness coupled with bloody knuckles signified progress toward achieving success. Simply put, the old man had Bret and his brothers collecting their guts at the end of the day, and he reveled in the fact that they came back for another dose in the morning. No glitz, no glamour...and certainly zero tolerance for dancing - a formula Bret prided himself on during his years in the World Wrestling Federation.
Shawn Michaels, on the other hand, was born and bred in San Antonio, Texas - half a world away from Canada. He was a self-described Air Force brat and captain of the high school football team - the very definition of "popularity". The cocky youngster learned the mat game from Texas wrestling legend Jose Lothario and went on to form the "Midnight Rockers" in the now-defunct American Wrestling Association with Marty Jannetty. They personified reckless youth, pushing their engines full throttle down a highway that eventually led them to the Federation in the late 80s.
Two worlds so far apart...charting the course for an inevitable collision. Their first meeting came on October 12, 1990, during a television taping in Fort Wayne, Indiana, as the Hart Foundation put the Tag Team Title on the line against the Rockers. When Shawn and Bret met face-to-face for the first time, there were no words just actions. A stalemate led to neither side getting the upper hand, but during the melee one of the top ropes became dislodged. This would prove costly for the Rockers - although they snared the gold, Federation officials overturned the decision just hours later because of the ring condition. Although both teams accepted the decision, a spark of animosity now existed between Bret and Shawn, and time would be the only space leading to a raging inferno.
Following their first clash, Bret and Shawn's Federation careers would take them in different directions as singles competitors. First, the Hit Man and Neidhart went their separate ways, leading Bret to capture the Intercontinental Title and later the Federation Title. Meanwhile, Michaels violently broke off ties with Jannetty and dubbed himself the "Heartbreak Kid". The move catapulted him to an Intercontinental Title match on the final Saturday Night's Main Event against the British Bulldog, and he subsequently left Terre Haute, Indiana, with the belt. Bret now stood atop the Federation as the champion, and Michaels followed as the number one contender to the crown.
That same year at the Survivor Series, Federation officials granted Shawn his first shot at glory, when both champions faced each other for the first time in individual competition. Prior to the match Bret conceded respect to his opponent, but emphasized for the first time that he simply did he not care for Shawn's antics. Michaels countered with a philosophy that no doubt raised the ire of his foe-he had beaten the Bulldog for the Intercontinental Title, Davey had taken it from Bret and in Shawn's mind, it only took simple math to figure out who "the man" really was. Despite a hard-fought technical masterpiece, Shawn's single mistake in misjudging a top rope dropkick led to his downfall...and subsequent submission to the Sharpshooter.
After that memorable encounter, Bret lost his Federation Title to Yokozuna, while Shawn was suspended from the "big time" and stripped of his own gold. Upon his return, however, he still claimed the Intercontinental Title - a theory which split wrestling fans as he never lost the belt inside the ring. At the '93 Survivor Series, Bret called on brothers Owen, Bruce and Keith to back him in the "Family Feud" match against Shawn and his three mysterious knights - a brawl that was a result of the former Rocker's verbal lashings against the entire Hart family in weeks leading up to the event. During the elimination match, Michaels picked his spots and assaulted his foes only when it was convenient. Luck was not on his side that evening, however, as he quickly faced a three-on-one disadvantage and ultimately earned himself a countout loss.
In the three years that followed, both superstars would again travel different routes - Hart would engage in a series of feuds with Yokozuna, Bob Backlund and his own brother Owen. Meanwhile, Michaels would go on to snare another Intercontinental reign, coupled with two Tag Team Title victories while turning back the challenges of Rick Martel, Jeff Jarrett and Diesel. All roads would eventually lead back to Bret when the Heartbreak Kid's '96 Royal Rumble win propelled him to perhaps his greatest epic of all time - the WrestleMania XII "Iron Man Match" for the Federation Title. Prior to the event, both superstars repaired themselves to their respective home turfs - Bret returned to the family dungeon while Shawn called upon Lothario to train him in San Antonio.
In a historic event, which fans later voted the "1996 Match of the Year", Michaels and Hart raised the bar of competition to an all-time high. Although the match went into over-time - against Bret's wishes - and ended in controversial fashion, the Heartbreak Kid fulfilled his boyhood dream of claiming the crown jewel of the Federation. After the encounter, an enraged Hit Man left the arena and subsequently took a six-month hiatus from competition, during which time he became a free agent and courted offers from both the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. He returned that October, however, and rumor had it the driving force behind his decision was that he simply couldn't stand seeing his nemesis with the belt. The dancing, the gyrating, the showboating...it all made Bret sick. Shawn was just being "typical Shawn", and Hart hated him for it.
While Federation promoters attempted to get them back in the ring, knee injuries on both sides forced the match to be scrapped time and time again. Their locker room fist fight in Hartford, Connecticut, on June 9, 1997, only deepened the rift in the negotiations. At SummerSlam '97, Michaels (as special guest referee for the main event) unwittingly helped his enemy beat the Undertaker for the Federation Championship when he accidentally knocked the Grim Reaper cold with a chair shot meant for Bret. Following the summer Pay-Per-View event, D-Generation X was formed - a name Shawn chose to spite the Hit Man - because he labeled Michaels a "degenerate" at every possible opportunity. In the following weeks, both superstars unleashed a flurry of sneak attacks and verbal lashings, with Shawn capturing the European Belt and "Grand Slam" status over Hart's brother-in-law the British Bulldog at the "One Night Only" U.K. Pay-Per-View.
This past November at the Survivor Series in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the match 20 months in the making finally came to pass as the Hit Man put his Federation Title on the line against Shawn in what could be the last time they'd meet. It took a security force of almost a dozen Federation officials to finally get the action into the ring. When it was officially underway, the Heartbreak Kid wasted no time in unleashing his aggressive assault. Bret fought back and mounted the ropes for an aerial strike, but he accidentally struck the referee on the way down-leaving open the door of opportunity for Shawn to place the champion in his own trademark finisher, the Sharp-shooter! After calling for the bell, the referee awarded the Heartbreak Kid the Federation Championship - a move which sent Montreal's Molson Centre into utter chaos. The newly crowned titleholder was quickly escorted out of the volatile situation by Triple H, while Bret left the arena and the Federation spotlight altogether for a new venture.
After almost seven years of bitter combat between Shawn and Bret, the fallout from the November Pay-Per-View will no doubt be measured for years. One wonders if the Hit Man's world will ever be the same knowing that his collision with Shawn sent him hurling off into the unknown