Shawn Michaels Says He Was Sick The Night Before Facing Sid At 1997 Royal Rumble

Shawn Michaels recently looked back on his match with Sycho Sid at the 1997 Royal Rumble and recalled being very sick the night before the match. Michaels was on the latest episode of WWE’s The Bump and talked about the feud and match, noting that he had the flu the night before the PPV.

“Honestly, the thing that I remember most about that is having the flu and being up all night and being incredibly sick going out there for that event,” Michael said (per Fightful). “Worst I’ve ever felt before any show. Of course, it happens in your hometown, ironically. But honestly, everything with Sid was fun. Unbelievable character. The thing is, everyone wants to go out there in front of their hometown at a huge event and have a great showing, so for me, that was honestly the biggest thing about it.”

He continued, “It sounds cliche, worked and wrestled San Antonio many times, but to have a big huge event and win the Championship, it’s one of those all-around, feel-good, real-life stories that you carry with you for a long time. Again, something that you can’t always make sure is going to happen in your career, but all these aspects, everything lined up together and it turned out to be a pretty cool thing. Especially looking back all these years later, I have a much better appreciation of those things now than when I was going through them in real-time.”

Michaels went on to defeat Sid for the WWF Championship, but would give it up less than a month later in his infamous “lost my smile” promo.