10 Most Crucial WWE World Title Changes

3. Steve Austin Defeats Shawn Michaels - WrestleMania XIV

There's a long-standing story that Shawn Michaels almost decided not to drop the WWF Heavyweight Title to Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIV. As the tale goes, The Undertaker taped his fists backstage, warning Michaels that he better adhere to the original plan and do business, otherwise he'd be waiting for him. That story has been refuted by both Austin and Michaels since. Even so, it's believable that Shawn would get cold feet about the idea of doing the job. His attitude, by his own admission, wasn't great towards the latter half of the 1990's. Constantly in Vince McMahon's ear, HBK was the man once Bret Hart departed in late-1997. The objective for the WWF was simple however, 'Stone Cold' had to win the big belt and become the anti-hero box office smash he threatened to be. That's exactly how things transpired, and the resultant feud between Austin and the Mr. McMahon character directly led to monster business for the WWF. Fans were delighted to see Austin become WWF Heavyweight Champion at WrestleMania, it truly felt like a historic moment. Incredibly, the timing was pretty much perfect. Michaels was suffering intense back pain, so dropping the belt was a 'now or never' scenario.