We've hit a milestone with our WrestleMania Flashback series, as we've hit the tenth anniversary of the annual extravaganza. In an event held at Madison Square Garden, fans witnessed what would go down as the standard for ladder matches, and the WWF Championship was defended twice in the night.
Bret Hart had to deal with two separate matches that night. The first was an encounter with his younger brother Owen, and the second would be his chance at redemption by facing Yokozuna for the WWF Championship.
The feud with his brother started at the 1993 Survivor Series, when Owen blamed Bret for his elimination at the hands of Shawn Michaels. Then at the 1994 Royal Rumble, Bret injured his knee during a match where he and Owen were going for the WWF Tag Team Titles. Again Owen blamed him and kicked his injured leg. This set up a year-long feud between the two and a classic encounter at WrestleMania X.
It was everything that a heated battle between two brothers should be. The two took out a lifetime of frustrations with each other, as they beat each other all over the ring. But the shock of the night came at the end of the match, when Bret had Owen backed into the corner. Bret attempted a victory roll, but Owen slammed on the brakes and countered it into a pin. The referee counted three, and younger brother Owen had pulled off the upset of the year. Bret sat in amazement, as fans wondered if that was a sign of how his night would turn out.
In the months leading up to WrestleMania, Razor Ramon had found himself in a feud with Shawn Michaels over the Intercontinental Championship. Michaels had been walking aroudn with a fake championship belt, leading to a historic ladder match at Madison Square Garden.
Razor's championship and Michael's imposter belt were hung high above the ring, with the first wrestler to use the ladder to retrieve the belts would be declared the winner. Early on, Michaels' bodyguard Diesel made his presence felt. When Michaels sent Razor to the outside, Diesel leveled him with a clothesline. The referee saw this and ejected Diesel from ringside.
From there, both men used the ladder in every way possible to not only hurt their opponent but also to try and ge the belts. Michaels made the first of what would be several WrestleMania moments for himself, as he connected with a huge splash from high up on the ladder that nearly took Razor out of the game. But "The Bad Guy" recovered and gave Michaels a dose of his own medicine by using the ladder on him. At the end of the match, Michaels found himself tangled up in the ropes as Razor climbed the ladder and grabbed the titles.
Also on the card, Yokozuna had to defend the WWF Championship twice. After sucessfully retaining the title against Lex Luger earlier in the night, the 500-pound champion was set to defend against Bret Hart. With "Rowdy" Roddy Piper as special referee, Bret was able to avenge his controversial WrestleMania IX loss and recapture the gold.
After the match, Owen Hart made his way out to the ringside area. Instead of coming in to celebrate with his brother, all he could do was look on in jealousy and disgust as several members of the locker room came out to congratulate him. Later in the year, Owen would be crowned King of the Ring and spend the majority of the year challenging for his brother's championship.
The WrestleMania Flashback series will continue up until April 7, when WrestleMania 29 rolls into MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
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