If HBK Hadn't Lost His Smile?

I hated that HBK lost his smile because he was my favorite in this era and I flew from Memphis to Chicago for 'Mania 13... Besides my disappointment from not seeing Bret vs. Shawn II, it was pretty damn clear to me even at age 14 that this was one of the poorest, make shift booking jobs the WWF could have put together.... Look no further than the IC title match and the tag team title match (Vader/Mankind, really?...much better uses of two of your top singles heels in a heel vs heel tag title match at mania?).

WWF was getting smoked at the time by WCW and it needed to throw the kitchen sink out at Wrestlemania, here how I would have booked it.

Free for all:

Flash Funk vs. Savio Vega

reasoning: get the crowd going early with the best high flier in the WWF at the time.

Goldust vs. HHH

reasoning: This is the only original match I would have kept... A decent feud at the time, that delivered a decent match.

Ahmed Johnson vs. Farooq (no DQ)

reasoning: I mean if the Chicago Street Fight was the pay off in this feud, I'd rather just have seen a no-DQ singles match...Especially when the Chicago street fight involved Crush and Savio Vega. I'm sorry those two guys can't be anywhere near the top of the Mania card.

Sid vs. Mankind

reasoning: Sid was a babyface/tweener anyway at this time...He was just a de facto heel because the he was facing the Undertaker in an obvious job the title situation. Sid, still had marquee value at the time and Mick Foley may have been able to bump this thing to a decent match.

Undertaker vs. Vader (casket match)

reasoning: would have been a logical revenge match for Taker after doing a clean job to Vader at the 97 RR. Also, actually would have been a quality match. Vader, what a mis-used talent during his WWF run.

LOD vs. British Bulldog/Owen Hart (c):

reasoning: What better way to get this already hot crowd engaged in the Tag Team match besides have the Road Warriors in their kayfabe hometown go for the straps at a time when the WWF tag division was at its worst. Coincidentally, WCW's tag division at this time wasn't bad at all.

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Rocky Miavia (c) Intercontinental Title match

reasoning: Stone Cold still hadn't won the IC strap, so why not expedite the process against the undeserving, blue chip rookie. I was there that night, the 'Rocky Sucks' chants were audible. The ironic thing is I think Austin still could have come out of Mania 13 as a baby face in a similar fashion as he wound up doing against Bret. The crowd would have easily switched Miavia/Austin as the baby face/heel here just like they did with Bret/Austin.

Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels (c) World Title match

reasoning: As a teen who surfed this newer thing called the internet like a kid in a candy store, the behind the scenes write ups about backstage politics made
this match almost more desirable than the potential on-screen storyline. There was only one true money match in the WWF at this time, and this was it.

Behind Hogan/Flair at WM8, this was prob the #2 all time match we were robbed of at Wrestlemania.