The UFC Hall of Famer had his doubts about whether he could deliver in the role.
Bret Hart and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin’s submission match at WrestleMania 13 is widely regarded as one of the company’s all-time greatest matches. The bout featured Ken Shamrock as the special guest referee, with his MMA background intended to bring a sense of legitimacy to the submission-based encounter.
Speaking to Wrestle Life Online, Shamrock opened up on his thoughts heading into the match and revealed that he initially had doubts about whether he would be able to play the role of special guest referee effectively.
“It was pretty confusing going into that match for me personally because I hadn’t had the experience to be in there with those two guys at that level. These are icons. Guys that are just, as we know now, just greatness. And I was just coming in, so here I was kind of pushed into that spot and I was very happy, for sure. But you also have doubts in your mind like, ‘How am I going to do this? Can I keep up with them?’ There’s a lot of thoughts because referee is a very, very important part of matches. And you see Hebner and many others that are so important on how matches can go with the way that things are done. And so me being in that position, I really thought to myself, ‘Man, I just don’t know whether or not I’m able to do the things I needed to do coming from the MMA world.’ But I think about 10 minutes into that match — or probably even shorter, probably after they started locking up and made the first contact — it felt like I didn’t have to do anything other than just be me… I thought that both those guys did a great job at understanding the moment, who I was, where I came from, and what kind of match they put on. And that’s just the greatness of guys like Stone Cold and Bret Hart.”
-Ken Shamrock
On April 18 earlier this year, the match was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, becoming the inaugural Immortal Moment recipient as part of the Class of 2025.
Despite entering the match as a heel, Austin delivered a valiant performance and ultimately passed out in Hart’s Sharpshooter. The result led to a famous double turn that is often credited with launching the Attitude Era, setting the ‘Texas Rattlesnake’ on his path to becoming the company’s top star.
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