10 Fascinating WWE King Of The Ring 1997 Facts

10. Bret Hart Was Supposed To Face Shawn Michaels

It wasn't the first time that a pay-per-view match between "The Hitman" and HBK had been scrapped, and it certainly wasn't the first one hampered by real-life drama. Hart had underwent major knee surgery in April and was facing the possibility of being sidelined for upwards of six months. Nonetheless, a simple match was planned for Hart and Michaels, his real-life thorn-in-the-side, for King of the Ring.

The plan was for all of Hart's Foundation allies to be handcuffed to the ringposts to prevent interference. If Hart couldn't beat Michaels in under ten minutes, he could never wrestle in America again. Naturally, one of the Harts would still somehow interfere in the nick of time. Thus, it'd be a short match, meant to keep Hart's knee safe.

However, matters turned ugly three weeks before the PPV when an inebriated Michaels made an off-color comment on Raw, insinuating that Hart had been having an affair with Tammy Sytch, aka Sunny. Because Hart was boiling mad and had very real intentions of hurting Shawn, Vince canceled the match, writing Hart out due to his legitimate knee injury.