On this day in wrestling history, March 20, 1994, the WWE held it’s first WrestleMania without Hulk Hogan (he was in WCW at the time) at Madison square Garden. Dubbed WrestleMania X: Ten Years in the Making, it ushered the a new era in the WWE to 200,000 people on pay-per-view (100,000 less than the previous year) and 18,000 in attendance.
To help combat the Hulkster-less event, WrestleMania 10 had the distinction of having two scheduled WWF World Heavyweight Championship matches.
Flip of a coin
Showing they were ahead of the curve creatively, the WWE sought to create tension by having the first dual winners of the Royal Rumble match — Lex Luger and Bret Hart — face then WWF champion Yokozuna.
But there was a small problem. They had to determine who would face him first.
The solution was a coin toss on January 31, 1994’s Raw. To keep it fair, the loser of the coin toss would have a second match at the event. Their opponents were predetermined — Owen Hart for Bret, and Crush for Luger. Bret lost the coin toss and face Owen Hart to open the show.
Bret lost to Owen, but it didn’t impact his later championship match with the winner between Luger and Yokozuna.
In Bret’s Words
(Special thanks to @awrestlinghistorian for the transcript)
“It was unquestionably one of the biggest nights of my career. It was arguably the greatest opening match held at the greatest wrestling hall of them all.
“In the first of two co-main event matches on a huge show celebrating the 10th anniversary of Wrestlemania, my feud with my brother Owen was at its red-hot peak and we blended his high-flying skills and my solid technical style to build a match that would finally earn Owen the respect he had so long deserved.
“It seems ironic now the only way both Owen and I could get to the top of the WWF was to become nasty, vicious villains.
“What a lot of people don’t know is how Owen and I figured out two different ways to reverse the sharpshooter.
“In what was then considered to be one of the biggest upsets of all time, Owen pinned me when I went for a victory roll. It might seem strange but nobody was more proud of his victory over me than I was.
“I opened the show and closed the show.
“In the other main event, I squared off with 500-lb. Yokozuna and regained the world heavyweight title.
“The wrestlers piled out of the dressing room and hoisted me on their shoulders in what was a genuine and spontaneous showing of respect I’ll never forget.” – Bret Hart Canoe.com column March 13, 2004
This was one of the most satisfying endings to a WrestleMania for many, and solidified Bret Hart’s legacy as he was becoming the top name in all of professional wrestling. An added bonus was Roddy Piper as the special guest referee.
What’s really cool about this day in wrestling history, this wasn’t the only memorable event that happened. WrestleMania 10 also featured the first televised ladder match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Razor Ramon beat Shawn Michaels (with Diesel) to become the new Intercontinental champion.
This was also the last time the WWE began a pay-per-view during the afternoon hours, switching to primetime.
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