When you think of all time great WrestleMania opening matches, some of the ones that might come to mind are Triple H vs. Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30, Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero at WrestleMania 21, Rob Van Dam vs. William Regal at WrestleMania X8 or more. However, the undisputed greatest opening match in WrestleMania history goes to Bret Hart and Owen Hart, who would slug it out in an all-time classic at WrestleMania X.
What was it that led to the brothers colliding, especially when Bret Hart vowed to never fight his brother? While the seeds of the story were only planted the previous year, it goes back quite a bit, but jealousy, resentment and bitterness have a whole lot to do with it. Owen Hart arrived at WWF in the late 80s and would use his Blue Blazer superhero gimmick, one that was naturally not really destined for success.
He was a lower mid-carder, and while he did squash enhancement talent, there wasn’t much of a ceiling on his potential. As a result, a loss to Mr. Perfect at WrestleMania V was a seal of doom for his first WWE run. He would go out to the world again to prove himself, even returning to Stampede Wrestling before its eventual shutdown.
He would lose his Blue Blazer mask during his time in Mexico, in a “Mask vs Mask” match up. Sooner than later, inability to agree to a deal with WCW saw Owen Hart return to WWF, where his brother had a lot of tag team success and was on the verge of branching out as a singles star.