Ranking the top 10 matches of WWE's Golden Era

#3 Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart vs. ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper Wrestlemania VIII (1992)

The match between Piper and Hart was seen as the former passing the torch to Bret

There was a big fight feel to this match despite the fact that it was in the mid card of Wrestlemania VIII. That is how overflowing with talent the Golden Era was. Back at a time when the Intercontinental Championship was one of the most important titles in the company, these two men went to war with each other.

The Intercontinental Championship was the only title that Piper had ever won in the WWE and he was not going to give it up without a fight.

The match started off as a technical showdown with the two men going hold-for-hold against each other, but it soon turned into an all-out brawl. Midway into the match, Piper went full heel and focused his attack on Bret’s skull. Hart was soon busted open and shed crimson all over the ring.

With the referee taking a bump, Piper took his offence to the next level by introducing the ring bell to the mix. He was about to take out Bret Hart when the Hoosier Dome fans came into play.

Piper looked around the arena in awe as the crowd begged him not to use the bell – storytelling at its best. Roddy looked like he had the match in the bag when he traded the ring bell for a sleeper hold on Bret Hart. But the technical master that he is, Bret pushed off the turnbuckles, rolled on top, and picked up the three count.

In a perfect show of sportsmanship, Piper tied the belt around Hart’s waist in a symbolic passing of the torch. Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby ‘The Brain’ Heenan called the entire match and ended the spectacle by saying that they never thought the match would have been that good.