Wrestlemania 13 was a bit of a mess heading in. WWE Champion Shawn Michaels had been injured in February and forced to forfeit the title only days after winning it from Sycho Sid at the Royal Rumble. Bret Hart had then won a four man battle royal, last eliminating the Undertaker, to win the vacant title at In Your House 13: The Final Four in February. One day later he lost that title to Sycho Sid after Steve Austin knocked Hart out. The Undertaker was then installed as No.1 contender as he'd been the last man eliminated in the Battle Royal, while Hart would get his chance for revenge on Austin in a submission match. There was another chance for Hart though, six days before the event as he faced Sid for the WWE Title in a steel cage match. If hart won, he would defend the title in a submission match against Stone Cold, while if Sid won, he would face the Undertaker (who he'd already meant on RAW several times) for the title. Austin tried to aid Hart, Undertaker tried to aid Sid, and Sid won.
And so, after a ridiculously complicated build up in which the title had changed hands three times in two weeks and had been defended 5 times in a month, Wrestlemania 13, an unprecedented, and given the build unsurprising, financial disaster for the WWE. Though it wasn't all that bad a show and did include, IMO, the greatest match ever to happen in the WWE.
The night started off with a fourway elimination tag team match with the winner to be named No.1 contender for the WWE Tag Team Championship. The Headbangers (Thrasher and Mosh) won an overly long and not overly good match. Their opponents, in order of elimination, were The New Blackjacks (Bradshaw and Barry Windham:Windham was DQ'd for attacking the ref) Phil Lafon and Doug Furnas (Furnas was counted out), and The Godwinns (Phineas and Henry: Phineas was pinned after a senton cannonball from Thrasher).
The match saw Rocky Maivia (later known as The Rock) make his first ever Wrestlemania appearance defeating the Sultan (later Rikishi) to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Rocky not really a great worker at this stage, passable match.
Next saw the continuation of the rivalry between Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Goldust, with Helmsley getting the pin after his body guard Chyna, distracted Goldust by attacking his wife Marlena at ring side. The rivalry had been going on since the Royal Rumble. Ignore some of the myths, Triple H was going nowhere fast until he joined DX.
Next match was the best one of the show so far as Own Hart and British Bulldog put their WWE Tag Team Titles on the line against Mankind and Vader. What you'd expect with a lot of brawling, the good guys Owen and Bulldog were able to retain their belts despite cheating from the villains, their rule breaking coming to nothing following a double count out.
The next match was arguably the very best ever to happen in a WWE ring as Bret Hart kicked Steve Austin's ass all over the arena in a fantastic submission match. Hart turns heel inside the actual match, while Steve Austin was cemented as the hottest star in the company. The match was officiated by UFC star Ken Shamrock, who challenged Hart to a fight after he beat into an already unconscious Austin. Shamrock was not a bad wrestler, but never really reached great heights in the WWE through a two year run, eventually ending up back in the octagon.
Next up saw the returning Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) teaming up with Ahmed Johnson against the Nation of Domination (Farooq, Crush and Savio Vega) to get a victory in a junk match. LOD, who were a great tag team in the NWA and had a mildly successful run with the WWE in the early 1990s, were well past their prime by this point. Hawk passed away a few years later.
Brings us to our main event, which was six days in the making! Undertaker capitalised on interference from recently turned bad guy Bret Hart, to hit Sid with a tombstone and win the WWE Championship. This was not a very good match, but was hardly the train wreck some claimed, just a standard match with a muddled build.
So somehow Sycho Sid got himself on the list of people who've been in the Main Event match at multiple Wrestlemania matches (He had wrestled Hogan in a retirement match at WM8). Steve Austin had fully arrived as a megastar, Bret Hart had gone to the dark side, and the Chicago crowd had seen one of the greatest matches of all time. Not a great PPV, certainly lacking in atmosphere, but hardly worthy of some of the criticism it's received as being the worst Wrestlemania ever.
And so, after a ridiculously complicated build up in which the title had changed hands three times in two weeks and had been defended 5 times in a month, Wrestlemania 13, an unprecedented, and given the build unsurprising, financial disaster for the WWE. Though it wasn't all that bad a show and did include, IMO, the greatest match ever to happen in the WWE.
The night started off with a fourway elimination tag team match with the winner to be named No.1 contender for the WWE Tag Team Championship. The Headbangers (Thrasher and Mosh) won an overly long and not overly good match. Their opponents, in order of elimination, were The New Blackjacks (Bradshaw and Barry Windham:Windham was DQ'd for attacking the ref) Phil Lafon and Doug Furnas (Furnas was counted out), and The Godwinns (Phineas and Henry: Phineas was pinned after a senton cannonball from Thrasher).
The match saw Rocky Maivia (later known as The Rock) make his first ever Wrestlemania appearance defeating the Sultan (later Rikishi) to retain the Intercontinental Championship. Rocky not really a great worker at this stage, passable match.
Next saw the continuation of the rivalry between Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Goldust, with Helmsley getting the pin after his body guard Chyna, distracted Goldust by attacking his wife Marlena at ring side. The rivalry had been going on since the Royal Rumble. Ignore some of the myths, Triple H was going nowhere fast until he joined DX.
Next match was the best one of the show so far as Own Hart and British Bulldog put their WWE Tag Team Titles on the line against Mankind and Vader. What you'd expect with a lot of brawling, the good guys Owen and Bulldog were able to retain their belts despite cheating from the villains, their rule breaking coming to nothing following a double count out.
The next match was arguably the very best ever to happen in a WWE ring as Bret Hart kicked Steve Austin's ass all over the arena in a fantastic submission match. Hart turns heel inside the actual match, while Steve Austin was cemented as the hottest star in the company. The match was officiated by UFC star Ken Shamrock, who challenged Hart to a fight after he beat into an already unconscious Austin. Shamrock was not a bad wrestler, but never really reached great heights in the WWE through a two year run, eventually ending up back in the octagon.
Next up saw the returning Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) teaming up with Ahmed Johnson against the Nation of Domination (Farooq, Crush and Savio Vega) to get a victory in a junk match. LOD, who were a great tag team in the NWA and had a mildly successful run with the WWE in the early 1990s, were well past their prime by this point. Hawk passed away a few years later.
Brings us to our main event, which was six days in the making! Undertaker capitalised on interference from recently turned bad guy Bret Hart, to hit Sid with a tombstone and win the WWE Championship. This was not a very good match, but was hardly the train wreck some claimed, just a standard match with a muddled build.
So somehow Sycho Sid got himself on the list of people who've been in the Main Event match at multiple Wrestlemania matches (He had wrestled Hogan in a retirement match at WM8). Steve Austin had fully arrived as a megastar, Bret Hart had gone to the dark side, and the Chicago crowd had seen one of the greatest matches of all time. Not a great PPV, certainly lacking in atmosphere, but hardly worthy of some of the criticism it's received as being the worst Wrestlemania ever.
