>>8980399>>8980410I'm watching through it as well (currently at Badd Blood PPV). From what I think and what Cornette claims, Wrestlemania 13 was suppose to be headlined by a Shawn vs Bret rematch with Bret winning the belt. But Shawn didn't want to job so he did his "lost his smile" schtick. Vince had to quickly scramble together a new main event since the Final Four PPV was coming up which would decide who would get the title shot and a title match with Sid on RAW. He decided Undertaker vs Sid would draw the most.
>Undertaker was reliable and could be trusted with the belt (wouldn't hold it hostage like Shawn). Plus he was on a hot streak after his feud with Mankind and Paul's Betrayal>Sid was the top heel, hot with the crowd, and fits Vince's mold as a main eventer. But he couldn't be trusted long-term with the belt with softball season coming up and him being... psycho>Austin was too new and didn't have enough big matches for a Wrestlemania main event (I could totally see the crowd turning on him if they hot-shotted the belt a year before he actually won it). A lot of Austin hype came with from the submission match and Hart Foundation feud.>With Shawn and Austin out, Bret didn't have anyone he could feud with to get a big payoff. In addition, he wasn't very over with crowd at that point, with his return hype dying down and before the Hart Foundation heel run began>Vader and Mankind were demoted to the mid-card at this pointWhile I agree it was a forgettable run as the Undertaker is a perfect example of someone who doesn't need the title, it did amplify his current storyline at the time (which from the beginning of the Mankind feud to the end of the Kane feud is one of the best storylines in pro-wrestling history). Winning the belt belt without Paul after Paul said he was tired of carrying him the past six years was a satisfying plot point, and then Paul exposing his backstory as a desperation measure after Undertaker showed him up.
