10 Things You Totally Forgot About WWE In 1997
8. Austin Vs. Pillman Was Rescheduled Numerous Times
Another impactful player of 1997, the "Loose Cannon" Brian Pillman was scheduled to wrestle Stone Cold Steve Austin numerous times before it finally happened on the June 16th edition of Monday Night RAW.
The first match was originally supposed to take place at the King Of The Ring PPV but, as previously discussed, the inability for Bret Hart to perform caused a reshuffling of the card. As a result, the Hart/Michaels and Pillman/Austin matches morphed into Austin vs. Michaels. Austin vs. Pillman was then rescheduled for RAW the day after King Of The Ring, but, again, wouldn't happen.
For some unknown reason, Pillman vs. Mankind was the match presented despite WWE advertising Pillman/Austin throughout the show.
When Austin vs. Pillman finally did happen, it actually employed the other stipulation that had been promised as part of the original Shawn vs. Bret King Of The Ring match. The Anvil, Owen Hart, and Jim Neidhart were all handcuffed to the ring posts to supposedly prevent them from interfering.
The match lasted nearly 12 minutes but ended without a clean finish when Pillman was disqualified for outside interference. So much for that stipulation...