James Dixon: The build-up to WrestleMania XIII was by far the most tumultuous in WWF history to this point, with many of the matches and feuds pencilled in for the show, getting changed and shifted around. The biggest spanner in the works came from Shawn Michaels, with the reigning WWF Champion “losing his smile” and forfeiting the title in February, leading to his proposed showdown with Bret Hart no longer taking place. The story goes that Shawn ducked out of the match because he had no intention of returning the favour to Hart for his putting him over at the previous year’s event, though Shawn has always claimed that he had a knee injury as well as a missing smile. So instead of Shawn-Bret, we got Bret-Austin, which as it turns out was rather a boon. This is one of the least impressive ‘Mania shows visually of all of them, with the Rosemont Horizon not a suitable venue for the “granddaddy of them all”. The WWF would have been better off switching the venues of ‘Mania and the Royal Rumble, which took place in a massive stadium for a show that didn’t warrant it. Mind you, can you imagine telling Shawn Michaels to job to Bret Hart in his hometown? This is also the first WrestleMania that eschewed the use of Roman numerals since WrestleMania 2, which I disagree with because I am a stickler for tradition, and also the final time the classic logo was used on the ring apron. It goes without saying that it remains my favourite, and I would choose it ahead of all future incarnations.
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