Royal Rumble 1997: What Could've Been

I've been thinking about doing a small series combing all the old Royal Rumble's in a different way then I've normally done in past years. So I will be selecting another past Royal Rumble to talk about along with the upcoming event set for next weekend. For those who may not know about this event the WWE at the time was struggling to draw and really wanted to make this event a big deal which is one of the reasons they tried get fresh talent in for the event. One of the names that WWE wanted for the show Sabu, but as the story goes Paul Heyman talked him out of appearing in my opinion to try and avoid seeing Sabu leave the company again. In end top stars from Mexico made appearances at the event like El Canek, Hector Garza, Perry Aguayo, and others. 

​However, this event is more known for what could've been in the main event as original plans didn't have Sid Vicious facing off with Shawn Michaels for the World Title. The original plan for the event was that Vader would win the World Title at likely Survivor Series which is when Sid won the title and would then loss the belt back to Shawn the same way that Sid in real life. But due to backstage politics and the old Shawn Michaels killing all of Vader's momentum in the company really starting the fall of any chance of Vader having anywhere near the success that he had in WCW or Japan. 

​Overall the reason for the title is simply due to the idea of wondering how the WWE could've changed had Vader held the title going into the event and fought HBK instead of Sid Vicious. Because remember Sid would be World Champion going into WrestleMania against The Undertaker and it's possible if Vader hadn't been buried that could've been him. Even though Sid's reigns were nothing more than transitional reigns it still would've given fans the ability to look at Vader's run in a more positive light had he had one of these runs with the title.