WrestleMania 12: The boyhood dream

March 31st, 1996

Location: Anaheim, California

Venue: Arrowhead Pond

​Attendance: 18,853

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Everybody has a dream. Everybody has something in life that they want to reach or achieve. No dream is too big or small, stupid or embarrassing. Whatever you want to accomplish, it's yours for the taking. Chase it.

As you all know by now, mine is to attend a WrestleMania. It's something I held on to since I was seven, or, in other words, my boyhood.

For Shawn Michaels, that boyhood dream of his was to be WWF Champion.

To 1996 we go as the WWF headed back out west to California and made the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim their home for WrestleMania 12.

It was a year for the WWF to try and bounce back from the disaster that was WrestleMania 11. By the time 1996 came around, Ted Turner's WCW was in full swing. Many of WWF's talent jumped ship to their rival due to the company's bad reputation since the steroid scandal of 1992.

On top of that, Monday Nitro was created in September 1995 to compete with Monday Night Raw. In a shocking development, Lex Luger returned to WCW on Nitro's debut show and unofficially began the "Monday Night Wars."

As March came around for WrestleMania, there needed to be a significant response to WCW and give something that would stand out for the ages.

With no "America the Beautiful" performance on television and no mention of celebrities whatsoever, WrestleMania 12 got off on the right foot with a six-man tag team match. Yokozuna, Ahmed Johnson, and Jake "The Snake" Roberts took on the team of Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, and Vader. In a great 13-minute performance, the latter picked up the victory.

WrestleMania 12 also saw the debut (at least on the big stage) of a man who would be one of the biggest icons in the company's history. "Stone Cold" Steve Austin walked in with a mean look to take on Savio Vega for DiBiase's Million Dollar Championship. Austin would end up holding on to the gold.

​With those honorable mentions listed, it's time to once again look at three things that stood out to me at WrestleMania 12.

Five straight

It's back to "Streak Watch" as The Undertaker was scheduled to wrestle once again at WrestleMania to keep his perfect record intact.

At the 1996 Royal Rumble, Undertaker nearly won the World Heavyweight Championship from Bret Hart until Diesel interfered.

The following month, at In Your House, Diesel was also close to beating Hart for the title in a Steel Cage match. In those closing moments, 'Taker emerged from underneath the ring by ripping through the ring mat. He then grabbed Diesel, dragged him down to the ring's bottom, and cost him the championship.

The weeks that led up to Anaheim started to get eerie for Diesel. Undertaker began to play mind games with Diesel, disappearing from his sight and having his gong go off in the arena to distract the big guy.

The final straw came during an episode of Monday Night Raw. Diesel found a casket by ringside and, inside it, was a full-body wax figure of himself. That's something you probably don't ever want to see.

WrestleMania 12 arrived, and the two immediately got physical from the start. The match was even, but Diesel was close to locking up the victory after hitting the Jackknife Powerbomb on the deadman twice.

In walking around the ring, telling everybody he's got this in the bag, 'Taker suddenly regained momentum and turned the match around in his favor.

The Undertaker was able to do his signature Tombstone Piledriver and secured his victory in the middle of the ring.

The moral of the story, don't get overconfident with a man like The Undertaker.

Diesel did all that he could, only to end up being victim number five at WrestleMania. The streak grew to 5-0, and another piece of Undertaker's legacy at WrestleMania was added.

Welcome home, Warrior

If you want to talk about an up-and-down career for an individual, look no further than the Ultimate Warrior.

In the early 1990s, the Warrior was on top of the world. He would win one of WrestleMania's biggest main events at Skydome in Toronto against Hulk Hogan and become world champion. He also semi-retired "Macho Man" Randy Savage the following year in Los Angeles.

However, in 1992, the Ultimate Warrior suddenly left the company due to a failed drug test. As he was caught up with steroid use, any plans for a second world title reign were nixed.

Between 1992-1996, the Warrior laid low, wrestling in smaller independent promotions and opting to (unofficially) stayed retired.

As he continued to stay out of the spotlight, the WWF contacted the Warrior to make his big return to the stage that made him a household name. The Warrior agreed, and his comeback was made official for WrestleMania 12.

His opponent would be a man who was undefeated and wanted to hang to that at his WrestleMania debut. That man's name was Hunter Hearst Helmsley, or as you all know him today as Triple H.

With fireworks and a roar of the crowd, the Ultimate Warrior made his grand entrance and ran around, shaking the ropes like he used to.

That being said, if you blinked, you would have missed the match. In a stunning 1:39, the Warrior picked up the win and quickly erased Helmsley's perfect record. The Warrior was back in full swing and ready to progress his career.

Unfortunately, if you blinked again (in hindsight), his WWF career was quickly over. Within the year, Warrior would no-show multiple non-televised events and had his contract terminated.

It would be a sad fall for a man adored by many and had his moment of glory. July 1996 was his final appearance in the WWF before returning in 2014 for his Hall of Fame induction.

Within the next 72 hours of his induction, Warrior passed away, not before leaving one of the most inspirational messages the night before his death on Monday Night Raw.

It may not have been a pretty end in 1996, but at least he had one final chance to have his legacy remembered forever.

"The boyhood dream has come true!"

During 1995, the "Heart Break Kid" (HBK) didn't have a fun year in terms of accomplishments, let alone trying to stay healthy.

Shawn Michaels would lose the WWF Championship match at WrestleMania 11, and while he won the Intercontinental Championship, it was forfeited at In Your House 4 after a (storyline) concussion. If there's anybody who was ready for 1996, it was him.

As it would turn out, 1996 was going to be his big year. He would win the Royal Rumble match for the second consecutive year, the first to do so since Hulk Hogan did it in 1990-1991.

With Bret Hart as champion, their match was set at WrestleMania 12 and would be historic.

In an attempt to make WrestleMania memorable than the year before (as if that was hard), Hart and Michaels would compete in a 60-minute Iron Man match.

The rules were simple. Whoever had the most decisions (pinfalls, submissions, countouts, and disqualifications) in an hour would be WWF Champion.

The thought of that alone sounded exhausting as that would mean consistently performing until the buzzer goes off to signal the end of the match.

For Michaels, only one thing was on his mind as WrestleMania came close, make the boyhood dream come true. He made it clear to everybody that the last thing he needed to accomplish was to become WWF Champion.

Both men had similar stories leading up to WrestleMania in terms of rising the ranks in the company. Both started in tag teams, broke out as single stars, and won championships.

The only difference was that Bret had already reached the pinnacle of the company. Three times to be exact. With an appreciation of how great the other was in the ring, it would be a fight to the bitter end.

As Howard Finkel introduced Michaels, his mentor, Jose Lothario, was headed to the ring instead, confusing everybody. Lothario then headed to the corner of the ring to climb the ropes and pointed up to the Anaheim Pond's rafters.

What followed next had to be (in my opinion) the best WrestleMania entrance of all time.

HBK had the entrance of a lifetime as those in attendance look on in amazement. Michaels landed in the crowd and made his way to the ring, showing love to the fans who surrounded him.

If there's a time when you want to go above and beyond, it's at WrestleMania. I could argue that this is the original "WrestleMania entrance" where wrestlers will do something extra on the big day.

The Hitman came down to the ring, and as the two stared eye-to-eye, referee Earl Hebner would be explaining the rules of the match, reminding everybody what was at stake.

Hebner rang the bell, and the 60-minute marathon was underway.

In 60 minutes, you need to pace yourself. To start the match, both Michaels and Hart took it slow. Small punches, resting submission holds, light tosses in the ropes, you name it. Moments were going to be created but needed to happen at specific points throughout the match.

The first moment came at the 15-minute mark. Hart tossed Michaels outside of the ring in the hopes of a countout. Michaels quickly responded, threw Hart to the ring post, to which he ended up sitting on top of the timekeeper.

In the shot focused on Bret and the timekeeper, Michaels' foot suddenly came in and slammed the timekeeper's face. HBK accidentally superkicked the poor man as he was stretchered out of the arena. With time ticking down, the show had to go on.

Thirty minutes had passed, and there had yet to be a decision to put one over the other. The match got a bit more physical, and the pace picked up.

Hart came close to a couple of pinfalls but got nothing out of it. Regardless, more submission holds were made as a breather for both men. As time went on, the question of "who's cracking first?" began to creep in fans' minds.

Another 15 minutes went on, and the momentum slowly started to shift towards Hart as he began to take a bit of control in the match. With Michaels tossed out of the ring, fighting exhaustion, Bret still had the energy to perform a diving maneuver.

​Hart went for the pin as soon as he brought Michaels back inside but couldn't find the three count yet again.

With five minutes to go, the suspense continued to rise as neither man refused to give up.

The final minutes had Michaels in full control, with multiple slams and even connecting a flying elbow drop.

With 40 seconds left, Shawn headed to the top rope to perform what looked like a dropkick. However, Bret completely flipped the script and was able to catch Shawn with his signature Sharpshooter hold, something he was trying to do throughout the entire match.

With Shawn nearly tapping out, time expired, and the Iron Man match went the full 60 minutes without a decision, ending with a score of 0-0.

So, what now? After all this? Newly appointed WWF President Gorilla Monsoon said there was only one solution, sudden death.

The match quickly restarted, and despite Michaels looking practically dead, he finally hit his first Sweet Chin Music superkick, unable to find his strength to pin Hart.

Once both men got up, Michaels pulled out one more superkick, and at that moment, the boyhood dream had come true.

Shawn Michaels got the crucial pinfall and became the new WWF World Heavyweight Champion.

A visibly emotional Michaels sat in the middle of the ring, holding the gold he so desperately chased.

The 12-year-old boy from San Antonio was in disbelief after the war he went through. WrestleMania 12 closed with a feel-good moment and would be remembered for ages.

Final thoughts

I'll keep this brief. Indeed, like this article, it felt like a long WrestleMania to cover.

It has been years since I saw WrestleMania 12. Many critics have said that the Iron Man Match never aged well or was overrated. Honestly, I didn't have those thoughts after I finished watching.

It's a 60-minute match. With all due respect, I'm not sure what people were expecting in the hour. If they expected consistent action, I don't think they were ever going to get it. Put yourself in the shoes of Bret or Shawn. Unless you have the cardio for it, you won't survive.

Aside from that, the undercard also didn't disappoint. It may not have been the best WrestleMania, but it still created one of the best moments of all time.

The WWF redeemed their failure of WrestleMania 11. While Shawn Michaels stood tall to close WrestleMania 12, the following year would have a man who would be Stone Cold with Bret Hart.

Results:

- The British Bulldog, Owen Hart and Vader def. Ahmed Johnson, Jake Roberts and Yokozuna - Six-man tag team match

- Roddy Piper def. Goldust - Hollywood Backlot Brawl

- Stone Cold Steve Austin def. Savio Vega

- The Ultimate Warrior def. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

- The Undertaker def. Diesel

- Shawn Michaels def. Bret Hart (c) - 60-minute Iron Man Match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship (1-0 sudden death overtime)

Rating: B

Thanks for reading. Look out tomorrow when I take a look at WrestleMania 13.

23 days away until WrestleMania 35.