A look back at the legendary encounter between Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin from WrestleMania 13
Welcome to the latest installment of the WrestleMania Flashback series as we lead you right into WrestleMania 33 in Orlando on Sunday, April 2.
Thus far, we’ve gone back in time five years to look at both the “Once in a Lifetime” match between John Cena and The Rock and the “End of an Era” match pitting The Undertaker against Triple H from WrestleMania XXVIII, 10 years to the “Battle of the Billionaires” affair involving Vince McMahon and Donald Trump at WrestleMania 23, and just last week we traveled back 15 years to break down the historic “Icon vs. Icon” showdown with Hulk Hogan and The Rock at WrestleMania X8 (yes, that name is still very unfortunate).
This week, we’re going 20 years into the past to WrestleMania 13 to look at the Submission Match between Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Sorry, there’s no fancy name for this one like in the matches listed above but this turned out to be one of the most historic matches in wrestling history and many people have called this their favorite WrestleMania match of all time. So let’s hop in the Delorean and travel back to the Rosemont Horizon on March 23, 1997.
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WrestleMania 13 was a turning point in WWE. There were still a few cartoonish characters out there but a new era was coming. WCW was red-hot at this time. The nWo had become the coolest thing in wrestling and they were obliterating WWE in the ratings and they needed something fresh to get back in the game. The ball got rolling in the summer of 1996 when a former WCW talent finally got his push — albeit due to Triple H getting knocked down due to the “Curtain Call” incident — and Stone Cold Steve Austin won the King of the Ring.
At this time, longtime WWE superstar Bret “The Hitman” Hart was inactive but that didn’t stop Stone Cold from calling him out anyway. Austin wanted to prove he was the best and wanted to beat the best. And you can’t do that without going through a guy who literally calls himself “the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be”, can you? Hart returned in October and accepted Austin’s challenge for a match at Survivor Series, which actually is one that often gets overlooked because of what happened at WrestleMania. Hart got the win but Stone Cold looked strong and defiant in defeat, which is what he was going for anyway.
The two would meet up again at the Royal Rumble in San Antonio. Hart would eventually eliminate Austin but seeing as the refs were busy dealing with Mick Foley and Terry Funk on the other side of the ring, they didn’t see it and Austin slid back in and won to put himself in the main event of WrestleMania. But hold on just a second. Then-WWE president Gorilla Monsoon decreed that since Austin won the match in the manner in which he did, he would not receive the regular title shot guaranteed to the winner of the Rumble and booked a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match at In Your House 13 (remember those?) between Austin, Hart, The Undertaker and Vader, with the winner of that match getting the shot at ‘Mania. But things get a little more complicated from there.
Now, the original plan for WrestleMania 13 was a rematch between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, with The Hitman winning the Fatal Four-Way and then getting his win back from their epic clash the year before in the Iron Man Match at WrestleMania XII. But HBK threw a monkey wrench into the whole thing when he claimed he had a knee injury and couldn’t compete as part of his infamous “I lost my smile” speech, which many believe to this day was a lie and he just didn’t want to drop the belt to Bret. Therefore, the match at In Your House was turned into a match for the vacant championship and Hart still went on to win in the over-the-top rope elimination format. Hart would go on to win, eliminating Austin in the process, but he then had to defend the title the very next night on RAW against Sycho Sid. Austin interfered in the bout, cost Hart the title and things were all set for Stone Cold vs. The Hitman at WrestleMania, and in an added twist, UFC legend Ken Shamrock was brought in to referee this bout, which would be a Submission Match.
Throughout this whole process, you could see the changes that I mentioned earlier. The crowds were getting louder and louder and the environment certainly wasn’t the same as it had been during the Golden Era when Hulkamania was running wild. Bret Hart was changing as well. Upon his return before Survivor Series, he noted that things were different and he didn’t like it at all. Long looked at as one of the few remaining heroes to the younger audience, Hart didn’t like the fact that a few people were starting to cheer guys like Austin and that obviously played into the magic that would happen in Chicago. He cut some great whiny promos to get his point across as Austin would get a few more pops each and every week.
WrestleMania 13 would finally arrive and the atmosphere in Chicago was electric as usual. The Windy City always has a hot crowd and things were no different 20 years ago. Austin’s entrance was amazing and remains one of the more iconic intros in WrestleMania as he symbolically broke through the glass. It’s a great scene to watch as he’s still trying to pull off the heel thing while he takes his BMF walk to the ring for what is more of an I Quit Match than an actual Submission Match. In true I Quit Match fashion, this is not a wrestling match but a fight and Austin and Hart started brawling immediately.
The two give the crowd the back-and-forth punching routine on the outside and you can already tell that the crowd is turning. Hart threw Austin into the post and set up for a suplex but Stone Cold countered by dropping Bret over the rail and we’re going into the crowd. It’s funny to watch Shamrock follow them out there, and on a couple of occasions, you can see him keeping people back and the crowd isn’t getting as close as they might without him out there because honestly, who is going to mess with Ken Shamrock in his prime?
They went up a few levels and Austin took a nice backdrop before they headed back towards the ring, throwing punches just about the entire time. Hart took a hard bump into the steps and after a few more minutes on the floor, we’re finally back in the ring. One thing not to forget in all of this is how Vince, who was still doing commentary at this point, is trying his best to get Austin over and put down Bret. He knows what’s happening and what they’re trying to accomplish and it’s done very well throughout the match.
Hart worked Austin’s injured knee for a while and the beautiful part is that they didn’t look like rest holds. The energy was there for the duration and the crowd is still crazy into this one. Austin gave Shamrock the double bird when asked if he wanted to quit — see, it’s really an I Quit match — before hitting a quick Stunner, which actually does give them a minute to rest. But Hart goes right back to it with a Figure Four around the post. Bret places the bell on the apron and then goes for the steel chair (heel move) and puts it on Austin’s ankle, which we hadn’t seen a ton of back then outside of Austin doing it to Brian Pillman in their feud the previous year. Bret goes to the top to “break” Stone Cold’s ankle but Austin is up and cracks Bret over the back with the chair and the crowd is loving it.
Austin has the upperhand and slaps on a Boston Crab. Shamrock asks Hart if he wants to quit, which Bret refuses to do, and then in a moment that’s a bit eerie now, Stone Cold goes for a Sharpshooter, which Bret countered with a poke to the eyes, which is not the eerie part. No, that comes from Vince, who said that it could happen that Bret Hart would submit to the Sharpshooter at some point. Don’t worry, Vince, you’ll make that happen later that year.
The two go back to the outside and Austin is flung into the timekeeper’s area, and now we’ve got blood. Actually, we’ve got a lot of blood as The Texas Rattlesnake is gushing and Hart pounces on him with a vicious attack. We’re back in the ring now and we get a nice closeup of Austin’s face (good job, Mr. Director) and it’s brutal. Bret is in full heel mode now as he attacks the leg once again with the chair and JR calls him sadistic. Yep, there it is. If JR calls you sadistic, you’re a bad guy and they’ve officially pulled off one of the greatest double turns in wrestling history. The crowd is so behind Austin at this point and it’s validated when Austin gets in a shot to Hart’s groin.
Austin is in control once again and he whips Bret into the turnbuckle, which I’ve always found to be a great bump from The Hitman. We get the Stone Cold stomps and then a superplex while the crowd is going crazy. Austin grabs an extension cord and wraps it and wraps it some more around Hart’s neck but Bret nails him with the bell he’d placed a few minutes earlier and Stone Cold hit the deck, allowing The Hitman to compose himself and lock in a very good Sharpshooter. Shamrock is right down there as he repeatedly asks Austin if he wants to quit and then we get the shot that made Austin famous. He’s locked into this submission hold but refuses to quit and is yelling as the blood drips down his face and in between his teeth. To this day, it remains one of the most iconic images in WrestleMania history.
Austin would eventually break the hold but he’s lost so much blood that he can’t muster the energy to really fight back and Hart slaps on his finisher again. Austin fought like hell to fight out of it a second time but with all of the blood loss, he just passes out and Shamrock is now screaming while asking him if he can even answer. Of course, Stone Cold can’t and the match is called after just over 22 minutes. Instant classic.
But just to be sure that everyone knew he was now a heel, Bret attacked Austin after the match before Shamrock stepped in and literally threw him off. Hart backed down like heels do and glared at the crowd before finally exiting as the cheers came in for a now-recovering Austin, who refused help and pulled himself up, finding just enough energy to give Mike Chioda a Stunner before stumbling to the back with Austin chants reigning down upon him.
What Bret Hart and Steve Austin did that night in Chicago was nothing short of spectacular. Was it the greatest wrestling match in the world? Absolutely not. But it didn’t have to be. As I said last week when discussing Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock: you don’t have to put on a five-star match with a bunch of crazy spots for it to be great. What you need are guys that know how to sell, how to work the crowd and how to tell a great story in the ring, and these two did a perfect job at all of those things.
I also can’t state enough how much this changed the wrestling world. What if Shawn Michaels had never vacated the title? We would have never gotten this match and maybe Stone Cold Steve Austin would have never become the star that he became. Sure, he was moving up in the world at the time but it was this match with Bret Hart that made him a superstar and it began his march towards the title a year later, as well as the feud that would result of it with Vince McMahon. The Attitude Era started at WrestleMania 13 with Bret and Austin and I would argue that until I’m blue in the face.
And if I’m not mistaken, Bret had his own little feud with Vince, didn’t he? But that’s another story for another day.