Summerslam 1997 was a successful and entertaining event, headlined by a long awaited, well hyped WWE title match between Bret Hart and the Undertaker, given the catchy title "Hart and Soul." The night was built around the New Hart Foundation, who featured in four of the seven matches, three of which were for Championships.
The night started off with Mankind taking on Hunter Hearst Helmsley in a steel cage match. This match is famous for the enthusiastic interference of Chyna who slammed the cage door shut on Foley's head, and Foley's flying elbow off the top of the cage near the end of the match. Foley was able to jump off the top of the cage to the outside, negating Chyna's presence, and get the victory, before leaving to the Dude Love theme.
Next saw Goldust, accompanied by Marlena, taking on the Hart Foundation's Brian Pillman. Goldust was able to get the victory thanks to his wife, who smashed Pillman in the head with a glass jar out of the ref's sight, giving Goldust an easy roll up pin for the victory. Bad start to the night for the Harts.
Next up saw the Godwinns (Henry and Phineas) take on the Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal). This was probably the worst match on the card, but had a memorable finish with the LOD doing a two man pile driver on Phineas to get the pin.
Did you know that the unsuccessful million dollar giveaway used on RAW in 2008 wasn't the first time the WWE had tried something like that? They were doing something similar right here at Summerslam 1997 with Million Dollar Chance Sweepstakes. Not great television more than a decade later, though I'm sure those who entered and won enjoyed it.
Brings us to the first Championship match of the night, with the British Bulldog putting the newly instated European Championship on the line against former UFC Heavyweight star Ken Shamrock. These two have a passable match, which the Bulldog wins by disqualification. Part of Shamrock's act was that he would snap during fights and couldn't be controlled. He snaps in this fight and gets carried away, hitting the Bulldog with a Vaseline jar and gets DQ'd. Not to be perturbed, he throws Bulldog back into the ring and puts him in a sleeper, with a bunch of refs coming out to pull him off the unconscious Bulldog. The Hart Foundation are 1 out of 2, and that win was not convincing at all.
Next it's time for an eight man tag team match between Los Boricuas and the Disciples of the Apocalypse. This one breaks down very quickly and then the Nation of Domination come out to get involved. I think Los Boricuas won the match, but the brawl went considerably longer. So who's the dominant faction in the WWE after this result? The answer of course is none of these three.
Brings us to the infamous Intercontinental Championship match between Owen Hart and Steve Austin. The build going into this had been solid, with IC Champion Owen pinning Austin in the main event of the previous month's Canadian Stampede PPV and then bragging about it for weeks on TV. Owen put his IC Title on the line against Austin under the proviso that the loser would have to kiss the winner's butt. And the two went out there and were having a perfectly entertaining match until Owen messed up a pile driver and broke Austin's neck. Austin was able to win the match in farcical fashion, getting Owen in a cradle that wouldn't have kept a toddler down for three, and was the new IC Champion, until he was forced to forfeit the title the following night due to the injury. This was a bad moment for all concerned and completely over shadowed an otherwise fine match and made the Hart Foundation 1 for 3 for the night.
Now comes the main event, with The Undertaker putting the WWE Title on the line against Bret Hart with Shawn Michaels guest refereeing. Michaels had been interviewed earlier in the night and had confirmed that he would not get another title shot if he showed any bias against his bitter enemy Bret Hart. Hart, in the meantime had vowed never to wrestle in the USA again if he lost. Hart and Undertaker had a good match, with Hart really pushing his luck with Michaels and eventually spitting in his face after Michaels had taken a chair off him. Michaels then attempted to hit Hart, who ducked, with the chair, but instead hit Undertaker. Michaels had no choice but to make the count and Hart was WWE Champion for the 5th and final time.
Michaels had earned the Undertaker's wrath, while Taker had problems of his own, with his former manager Paul Bearer threatening to reveal a dark secret from his past now that he had lost the title.
There you have it, Summerslam 1997, a legitimate Super-Show that paid off the story lines going in and set up later ones. Overshadowed somewhat by Austin's injury, but still an entertaining show today. If Austin's injury had been tragic, nothing could prepare fans for the fate of his former tag team partner, Brian Pillman, just two months later.
The night started off with Mankind taking on Hunter Hearst Helmsley in a steel cage match. This match is famous for the enthusiastic interference of Chyna who slammed the cage door shut on Foley's head, and Foley's flying elbow off the top of the cage near the end of the match. Foley was able to jump off the top of the cage to the outside, negating Chyna's presence, and get the victory, before leaving to the Dude Love theme.
Next saw Goldust, accompanied by Marlena, taking on the Hart Foundation's Brian Pillman. Goldust was able to get the victory thanks to his wife, who smashed Pillman in the head with a glass jar out of the ref's sight, giving Goldust an easy roll up pin for the victory. Bad start to the night for the Harts.
Next up saw the Godwinns (Henry and Phineas) take on the Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal). This was probably the worst match on the card, but had a memorable finish with the LOD doing a two man pile driver on Phineas to get the pin.
Did you know that the unsuccessful million dollar giveaway used on RAW in 2008 wasn't the first time the WWE had tried something like that? They were doing something similar right here at Summerslam 1997 with Million Dollar Chance Sweepstakes. Not great television more than a decade later, though I'm sure those who entered and won enjoyed it.
Brings us to the first Championship match of the night, with the British Bulldog putting the newly instated European Championship on the line against former UFC Heavyweight star Ken Shamrock. These two have a passable match, which the Bulldog wins by disqualification. Part of Shamrock's act was that he would snap during fights and couldn't be controlled. He snaps in this fight and gets carried away, hitting the Bulldog with a Vaseline jar and gets DQ'd. Not to be perturbed, he throws Bulldog back into the ring and puts him in a sleeper, with a bunch of refs coming out to pull him off the unconscious Bulldog. The Hart Foundation are 1 out of 2, and that win was not convincing at all.
Next it's time for an eight man tag team match between Los Boricuas and the Disciples of the Apocalypse. This one breaks down very quickly and then the Nation of Domination come out to get involved. I think Los Boricuas won the match, but the brawl went considerably longer. So who's the dominant faction in the WWE after this result? The answer of course is none of these three.
Brings us to the infamous Intercontinental Championship match between Owen Hart and Steve Austin. The build going into this had been solid, with IC Champion Owen pinning Austin in the main event of the previous month's Canadian Stampede PPV and then bragging about it for weeks on TV. Owen put his IC Title on the line against Austin under the proviso that the loser would have to kiss the winner's butt. And the two went out there and were having a perfectly entertaining match until Owen messed up a pile driver and broke Austin's neck. Austin was able to win the match in farcical fashion, getting Owen in a cradle that wouldn't have kept a toddler down for three, and was the new IC Champion, until he was forced to forfeit the title the following night due to the injury. This was a bad moment for all concerned and completely over shadowed an otherwise fine match and made the Hart Foundation 1 for 3 for the night.
Now comes the main event, with The Undertaker putting the WWE Title on the line against Bret Hart with Shawn Michaels guest refereeing. Michaels had been interviewed earlier in the night and had confirmed that he would not get another title shot if he showed any bias against his bitter enemy Bret Hart. Hart, in the meantime had vowed never to wrestle in the USA again if he lost. Hart and Undertaker had a good match, with Hart really pushing his luck with Michaels and eventually spitting in his face after Michaels had taken a chair off him. Michaels then attempted to hit Hart, who ducked, with the chair, but instead hit Undertaker. Michaels had no choice but to make the count and Hart was WWE Champion for the 5th and final time.
Michaels had earned the Undertaker's wrath, while Taker had problems of his own, with his former manager Paul Bearer threatening to reveal a dark secret from his past now that he had lost the title.
There you have it, Summerslam 1997, a legitimate Super-Show that paid off the story lines going in and set up later ones. Overshadowed somewhat by Austin's injury, but still an entertaining show today. If Austin's injury had been tragic, nothing could prepare fans for the fate of his former tag team partner, Brian Pillman, just two months later.