Was Austin Winning The 97 Rumble A Surprise?

[CMWaters]

I didn't watch as much as I wanted at this time due to being in trouble...so I need to ask this:

When Austin won the 1997 Royal Rumble, was it a surprise to a lot of people?

I mean, yes he won the 1996 King of the Ring and had a feud with Bret...but I don't think people thought at the time that he was worthy enough at that time to win the Rumble (unlike next year when he was the ONLY sensible option).

Fans from that time...was he or wasn't he?

[Deleted]

i wasnt around then but i was always surprised at the lack of a pop from the crowd when he's coming down the ramp...

but when he stunners someone he gets such a reaction its ridiculous if i remember correctly

[CMWaters]

Jan 26, 2011 11:18:13 GMT -5 @awataurne said:

i wasnt around then but i was always surprised at the lack of a pop from the crowd when he's coming down the ramp...

but when he stunners someone he gets such a reaction its ridiculous if i remember correctly

Well, despite it being Texas, at the time Austin WAS still a heel technically.

The double turn of him and Hart wouldn't come for a few months.

[icansleep]

I'd say so.

Keep in mind, he did get eliminated but slipped back in while the referees were distracted. Bret Hart and maybe the Undertaker were the only two other potential winners the WWF could've went with at the time.

[Deleted]

Jan 26, 2011 11:19:19 GMT -5 CMWaters said:

Jan 26, 2011 11:18:13 GMT -5 @awataurne said:

i wasnt around then but i was always surprised at the lack of a pop from the crowd when he's coming down the ramp...

but when he stunners someone he gets such a reaction its ridiculous if i remember correctly

Well, despite it being Texas, at the time Austin WAS still a heel technically.

The double turn of him and Hart wouldn't come for a few months.

true but then i'd still expect him to be booed or something... maybe its because he was starting to enter the tweener stage at this point

[Andrew is Good]

I think it was a surprise, simply based on the fact that he was eliminated and came back in. I think Bret Hart was the favourite that year though, due to just returning.

[Madagascar Fred]

IDK I kinda thought it was a lousy way for him to win anyway with THAT finish...he looked bad, Bret looked really good

but with all the build-up since KOTR 96, it kinda was to be expected that he'll get a huge push

[kidglov3s]

To me sort of half-watching at the time, I still thought of Austin as a boring guy who didn't deserve to be feuding with Bret. I didn't consider him to have won the Rumble because he was thrown out. I then became really frustrated with wrestling when I heard that Shawn vacated the title, and stopped watching from Feb through June. By then Austin was huge and seemed to be undeniably a big deal.

[Deleted]

He seemed to one of the guys they were set to push the hardest. It wasn't really a surprise, IMO.

[salz4life]

Jan 26, 2011 14:32:28 GMT -5 Madagascar Fred said:

IDK I kinda thought it was a lousy way for him to win anyway with THAT finish...he looked bad, Bret looked really good

but with all the build-up since KOTR 96, it kinda was to be expected that he'll get a huge push

I think they did it to plant the seeds of Bret's "crybaby" gimmick and the eventual heel turn.

[chunkylover53]

Somewhat, he was getting up the card, though I thought it would've been too soon for him to headline Wrestlemania 13 and possibly win the WWF championship. It did help in the long run though.

[rnrk supports BLM]

At the start of the Rumble, I never would've guessed Austin was winning.

By midway through, it was blatantly obvious he was by the number of times they cleared the ring of everybody but him.

And I didn't think he deserved it all. I thought he was a decent enough, if somewhat bland, midcard heel. Certainly not as big an asset to the company as, say, Savio Vega.

It didn't start to make sense until the double turn at Wrestlemania.

[Deleted]

Kinda sorta, but when Vince Russo went on "Live Wire" one Saturday morning as his RAW Magazine-writing alter-ego "Vic Venom" and exclaimed "I guarantee Bret Hart will win the 1997 Royal Rumble", then you knew it wasn't going to happen.
Of course, "Vic" also told us why Bret was going to win; because they were setting up Bret-Shawn II at WM 13, you know, the match Bret was to win to get his vengeance for the previous year?

(It was too obvious; all the "newsletters" and the Sunday paper would have a so-called "wrestling expert" in the sports pages telling you where the storylines were leading. Every one of them said, "Bret will win so he can have a rematch with Shawn at WM." Then Shawn "lost his smile"/didn't wanna job for Sid, and all chaos erupted. It was awesome.)

[Snowman]

I watched this rumble recently and what struck me was the future main event guys in that match getting no reaction. Guys like Austin, Rocky, HHH.

[baerrtt]

Jan 26, 2011 19:04:05 GMT -5 rnrk supports BLM said:

At the start of the Rumble, I never would've guessed Austin was winning.

By midway through, it was blatantly obvious he was by the number of times they cleared the ring of everybody but him.

And I didn't think he deserved it all. I thought he was a decent enough, if somewhat bland, midcard heel. Certainly not as big an asset to the company as, say, Savio Vega.

It didn't start to make sense until the double turn at Wrestlemania.

I personally sensed Austin was going to become a very big deal when the Bret Hart feud was put in motion.

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

I'd say so, I was expecting Bret or Taker to win.

Austin was just really starting to get his push at this time (right after his classic with Bret at Survivor Series) so it seemed too early to expect him to win. On hindsight though I think its great when the WWF/E does that as it adds an unexpected element to the mix and lets a new guy into the main event scene. Hopefully, we see something similar this year, but I am thinking we'll get a Cena win.

[Prince Petty]

I remember kind of knowing that Austin was going to win, even though I wanted Bret to. I also remember rolling my eyes at Austin being eliminated but no officials seeing it.

[Bishblast]

To me, I was a full on mark at the time, it was a surprise. I figured Bret would win.

[kingbookermark]

Yes it was a surprise! Austin was just starting to get popular but was no where near the main event status he would soon reach.

[Pseudonym]

Undertaker should have won the Rumble, he went on to face Sid anyway in the MainEvent.