For 40 years, WrestleMania has served as the marquee event on WWE's calendar. Despite the name, though, the long-running pay-per-view (or Premium Live Event) is more synonymous with aesthetic spectacle and celebrity than high-quality wrestling.
That said, WrestleMania has featured more than its share of bell-to-bell classics. Whether it was Kurt Angle and Eddie Guerrero battling over the WWE Championship, Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks taking center stage as the first WrestleMania main event starring two Black women, or Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker tearing it up in back-to-back years, fans have enjoyed plenty of memorable in-ring moments at "The Showcase of the Immortals".
One WrestleMania match, however, still stands above the rest, and fittingly, it's one that WWE will induct into its Hall of Fame as the inaugural member of the "WWE Immortal Moment" wing. It's a match from WrestleMania 13 that pitted bitter rivals Bret "Hitman" Hart and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin against one another in a submission match that helped change the trajectory of the then-struggling promotion.
What makes Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13 such a timeless classic?
To examine what made this match so great, we have to go back to the main event of WrestleMania XII, where Hart defended his WWE Championship against Shawn Michaels in The Fed's maiden Ironman match. As most know, Michaels pinned Hart in the sudden-death overtime period to win his first world title, achieving his "boyhood dream".
As Michaels moved on as the company's lead babyface, Hart took an extended leave of absence to mull his future in the sport, but Hart's sabbatical allowed for more than breathing room for Michaels' run at the top. It also opened things up for someone else to ascend: Austin.
Fresh off of winning the 1996 King of the Ring tournament and putting himself on the map with his famous "Austin 3:16" promo, the ornery Texan turned his ire and pent-up frustration to Hart, calling him a washed-up has-been for losing to Michaels and leaving.
Eventually, Austin challenged Hart to a match at Survivor Series, which Hart accepted. Before Hart did, though, you could sense his growing discontent with the changing WWE, particularly with Michaels as the champion (foreshadowing a WrestleMania rematch that never happened due to Michaels "losing his smile").
For the moment, Hart bridled that frustration and kept up his statesman babyface persona, and his issue with Austin remained centered around Hart proving that he's still the best wrestler in the company following a lengthy layoff.
The match at Survivor Series followed the same framework, and the result was a thrilling opening chapter between two all-time greats in front of a hot Madison Square Garden crowd. As expected from a first-time matchup, the two spent the first few minutes feeling each other out, but the intensity soon picked up, with Austin as the aggressor. Looking to prove himself against WWE's standard bearer, Austin kept the pressure up, but Hart countered a Million Dollar Dream attempt into a rollup to squeak out a win.
The finish put over both men - showing how resourceful and savvy Hart was while also presenting Austin as a dangerous threat that Hart barely survived - while leaving some room for a rematch. There were other signs of what was to come besides the conclusion, however.
For instance, a good portion of the MSG crowd peppered in cheers for Austin as he walked out for the match, a harbinger of massive ovations to come. Also, Jim Ross, the color analyst for the match, harped on the possibility of a submission move being the deciding factor for either man and mentioned that neither man had ever submitted in their career. He was somewhat correct, as Hart turned around Austin's version of the Cobra Clutch to get the win, but again, it was a mere glimpse of the future.
Steve Austin pushes Bret Hart over the deep end
It took a few months for things to escalate, specifically during the 1997 Royal Rumble, when Austin "eliminated" Hart to "win" the match despite already being eliminated (the referees didn't see it). This started Hart on a downward spiral where he constantly got screwed over in big matches and made sure to let anyone within earshot know about it. He often took out those frustrations physically against the root of those problems, Austin, and it led us to the submission match at WrestleMania 13.
The Austin/Hart rematch in Chicago was the culmination of months of angst and animosity, like a shaken-up bottle of soda ready to explode the second you twist off the cap. Indeed, things popped off between Austin and Bret the second the opening bell rang. The trepidation these two showed with each other at Survivor Series was replaced with relentless aggression that spilled into the crowd.
Soon enough, Hart takes control and works over Austin's left leg, as the latter's trademark knee brace seconded as a bullseye for "The Excellence of Execution". At this point, you start to notice that Hart is wrestling with more of an edge compared to his usual standards, but it's not any more intense than what we've seen from Austin, and it certainly wasn't out of place for this match and this feud.
Even moments like Hart attempting to "Pillmanize" Austin's injured leg came across as justified in the broader context of the feud. As the match progressed, though, what Hart deemed as justifiable mattered little to this audience, just as Hart's legitimate gripes didn't stop them from calling him a "whiner".
Instead, their sympathies went to the gruff and standoffish Austin. Of course, that didn't happen by accident. Throughout the build, Austin consistently pointed out how he had never quit in a match and wouldn't start at WrestleMania. He was also open about not knowing many submission holds, but vowed to fight until Hart couldn't take any more punishment.
But with his face drenched in blood, it was the Rattlesnake fighting to stave off that very fate. Austin worked the final two acts of this one as a total babyface, right down to using his soon-to-be iconic corner stomps as part of his comeback.
By now, it was clear what the goal of this match was: To reestablish Austin as a top babyface. Even a spot as rudimentary as an eye poke to escape a hold illustrated the flip in alignment; while Hart raking Austin's eyes showed how far he'd fallen from the dignified face of the company he once was, Austin showed his desperation and willingness to persevere against his domineering opponent.
Unfortunately for Austin, his efforts weren't enough, as Hart locked in the Sharpshooter. However, Austin refused to give up, and this show of toughness compelled the crowd to beg for him to find a way out of the move. He came close, but Hart held on and forced Austin to pass out.
Bret Hart vs Steve Austin at WrestleMania helped Austin become a megastar
From start to finish, it was a classic. It's hard to maintain a high level of intensity in a wrestling match for five minutes, let alone the 22 that these two wrestled for, but they pulled it off with crisp, efficient workrate and expert storytelling.
Ever the shrewd wrestling mind, Hart identified Austin as a future main eventer (during the early stages of the feud, Hart even called Austin the best wrestler in the company) and, at the very least, laid the groundwork to establish him as an archrival once Hart regained the WWE Title in 1997. When his projected rematch with Michaels fell through and the fans rallied behind Austin, those plans changed slightly, but the goal of making Austin a star remained the same.
All of Hart's complaints about getting screwed, including the promo he cut on Vince McMahon following his cage match with Sycho Sid, were designed to get fans on Austin's side. Even though Hart wasn't technically wrong, the fans were turned off by his out-of-character behavior, while Austin remained his consistent self.
That's how the WrestleMania match played out; Hart didn't do anything outside the rules of the contest and you could rationalize everything he did, but it didn't stop the fans from identifying with his uncouth nemesis for staying consistent to what he said he would do and enduring Hart's best shot until his body quit on him. It was masterful work by two Hall of Famers, so much so that it became the rare WWE match to receive a 5-star rating from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's Dave Meltzer.
Additionally, it was a match (and feud) that WWE desperately needed at the time. In the immediate, it saved a WrestleMania 13 card that was otherwise dreadful, and in the macro, it gave a company that was getting dogwalked by World Championship Wrestling a future star to grab the leash and yank back.
With WWE set to enshrine Austin vs. Hart into its Hall of Fame this year, you will see plenty of articles and shows celebrating this match's greatness and its impact on the business, and for good reason. The significance of the double turn alone makes this a notable match, but everything that's connected to that - Austin's growing popularity and his tremendous chemistry with Hart - makes this the best WrestleMania match of all time.