Feud: Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart

Breaking the Fourth Wall

Where rivalries sparked from backstage to on screen, old wounds healed behind the scenes before reconciling in the ring.

In many ways, the rivalry peaked at its most beautiful and tragic moment with the Screwjob. Bret would hang his boots in the WCW after a painful injury at the hands of Goldberg. Michaels would continue for a few months before a back injury put him out, which some say, was divine retribution.

Though Michaels returned to the ring a changed man, the specter of the incident hung over him until a faithful night on RAW in 2010. Bret Hart returned to the company and shook Michaels' hands, making amends for the past.

The beauty of this rivalry was that it broke the notions and rules of professional wrestling. Till then, despite any backstage tensions or politics, WWF was a place where people honored the televised scripted realities. Bret and HBK's misgivings of one another spilled out into the ring and beyond.

Since then the WWE and professional wrestling have never been the same again.