Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of RelentlessJ’s WrestleMania countdown, last week my #5 WrestleMania match was Hulk Hogan VS The Ultimate Warrior from WrestleMania VI. This weeks match, coming in at #4 is from WrestleMania 13 on March 23rd, 1997 from the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago, Illinois.
Bret Hart VS Stone Cold Steve Austin in a no disqualification submission match. This was the match that arguably turned Stone Cold into the face of the World Wrestling Federation, these two men were in the midst of a bitter feud, this match summed up the feud perfectly, Bret Hart won the WWF Championship in an elimination four corners match, his title reign lasted one day, due to Steve Austin costing Bret the title the very next night.
This match quickly spilled into the crowd, this was a brutal match, the end of the match came when Austin was busted open, bleeding heavily, Bret locked in The Sharpshooter, Austin never gave up, instead he passed out, causing special guest referee Ken Shamrock to call for the bell, Bret wouldn’t release the hold so Shamrock pulled him off. After the match, Bret went back after Austin but Shamrock pulled Bret away with a belly to back suplex.
This match not only brought Ken Shamrock into the World Wrestling Federation, but it also pretty much pulled off a double turn, turning Austin into a bonafide face and Bret Hart into a heel.
I think this match would go off better then my pick last week, simply because a lot of people think the Attitude Era was the greatest era in wrestling history, my opinion, It’s debatable, you won’t find a ton of great wrestling matches during that time period as you would from the late 80’s and early 90’s, but I thought this was a great match and I think because of the kind of match it was, people would enjoy this more then last weeks pick, this was a bloody street fight and people enjoy those more then the old school stuff.
I hope you enjoyed this weeks pick, be sure to come back next week to see what match I chose for #3 in my top 5 WrestleMania matches.
Ringsidehustle.com 
I like this match because it happened at the Rosemont Horizon (aka Allstate Arena), which is my favorite arena. I drive past it almost every weekday. Drove past it today. If I was born 12 years earlier, I might have attended this match.
It is a good match, but I don’t think of it as the greatest match of all-time. It’s a very important match (unofficial start of the Austin Era) and had one of the most famous finishes in WWE history, but the match just feels to me that it falls short of being the GOAT.
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I thought it was a great match, the fans were into it big time, and because of what the match represented is why it made it onto my list.
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You make a great point, Joe, and I agree. This was potentially the match that made ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. I’m interested to see who tops it next week!
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That image of blood running down a screaming Austin’s face is epic!
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One of the greatest images ever, Austins blood running down his face as he reaches deep down before finally just passing out.
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