WrestleMania XII
WrestleMania XII was the twelfth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on March 31, 1996 at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California.
Background
The main attraction of this WrestleMania was the novelty of the WWF Championship match that was guaranteed to last at least one hour. On-screen WWF president "Rowdy" Roddy Piper had announced on an edition of Monday Night Raw that reigning champion Bret Hart must defend the title against Shawn Michaels in the first ever "WWF Iron Man Match"; whereby the winner would be the man with the most decisions over a sixty minute time limit. Michaels had earned the opportunity to face Hart by winning the 1996 Royal Rumble, and had also defeated Owen Hart at In Your House 6 for the right to keep the WrestleMania title shot
The main event was built on Bret Hart wanting to retain the WWF Championship against Shawn Michaels, who had suffered a number of setbacks over the course of the previous year, including: losing his WWF Championship match the previous year at WrestleMania XI, being accosted by a group of Marines at a Syracuse, New York nightclub, forfeiting the WWF Intercontinental Championship at In Your House 4: Great White North in October 1995 to Dean Douglas, suffering a storyline concussion at the hands of Owen Hart, and being betrayed in storyline by close friend Diesel at a house show at Madison Square Garden.
Production
The WrestleMania XII logo is a parody of the 20th Century Fox logo. Portions of the Hollywood Backlot Brawl used stock footage of the LAPD freeway chase involving O. J. Simpson.
Results
The tournament was held between February 20 and March 31, 1996. The tournament brackets were:
Other on-screen talent
- Commentators
- Spanish commentators
- Interviewers
|
- Ring announcer
- Referees
|
References
External links