WrestleMania 31 Rumors: 3 Best Moments From WrestleMania 13, Countdown to WM 31 [VIDEOS]

For over three decades, the WWE's cornerstone event, WrestleMania, has provided the WWE Universe with some of the greatest matches, moments and memories in the history of the company.

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For the past few weeks, Sports World News has taken a look at every WrestleMania and delved into the three best moments from each installment of the WWE's cornerstone event.

After the successful Iron Man Match in WrestleMania 12, the WWE was beginning to get some attitude in 1997 and while the official launching of the Attitude Era wasn't quite in full swing, there were some early traces of it in 1997.

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WrestleMania 13 emanated live from the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago -- one of the three venues used for WrestleMania 2 -- and took place on March 23, 1997 with the tagline, "Heat!"

Here are our three best moments from WWE WrestleMania 13:  

3) Chicago Street Fight: WrestleMania 13, as with most mid-1990s editions of the "Showcase of the Immortals," was a disjointed card, but one of the highlights was a three-on-three street fight pitting Ahmed Johnson and The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) against Faarooq, Crush and Savio Vega, collectively known as the Nation of Domination.

Johnson and Faarooq had a long-winded feud and the two were set to settle things in the midst of this six-man tag match.

The bout was fun to watch as various weapons were used throughout it by both teams -- who literally brought everything including the kitchen sink -- and the no-holds barred melee made for some nice entertainment.

The contest spilled inside and outside the ring with all six men brawling at the same time.

The fun brawl eventually came to an end when Animal hit Crush with a 2x4 and got the pin for his team.

2) 13 Is Lucky for the Deadman: The original plans for WrestleMania 13 called for Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart to clash in a rematch of their WrestleMania XII encounter, though this time in a standard match instead of an Iron Man Match.

Michaels went down with an injury, which Hart, who hated Michaels in real life at this point, claimed he was faking so that he wouldn't have to drop the belt to him.

With Michaels off the card, the WWE juggled it up, eventually leading to Sid holding the WWE Championship heading into the event while Hart was booked to face "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (more on that later).

With Sid in need of an opponent, The Undertaker emerged as the new No. 1 contender and the two titans clashed in the main event of the biggest show of the year.

The match itself wasn't a classic, but it was notable for 'Taker hitting a Tombstone on Sid and picking up his second WWE Championship and first World Championship reign since November 1991 when he defeated Hulk Hogan at the Survivor Series.    

It was also fitting that the unlucky 13th WrestleMania saw the Demon from Death Valley standing tall at the end of it.

The Undertaker also donned his old school look, wearing gray gloves to the ring in a bit of a throwback to his past as he improved to 6-0 at WrestleMania.

1) The Double Turn: While the epic Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels II wasn't able to happen at WrestleMania 13, another historic moment did occur.

Hart, who had been showing tweener tendencies, was set to face "Stone Cold" Steve Austin in a submission match at WrestleMania 13 with UFC's Ken Shamrock serving as the special guest referee.

Austin had taken up the persona of a badass heel, but was starting to get some pops for being the anti-hero.

All of this spilled over to their submission match that night in Chicago.

Austin and Hart wisely used the submission gimmick by utilizing the fact that they can't be disqualified or counted out to have a barbaric brawl with one another.

The match was an instant classic with Austin getting busted open and put in the Sharpshooter by Hart, eventually passing out the pain and losing in what was just his second WrestleMania match at that point.

The image of a bloodied Austin writhing in pain, but not giving up while in the Sharpshooter is an iconic moment that put this event on the map.

What made the match even more notable aside from it being a five-star classic is that Hart came out of it as a villain due to him not relinquishing the hold after Austin passed out, while Austin came out on top as a tough-as-nails babyface.

Hart came into the bout with mostly cheers while Austin received a mixed reaction with mostly boos peppering him. However, when Hart left the ring he was booed mercilessly while Austin was cheered. It was fantastic booking and an iconic WrestleMania Moment.

This was especially important since Austin would eventually become one of the biggest faces in the history of wrestling, ushering the WWE into the Attitude Era and eventually helping it thwart off WCW in the Monday Night Wars.

This was one of the best matches in WrestleMania history and saved this show from being an utter disaster.

Looking Ahead: While the WWE showed some Attitude in 1997, it wasn't until WrestleMania XIV in 1998 that the era came in full swing as Austin launched himself to the very top of the company while Shawn Michaels prepared to bid adieu to the world of wrestling for four years.

Rank-O-Mania: As we go through each year, we will rank each WrestleMania as it comes along. WrestleMania 13 was saved by the Austin-Hart classic encounter and double-turn. The street fight was fun and 'Taker winning the title was a good memory, but the main event itself was boring and the undercard is borderline unwatchable. WrestleMania 13 finds itself toward the bottom of our rankings, right in between WrestleManias IV and I in ninth place.

1) WrestleMania X
2) WrestleMania VI
3) WrestleMania III
4) WrestleMania VIII
5) WrestleMania VII
6) WrestleMania V
7) WrestleMania XII
8) WrestleMania IV
9) WrestleMania 13
10) WrestleMania I
11) WrestleMania XI
12) WrestleMania IX
13) WrestleMania 2

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