10 Things You Totally Forgot About WWE In 1997
5. Austin Lost 3 Of 4 Consecutive PPVs Following WrestleMania 13
One of the gripes of today's professional wrestling fans is that too often WWE utilises the dreaded 50/50 booking strategy in which the majority of superstars win 50% of their matches and lose 50% of the matches. That is the personification of mediocrity and why any audience would be expected pay to see average is a logic that many, myself included, just don't get.
If you're in that boat, one thing that may cheer you up is that the idea of WWE not following up a star-making performance with a string of victories is nothing new. In fact, Stone Cold Steve Austin, possibly the biggest superstar in WWE history, experienced this following his classic WrestleMania 13 Submission Match with Bret Hart.
Despite the perfectly-executed double-turn of Bret and Steve and the potential to build momentum, the promotion didn't give Steve Austin a solid pay-per-view victory until SummerSlam.
While Austin technically won at In Your House: Revenge Of The Taker, it was by DQ and seemed to be more proof that Austin could never defeat Bret Hart. At In Your House: A Cold Day In Hell, Austin was pinned by The Undertaker following a Tombstone. Austin's King Of The Ring match ended in a double-disqualification and July's In Your House saw Austin again take the fall in the big 10-man tag main event.
It may be surprising in retrospect, but the greatest superstar in WWE history (according to Vince McMahon) lost more than he won following his most pivotal moment.