The Complete History of the WWE Championship - Part 5

Bret "Hitman" Hart (November 19, 1995 - March 31, 1996)

Bret Hart ends Diesel's 12 month WWE title reign at Survivor Series 1995

Bret Hart didn't know it at the time but his third WWE Championship reign existed solely to transition the WWE Championship onto Vince McMahon's next big babyface hope, Shawn Michaels.

The 1996 Royal Rumble event was promoted heavily around Michaels, who was set to return in the 30-Man Royal Rumble match, after two months on the shelf.

This was a storyline injury, based upon the real-life beating Michaels had suffered from several inebriated marines outside a nightclub in Syracuse, New York the previous October.

Michaels had suffered cuts, bruises and a concussion and was not medically cleared to defend his Intercontinental Championship versus Dean Douglas at In Your House IV, eight days later, on October 22, 1995.

In a stroke of booking genius, WWE blended reality with fiction, when Michaels collapsed in the ring during a bout with Owen Hart on the November 20, Raw. So realistic was Michaels's selling and WWE's response to it, that many onlookers believed Michaels's collapse to be 100% genuine.

That meant his return to action at the Rumble was heavily anticipated. The plan worked. The event drew 250,000 pay per view buys; the company's biggest number since WrestleMania XI, ten months earlier.

Hart's title defense versus The Undertaker at the same show played second fiddle to Michael's heroics. Worse for Hart, he lost the bout via DQ. Hart's subsequent title match versus Diesel at In Your House VI in February played a supporting role in the build to Diesel's impending WrestleMania encounter with The Undertaker. Hart won when 'Taker dragged Diesel under the ring. Hart was being portrayed as a fluke champion, strange considering he was firmly established as a main eventer in early 1996.

Hart was an afterthought and his reign was forgettable as a result. For anyone paying attention, it was obvious who would win the WWE Championship bout at WrestleMania XII between Hart and Michaels.