The main rivalry heading into the event was between Diesel and Bret Hart over the WWF World Heavyweight Championship which Diesel had held since he defeated Bob Backlund three days after Backlund's win over Hart at the previous year's Survivor Series. At In Your House 4, Hart served as the guest commentator during Diesel's title defense against British Bulldog, Hart's former ally who had recently turned on the fans and aligned himself with Bret's brother and nemesis Owen Hart. Bret interfered in the match by attacking Bulldog. As a result, Diesel was disqualified and thus retained the title. This angered Diesel and he argued with Hart, resulting in the two brawling with each other. As a result of the circumstances, on October 30 edition of "Raw", the WWF President Gorilla Monsoon signed a WWF World Heavyweight Championship match between Diesel and Hart to take place at Survivor Series. Diesel and Hart had faced off for the title two times before. At the 1994 King of the Ring, Bret defended against Diesel and lost by disqualification when his cornerman Jim Neidhart interfered to break up a potential pin. Earlier in 1995 at the Royal Rumble, Diesel made the first pay-per-view defense of his title against Hart, but the match ended in a no contest after Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, and Backlund all interfered. With those two matches both ending in disqualifications, Monsoon added a No Disqualification stipulation to this rematch.