WWE In 1997 | Wrestling Timelines

There are some ultra-zealous WWF fans who maintain that the promotion is miles better than WCW even when Nitro is as hot as controlled nuclear fusion, when Sting is an ever-present in the arena rafters, when the New World Order is terrorising the company. On April 21, 1997, those WWF fans have a point. 

Steve Austin opens the show and vows to destroy Bret Hart. Bret is flirting with being a chicken-sh*t stooge, Austin is sprinting towards the Attitude Era horizon and the mega-stardom beyond. Austin refuses to wait for Bret and hunts him down backstage, pounding on his door. In a great touch, Bret refers to Austin as a hyena; when the match eventually unfolds, Austin plays his role like a wild animal. 

Bret initially takes advantage with the help of the Hart Foundation before Shawn Michaels wards them off with some CTE-friendly chair shots. Austin at the last millisecond avoids getting his ankle Pillmanised and unleashes an intensely violent onslaught the likes of which fans who grew up on Hulk Hogan cannot fathom. This is a new, compelling, confusing feeling for the WWF kid. It’s called bloodlust. 

In a face-melting precursor to the Attitude Era, it takes a dozen guys to unhinge a thrashing Austin’s jaw from Bret’s mutilated knee. This is designed to cover for Bret’s real-life injury, and on that basis, it’s one of the most believable angles ever. This is not the end of Austin’s night. He doesn’t just want Bret out of the ring; he wants him out of the WWF. In a hilarious moment, the EMT workers bump Bret, to which Owen screams “Watch his knee, you idiot!” 

In an unreal twist that will become a trope, it is revealed that Austin is in the driver’s seat of the waiting ambulance. He gets out, throws away the key, ironically unlocking yet another new creative frontier. He tries to annihilate Bret before he is eventually peeled off by Owen and the Bulldog. 

The April 21 Raw is red-hot, futuristic, wildly entertaining. The Fed has just pulled one back on the stroke of half-time.