While it may sound like sacrilege to say anything negative about Stone Cold Steve Austin's WWE career, the fact is his first ever Royal Rumble win didn't count for much. He was actually eliminated, but the officials never saw it. As a result of the oversight, he was able to sneak back in and throw Bret Hart over the top rope. He was a winner, but in the sort of way that wasn't really presented as a legitimate victory. As a result of that controversy, and because Shawn Michaels had vacated the WWF Title, Austin never got a WrestleMania main event title shot. Instead, a four way was booked at the In Your House February special, which pitted Austin against Bret Hart, Vader and The Undertaker for the vacant title. Hart ended up with the belt, only to lose it the next night to Sid, after interference from Austin. That resulted in Austin clashing with Hart at WrestleMania 13. On the plus side, while the Royal Rumble win meant nothing for Austin and the WrestleMania main event, that match with Hart ended up being one of the best WWE bouts ever and made Austin a genuine superstar in a way that a standard WrestleMania main event WWE Title win might not have.
