Sultan of Submission | The Biography - by Rohan | page 5

Diesel had proven his caliber at the 1994 Royal Rumble in Providence when he eliminated over 10 wrestlers with little effort. The Heartbreak Kid and Diesel kept attacking the Hit Man in order to get his attention. Bret finally granted a title shot to Big Daddy Cool at the 1994 King of The Ring. Bret brought back his former Hart Foundation partner Jim Neidhart to watch his back and keep Shawn Michaels at bay. Neidhart attacked Diesel during the match, for no apparent reason, DQing Bret, and left the ring as Shawn and Diesel tore the Hit Man to shreds. Neidhart's motives would become clear later on in the day, when he helped Owen Hart become the 1994 King of The Ring in the final match against Razor Ramon.

Owen was now the number one contender for the WWF title. The Hit Man and Owen squared off one more time in a very special Steel Cage match at the 1994 Survivor Series. The British Bulldog and Diana Smith were in attendance for the pay-per-view. Bret and Owen took it to each other, and somehow, Bret just barely managed to jump out of the ring and retain the title. As The Bulldog and Diana cheered on, Neidhart attacked them from behind. Owen and Neidhart pulled the Hit Man back to the ring and viciously attacked him, before The Bulldog came out for the save.

Then, Bret put the title against a returning Bob Backlund. Bob Backlund was a former WWF Champion, famous for his 'I Quit' towel matches against The Iron Sheik. Backlund brought in Owen as his confidant and Bret brought in The Bulldog. The British Bulldog got knocked out early in the match, and Backlund got the dreaded Crossface chickenwing on Bret. Bret refused to submit, and eventually Bret's mother, Helen, ran in a threw the the towel, bringing the Hit Man's second title reign to an end.

Bret returned to take on Diesel for the title. During the match, Diesel jackknifed Hart, but Shawn Michaels interfered, breaking up the pin. Later on, Bret placed the Sharpshooter on Diesel and Owen ran in to break the hold. Still later, the referee got knocked out, and Jeff Jarrett, The Roadie, Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart and Bob Backlund entered the ring, leaving it in utter chaos.

At Wrestle Mania XI, Bret took on Bob Backlund for the very first time since the infamous 'I Quit' match. Backlund placed the Crossface Chickenwing yet again on the Hit Man, but Bret reversed the hold and Backlund submitted to Bret. In May the same year, Bret took on the very mysterious Hakushi. Bret went on to beat Hakushi with the Sharpshooter, but The King Jerry Lawler crept up from behind and "pinned" Bret Hart. Lawler would continue to verbally insult Bret and the Hart Family. The Hit Man wanted to finish Lawler once and for all. At the 1995 King Of The Ring, Bret took on Lawler in a very unique 'Kiss my Foot' match, wherein the loser would have to pucker up and kiss the feet of the winner. Lawler spent the next weeks trying to infect his foot with all sorts of bacteria to make the loss for Bret even more humiliating. Unfortunately for the King, Bret was in the best shape of his life. An interference from Hakushi and Shinja and several piledrivers didn't stop the Hit Man from placing Lawler in the Sharpshooter right in the middle of the ring. Lawler tapped out and the crowd went wild. Not only did Bret make Lawler kiss his feet, but he removed Lawler's shoes and made the King kiss his own infected foot. Lawler then brought in his dentist Isaac Yankem, DDS to extract revenge (Yankem later appeared as the fake Diesel and Kane). At the 1995 SummerSlam, Lawler doubled teamed with Yankem and almost broke Bret's neck.

Diesel runs out of gas

Bret spent the next few months beating wrestlers like Jerry Lawler, Isaac Yankem, Jean Pierre-Lafayette and Hakushi. A year had gone by without a title shot. The Hit Man wanted Diesel and the world title. At the 1995 Survivor Series, Bret took on Diesel in a no disqualification match. Bret was absolutely manhandled by Diesel and Diesel signaled for the Jackknife with Bret lying motionless on the ground. But the veteran Bret Hart placed Big Daddy Cool in a small-package and Diesel couldn't kickout. Bret Hart raised the WWF title for the third time, but only after Diesel knocked out a few officials and Jackknifed the Hit Man twice.

The following month, Bret laid down the law to his brother-in-law, The British Bulldog. Bret and The Undertaker had their very first singles pay-per-view match at the 1996 Royal Rumble. Both wrestlers would receive mixed reactions from the crowd. Eventually The Undertaker nailed Bret with the Tombstone Piledriver. Diesel came out of nowhere and pulled the referee out of the rig, immediately disqualifying Bret (Diesel had an altercation with the Undertaker prior to this match). The following month, Bret put the title on the line against Diesel in a steel cage match. The Undertaker broke through the canvas and dragged Diesel into the depths of hell and Bret retained the title.

Then came the Ironman Match at Wrestle Mania XII. Acting comish Rowdy Piper sanctioned this 60 minute match where the wrestler with the most points over the other wrestler (in terms of pins, submissions, DQ's countouts) would win the match. Hart and Michaels put on a great show and neither wrestler got a point over the other and the match was nearing completion. Shawn had the momentum going his way with 40 seconds left to the 60-minute mark. Shawn attempted a drop kick off the top rope - the Hit Man caught Shawn's legs before he connected and placed the Sharpshooter. Shawn held on for the remaining seconds and when the bell rang, Bret picked up his title and left the ring. Gorrilla Monsoon ordered Bret to return and fight Michaels all over again. Michaels was all up and ready to go again. It took two superkicks from Shawn Michaels to eventually pin the Hit Man. If you thought this was controversial, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Bret spent the remaining month of his WWF contract wrestling the likes of Vader, Goldust, Triple H and Steve Austin on the WWF Germany Tour. Hart then took the next 6 months off to ponder over his future in prowrestling. Bret had been offered contracts with both the WWF and the WCW.

Bret passed up the big-money offer from the WCW and decided to remain loyal to his WWF fans. On a RAW show, Bret announced that he would return at the 1996 Survivor Series to take on "Stone Cold" Steve Austin . . .

Next : The obliteration of Stone Cold's bottomline!