Final Four

[Guest]

From what I understand, the 1997 WWF Final Four PPV main event was supposed to consist of Bret, Austin, HBK and Sid for the title, eventually leading up to a Bret-HBK Wrestlemania rematch at the next PPV. Of course, Shawn "I have found the Lord" Michaels lost his smile, fucking up the WWF's plans in the process. Still, there are some questions that I am curious for the answer:

 

1) How/why was Sid removed from the main event, and given a title shot at the next night's Raw?

 

2) How/why did the Wrestlemania main end up as Undertaker-Sid? Why wasn't Bret put in there? Did they see more potential in another Bret-Austin match rather than Bret-Sid? Did they want to save their Bret-HBK rematch for another time? (Even though Undertaker-Sid wound up being a strong contender for Worst Wrestlemania Main Event of all Time, it  did give us Bret-Austin II.)

 

There may be some incorrect information in the above questions, but remember that I wasn't watching wrestling at the time, and all of this here has been cobbled together from various internet resources. Thanks in advance.

[Guest DEEP THOUGHT]

Because of Austin's conterversial 1997 Royal Rumble win (He was eliminated by Bret Hart but the referees didn't see it) WWF "President" Gorilla Monsoon declared the following night on RAW that there would be a final four match, featuring Austin and the other three Rumble participants that were illegally eliminated by Austin. The Final Four PPV was always going to have a four way bout between Bret, Austin, Vader and The Undertaker. I've never heard of any plans to put Sid or Shawn Michaels into that match, as the four participants were named just 24 hours after the rumble.

 

I really don't recall exactly how (or even if) the storylines explained why Sid got a title shot the night fter the Final Four though. It did however make a tremendous contribution (storyline wise) to Bret Hart turning heel a month later.

 

My guess as to why there wasn't a Bret/Sid main event at WM 13 was because the had already fought twice recently ..at the December '96 IYH and the night after the Final Four. Shawn Michaels was still "injured" (and searching for his smile) which explains why he didn't even compete at the WM 13 event.

[Guest Slapnuts00]

Sid and HBK were never in the match. The angle at Royal Rumble occured where Bret eliminated Austin, but the refs didn't see it so Austin came back in and eliminated Bret, Vader and the Taker. So those 4 were to have a final four match for the #1 contendership. The original plan was to have Bret win, and face Shawn for the title at WM. Then Shawn lost his smile and forfeighted the title which changed everything. Now the final four match was for the title, and the plan was to have Steve Austin win the title, job it the next night to Sid who would defend against the Undertaker at WM (how he was decided to get the title, I really don't know), while Bret was decided to turn heel against Austin at WM. Those matches happened, but in the middle of the Final Four match Austin hurt his knee, and Mcmahon gave the signal to change the ending and give Bret the win, who then lost the next day to Sid (do to Austin interference) and Bret snapped, which helped fuel his impending heel turn. Crazy booking!

[Guest]

Thanks, fellas.

[Guest converge241]

wasnt the match itself great? One of Vader's three best WWF matches (along with vs. Shawn @ summerslam and vs. Shamrock @ Cold day in hell or Taker's revenge). Vader and Mankind got cheated out of their first wwf title much like Austin

[Guest]

I think my confusion vis-a-vis Sid and HBK initially being in the Final Four main event was due renting the old Coliseum video release of Royal Rumble 97. There was an ad for an upcoming video release of a PPV (unnamed for whatever reason) that featured those four men, and I assumed it was for the Final Four. Maybe it was for Survivor Series.

[Guest Slapnuts00]

I think my confusion vis-a-vis Sid and HBK initially being in the Final Four main event was due renting the old Coliseum video release of Royal Rumble 97. There was an ad for an upcoming video release of a PPV (unnamed for whatever reason) that featured those four men, and I assumed it was for the Final Four. Maybe it was for Survivor Series.

Yup, that is the cover of Survivor series. Which features Bret vs. Austin and Sid vs. HBK.

[Guest papacita]

Actually, I think they were planning to have HBK and Sid in that match, because I remember seeing a Magazine ad for Final Four with the same 4 people. It was never announced on TV as an actual change, but I do think that was the original plan for Final Four.