WRESTLINGFEUDS

Royal Rumble 1997

WrestlingFeuds documents two storylines that ran through Royal Rumble 1997, held on January 19, 1997. One of them reached its blow-off here.

Storylines that paid off here

New Generation·WWF·1996–1997

The Heartbreak Kid Shawn Michaels vs. Sycho Sid (Jul 1996 – Jan 1997)

Shawn Michaels spent his 1996 WWF Championship reign defending it against the same handful of opponents, until his one-time bodyguard turned attacker turned ally, Sycho Sid, chased off a rival at ringside and earned a title shot of his own. Sid beat Michaels for the belt in front of a Madison Square Garden crowd that booed the champion out of the building, and Michaels won it back two months later in San Antonio while running a fever, only to forfeit the title three weeks after that over a knee injury Bret Hart never believed was real.

Shawn Michaels · Sycho Sid · Vader · Ahmed Johnson · Jim Cornette · Owen Hart · British Bulldog · Bret Hart · Steve Austin

Storylines that built through here

New Generation·WWF·1996–1997

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Bret The Hitman Hart (Sep 1996 – Jul 1997)

A rising loudmouth with a busted knee and the returning technical champion he mocked built a program that ran through a stolen pinfall, a phantom Royal Rumble elimination, and a WrestleMania submission match where Bret Hart talked Steve Austin into bleeding, then turned heel on him in the same match that made Austin a star.

Bret Hart · Steve Austin · Ken Shamrock · Sycho Sid

Wrestlers involved

Key events