10 most memorable moments in Summerslam history

#7 Owen Hart breaks Stone Cold's neck

A lucky escape.

It might seem strange to call a man breaking his neck one of the best moments in Summerslam history, but with the benefit of hindsight, this proved to be a monumental turning point for the WWF and actually saved them from the brink of extinction.

1997, while a good year in terms of onscreen action, was a low point for Vince's company in terms of ratings and revenue. WCW and the NWO were still beating them each week on Monday nights, and if things hadn't have turned around by the end of that year, there might not have been a Summerslam 2017 card to look forward to.

If anyone was going to emerge as the company's saviour it was Stone Cold Steve Austin. He had recently turned face in one of the best Wrestlemania matches of all time and was now facing Owen Hart for the Intercontinental Championship at Summerslam 1997. This was supposed to be just another stepping stone for the rattlesnake that would eventually lead to his main event status further down the road. Instead, the match almost ended in disastrous circumstances for the company.

After a botched piledriver from Owen, Stone Cold suffered a broken neck and was left almost immobilised on the canvas. Owen did his best to buy some time, but the sheer determination of Austin thankfully came through in the end. He managed to roll Owen up, in what must have caused him excruciating pain and earned himself the IC title.

Austin simply had to finish this match in the way it was intended. If he had been carried off on a stretcher, it would have seriously damaged his reputation as the baddest SOB in the WWF and shown too much vulnerability to a man tipped to become the biggest wrestling icon in the world.

It really is difficult to quantify how important Austin's victory was here, and the sight of him stumbling to the back stage area, rather than being carried by paramedics let us all know what kind of a competitor the man was.