dave 1981

According to Bret Hart and it is very believable the original plan for WrestleMania 13 was to have the Shawn Michaels/Bret Hart rematch for the WWE title but both men have said they believe if it was to happen they were the one going over. Obviously if that match did happen then there would have never have been the classic Stone Cold Steve Austin/Bret Hart match at that PPV which begs the question of who would Stone Cold Steve Austin have faced and would he still have been turned face and gone on to have that great year build up towards being the top guy.

Even though i absolutely loved the build up towards WrestleMania 13 from late 1996 with the WWE title scene revolving around Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, The Undertaker, Sid Vicious, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Vader it always seemed as if WrestleMania 13 was a pretty thrown together at the last minute PPV and WWE didn't know which way to go. I guess if i could rebook the main event i would go with Shawn Michaels/Bret Hart/Stone Cold Steve Austin in a Triple Threat for the WWE title as WWE had began doing Triple Threat matches a few weeks beforehand with Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and Sid Vicious and ironically it was one of those Triple Threat matches in which Shawn Michaels injured his knee and had to forfeit the WWE title.

The feud between Stone Cold Steve Austin and Bret Hart had become white hot heading into WrestleMania 13 and it would have been foolish to simply throw it away on Raw so i think they simply had to work with each other at WrestleMania 13 whilst Shawn Michaels would have still been WWE champion heading into WrestleMania 13 as well. The only thing i wouldn't be able to work out is who wins because Vince McMahon wanted to turn Bret Hart heel and Stone Cold Steve Austin babyface but Stone Cold Steve Austin wasn't ready to be WWE champion at that time whilst a heel had never walked out of WrestleMania as WWE champion so that would mean a Shawn Michaels win to send the fans home happy unless WWE went for a complete swerve and had Bret Hart turn heel to win the match.

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radiatedrich

Knowing what I know now, I would have kept Austin/Bret and made Taker/HBK the main event for the title. Not sure what I would have done with Sid. But at the time, it couldn't really have been predicted that Austin/Bret would end up as the greatest match of all time, so most likely I would have gone with Bret/HBK II and Austin/Taker, possibly with Austin going over and ending the streak before it really even started.

FighterBen123

I agree. Bret vs Austin stays. HBK vs Undertaker as Main event. Sid could have faced someone else on the card or not taken part.

But it's easy to say that looking back.

RyanPelley

Trying to rebook without knowing the great outcome of Austin-Bret is very tough. But I'm going to try, thinking strictly at late 1996 - early 1997.

WWF Championship Match:
Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Bret Hart


Number One Contender Match:
Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker


Intercontinental Title Match:
Rocky Maivia (c) vs. Mankind


Tag Team Title Match:
British Bulldog and Owen Hart (c) vs. Legion of Doom


Tag Team #1 Contenders Match:
The Headbangers vs. The Blackjacks vs. The Godwins vs. Furnas / Lafon


Chicago Street Fight:
Ahmed Johnson and Psycho Sid vs. Nation of Domination


Goldust vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley

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dave 1981

Whilst i like that card the original plans are far back as late 1996 and all the way through until Shawn Michaels dropped the WWE title on Thursday Raw Thursday was to do Undertaker/Sid and Ahmed Johnson and The Road Warriors/The Nation. I've heard that Vince McMahon changed his mind countless times on what match would be for the WWE title and main event between Austin/Hart and Undertaker/Sid but because he wanted to turn Stone Cold Steve Austin babyface and Bret Hart heel he went with Undertaker/Sid.

Having Michaels/Hart, Austin/Undertaker, Road Warriors/Owen and Bulldog, Rock/Mankind and Triple H/Goldust already makes that card so much better than it ended up being but WWE had already set up Undertaker/Sid and Ahmed Johnson and The Road Warriors/The Nation and even though plans are always subject to change changing everything around for your biggest PPV of the year a month beforehand could have been a HUGE blow for WWE considering WCW were already dominating the ratings battle. I just don't know what WWE would have done with Stone Cold Steve Austin had Shawn Michaels not been injured if the plan was to do Michaels/Hart and i've often wondered if the plan was really ever Michaels/Hart considering WWE kept pushing Austin/Hart hard before Shawn Michaels was injured.

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the modern myth

I'd go for:

1. British Bulldog vs Owen Hart
2. Ahmed Johnson vs Mankind
3. Rocky Maivia (IC Champ)vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley
4. Legion of Doom vs Headbangers
5. Bret 'Hit Man' Hart vs 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin (#1 Contender Match / No DQ)
6. Psycho Sid vs Vadar
7. Shawn Michaels (WWF World Champion) vs The Undertaker

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Too many freaks, not enough circuses.

RyanPelley

I figured that the Road Warriors were a lock for the Chicago Street Fight, but hell, the Tag Title match just seemed so random. Heel champions vs. a random heel pairing, ending in a countout? Hmm.

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Berkajr

*Tag Team Elimination Match
Sid & Ahmed Johnson vs Nation of Domination vs Headbangers vs Blackjacks

*Tag Teacm Champonship
Road Warriors vs Owen and Daveyboy

*IC Championship
Rocky Maivia vs "Hunter" Hearst-Helmsley

*Chicago Street fight for no.1 contender
Mankind vs Vader

*I-Quit-Match
Bret Hard vs Steve Austin

*WWF Championship
Champion Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker (Taker wins)

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What a horrible night to have a curse

Martelfan

Shawn wasn't injured so its a moot thread. He faked it so he wouldn't have to lose to Bret.

I think Austin Vs Bret for the title would have been amazing and given that classic encounter even more impetus.

As for the rest of the card, I'd have put Sid and Taker in a cage to make it more interesting. Furnas and Lafon against Owen and Bulldog as the four of them were superb in the ring. Have Mankind VS Vader in a winner gets Uncle Paul match. Keep the Chicago Street fight as is. Have Goldust go over HHH, and have Rocky face someone better than Sultan

dave 1981

Are people still having that same belief that Shawn Michaels faked a knee injury to avoid dropping the WWE title. Even Bret Hart himself now admits that Shawn Michaels didn't fake it and pretty much realised that as soon as he injured his own knee later that year. Bret Hart said the main reason he thought Shawn Michaels had faked it was because he had done a back flip on Raw on his return after knee surgery but as spoken about on their dvd Shawn Michaels deliberately did that to piss Bret Hart off.

If we are going to go down that route then people could just as easily claim Bret Hart faked his knee injury to avoid losing to Shawn Michaels at King Of The Ring that same year but that doesn't ever get said because no one said it. The only person who believed Shawn Michaels had faked the knee injury was Bret Hart with everyone else knowing full well it was real. The injury may not have been as bad as the first doctor said but it was still bad enough to put him out for four months and whether he was booked to face Bret Hart or not Shawn Michaels lost a hell of a lot of money by not being involved in WrestleMania and the following three PPV's afterwards in PPV pay off money.

What i've always wondered though is IF the plan really was ever Michaels/Hart because i don't see why Austin/Hart was still going on after In Your House: The Final Four if Michaels/Hart was the plan. I don't think any WrestleMania has ever been so talked about in what was meant to happen than WrestleMania 13 because if you do Michaels/Hart then what does Stone Cold Steve Austin do. As we know Vince McMahon wanted to do the double turn at WrestleMania 13 because he saw how popular Stone Cold Steve Austin had become in early 1997 so how does he do the double turn if there isn't Austin/Hart. Then if it is Austin/Hart where does Shawn Michaels go seeing as Undertaker/Sid was the plan for them two from late 1996 or early 1997.

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