WWE WrestleMania: What every main event should have been

WrestleMania XII

Actual main event: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels

What the main event should have been: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels

Seeing as how the Iron Man Match at WrestleMania XII pitting Bret Hart against Shawn Michaels is one of the best WrestleMania main events in history, and one of the best matches in the event’s storied history, it’s hard to think of anything else that could have been better than this.

Bret Hart had established himself as one of the greatest singles competitors in the history of WWE, but always standing right behind him was Shawn Michaels, another tag team specialist that was just itching for his turn at the top. HBK had held the Intercontinental Championship on multiple occasions and gotten some opportunities at the WWE Championship but just hadn’t quite broken through. That all changed at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California on March 31, 1996.

After winning his second consecutive Royal Rumble, Michaels earned the right to challenge The Hitman at WrestleMania, and the stakes got even higher when it was announced that the two would take part in a one-hour match, a match that only these two could pull off at the time, at least in WWE anyway.

This match was an instant classic. For 60 minutes, Shawn and Bret battled back and forth, and while some people don’t like the pace of the first 40 minutes (which I don’t mind at all as you’ve got to save something for the end), the final third of this match was phenomenal. With zero pinfalls or submissions at the end of an hour, the match was initially called a draw. However, that didn’t sit well with WWE President Gorilla Monsoon, and he ordered a restart. Michaels took advantage, and after just a couple of minutes, hit some Sweet Chin Music to win his first WWE Championship. Not changing a bit of what happened here.