In the latter months of 1997, The Undertaker was in the midst of a feud with Shawn Michaels while his brother Kane finally made his debut
In October ‘Taker squared off against Michaels in the first-ever Hell In A Cell Match which ended with a debuting Kane ripping the door off to attack The Deadman. While this set up the rivalry between the pair the wrestling world was flipped on it’s head just a month later. The Montreal Screwjob marred the Survivor Series main event between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels and left HBK the new World Champion.
However, the events of that night sparked chaos backstage. Mick Foley didn’t attend the following episode of Raw, British Bulldog left the WWF and was eventually followed by Jim Neidhart. With Bert Hart also now in WCW, that left Owen Hart somewhat on an island by himself. After Survivor Series, Owen disappeared from television but made a surprise reappearance attacking Michaels at D-Generation X: In Your House in December.
This led many fans to believe that Hart would be the next man in-line for a lengthy feud and title match with Michaels. But a month later in January 1998 at the Royal Rumble, Michaels competed in a Casket Match against old foe The Undertaker, while Hart was relegated to a place in the Royal Rumble Match.
Jim Ross Recalls Lead-Up To The Undertaker Vs. Shawn Michaels
Speaking on his podcast Grilling JR, Jim Ross explained that the plans involving The Undertaker and Michaels for the Rumble were already in place by the time Owen came back. This meant that unfortunately for Hart he missed out on the big match at Rumble.
“I think he [Vince] had already committed Undertaker for that match, to be honest with you. The plan was, they plan things out of course. Anytime you get near WrestleMania season, you’re always thinking about what are we doing with Taker and how does that fit into the presentation? And what other talents does it affect?
And so that was, I think that’s a reason Connie just, I mean Vince had, how could you not have confidence in Owen’s ability to make anybody he’s wrestling better, because he made everybody better. That’s a great mark of a pro, to make your adversaries or your dancing partners better than they truly are. And Owen one could do that with anybody. But I think the Taker thing was already in play. I mean, it got Owen back on TV in a pretty spectacular way. And, and so I don’t think there’s anything [wrong], that was a good move in that respect.”
Although Shawn Michaels won the match at the event he suffered a serious back injury which was thought to have ended his career. Despite the issue, Michaels wrestled Steve Austin at WrestleMania 14, losing the WWF Championship. This would be his last match before returning to action at SummerSlam 2002.
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