I agree. This is how I see things playing out:
As a result of Shawn Michaels' death, the Undertaker's Hell in a Cell match suddenly becomes a WWF Championship match with Bret Hart. Bret Hart wins the match after Kane interferes and knocks out the Undertaker with a tombstone and Hart gets the pinfall victory. The Undertaker started to feud with Kane like IOTL while Bret Hart starts to feud with Ken Shamrock continuing the Canada vs. U.S.A. gimmick. At Survivor Series Hart and Shamrock have a match for the WWF Championship. Despite inference from the Hart Foundation, Shamrock wins the match in a rollup pinfall victory. Bret Hart's contract with the WWF continued into mid December of 1997. So he continues to feud with Shamrock on screen while behind the scenes he is about to leave for WCW. At the December "In Your House" PPV, Hart has a rematch with Shamrock for the title where is Hart wins he wins the championship, if Hart loses he has to leave the WWF "forever." It's a submission match which Shamrock wins. The next night on Raw, Hart says goodbye to his fans and later that month appears at WCW Starrcade. Hart still suffers a career ending injury as a result of Bill Goldberg's kick to the head and eventually returns to the WWF in late 2000. First as an on screen in a manger role. Then eventually behind the scenes as a booker for the WWF.
Shamrock continues as champion into 1998 and defends the title against Owen Hart at the 1998 Royal Rumble to "avenge his brother." Shamrock wins but starts to take a heel turn as being the morally superior champion lecturing other WWF superstars and fans over not having "good wholesome morals American values" anymore. While Steve Austin wins the Royal Rumble and his rebel "kiss my ass" attitude grows in popularity and this begins their feud going into WrestleMania XIV. Austin defeats Shamrock at WrestleMania for the championship.
I think without Michaels to play off of in late 97 and early 98, Triple H flounders for a while and eventually leaves to join the remaining members of "The Click" in WCW in 1998. Then he quickly joins the NWO. He is a mid-carder at WCW and wins the tag titles and the United States Championship a few times. He eventually returns to the WWF in 2001 after Vince McMahon buys WCW.