Although 1997 is not as infamous as 1998 - nor would it bring about the same kind of ratings for the WWE - it does remain perhaps the most intelligent year in WWE history. Yes, that's right; intelligence in professional wrestling. Before the WWE would go all-in on edgy Attitude content, they spent much of this year implementing compelling shades of gray into nearly every storytelling aspect. We often talk about antiheroes and "tweeners" in pro wrestling, but this is the only year I can remember those concepts being executed to perfection. This is the year that saw Steve Austin act as a bonafide 100% heel and get more cheers than anyone on the roster. This was the year that saw Bret Hart become the biggest heel in America while remaining the biggest babyface in Canada. This was the year that saw Shawn Michaels and Triple H get treated like gods for telling people to "Suck It" and in which Rocky Maivia became an international star by telling us how much he hated the fans. Nothing played out quite the way that anyone expected it to, but by rolling with the punches WWE produced a higher quality form of wrestling storytelling than anyone thought was possible. Even better, the match quality during this time never suffered in the same way it sometimes would when the overbooking of the Attitude Era was in full swing. From Bret Hart and Steve Austin's game-changing I Quit Match at WrestleMania 13 to Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker's bonafide five-star Hell in a Cell classic, this year contained some of the greatest WWE matches of all-time. No, this wasn't the year that made WWE the king of the world, but it is a most compelling mixture of old-school pro wrestling and new era storytelling.
