Top 10 SummerSlams : Number 7 – SummerSlam 1997

Mankind

As we get ever so close to this year’s SummerSlam, we go back in time to take a look at the top 10 SummerSlams in WWE history. Today, we come down to number 7, which was the SummerSlam in 1997.

The card only had seven matches, and hence all of them received decent amount of time. SummerSlam ’97 came to us from the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey and saw Bret Hart facing the WWF champion, The Undertaker with Shawn Michaels serving as the special guest referee. The second big feud going into the PPV was for the Intercontinental championship, between the IC champion Owen Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

This PPV was also monumental because of wrong reasons. This was one of Brian Pillman’s last PPVs before he passed away. Also, Stone Cold Steve Austin broke his neck during his match with Owen Hart, and this was the last time Bret held the WWF championship before he was thrown out of the WWF and his eventual retirement. Without further ado, let us get right into the thick of things.

Under card:

Mankind defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley (With Chyna) in a Steel cage match

The opening match was inside a steel cage, which didn’t make much sense. This was at a time when Hunter was climbing the ranks in the company before he became Triple H, while Mankind was way over with the crowd. Hunter received no heat going in, and Chyna had a big role during the course of the bout.

Lots of spots which were sold well by both men. Mankind climbed the cage and came down with a huge elbow drop. Chyna tried her best to help Hunter win the bout, but she wasn’t successful as Mankind made his way out of the cage first. A decent opening bout which saw some botched spots, but got the crowd involved, especially with the huge elbow drop from the top of the cage.

Rating: ** ½

Goldust (With Marlena) defeated Brian Pillman

The stipulation of this match was that if Pillman lost, he would wear Marlena’s dress the next night on RAW. This was about two months before Pillman passed away, and his ankle was in a very bad shape. The bout itself was abysmal, given that Pillman could hardly walk. He took control over Goldust until the finish when Marlena whacked Pillman with her purse to give Goldust the opportunity to cover him for the victory. This is one bout I’d like to forget, considering how amazing Pillman really was in the ring.

Rating: ½ *

The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) defeated The Godwinns (Henry and Phineas)

The Godwinns wanted retribution for L.O.D breaking one of their necks, and that was the background of the match. Good back and forth action in what was a passable match. The bout ended when Hawk spike pile drived Henry for the pinfall victory.

Rating: **

Stone Cold broke his neck during Summerslam 1997

The British Bulldog defeated Ken Shamrock by disqualification to retain the WWF European championship

If Bulldog lost this match, he would have to eat dog food, and that was the story going into the match. This match also arguably made Ken Shamrock’s career in the WWF. This was the beginning of his “World’s most dangerous man” gimmick, which came about after Shamrock snapped and destroyed Bulldog, and subsequently lost by disqualification. Bulldog retained the European championship, but the crowd absolutely loved Shamrock post match. That was an excellent way to put Shamrock over as a legitimate tough guy.

Rating: ** ½

Los Boricuas (Savio Vega, Miguel Pérez, Jr., Jose Estrada, Jr. and Jesús Castillo) defeated The Disciples of Apocalypse (Crush, Chainz, 8-Ball and Skull) in an 8 man tag team match

This was more of a “gang warfare” esque story where all the leaders wanted to go against each other. The story leading up to the match made more sense than the actual match itself. The Nation got involved towards the end as Johnson gave Crush a huge Pearl River Plunge, which allowed one of his opponents to pin him for the victory. That was a little painful to watch.

Rating: ½ *

Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Owen Hart for the WWF Intercontinental championship

We come to the match that arguably ended Austin’s career before it really took off. It’s a shame that Austin had to retire and face so many problems with his neck due to what happened in this bout. Going into the PPV, Owen was the IC champion, and this was one of the better booked feuds on the card. The story was that Austin had an injured knee, and Owen worked on it. Good back and forth action, while Owen started working on Austin’s neck. Ominous signs of things to come? Towards the end of the match, Austin went for a Tombstone but Owen reversed it, coming down with a sit down piledriver, spiking Austin head – first on the mat. It was instantly obvious that something was wrong, as Austin laid in the ring without moving. That’s a scary scene, as Austin was paralyzed in the ring due to the piledriver. He somehow moved around with Owen stalling the match by show – boating, and Austin somehow crawled to pull Owen into a weak roll up for the victory. Post match, Austin was helped to the back by referees. That was a monumental event, considering how Austin was forced into retirement years later.

Rating: *** ½

Bret Hart defeated The Undertaker with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee for the WWF Championship

Shawn Michaels reiterated that his rivalry with Bret won’t change things. Although Taker was the WWF champion, the story revolved around Shawn – Bret rivalry. Bret Hart vowed that he wouldn’t wrestle in the United States if he lost the match. Bret and Taker traded blows, as Bret started working on Taker’s leg and finally locked in the Sharpshooter, but Taker got out of the hold.

Shawn didn’t have a major role in the match till the very end, when Bret provoked Michaels by spitting in his face, which resulted in Shawn decking Taker by mistake when he went for Bret with a chair. Shawn then reluctantly counted to three, making Bret the new WWF champion.

I hated how Taker was almost the third wheel in spite of being the WWF champion going into the bout. Anyway, this laid grounds for a Taker – Shawn feud after this, and Bret became the WWF champion and remained the champion till the infamous MSJ incident.

Rating: ***

Over – all rating: *** ¼

Although the matches weren’t excellent, this PPV directly or indirectly made a huge impact in the WWF. SummerSlam ’97 was a whole lot better than SummerSlam ’96, and the fans loved it. The Austin incident and the screwy finish changed the landscape of the WWF in the long run. Anyway, that does it for the review of SummerSlam ’97. With just about a week remaining for SummerSlam 2013, do join us next time as we continue to look back at the best 10 editions of SummerSlam.