In early 1997, the unthinkable happened. Around his physical peak, and when he was one of the most over wrestlers in the world, Shawn Michaels became one of the earliest wrestlers to forfeit his WWE Championship. HBK wasn’t suffering from a publicly acknowledged injury (though he did have knee issues), but rather cited that he had “lost his smile.” This memorable promo, and Michaels stepping away from the title and the ring disrupted the presumptive plan for The Showstopper and Bret Hart to main event WrestleMania for the second consecutive year and had ripple effects down the card. Over twenty-five years later, with the benefit of hindsight, this strange moment may have actually been the best thing for business.

A Bret Hart Vs. Shawn Michaels WrestleMania Rematch Wasn’t The Best Option

Bret Hart Shawn Michaels WrestleMania

As Bret Hart discusses at some length in his book, the original plan presented to him for WrestleMania 13 was for him to main event the show in a rematch from the preceding year, challenging Shawn Michaels for the WWE Championship. While nothing is certain, the implication, at least in The Hitman’s mind, was that he was going to get his win back and presumably set up the two to wrestle again down the road.

Hart and Michaels arguably had a great match at WrestleMania 12, and their chemistry and respective talent probably would've made their WrestleMania 13 match good, if not great. However, there’s also a real argument that, after they had worked an hour-plus Iron Man Match the year before, there wasn’t a demand for another WrestleMania match between the two. Indeed, WWE has a history of being at its best when it’s unpredictable, shuffling the deck and putting together legitimately fresh storylines and matches. While it’s difficult to say The Undertaker vs. Sid match that headlined WrestleMania 13 was better than Hart vs. Michaels would have been, the argument can be made that the overall main event picture leading into that WrestleMania was more engaging for not following the plan most fans expected.

Bret Hart Vs. Steve Austin Tore The House Down

Bret Hart Steve Austin WrestleMania 13

The best upshot of Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels not happening at WrestleMania 13 was undoubtedly the Hart vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin match that resulted—widely considered one of the greatest matches in WrestleMania history. In addition to being an expertly worked match with a great deal of drama packed in, the match marked the most significant double turn in wrestling history as Hart became a heel for the first time in his WWE singles career, and all the more notably, Austin became a babyface.

Related: Every Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart Match, Ranked

There are a number of points in time that fans credit Stone Cold’s meteoric rise to the top, including winning King of the Ring, stunning Mr. McMahon for the first time, and winning his first world title at WrestleMania 14. His performance at WrestleMania 13, including passing out from the pain rather than giving Hart the satisfaction of submitting to the Sharpshooter has to be toward the top of the list, capping a simply superb match.

Shawn Michaels Losing His Smile Set Up Real Life Intrigue

Shawn Michaels Lost His Smile

Particularly in an era long before there was much public discourse about athletes’ mental health, Shawn Michaels telling fans he had lost his smile stood out. In his book, he suggests it had more to do with knee issues than anything, but to the public at the time, this looked an awful lot like HBK was peeling back the curtain and fans were getting an insight into his actual personal life.

Michaels playing with the line between fact or fiction, and speculation among fans and even other wrestlers (including Bret Hart) that he made up a reason not to lose a match to The Hitman at WrestleMania all created buzz. Late New Generation moments like this laid the groundwork for the Attitude Era. This iconic promo arguably played a role in ushering in a more reality-informed time for WWE storytelling, not to mention the role Michaels would take as the leader of DX.

The promo in which Shawn Michaels suggested he had “lost his smile” is incredibly polarizing to this day. Nonetheless, when fans look back on its net effect in terms upending plans WWE was telegraphing too clearly, setting up Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin at WrestleMania, and edging toward the Attitude Era, it’s hard to look at it too critically. While it may not have been HBK’s intention, the promo really was what was best for business.