10 Ultra-Rare WWE Championship Matches You've Definitely Never Seen
5. Shawn Michaels (c) Vs Sycho Sid Vs Bret Hart (January 22nd, 1997)
History was made in January 1997 when WWE presented their own version of the increasingly popular triangle match for the first time ever.
Both ECW and WCW had brought the format to the North American mainstream with mixed results by the time Vince McMahon agreed to let his top title be decided over it, but the soon-to-be-branded Triple Threat was deemed enough of a success that the same match combination would serve as the house show headliner of choice until Shawn Michaels lost his title to a lost smile soon after.
As defending Champion, 'HBK' won all of the five attempts at the match, with one getting profiled in Raw Magazine at the time despite the contests never airing on television. Fans were finally given a glimpse of how they looked when a Toronto Skydome post-Raw dark match between the three featured on the "WWE Attitude Era: Unreleased Volume 3" DVD. Typically for the two at the time, there's a palpable awkwardness between Bret and Shawn, mirroring the slightly wonky arrangement of the match itself.
The rest (including the original) still remain locked away.