WWF Summerslam ‘97
August 3, 1997
East Rutherford, NJ
Reviewed on July 27, 2014
Even before all the raunchy Attitude stuff, the WWF was putting on a solid product in 1997. It wasn’t the best in all cases (Gang Warz, for example) but the main event and the upper midcard titles had some good stuff in it. The roster was also bolstered from 1996, with LOD, The Headbangers, Ken Shamrock and Brian Pillman all debuting or making their returns.
Of course, the return of Bret Hart in late ’96 was a big reason for it too. Bret coming back helped a main event scene that was basically all Shawn Michaels (to be fair, Goldust, Vader and Mankind were good to great, it’s just, in Goldust’s and Mankind’s case, didn’t have that mainstream view as a main eventer yet, and in Vader’s, he wasn’t the man he was in 1993 unfortunately). Undertaker was also there, usually in the semi-main. He finally got his 2nd reign as WWF Champion in 1997, which kinda went off the rails a little in June but came back strong with the Hart Foundation angle.
The WWF was clearly in a period of transition here. We were getting some better characters up top: Stone Cold Steve Austin was coming into his own and was arguably the biggest draw in the WWF even at this time. It was pretty clear that he was gonna be the man by Wrestlemania XIV. Mankind and Hunter Hearst Helmsley were in a feud that helped give Hunter the edge he needed to be taken more seriously. Foley himself had just debuted Dude Love and was getting over with the dual (and soon, triple) personality.
The Hart Foundation were the hottest heel group not named the NWO, and this was unfortunately their peak as the WWF changes course and old school heels weren’t the way to go anymore. Still, a WWF Title Match with Undertaker and Bret Hart, with special referee Shawn Michaels was the biggest match the WWF could have at the moment that wasn’t Bret vs. Shawn.
The Card
Of course with the hot USA vs. Canada angle, we start with the National Anthem.
The opening promo here is one of my favorites. It’s a “if life were fair montage”, mentioning Bret’s turn, HBK’s injury and Undertaker’s secret (which led to Kane).
Steel Cage Match
Mankind vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley
Story here began at King of the Ring where HHH beat Mankind to win it. Mankind didn’t like the interference from Chyna and wanted a rematch, which led to a double countout (one of the best done double countouts ever, if that makes sense). Here are are. The story is the natural rich blueblood vs. deranged, er…, presumably not rich weirdo.
HHH goes for the door right away. Brilliant start.
Foley’s stump piledriver was always pretty awesome.
Chyna finds some early ways to get involved, first closing the door when Foley was going for it, and grabbing Mankind’s hair when HHH was in the Mandible. Clever.
Foley then tries to escaple, but Chyna climbs up and hits a low blow…and HHH superplexes him off the top of the cage, which looks pretty damn awesome.
It looks like HHH could have left, but he decides he wants to punish Mankind and does so by throwing him into the cage, which looks great with the old school blue cage. I’m torn on this, as it makes sense,, but it did make Mankind look a little too easily beaten.
Chyna again keeps finding ways to get involved, and she punches Foley through the cage holes here. Good heel stuff.
Really cool spot where HHH gets put in the tree of woe, but he’s hanging from the cage and not the corner.
Mankind gets backdropped into the cage, which seems pretty dangerous. Cool stuff though.
HHH’s let gets caught in the rope (intentionally), and Chyna slams the steel cage door right on ankind’s head. Cool as it looked, this hurt Foley big time and I believe he said it hurt worse than his toss off the Hell in a Cell a year later.
Chyna takes out the ref and throws a chair in the ring, but Mankind gets the advantage and slingshots HHH into Chyna, who was hanging on the outside of the cage.
Double Arm DDT on the steel chair!
Chyna actually fucks up here, as Mankind is leaving the cage and Chyna gets in to drag HHH out (the finish)…BUT there’s one more spot left!
Mankind wins in 16:13. Mankind takes off the leather mask and tears a bit of his shirt…Superfly Dive off the top of the cage! Also looked incredible. Chyna now does the correct finish and tries to drag HHH out, but Mankind gets to the floor first…and eventually turns into Dude Love! Anyway, great opener. Back and both hard hitting cage match with some innovative stuff and a great finish. Nevermind the awesome character development with Dude Love and all, and it continued to show that HHH had a bit of a mean streak. What a start!
Gov. Whitman comes out with The Headbangers and Gorilla Monsoon. Apparently she helped get wrestling back to NJ.
Tiger Ali Singh sighting. Woo?
If Pillman Loses, He Must Wear a Dress
Brian Pillman vs. Goldust
The Hart Foundation all made stipulations against themselves (except Owen, which we will get to) to put pressure on themselves to win. Pillman said he’s wear Marlena’s dress on RAW if he couldn’t beat Goldust.
Face Goldust was an interesting character. They did a similar thing with Mankind and it worked, but Goldust never gained too much traction as a face.
According to Goldust’s book, there was already some issues with Goldust and Marlena behind the scenes, and he was also a bit intimidated by Pillman as, in real life, Pillman and Terri had a history.
It’s worth noting that Pillman changed his entire ring style after his car accident. It’s pretty jarring after watching a lot of early 90s Pillman matches.
Goldust misses the throw that is supposed to crotch Pillman and Pillman falls to the floor, but it still looked good.
Pillman does a great job acting crazy and as a heel. Using Marlena as a shield, taunting her, etc.
I should point out wow on Marlena’s dress.
JR puts Pillman over by just pointing out his eyes. This is why JR is the best in the business.
Awesome throw counter of the bulldog by Pillman.
Goldust pins Brian Pillman in 7:17. Goldust goes for a sunset flip, but Pillman fights it. Pillman gets to the ropes…and Marlena smacks him in the face with his purse (JR thinks there is a brick in there). It completes the sunset flip and gets the three! Decent match, still jarring how much Pillman had to change his style.
The Legion of Doom vs. The Godwinns
Story here: LOD vs. Godwinns on Shotgun a couple months earlier, LOD broke Henry’s neck with the Doomsday Device and Godwinns wanted revenge and had been attacking LOD, biggest part being hitting them over the head with buckets. Godwinns had turned heel and were pretty disgusting overall.
All LOD early on. Vince and Lawler tell the story on how LOD breaking Henry’s neck first was on accident…but this time they said it would be intentional.
Impressive hangman’s neckbreaker submission from Phineas on Hawk. Godwinns looking to break Hawk’s neck. Surprisingly great psychology here.
Hawk’s hot tag sequence is pretty good. Then a neckbreaker on Henry!
They keep working on the neck with two big clotheslines in the corner.
LOD wins when Hawk pins Henry in 9:15. Phineas breaks up the Doomsday Device…but Hawk takes him out. LOD then hit Henry with a spike piledriver! Pin gets it done. Probably the best possible match LOD and the Godwinns could have. Good psychology and hard hitting all around.
We waste time with a Million Dollar Challenge that no one wins…but damn does Sunny look hot during the segment.
Is the Discovery Zone still a thing?
This might be Todd Pettengill’s last show, come to think of it.
One of the guys they call says he’s not watching Summerslam. Nice.
Vince sounds disgusted on commentary watching this. Like he knows this is a waste of good PPV time.
At least it wasn’t rigged. Key #3 does open the casket with money in it. This for some reason was more entertaining that I thought it would be. Which doesn’t say much but still.
European Championship: If the Bulldog loses the title, he will eat a can of dog food
The British Bulldog© vs. Ken Shamrock
The Bulldog has humiliated Shamrock after an arm-wrestling match by putting dog food all over him.
Shamrock had debuted as a ref in the Mania I Quit Match, and then got put over huge when he beat Vader at In Your House (where was that feud? That would have made money).
Match early on is dominated by Shamrock, and seems designed to get him over.
Bulldog is now kicking all kinds of ass.
They mess up a suplex on the floor, and collapse.
The British Bulldog wins by DQ in 7:29. Bulldog puts dog food on Shamrock, and Shamrock snaps! Shamrock smashes the can on the Bulldog’s head, causing the DQ. He keeps going on the Bulldog, then shoves a ref. He then locks the Bulldog in a chokehold and no one can break it up. Bulldog is out. Shamrock finally lets go and takes out every official in sight, screaming “GET OUT OF MY WAY!” Crowd was hugely into this. This of course, made Shamrock a star (even though he storyline wise nearly killed someone). Kinda weird he’d only last two more years, but at this point it looked like him and Austin were the future of the company.
Interview with HBK. Can he be impartial?!
Los Boricas vs. The DOA
Vince calls it a 10 man tag, but this is an 8 man tag.
This all spawned from when Faarooq fired Savio Vega and Crush from the Nation of Domination. Crush and Vega formed their own factions. The Gang Warz!
I actually never got why DOA and the Boricas hated one another, other than the implied racial tension. Wouldn’t Crush and Vega want revenge on the Nation?
This match has mid 90s WWF legends the Underfaker, the Jacob and Eli Blu and Kwang. No idea why I think that’s relevant, but I do.
Skull already blew the correct selling of a top rope bulldog.
I like how Vince can’t tell the difference between Chainz and Crush, but Skull and 8-Ball (near identical twins) no problem.
Savio Vega with a cool spin kick that sends him over the top rope, landing on his feet. I always thought Vega was a little underrated.
Here comes the new Nation through the crowd. The Nation did help the careers of The Godfather, D’Lo Brown and later The Rock, but it killed Ahmed Johnson off.
The Boricas win when Miguel Perez pins Chainz in 9:08. Chainz gets thrown to the outside, where he takes a shot at Ahmed Johnson. Ahmed hits a bad looking Pearl River Plunge and Chainz gets tossed in by Vega. Perez hits an elbow for the win. NOD and DOA go at it. I mean, not all matches can be good on a show, right? It could have been a lot worse, and at least the characters are developed here, for what its worth.
Intercontinental Championship: If Austin doesn’t win the title, he’ll kiss Owen’s ass
Owen Hart© vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin
Owen got a pin on Austin in the 10 man tag at the Canadian Stampede. Of course, he reminded everyone of that fact. Austin made the challenge and the stipulation.
Notably (or not), Austin gets interviewed by a rookie Michael Cole, who gets shoved away, and verbally chewed out.
Owen attacks Austin during his corner taunts. More heels needed to do that.
Owen works on the knee right away!
Action packed start. Austin’s got the advantage now and begins to kick Owen’s ass.
Austin is mega over here.
This is the last technical wrestling match Austin would really wrestle barring some 2000 stuff with Benoit and Angle. There are two reasons for this. One: the WWF style changes with the Attitude Era. The second reason comes up later in this match sadly.
Owen now works on the hand, and moves bodypart to bodypart.
Austin with the old school stun gun, and powerbombs Owen out of a hurricanrana!
Now Owen goes for the neck with a neck breaker.
Austin tries to use a sharpshooter, but Owen gets out.
Owen keeps wearing Austin down. This has been a great match, with Austin’s comebacks coming at awesome times.
The moment that changed everything: Owen tombstones Austin in a sitting position…and paralyzes him.
Stone Cold Steve Austin wins the title in 16:16 by pin. After the tombstone, Owen plays to the crowd to buy Austin time, and somehow, Austin, with a legitimate broken neck here, gets a weak rollup and the pin. Austin was legit angry that Owen kicked out right after three as well. The match was great other than the tombstone at the end, obviously. This changed everything as well. Austin’s style moved to a brawler when he came back. He also needed more surgery in 1999 (the who ran over Steve Austin angle) that stemmed from the piledriver, and was a huge factor that caused him to retire in 2003.
This got Austin over even more though, as when he actually got to his feet with a legit broke neck it fueled the toughest SOB in the world environment. The piledriver just looks scary. Austin’s head is a good eight inches under Owen’s ass. Of course, with Austin in the main event, there was 0% chance Owen would ever become a main eventer in the WWF. Austin even said in his book that he didn’t want to work with Owen, and past Survivor Series ’97, he didn’t really have to.
WWF Championship: Shawn Michaels is the guest referee. If Shawn favors Bret, he can never wrestle in the USA again. If Bret doesn’t win the title, he can never wrestle in the USA again.
The Undertaker© vs. Bret Hart
Huge heat for Bret.
Bret calls for the Canadian National Anthem. More huge heat.
Huge cheers for referee HBK, although that would change soon…
Undertaker’s character in the ring has gotten more realistic at this point. He wasn’t sitting up from everything anymore, but still showed that he could take immense punishment, while we’ll see later.
Bret actually hits Taker with the title belt before the bell. Common theme with the Harts tonight.
Taker quickly gets into indestructible mode and beats the hell out of Bret.
Nice backbreaker submission by Undertaker. It’s Taker who’s actually working on a body part early, the spine.
Bret gets a chance and begins his going for the knee strategy that was obvious before this match began.
Figure Four from the Hitman!
Here comes Paul Bearer! He and Taker were not on the same page here…
Taker gets out…then goes right outside and takes out Paul Bearer, which allows Bret to take out the knee again. Bearer does a great sell job on the punch.
Bret with one of my favorite moves, the Figure Four around the post! This causes a Bret-Shawn argument.
Here come Owen and Pillman now.
Tremendous psychology here. Bret Hart and Taker are building a great match.
Taker uses the damaged leg to stagger over the top rope…and surprises Owen and Pillman by taking then out.
HBK gets Pillman and Owen out of here, and Taker chokeslams Bret and pins Bret, RIP pin and all, but HBK doesn’t see it! Taker grabs HBK here, the first seed planted. Bret then almost steals a win before Taker knocks him down again. Taker confronts Shawn one more time.
Bret now goes for the spine, we should be getting into Five Moves of Doom territory.
Backbreaker! Two count, but Taker gets out with authority.
Vertical Suplex, then Bret with some sign language for the crowd before dropping the forearm. Taker sits up after a kick out.
Russian Legsweep. It’s almost time…
Sharpshoot….no, Taker grabs the throat!
Taker makes his comeback…but Bret fights it off.
Taker hits the flying clothesline!
Taker chokeslams Bret from the apron to the inside of the ring! Fans react there, as JR points out no one has kicked out of two of Taker’s chokeslams.
Bret with the logical counter to Taker’s rope walk…kicking the top turnbuckle.
Sick top rope superplex!
Sharpshooter! Crowd is stunned, but they light up when Taker tries to fight out…no one gets out of this one…
EXCEPT The Undertaker! First break of the sharpshooter ever.
Taker gets a clothesline and suddenly he’s calling for the end!
Tombstone?! No, Bret gets out and pulls Taker toward the post…and locks in a Sharpshooter around the ringpost! It doesn’t look great though. Taker escapes and Bret lands on Shawn, incapacitating him at the moment.
Bret gets a chair and wallops Taker. Bret doesn’t toss the chair out far enough (intentionally).
Taker actually kicks out of the chairshot, which leads to a huge pop!
Shawn sees the chair and grabs it, then confronts Bret about it. Bret denies it. Shawn keeps pressing and Bret denies it again…then spits in HBK’s face!
Bret Hart wins the WWF Title in 28:19 by pin. Bret denies the chair usage…then spits in Shawn’s face! Shawn goes for a chair shot…and Bret moves and Shawn LEVELS Undertaker! It’s a hell of a chairshot. Bret gets the pin and Shawn is forced to count it, and Bret wins title #5. Amazingly built match with a super hot finish here. Bret’s reaction right after the pin is perfect too. An almost I told you so like taunt. Great match, and Bret Hart’s last great moment in the WWF, at least for 12 years.
Anyway, everything pretty much hit for Summerslam 1997. The only low points quality wise were the Million Dollar Challenge and the 8 Man tag. Even LOD vs. The Godwinns was solid. The WWF needed a strong show as WCW was still ahead in the ratings, and a strong show they got that allowed them to hang on until Steve Austin put them over the top. Of course, Steve Austin barely survived this show.
Historically, you have the creation of the great Undertaker vs. HBK rivalry. A piece of the Montreal set-up. Austin somehow looking more badass than he already was, although it was an unfortunate way to get there. Even the development of Ken Shamrock was shown here, as he would be a solid upper midcarder for the next two years. Mankind and HHH also furthered their storyline, with Mankind breaking into Dude Love for the next few weeks before Cactus Jack would show up.
A great show all around with a lot of historical significance.
Final Grade: A