>>14523857Adding to this, WrestleMania 14 would still work as the crowning moment for Steve Austin.
1) The big draw was Mike Tyson and what he might do during the match. It wasn't Shawn. So Shawn not being there would not have hurt the drawing power at all.
2) Austin and Bret always had excellent chemistry together, and would have put on the better match. Bret was healthy too, while Shawn was working injured. And Shawn didn't even want to do the job but had to be threatened by Taker.
3) Following Austin's loss to Bret at WrestleMania 13, Bret formed the Hart Foundation shortly afterward and they were the centerpiece of 1997 WWF for most of the year. It would have made better sense as a storyline to pay it off with Austin finally getting his big win over Bret Hart, and winning the WWF championship, at WrestleMania 14, a full year after his famous, generational match with Bret.
Shawn could still have his WWF comeback after the close of WCW, which is when it occurred anyway. And bonus, Bret would still be available because he wouldn't have gotten the concussion that ended his career. We could have had a Bret/Shawn rematch in like 2003.
