20 WWE matches that should be rated 5 stars (20-11)

#13 Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (Ironman Match for the WWE Title - WrestleMania XII, 1996)

Hart and Michaels prepare for their hour-long match

Although Dave Meltzer has claimed in the past that fans in attendance at WrestleMania XII in Anaheim, CA were largely uninterested in the event with the exception of the return of the Ultimate Warrior (who handily defeated a young Hunter Hearst Helmsley), there is no doubt the millions of fans at home were eagerly anticipating the incredible first-time-ever 60-minute Ironman match between Bret "Hitman" Hart and "Heart Break Kid" Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship.

After making their grand entrances (including Michaels flying in from high above the arena floor on a zipline) the two top stars of the mid 90s brought the level of athleticism in WWE up a few notches, putting their bodies on the line for an entire hour in what amounted to a wrestling clinic.

The timekeeper getting kicked in the face by HBK, Shawn's dive to the outside from the top rope after Bret ducked a Sweet Chin Music, and Bret's reversal of a waistlock into a high-angle German suplex were just a few of the impressive moments during the match. With a sudden death rule adding 3 extra minutes to the conclusion after the match originally ended as a time-limit draw, Shawn Michaels' unlikely win was made all the more sweet.