10 Times A Major WWE Championship Changed Hands On "The Road To WrestleMania"
8. Sycho Sid Def. Bret Hart For The WWF Championship (Raw, February 1997)
Basically, there was a whole load of nonsense going on in the WWF in 1997.
Shawn Michaels won the world title at the Royal Rumble, supposedly setting up a WrestleMania rematch from the year before with Bret Hart.
However, Shawn Michaels remembered that he hadn't found God yet, so he decided to monumentally screw everything up.
The story changes depending on who's telling it. Some say that a genuine injury forced Michaels to vacate the championship on an episode of Raw, whilst others claim that Michaels refused to lose to Hart and politicked his way out of it. Make your minds up at home (it was almost definitely the latter).
To resolve this issue, a Fatal Four-Way match was booked for In Your House: Final Four. Hart overcame Stone Cold Steve Austin, Vader, and The Undertaker to win the championship, but his glory was short-lived.
Through interference from Austin, Hart lost the championship to Sycho Sid the very next night on Raw. This helped set up Hart and Austin's spectacular match at WrestleMania 13 and also helped set up Sid vs. 'Taker in one of the least significant WrestleMania main events of all time.
Thanks, Shawn.