10 Fascinating WWE SummerSlam 1996 Facts
2. The Vader/Michaels Match Was Originally Supposed To Have A Different Ending
When the dust settled at SummerSlam 1996, Shawn Michaels was left standing as the winner of the main event, having vanquished Vader with a moonsault. The mostly-clean win (after two restarts where Michaels was counted out and disqualified) pretty much ended Vader's run as a serious main eventer in WWE. Per the original plan, he was actually due for more.
The match was supposed to end with a non-finish, leading to an eventual rematch at Survivor Series. There, Vader would defeat Michaels for the belt. This would've led to Michaels exacting revenge in his hometown of San Antonio, regaining the gold at the Royal Rumble. Further evidence of Vader's planned reign is found in the December 1996 In Your House's subtitle of "It's Time".
So what happened? Apparently, Michaels loathed working with the brutish, hard-hitting Vader, and had openly cursed him out during one pre-SummerSlam house show match for grabbing the champ too harshly by the scalp. Jim Cornette goes as far as to say that Michaels even threatened Vader's job due to his stiff work. Sid would be swapped in for Vader during the Survivor Series-Rumble portion of the intended plan.