So I was digging around on YouTube, and shortly before Montreal, Ken Shamrock had RAW matches against both Bret and Shawn... not only are both matches well above average for a Shamrock TV match (not surprising), but both matches end with a distracted ref missing it as Shamrock forces Bret and Shawn to tap (more surprising). Were there main event plans for Shamrock at the time? Because otherwise it's kinda weird to have him pretty decisively beat (even if technically both matches ended in DQs) two of the three biggest stars in the company within a week or two of each other.
If there were plans, what happened to derail them?
Well I mean, he DID main event the December PPV against Shawn, and there were vague notions of putting the belt on Shamrock when the whole Bret thing was going down, but the PPV match was weak enough that I don't think anyone would continue to push Shamrock at that level.