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Post by jammer311 on Oct 8, 2011 15:55:03 GMT -5
If it's true that Bret Hart was supposed to wrestle Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 13, then where would that have left Steve Austin on the card??
It just seemed logical for Bret to wrestle Austin at WM 13, I often wonder if the whole "Bret vs. Shawn" at WM 13 was never meant to happen. Just like how they were supposed to wrestle at KOTR 97 and again it never happened.
So really, if Bret vs. Shawn was meant to happen at WM 13, who was Steve Austin supposed to work that night??
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2011 16:25:33 GMT -5
It was def. supposed to happen at KOTR 1997 because I remember the promos for it on RAW where Bret was telling HBK he could beat him in under 10 minutes or something...
They were going to do a short match because Bret had a legit knee injury.
In regards to Wrestlemania 13, I'm not sure where Austin would have stood. Possibly a feud against the Undertaker stemming from Austin eliminating Taker from the 1997 Royal Rumble and again from the Final Four match. Austin & Bret had such a good thing going that I'm kind of glad we got that instead. I'm not sure where that would have left Sid on the Wrestlemania card though...
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Post by Nivro™ on Oct 8, 2011 17:01:21 GMT -5
I thought I heard somewhere that because HBK "lost his smile" The tag title match was kinda just thrown together as one of the original Ideas was to have Austin vs Owen, Bret vs HBK and Taker vs Sid
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Post by jammer311 on Oct 8, 2011 17:15:47 GMT -5
Taker vs. Sid was lined up for WM 13 starting near the end of Dec. on a Raw. Bret and HBK were in the ring and they started to get hostile on each other in the interview, and Sid came out to confront both of them. Then Austin who attacked Bret, and Taker came out to attack Sid. So I am sure Taker vs. Sid was gonna happen at WM 13 along with Bret vs. HBK.
Now my theory on this is, what if Bret vs. Shawn wasn't supposed to happen at WM 13 or KOTR. Think about it, that build up for HBK vs. Bret at Survivor Series was a years worth of promos, run ins, and 'almost' matches.
I remember on Raw in July that HBK was supposed to be a part of a team with Taker and Austin to wrestle Bret, Owen and Davey on Raw in a flag match but then HBK got 'jumped' in the back so Dude Love filled in.
I still question if Bret vs. HBK was really supposed to happen. It just seems how the rest of the year went, they just held off till Survivor Series to make it seem really special.
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Post by Emerald Enthusiast on Oct 8, 2011 23:02:51 GMT -5
If it's true that Bret Hart was supposed to wrestle Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 13, then where would that have left Steve Austin on the card?? It just seemed logical for Bret to wrestle Austin at WM 13, I often wonder if the whole "Bret vs. Shawn" at WM 13 was never meant to happen. Just like how they were supposed to wrestle at KOTR 97 and again it never happened. So really, if Bret vs. Shawn was meant to happen at WM 13, who was Steve Austin supposed to work that night?? At that point, it wouldn't have been a problem to move Austin's face turn back a couple of weeks/months. His mega-push really didn't start until after WM 13. I believe there were at least tentative plans for Bret-HBK in WM 13. Both guys have said (in shoot interviews) there were plans for that being the main event. What is confusing is that both guys swear that they were the one going over so it's hard to know what the post WM plans might have been. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2011 10:58:15 GMT -5
again its so hard to know.....I love these what if threads.makes my imagination go into overtime.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2011 13:20:00 GMT -5
I decided to read through the 1997 section of Bret Hart's autobiography again after reading this post. I'll let you guys know if I find anything in there to shed some more light on this situation.
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Post by LeighD on Oct 9, 2011 14:54:53 GMT -5
Hart vs, HBK at WM 13 was penciled in as the main event almost a year prior. Obviously leading into Survivor Series, Bret feuded with Austin and HBK with Sid. At the Rumble HBK won back the title and was set to be champion until Wm 13. The Rumble went down as it should and the winner of Final Four would receive a title shot at WrestleMania with Austin having a side feud with either Vader or Undertaker. Most likely Vader and Undertaker was scheduled to face Sid at WM 13.
HBK drops the title and now the Final Four is used to have Bret as champion only to lose it to Sid the following RAW.
So I'm not quite sure where Austin would have stood if HBK hadn't "lost his smile" and dropped the title. I remember reading from many sources (agents, wrestlers, etc) WM 13 was the most re-arranged WrestleMania ever. The matches were constantly being changed.
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Post by The Sexy Psychotic on Oct 9, 2011 14:55:53 GMT -5
Its tricky, if it did happen, would Austin's push worked, would he have been as big?
Really, no idea, although Austin/Owen could have worked I guess, but would have been no where near as great as what we got was.
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Post by koreygunz on Oct 9, 2011 15:25:52 GMT -5
If HBK vs Bret was penciled in, and Bret was supposed to go over and win the title, why have Bret win the belt at Final Four and then drop it the next night? If he was meant to leave WM as champ, why not go with Hart vs Austin for the title? You could have still had the Submission Match stipulation, and no matches would have changed.
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Post by The Sexy Psychotic on Oct 9, 2011 16:11:28 GMT -5
If HBK vs Bret was penciled in, and Bret was supposed to go over and win the title, why have Bret win the belt at Final Four and then drop it the next night? If he was meant to leave WM as champ, why not go with Hart vs Austin for the title? You could have still had the Submission Match stipulation, and no matches would have changed. Plans changed? It made the fued between Bret and Austin that much more personal? Austin wasn't ready? My guesses man, but can I just ask a sub question, anyone care to eloborate on KOTR97? I've never heard that those two were supposed to face off. |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2011 16:46:41 GMT -5
Austin wasn't ready for the title yet. Hence why he was placed in IC title feuds for the remainder of 1997 and didn't win the big one until 1998.
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Post by LeighD on Oct 9, 2011 19:19:32 GMT -5
If HBK vs Bret was penciled in, and Bret was supposed to go over and win the title, why have Bret win the belt at Final Four and then drop it the next night? If he was meant to leave WM as champ, why not go with Hart vs Austin for the title? You could have still had the Submission Match stipulation, and no matches would have changed. Plans changed? It made the fued between Bret and Austin that much more personal? Austin wasn't ready? My guesses man, but can I just ask a sub question, anyone care to eloborate on KOTR97? I've never heard that those two were supposed to face off. HBK & Bret were supposed to have wrestled and as an added stipulation if Hart could beat Michaels in 15 minutes, he would never wrestle in the USA. I may be slightly off on that, but I know there was a stipulation. However the match never happened due to Bret's legit knee surgery |
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Post by cordless2016 on Oct 9, 2011 19:26:06 GMT -5
Bret vs HBK was definatly suppose to happen at WM13 for the title. Shawn had just won the title from Sid at the RR, and the only logical person for him to fight was Bret at WM. Taker and Sid were in a feud together, Austin wasn't over enough to ME a WM, same as Vader and Mankind as well. The end of their WM12 match, where Bret walked out pissed, set up the continuation of their feud, and even Bret's return promo kept the feud going. The simple fact is that whether HBK was really hurt or not, he did not want to job to Bret.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2011 21:07:40 GMT -5
It was stated above but I do feel that Vader & Mankind vs. Owen & Bulldog was completely thrown together. They were trying to slightly push Bulldog as a face due to Owen's shenanigans but it never really worked and Bulldog wasn't a strong enough face to carry the match. Thus, it ended up being heels vs. heels and was kinda blah. I think they needed to give them a spot on the card because it got all messed up due to Shawn's lost smile.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2011 23:08:06 GMT -5
Just re-read Bret's 1997 chapter in his book and this is what happened according to The Hitman:
Bret vs. Shawn for the WWF Championship was slated for WM 13 but Vince wanted to change it to Sid vs. Taker for the WWF Championship because he felt Bret/Shawn for the title was "too predictable". Vince then stated that he wanted Bret vs. Shawn in a ladder match where Shawn would put up and lose his hair at WM 13. The ladder/hair match never happened because Shawn lost his smile. Bret would have cost Shawn the title to Sid during their scheduled match on the same Thursday Night Raw where Shawn gave his lost smile speech instead. Shawn would then cost Bret the Final Four match which Taker would win thus further setting up Sid/Taker and Bret/Shawn at Wrestlemania 13.
Bret vs. Shawn was again scheduled for King of the Ring 1997 but Bret's knee was bothering him so the stipulation was that if Bret couldn't beat Shawn in under 10 minutes then he would never wrestle in the USA again. Bret stated in his book that he pulled out of the match because things were bad with Shawn and his knee was legit injured. Instead they did an angle where Stone Cold attacked Bret backstage and further injured his knee so he couldn't wrestle at King of the Ring. This led to Stone Cold vs. Shawn Michaels at the event instead.
Hope this helps...
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2011 5:28:23 GMT -5
Just re-read Bret's 1997 chapter in his book and this is what happened according to The Hitman: Bret vs. Shawn for the WWF Championship was slated for WM 13 but Vince wanted to change it to Sid vs. Taker for the WWF Championship because he felt Bret/Shawn for the title was "too predictable". Vince then stated that he wanted Bret vs. Shawn in a ladder match where Shawn would put up and lose his hair at WM 13. The ladder/hair match never happened because Shawn lost his smile. Bret would have cost Shawn the title to Sid during their scheduled match on the same Thursday Night Raw where Shawn gave his lost smile speech instead. Shawn would then cost Bret the Final Four match which Taker would win thus further setting up Sid/Taker and Bret/Shawn at Wrestlemania 13. Bret vs. Shawn was again scheduled for King of the Ring 1997 but Bret's knee was bothering him so the stipulation was that if Bret couldn't beat Shawn in under 10 minutes then he would never wrestle in the USA again. Bret stated in his book that he pulled out of the match because things were bad with Shawn and his knee was legit injured. Instead they did an angle where Stone Cold attacked Bret backstage and further injured his knee so he couldn't wrestle at King of the Ring. This led to Stone Cold vs. Shawn Michaels at the event instead. Hope this helps... thanks for posting man +1 |
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Post by jammer311 on Oct 10, 2011 10:25:18 GMT -5
That some what helps, but it still doesn't really say where Steve Austin would end up at on the WM 13 card if Bret and HBK happened.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2011 10:39:42 GMT -5
That some what helps, but it still doesn't really say where Steve Austin would end up at on the WM 13 card if Bret and HBK happened. I have yet to find anything that says where Stone Cold would have been on the card had all the original plans actually stuck. His knee was still bothering him too so he may have been left off the card altogether or just there to make an appearance like Shawn did. Austin says on one of his DVD's that he was actually at home recovering from a knee injury when WWF announced on Raw that Stone Cold would face Bret Hart at WM 13 in a submission match. He had no idea that was planned until he heard it announced on Raw like everybody else. My guess is that he may not had even originally been booked. |
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Post by jammer311 on Oct 10, 2011 15:27:50 GMT -5
Well this is what could have been it. I was looking back at all those old Raw's and ppvs from that time frame since I have them all on DVD, and what if Mania 13 was supposed to go like this....
Bret vs. HBK for the WWE Title
Taker vs. Sid
Vader vs. Mankind
Bulldog vs. Owen for the European Title
Lafon and Furnas defending the WWE Tag Titles (I am thinking WWE was high on having them win the belts, but since they never got over they kept them on Davey and Owen)
Now what if.... Austin vs. Rocky for the IC Title??
In Jim Cornette's Timeline for 1997, he talked about Thursday Raw Thursday, where HBK gave up the belt, that Rocky was scheduled to wrestle Austin, and Triple H was defending the IC Title against Bob Holly, so maybe Austin vs. Rocky Maivia for the IC Title was gonna happen at WM 13??
Cause I am guessing Triple H would still be facing Goldust at it. Or maybe Triple H would face Rocky at WM 13 and Austin would face Goldust?? I am sure it would be some combination there facing off.
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