10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE In 1997
1. The Return Of The Ultimate Warrior...
...again.
Seemingly unthinkable after their most recent blow-up less than one year earlier, the extent to which Vince McMahon was still willing to rely on The Ultimate Warrior as late as the winter of 1997 is genuinely shocking. Not least because he'd literally just told Bret Hart he didn't have the money to keep him around.
Unthinkable until it was leaked in 2014, was that McMahon still believed a Champion who had failed to replace Hulk Hogan seven years earlier would be a better fit to rival the Hollywood heel version, not least with an unstoppable Stone Cold Steve Austin on the rise.
As revealed by a contract offer made to Warrior in December 1997, a 5-year deal at $750,000 per annum guaranteed were the terms. That accounted for the 14 days per month he'd be needed for, alongside an attractive merchandise package. It wouldn't have worked, probably shouldn't have been offered, and couldn't have been further away from where the company was going.