On this Day in Wrestling History 2-13-1997 Shawn Michaels Lost His Smile

During a special Thursday edition of Raw from Lowell, Massachusetts, WWF World Heavyweight Champion Shawn Michaels, allegedly suffering from a knee injury, vacated His title.

During a tearful speech, Michaels claimed that he "lost his smile" and needed time away from wrestling. Many at the time claimed Michaels vacated the belt and took a "vacation" from the ring because he knew he was going to be asked to drop the title at Wrestlemania. This added to the growing tension between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, who was penciled in to win the belt from Shawn that he had lost the previous year at Mania. Several Hart supporters felt that if Michaels was healthy enough to get in the ring and make his speech, he was healthy enough to lie down and lose the title. As a result, the Final Four PPV that was to be headlined by Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin vs. Vader vs. Undertaker to determine a number-one contender to Michaels was changed to a match to fill the title vacancy.

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