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00:00This is the only title in the wrestling world that makes you number one.
00:08The WWE Championship. For some, it's a symbol of excellence. For all, it's the richest prize in the game.
00:16Absolutely unbelievable!
00:19And in the 1990s, the competition was fierce.
00:22He did it!
00:23As every WWE superstar vowed to reach the top of the mountain.
00:27I can't believe this!
00:28Today, we look back at the best WWE Championship matches of the 1990s.
00:33The Austin era has begun! What a matchup, Chris.
00:37This is WWE's Greatest Moments.
00:43Acknowledge me!
00:45Oh, God! No call to the fair man!
00:48This is surreal!
00:51Look at this! He landed!
00:53Welcome, everyone, to WWE's Greatest Moments. I'm Michael Cole, and on this edition, we're looking back at the very best WWE Championship matches of one of the most exciting decades in professional wrestling, the 1990s.
01:11As the 1980s ended and we embarked on a new decade, the man leading the charge was none other than the WWE Champion, the immortal Hulk Hogan.
01:21Hulkamania is the strongest force in the universe!
01:24Hulkamania was truly at its peak.
01:26But by 1990, a new star was rising in popularity, the intercontinental champion, the ultimate warrior.
01:33Now, Hulk Hogan, I come to take what you believe in!
01:40In one of the biggest WrestleMania main events of all time, Hogan would face the ultimate challenge.
01:45Both titles are going to be on the line in WrestleMania VI, the ultimate challenge.
01:53This place is going bananas!
01:5667,000 of them have waited for this!
02:00WrestleMania VI, Hulk Hogan versus the ultimate warrior.
02:03Hulk Hogan established, and now you've got a young alpha male coming to take my place.
02:09Hogan had been the guy for years. He was the white tiger.
02:12And it was just electric. It was so loud.
02:24Oh! He moved out of the way!
02:27Look at the big splash! One, two!
02:30He got him! He got him!
02:33The fact that I took the belt from Hulk.
02:36Yeah, that was something.
02:38Unbelievable Hulkster! An unbelievable warrior!
02:42When it comes to pure athleticism and all-around in-ring greatness,
02:49no one carried the WWE Championship better than the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels.
02:53Everything that Shawn Michaels is about, is about being the champion.
02:58In September 1996, Shawn Michaels would face a superstar unlike anything he had ever seen before.
03:04The deranged mankind.
03:06You see, Shawn Michaels, I am going to take away everything you love!
03:12And at the event, appropriately named Mind Games, the Heartbreak Kid looked to overcome his toughest task yet.
03:21Could mankind and Paul Bearer be planning some kind of plot?
03:25You know, a little bit jittery, a little bit nervous, but one way or another, Heartbreak Kid's going to do what he always does,
03:30and that's find a way to get the job done.
03:32I'd never worked with Mick, and you're wondering how it's going to go,
03:36because now I'm sort of known as the real finesse worker, and that wasn't Mick's style.
03:42I knew I was going to be in there with a better, faster athlete,
03:48and that I had to be able to keep pace with him.
03:51The faster the pace, the better it is for the champion!
03:54We had really good chemistry for two guys that had never been in the ring with each other.
03:59This is a genuine walk through hell for the WWF champions!
04:04I think they really brought out the best in each other.
04:10Mankind!
04:11Right up there with Michaels.
04:14The banks may be broken!
04:18You have to consider the fact that all the stuff they were doing was incredibly innovative.
04:24I don't ever remember a WWF champion being in a match like this, ever!
04:32No!
04:33Did you see that?
04:34The winner of this bout has a race on the latest swellification,
04:39John Seth Mungo!
04:42You've got to be pretty cynical to watch what we did and then feel like you were cheated.
04:48So for these two guys to go out there and finish with a DQ,
04:50and fans still be happy with it, that tells you how good these guys are.
04:54One of the most legendary performers in the 1990s was the excellence of execution,
05:01Bret the Hitman Hart.
05:03I've dedicated my whole life to become the World Wrestling Federation champion, the best.
05:10The Hitman did it all, but that also meant that the Hitman was a target.
05:15Enter the bad guy, Razor Ramon, Uzi Machismo.
05:18Hitman, I'm going to have your gold around my waist.
05:25Razor was set to take on Bret Hart at the 1993 Royal Rumble.
05:29The following contest is for the World Wrestling Federation championship!
05:39Royal Rumble 1993, Bret the Hitman Hart, who's the champion.
05:43Now you've got Razor Ramon, such a big guy.
05:46But he is incredible in the ring.
05:47It's all about leaving an impression in the fans' minds, and that's what we delivered.
05:55There's not an eye in the back that isn't watching this match.
05:58This is Bret Hart's first reign, and it was such a great first test as world champion for Bret.
06:04When you're in there with a hitman, he'll make you pay right off the bat.
06:08I really love that match for the back-and-forth struggle that we had.
06:12Look out! Hitman flying through the roof!
06:17He's got the sharpshooter!
06:19When he finally locks the sharpshooter in, it just feels like David beating Goliath.
06:23He's got him!
06:25And it becomes this epic story.
06:29Yes! He's over!
06:31And that gave me this reputation of being the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be.
06:37A standing ovation for that bat!
06:43The long history of Diesel and Shawn Michaels is a classic example of good friends, better enemies.
06:49Once the best of friends, the duo went their separate ways.
06:52Big boot! Oh no! Oh no!
06:55Diesel quickly became WWE champion.
06:58How sweet it is, because Big Daddy has got that gold!
07:04This man to my left feels that he is the leader of the new generation.
07:10That is where we have somewhat of a conflict.
07:13The former buddies were set to settle the score on the biggest stage in the long, Wrestlemania 11.
07:23Big Daddy Cool Diesel against his former tag team partner in Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania.
07:30Wrestlemania 11, you've got some celebrity appeal to it.
07:34It's with Pam Anderson or Danny McCarthy.
07:37So it makes your match a little more important.
07:40Oh, hi. Hi, she's waving at me.
07:41Hi, Pam.
07:42When you look at that match, and you look at all the media that were around the ring,
07:47it really solidified just how big Wrestlemania was as a whole, and how big the stars were here.
07:54We're in the top now!
07:56Michaels!
07:56High risk for number!
07:58He and I had a really good match, and it was like one of those, like, epics.
08:02You can play it in my head right now.
08:04Oh!
08:06Big Daddy!
08:07Look out, John!
08:08Boom!
08:09You put those guys together, and they just had this amazing chemistry.
08:15Yeah!
08:16Jackman!
08:17One!
08:18Two!
08:19Yeah!
08:22What a special, special duo, those two guys.
08:26Wrestlemania!
08:27Running on diesel power!
08:29Since his debut in 1990, one of the biggest stars of the decade was the phenom, The Undertaker.
08:37The dead man dug holes and buried souls on a consistent basis, capturing the WWE Championship a few times along the way.
08:45The WWF title!
08:47It lives on the dark side!
08:48In September 1997, the WWE presented an exclusive event in the United Kingdom.
08:55An Undertaker looked to reclaim the gold.
08:57One night only.
08:59Standing in his way was the five-time WWE Champion, Bret the Hitman Hart.
09:05Bret Hart, prepare to rest in peace.
09:13The Championship up for ground!
09:15It was a match that we had overseas in Birmingham.
09:18It's really good, especially for the time period.
09:22Oh!
09:22Oh, no!
09:24It was a really unique, special night for the UK and international audience.
09:30They have come to Birmingham to give it everything they have!
09:33The chemistry that Bret Hart and Undertaker had together, they understood their characters, but they also knew how to be hard-hitting, which is timeless.
09:42Oh, no!
09:43What was that?
09:43He got a cameraman!
09:46Undertaker, as big as he was, was a very skilled and coordinated athlete.
09:51Man, the fans on their feet!
09:56Unbelievable matchup we are witnessing here tonight!
10:02Bret Hart, he was one of the first guys that I got to show that I was more than just a gimmick.
10:09The roster like a five for the neck of the champion!
10:11Bret Hart in the world title match, you're gonna get a classic.
10:14The official trying to get the Undertaker off of Bret Hart!
10:18No!
10:20There's gotta be a disqualification here!
10:23And sometimes, when you have a DQ, it can sour things for fans, but it doesn't take away from the work that those two men put in before the DQ.
10:31When Stone Cold Steve Austin won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 14, the entire industry was set ablaze.
10:43Stone Cold literally defined the word attitude.
10:45It was everything his very corporate boss detested.
10:48Now what I want you to do is bow down for Stone Cold!
10:54Mr. McMahon would do anything to get the title off his problematic employee.
10:59Enter McFoley in his dude-love persona, who is now in a partnership with the boss.
11:04A handshake is just not going to do it.
11:07And a match was set for Over the Edge 1998.
11:12McMahon, Stooges, Briscoe, and Patterson each served as a timekeeper and ring announcer.
11:17There will also be a very special guest referee.
11:22And McMahon himself would be the special guest referee.
11:26We are sold out here, have been for weeks, and this is what they come to see.
11:30Over the Edge 98.
11:32It's a sneaky classic.
11:33Mick was always wanting to do something that was going to be great for the match, great for you, and great for him.
11:49Not once did I visualize leaving with my hand in the air.
11:53I realized we have the chance to do something really special here.
11:57Every time it got to the point to where Steve would win, they move the goalpost.
12:03In this match, phones come anywhere.
12:07Since when?
12:09Since when?
12:10But if anyone was going to overcome all those odds, it was going to be Austin.
12:15They're here, Ducky.
12:17Oh, my God!
12:21Stop it!
12:23Austin, close the referee over!
12:26He did it!
12:28He did it!
12:30He created a memory for people.
12:34Stone cold Steve Austin!
12:37It's a tough-to-sound of a bitch!
12:39I am your soul!
12:40The WWE champion, Bret Hart, was one of the most popular WWE superstars of all time.
12:48And his younger brother, Owen, was filled with resentment.
12:51You held me down all my life, Bret.
12:53Owen infamously turned his back on his family and challenged his sibling to a title match at SummerSlam 1994.
13:00But this would be held in the confines of the merciless Steel Cage.
13:08Ladies and gentlemen, this contest is for the World Wrestling Federation Championship!
13:14People still talk about Bret and Owen at SummerSlam in the Steel Cage because it was so unique having these two brothers fighting one another.
13:22These two brothers have come here to SummerSlam to battle it out!
13:26They had this magical story that really took both of their lifetimes to build.
13:31Just like when they were kids.
13:33I mean, they're pulling out all the stops here.
13:36Unbelievable!
13:36That match is really the psychology of the cage and trying to get out.
13:43He's out!
13:44He's not, he's not out!
13:46Oh!
13:48Grab it!
13:48Grab it down!
13:49We're going!
13:50In the total!
13:51Oh, wait a minute!
13:52Oh!
13:53Look at that!
13:54And Bret rocks it!
13:56Oh!
13:57I've always said I think it's the best cage match I ever was part of, for sure.
14:01Bret!
14:02The Hitman Hart has done the impossible!
14:06There's no question one of the biggest braggarts in professional wrestling history is the nature boy, Ric Flair.
14:12Flair had dominated as NWA and WCW champion throughout the 80s.
14:17But in 1992 was finally the WWE champion.
14:21And his ego only grew bigger.
14:23Savage Elizabeth was mine before she was yours.
14:29Woo!
14:30This drew the ire of the incomparable macho man, Randy Savage.
14:34Ric Flair, you're a total liar.
14:35I'm telling you right now, number one on the hit list.
14:39In front of over 62,000 fans at WrestleMania VIII, two of the greatest superstars of all time lock horns over the coveted WWE Championship.
14:51Standing ovation for the matchup man!
14:54What I remember most was the way the match started.
14:59All the weeks of frustration!
15:01And now it's all come to our hands!
15:04This is personal.
15:06He just wants to get out there and tear it flare apart!
15:08He is a man possessed!
15:10Look at this close line!
15:13WrestleMania said this is the big time.
15:17Oh, look at that!
15:18They were both at the top at different times in their careers.
15:24And this was a time where they were both fighting for dominance in a whole new environment.
15:31You get sucked in watching that match.
15:34It's art.
15:35But now it's the matchup man!
15:37And it won't be heard from the outside!
15:40And now!
15:42History has been made here!
15:44It's a really great moment in the end to see Flair lose to Savage.
15:49Once again, he has the gold!
15:51The WWE Championship has been the centerpiece for some of the greatest rivalries in professional wrestling history.
16:01And in the Attitude Era, there was perhaps none bigger than Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock.
16:07Come on, Rock!
16:08You do suck and you know it!
16:11For years, these two megastars would battle it out in some of the greatest wars the squared circle had ever seen.
16:16There ain't no way that Stone Cold Steve Austin will ever beat The Rock.
16:23At Backlash 1999, they would do it one more time in one of the greatest no-holds-barred matches of the decade.
16:29They both redefined.
16:35The title is on the line here.
16:39Remember, no-holds-barred!
16:41There must be a winner in this matchup!
16:43We were fighting. We were animals, we were pit bulls, we were lions, we were all those things.
16:50All those aggressive animals that wanted to be number one. It was important.
16:54This is not a wrestling match!
16:56This is nothing more than a Sunday night this fight!
17:01They knew what they had to do.
17:03They had that inner ability to go out, feed off the audience, and feed off one another.
17:10Put the camera down!
17:11Rock commandeered the camera, and he's looking around at the crowd, and then he looks around.
17:16Watch it!
17:17The battle stick is on!
17:19The starter!
17:20Any time we stepped in a ring, it was on.
17:24My God, it was close!
17:27The people hanging on every single move,
17:31waiting to see who was going to win this match,
17:33because it was damn near 50-50 throughout the whole thing.
17:36The starter!
17:37There's a battle!
17:40Austin!
17:41Austin!
17:42Austin!
17:46He gave me one of the best opponents, if not the best opponent I've ever had.
17:51And it's in that rivalry that, in so many ways, made the rock.
17:57It was the most unbelievable title match I've ever seen!
18:03It is now time for our number one moment.
18:05There was no bigger stage than WrestleMania XII for a WWE first.
18:09The first ever WWE Iron Man matchup!
18:13And at the forefront were none other than Bret the Hitman Hart,
18:16and the Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels.
18:18Unbelievable!
18:19What a ride!
18:20Whoever scored the most decisions within the hour
18:23would lay claim to the very prize that drove each man,
18:26the WWE Championship.
18:32Get ready, ladies and gentlemen,
18:33for one solid hour of non-stop World Wrestling Federation action!
18:39You know, as the match goes,
18:41it's really important to make sure we didn't lose the audience.
18:4540 minutes into this matchup, ladies and gentlemen,
18:48and surprisingly, there has not been a decision.
18:52Those guys were able to tell a story over the course of 60 minutes.
18:57If anything, they didn't slow down.
18:58They sped up.
18:59All right, let's look at that ball!
19:00Did you see what he did?
19:02Reddark really standing in front of us!
19:05He caught him!
19:06Jump shooter!
19:07Jump shooter!
19:07He got him!
19:08When Shawn came off the top rope
19:10in the last minute of the match,
19:12that blew everybody away.
19:15I just thought it was so neat to be in this hole
19:17and, oh, about to give up.
19:19We ended it at 60 minutes.
19:27No one had defeated anyone.
19:28It was a draw.
19:29It was unprecedented.
19:30We restarted the match.
19:32We're in overtime!
19:34I can tell you right now,
19:36Bret Hart does not like this decision,
19:37and he's going to take it out on Shawn Michaels.
19:39You want this so badly as a child.
19:42It was amazing because we all went with him on that ride.
19:44Michael said he got it!
19:45He got all of it!
19:47Michael's got all of it!
19:48Michael's going to cover!
19:49Five!
19:50Go!
19:51Go!
19:52I look back on it as a match that I'm proud of.
19:56I thought it was monumental.
19:57Very seldom will this entertainment event ever live up to the expectation.
20:03So many people have said,
20:05that is the match that made me want to be a wrestler.
20:07The boyhood dream has come true for Shawn Michaels!
20:11And with that incredible match,
20:15the boyhood dream came true for Shawn Michaels.
20:18There's no question that every superstar gets into the business to become the WWE Champion.
20:23It's an accolade that very few get to achieve.
20:26But for those who do,
20:27it's an accomplishment that solidifies your place in professional wrestling history.
20:31Well, that'll do it for this edition of WWE's Greatest Moments.
20:35I hope you've enjoyed this look back at some of the best matches surrounding the richest prize in the game.
20:40One of the most competitive time periods in history.
20:43The 1990s.
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