WWE In 1997 | Wrestling Timelines

Jim Neidhart tries to stop Bret from attacking Shawn backstage. Neidhart is a decent midcard brawler, more than capable of playing a bit part, but he’s entirely dispensable and he knows it. He’s worried that he will become a scapegoat in the event that Shawn quits the promotion. 

In Connecticut, the heartland of the WWF, passions run high. After he is calmed down, Bret offers Shawn a polite, professional “Hello” - not an invitation for a deep dialogue, more a signal that he does not want this stuff to fester. Shawn tells Bret to go f*ck himself, at which point the red mist descends. Bret shoves Shawn and asks if we have a problem. Shawn, who allegedly told Vince that he has wanted to do this for some time, aims a punch at Bret. It’s weak. Bret easily dodges it and punches Shawn in the face before throwing him to the ground. The fight is very quickly broken up by Pat Patterson and Jerry Lawler; when Bret is lifted back onto his feet, he is in possession of a clump of Shawn’s hair. 

Shawn walks out of the company in protest immediately afterwards. He naturally wants to join his friends Kevin Nash and Scott Hall in the dominant, red-hot WCW, but is convinced to return next month when Vince makes it clear that this will not be happening. 

Meanwhile, on TV, Jim Ross conducts another sit-down interview with Mankind, who in 1996 was originally pitched a typically one-dimensional Hannibal Lecter rip-off character ‘Mason The Mutilator’. This evolved into ‘Mankind’, the manifestation of a traumatic upbringing, and in 1997, this goes deeper. The WWF experiments with backstory and psychology to add depth to the basic monster archetype. Ross tries to delve into Foley’s psyche, again, having previously brought up Mick Foley’s dream of emulating Jimmy Snuka and playing a heartthrob named ‘Dude Love’. Foley viciously and shockingly attacks Ross here, but the crowd retains their sympathy for him. This isn’t just a new way of building and legitimising a character; in an era of sudden and very convenient betrayals and redemption stories, a contrived device, what the WWF is doing here is slowly building Foley’s babyface turn, to deepen fan investment, and refining the ultra-novel idea of allowing Foley to play three distinct characters based on the tone of whichever story he is telling. This is an incredible, resourceful idea when WCW has the money to tempt away almost anybody.