With Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin engaged in a feud, the Texas Rattlesnake won the 1997 Royal Rumble at the expense of The Hitman. After Hart had eliminated Stone Cold, the Bionic Redneck would sneak back into the ring, toss out the Undertaker and Vader, then proceed to throw out Hart, who had been preoccupied with eliminating 'fake' Diesel. Despite the protests of Bret, this one went down in the record books as a win for Austin and would lead to the pair clashing in a legendary match at Wrestlemania 13. Austin would go on to win a further two Royal Rumble matches over the years, but this 1997 win helped cement his status as a genuine main event player.