In the summer of 1997, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was the fastest rising star in professional wrestling. He was a year removed from "Austin 3:16" and earlier in the year he turned face in an incredible battle with Bret Hart at WrestleMania XIV. Through the summer, he feuded with the Hart family and along the way won the Tag Titles twice, once with Shawn Michaels and once with Dude Love. It was the rivalry with Owen Hart that nearly ended Austin's career. They faced each other at SummerSlam for Hart's Intercontinental Championship, and during the course of the match Owen hit a sitout Tombstone Piledriver that went very wrong. It broke Austin's neck, and he suffered temporarily paralysis. Austin won the match with, in his own words, "the sorriest roll-up of all-time" but the damage was there. Austin was helped to the back by referees and was forced to relinquish the Intercontinental and Tag Team Championships. While WWF capitalised on the incident with "Owen 3:16 Says I Just Broke Your Neck" the long-lasting effects of this match, coupled with Austin's knee injuries forced The Rattlesnake to retire much earlier than he may have otherwise. It isn't an exaggeration to say that the way he landed on his head could've killed him.
