Mega Powers Running Wild!

The legendary 'Macho man' Randy Savage teams up with 'The Immortal' Hulk Hogan to take on Ted Dibiase and Andre The Giant in the first ever WWF Summerslam!

Shawn Micahels vs. Mankind

The Heartbreak Kid defends the WWF Championship against Mankind in a thrilling main event at WWF In Your House: Mind Games.

The Birth of the nWo

From Hulk Hogan's shocking turn at WCW Bash at the Beach 1996 to the addition of Ted Dibiase, THe Giant Syxx and more, relive the very beginning of the New World Order.

Austin 3:16 Says I Just Kicked Your Ass

It's one of the most famous promos of all time; Stone Cold Steve Austin wins the 1996 King of The Ring and serves notice on all the WWF superstars. Check it out in our complete review

Wrestlemania 12 Review

The boyhood dream comes true as Shawn Michaels battles champion Bret 'The Hitman' Hart in a classic 1-hour iron man match. Plus, Diesel vs. Undertaker and more.

WCW Fall Brawl 1996 Review

Was Sting in cahoots with the New World Order? Would Lex Luger be able to get along with the Four Horsemen as they faced the nWo in War Games? Find out in this review

Showing posts with label Vader. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vader. Show all posts

Monday, 12 December 2022

EVENT REVIEW: WCW Clash of the Champions XVIII

WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review

 
 
January 21, 1992
Topeka, Kansas

As World Championship Wrestling headed into 1992 with Clash of the Champions 18, the company must have surely been hoping for a turn in fortunes after a horrendous 1991.

During that year, the oft-reviled Jim Herd had taken the helm and ultimately ostracised many old-school NWA stalwarts.

Among the many stars who had departed WCW after getting tired of Herd's ignorance of pro wrestling, the most damaging was none other than Nature Boy Ric Flair.

Flair was long gone, taking the Big Gold belt with him and leaving the company in a state of turmoil.


Yet by the time this first Clash show of 1992 came about, so too had Jim Herd himself.

In his place was a new boss, Kip Frey, a man whose tenure at the top was far too short lived given the promise he showed.

Here's a look at what went down at Frey's first big show in charge.








Paul E. Dangerously Hates WCW

Our show tonight began with an opening video which was surprisingly good by WCW standards.

It focussed on Paul E. Dangerously -at the time the hottest commodity in the company- ranting and raving about how much he hated World Championship Wrestling and wanted to ensure the company's demise. 
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - Jim Ross & Tony Schiavone

 

To do that, he'd assembled "the baddest of the bad" to form The Dangerous Alliance who we would see in action tonight.

Dangerously looked great here and the video did a stellar job of creating hype for tonight's show.

One thing I personally find cool is that, as regular RPW readers may know, I'm also slowly working my way through early ECW and Paul E. has pretty much the same "Anti-WCW" gimmick which I think is pretty good commitment.

With that video out of the way, we went live to the arena where Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone welcomed us to the show. 

One thing I will say here is that WCW shows were looking great as of late. The company had upped the production values and the way the arenas looked was starting to look good with every show.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - Eric Bischoff & Missy Hyatt

 
Anyway, Ross and Schiavone talked us through tonight's big matches before sending us down to Eric Bischoff and the ever-lovely Missy Hyatt.

The two promised to bring us lots of great interviews tonight before handing over to Garry Michael Capetta for the introductions to our opening contest. 

Big Van Vader & Mr. Hughes (w/ Harley Race) vs. The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner)

Rick Steiner had faced Vader and Mr. Hughes as part of the Lethal Lottery at Starrcade 1991, and his exchanges with Vader were the best part of that match. So it was nice to see that WCW booked them together again, this time bringing Rick's regular partner Scott Steiner into the equation. 
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - Harley Race leads Big Van Vader and Mr. Hughes into battle

 

The match was even better than the Starrcade encounter.

Given plenty of time to do their thing, all four men threw each other around and roughed each other up with aplomb.

It was hugely enjoyable to watch and only came to a head when Vader accidentally drilled his own partner, leaving Hughes open to Rick Steiner's match-winning bulldog.
Your Winner: Rick Steiner 

Folks, call the WCW hotline and talk to Ricky Steamboat

Young Pistol Tracy & Taylor Made Man vs. Flyin' Brian Pillman & Marcus Alexander Bagwell

I don't know where Young Pistol Tracy Smothers' regular partner Steve Armstrong was for this match, but I do know he left the company a few months later, so this was the beginning of the end for that team.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - Tracy Smothers and Terry Taylor beat up Brian Pillman


Speaking of leaving companies, The York Foundation was pretty much done and Terrence Taylor had struck out on his own using the Taylor Made Man gimmick.

Anyway, this was another good match. Not great, not the best thing you'll ever see, but a solid effort from four undercard wrestlers who worked hard to deliver. 

The action was solid, the crowds were into it, and the whole thing was as entertaining as you could hope for from these four.

After a very good effort, Marcus Bagwell picked up the win for his team by catching Smothers with a sunset flip.
Your Winners: Marcus Bagwell & Flyin' Brian Pillman

Before the next match, we got a look at Jushin 'Thunder' Liger who had defeated Brian Pillman for the Light Heavyweight Championship. 

JR promised us that we'd see Liger defending the title at the upcoming Superbrawl show. 

Richard Morton vs. Johnny B. Badd

Johnny B. Badd had this gimmick as part of his entrance where women would stuff dollar bills into his garter. There's nothing wrong with that, but it was pretty disturbing to see a young girl who couldn't have been older than 8 or 9 waving a dollar around ready to shove it in Badd's garter belt.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - Richard Morton


I won't lie though, I laughed pretty hard when the girl accidentally dropped the dollar on the floor and looked crestfallen.

I'm probably going to hell for that.

Anyway, this match was OK.

Richard Morton had been incredibly boring as a heel during his singles run as he usually spent most of his time on the mat sucking the life out of the whole show, but he came to work here. 

Not that he got to do much. 

This was a short match that was just kind of "there" and ended when Morton hit Badd with a flying crossbody but Johnny B. rolled over and caught him with a three count.
Your Winner: Johnny B. Badd

After the break, Eric Bischoff stood by with Pillman and Badd with the idea being that he would interview both men about their success here tonight and the state of the Light Heavyweight Division. 
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - Eric Bischoff interviews Brian Pillman and Johnny B. Badd

 
Instead, a fired-up Pillman went on a rant about Japanese companies building skyrise towers in local communities and buying up American companies which cost his friends their jobs. This uncharacteristic rant was all about setting up his match with Jushin Liger and making it more personal than being simply about "armdrags and hiptosses."

As Pillman got fired up about how much he hated Japanese people, Johnny B. Badd grinned and gurned and blew kisses to the camera, even planting a glittery pair of lips on Bischoff's face.

When he did the same to Pillman, the angry young man took exception to it and socked Johnny right in the mouth.

Pillman wouldn't fully turn heel until later in the year, but this promo was the most personality he'd shown since joining WCW. 

As he stormed off, Badd sat on his bum clutching his jaw and looking utterly confused at what had just happened.

Diamond Dallas Page vs. PN News

Yo baby, yo baby, yo! 

Its funny that they gave PN News a "rap master" gimmick when he was so bad at rapping. To be fair, he wasn't much better at wrestling either.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - Diamond Dallas Page

Here, the big man went up against Diamond Dallas Page, who had only just begun to compete in the ring over the last couple of months and still wasn't all that great at it.

The result was that this match didn't have much to offer. I won't say that I hated it or that it was terrible or anything, but there wasn't a lot going on worth writing about.

After about three minutes, News won the match with his "Rapmaster Splash" which wasn't a splash in the typical sense but basically involved him climbing to the top rope and falling off it onto his opponent.
Your Winner: PN News 

The coveted WCW Top 10 followed, putting Sting as the second-ranked competitor behind US champion Rick Rude.

That made Sting the number one contender, and we'd see him right after the break.

Big Kip Has Some Surprises


Following the commercial break, we went live to Tony Schiavone who was standing by with a group of nerds.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - Jesse 'The Body' Ventura makes his WCW debut


One of the nerds looked angry to be there. Another looked haplessly confused about where he was and weirdly reminded me of a 90s version of Steve Carrell's character from Anchorman

The third nerd was none other than Kip Frey, who Tony told us was the new Executive Vice President of WCW.

Taking to the microphone, Frey's first order of business was to put over the Sting/Lex Luger world title fight at Superbrawl II, and, to his credit, he made it sound like a huge deal.

Frey also told us that there was only one man capable of calling such an event, and promptly introduced us to a debuting Jesse 'The Body' Ventura.

Big Kip's run as WCW boss may not have been very long, but if he gave us more Jesse Ventura, he's alright in my book. He would also be responsible for the wrestlers getting bonuses depending on who had the best match on the card, but we'll talk more about that when we cover Superbrawl.

Anyway, Jesse was as charismatic as ever as he revealed that he would be calling Superbrawl from start to finish and looked forward to "telling it like it is." 

He was, as usual, awesome.

Sting Signs the Contract

Once Ventura had said all he had to say, Schiavone brought out Sting.

The man from Venice Beach hi-fived The Body and posed for the fans before standing by with the others as Tony played us a prerecorded interview from Lex Luger.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - Jesse 'The Body' Ventura, Kip Frey and Tony Schiavone look on as Sting signs a contract to face Lex Luger

Sounding half-asleep, Luger told us that his recent absence was all down to his "champion's prerogative," that he was taking a step back to prepare for Sting but would definitely crush him at the PPV and prove himself to be the most dominant athlete in the world. 

Sting then signed the contract and posed for the fans as this long and enjoyable segment came to an end. 

That was all good fun and got this writer pumped for Superbrawl. 

Falls Count Anywhere
Cactus Jack vs. Heavy Metal Van Hammer

This was a pretty good Falls Count Anywhere match and the credit for that was all due to Cactus Jack and his willingness to take some sick bumps onto the concrete.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - Cactus Jack rips Van Hammer's face off


Of course, this could have been much better had Foley been working with a more capable opponent than Van Hammer, but Cactus managed to get him through a reasonably entertaining bout anyway.

The first half of the match saw the two brawling in and around the ring before making their way up to the curtain, with Foley's bumps being the sole highlight.

From there, the two disappeared behind the curtain and the crowds booed loudly because, obviously, they couldn't see anything.

Conveniently, that led us to a commercial break. When we returned, the two were in a parking lot with Cactus throwing random traffic cones at Van Hammer while Missy Hyatt yelled at Nick Patrick to do something.

I read somewhere that this part of the match was pre-taped, and though I don't know how true that is, I do know that our two fighters made their way to a random horse stable thing at the back of the arena where Hammer choked Cactus with some rope before The Man from Truth or Consequences got his own back by grinding his opponent's face with a longhorn skull.

At that point, Abdullah The Butcher turned up in cowboy gear and blasted Hammer over the back with a shovel, but Cactus kicked his former partner away before scoring the pin.
Your Winner: Cactus Jack

Post-match, Abby and Cactus continued to brawl. The Butcher tried to drown Jack in a trough of water before picking up poor Missy Hyatt and dumping her in. 

The brawling continued, but WCW clearly felt it was best just to leave them to it, so the show returned to the arena with Cactus and Abby still going at it.

That wasn't the greatest thing ever seen, but it was still pretty fun. 

The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael 'P.S' Hayes & Jimmy 'Jam' Garvin) vs. Brad Armstrong & Big Josh

We joined this match just as it was commencing. I presume (though can't confirm) that this was because Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin were using a new theme song called I'm a Freebird, What's Your Excuse that the WWE don't have the rights to use on the Network.

To be honest, that's probably a good thing because the song is pretty terrible.


Tonight, Hayes and Garvin were locking up with Big Josh and Brad Armstrong, the latter of whom had just been working under a mask as their ally, Badstreet, a few months earlier.

That was never mentioned, nor did anyone bring up the fact that Armstrong had also recently played Arachnaman, though to be fair, if you've seen the Arachnaman character, you'll agree that it's just best not to talk about it.

As for this match, it was OK. 

Not great. Not terrible, just a fairly generic tag match in which Jim Ross made a bigger deal out of the Freebirds' new ring attire than anything they did in the ring. 

In the end, the referee got distracted, allowing the babyface team of Hayes and Garvin to hit a sneaky double DDT for the win.
Your Winner: The Steiner Brothers

After the break, we got a video package highlighting how awesome The Steiner Brothers were. 

The video made sure to mention that Rick & Scott had beaten The Road Warriors and The Nasty Boys, both of whom had been doing their thing in the WWF as of late.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - Eric Bischoff interviews The Steiner Brothers

 

This led us to Eric Bischoff interviewing The Steiners as they gave us a decent promo in which they reminded everyone that they'd never officially lost the WCW tag team titles and were coming to reclaim them.

The whole thing ended with Scott Steiner quoting Alice Cooper and promising that from now on, it was no more Mr. Nice Guy.

Thomas Rich vs. Vinnie Vegas

This was the WCW debut of Vinnie Vegas and the announcers tried their best to convince us that this was the first time we'd ever seen the man on WCW TV.
 
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - Vinnie Vegas celebrates a win over Tommy Rich


This was pretty dumb and insulting as anyone who had been watching even just a month earlier would clearly recognize him as Oz with dyed hair and a new suit.

The match was nothing. Vegas hit Tommy Rich with a couple of knees then dropped him on the turnbuckle with the Snake Eyes.

I kid you not, I've been a wrestling fan for 30 years and it was only today, while watching this show, that the move was called Snake Eyes because it fit with the gambler gimmick of Vinnie Vegas.
Your Winner: Vinnie Vegas

After the break, Eric Bischoff interviewed Paul E. Dangerously who cut another amazing promo in which he promised beyond a shadow of a doubt that one of the men facing his Dangerous Alliance in our final two matches would be put out of action forever.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - Eric Bischoff interviews Paul E. Dangerously

 

He didn't say who it was, but did promise that one of them would end up in the "Magnum T.A Memorial Retirement Home." 

Ouch. 

Six Man Tag Team Match
The Dangerous Alliance (Larry Zybysko WCW World Tag Team Champions Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton w/ Paul Heyman) vs. The Natural Dustin Rhodes, Barry Windham, and Ron Simmons

There's not a lot to say about this match other than that it was entirely solid and hugely enjoyable. 
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - The Dangerous Alliance

 

The babyface trio started off strong, even doing the fun spot where they got all three heels in simultaneous figure fours before Paul E.'s men assumed control and cut Dustin Rhodes off from his corner.

All the while, the big story was Barry Windham trying to get revenge on Larry Zybysko for slamming his hand in a car door back at Halloween Havoc
 
Windham never quite managed to get his hands on Zybysko properly, but did win the match for his team when Eaton jumped off the ropes and Big Bad Barry simply punched him upside the head for the three.

That was awesome.
Your Winners: Dustin Rhodes, Barry Windham, and Ron Simmons

Outin the back, Tony Schaivone interviewed Windham. With Simmons and Rhodes watching on, the former Horseman cut a strong and convincing promo in which he swore to get revenge on Zybsyko one way or another.

WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - Tony Schiavone interviews Barry Windham, Ron Simmons, and Dustin Rhodes

With Tony still in the back, Jesse Ventura joined Jim Ross for some pre-main event banter before sticking around to call the match with him, giving us a taste of what to expect at Superbrawl.

The Dangerous Alliance (WCW TV Champion Stunning Steve Austin & WCW US Champion Rick Rude w/ Paul E. Dangerously) vs. Sting & Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat


Jesse gave us the line of the night here when Sting took a shot to the crotch and the announcer said "I bet the next time he sings Roxanne, it'll be in soprano."
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 18 Review - Rick Rude backs off from Sting

 

I don't care, that was funny.

All jokes aside, this was a tremendous main event with a lot of stellar action.

A highlight saw Sting and Ricky Steamboat cutting Rude off from his corner and blatantly cheating behind the referee's back just to give The Dangerous Alliance a taste of their own medicine, flipping the standard heel/face formula for tag team matches.

With that over, the match continued to be fantastic until Steve Austin had a hold of Steamboat. At that point, Sting leaped off the top rope onto both men and stayed on top of them for the cover, the count, and the fall.
Your Winners: Sting & Ricky Steamboat

Post-match, the heels got their revenge and destroyed the babyfaces until security broke it up.

Jesse and JR then signed off, and that was Clash of the Champions 18 in the history books.








The Clash of the Champions series was an upwards trend as 1991 turned into 1992, the previous event had a lot to enjoy about it, but Clash 18 was even better.

Sure, matches like Vegas/Rich, the Freebirds match, and Page/News were never going to be anything special, but the opening big man bruiser was a lot of fun, the Falls Count Anywhere match was excellent and helped establish Cactus Jack as a valuable commodity for WCW, and the two final matches were as goood as you could possibly ask for.

Kip Frey didn't stick around as the head of WCW for very long, but his run was off to a wonderful start. 
 



Other 1992 pro wrestling event reviews
  1. WWF Royal Rumble 1992
  2. WWF UK Rampage 1992
  3. WWF Wrestlemania 8
  4. WWF Summerslam 1992
  5. WCW Great American Bash 1992
  6. WWF Survivor Series '92
  7. WWF 1992 - The Year in Review 
Other Clash of the Champions Reviews:
 


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Sunday, 13 November 2022

PPV REVIEW: WCW Starrcade 1991 - Battlebowl - The Lethal Lottery

WCW Starrcade 1991 - Event poster


December 29, 1991,
Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia

Growing up as a kid in the UK,  my access to early 90s WCW was limited to the brief number of Disney tapings that aired on ITV on Saturday afternoons.

To be honest, I don’t remember anything about those shows apart from the fact that they inexplicably made me the biggest fan of Ice Train.

So it’s been fun to go back and watch WCW from its earliest days. Even when the shows suck (as many of them did), I’ve enjoyed seeing so many of the things the company did back then which I’d previously only ever read about.

Battlebowl/Lethal Lottery is one of the things I’ve been looking forward to the most.

Well, kind of.

On paper, the idea of wrestlers “randomly” being thrown together in teams to compete for a space in a main event battle royal sounds like an idea that really appeals to me, though something tells me that this is one of those times when the idea is way better than the execution.

Still, there’s only one way to find out for sure, so let’s head down to Starrcade ‘91 and figure out whether this thing was any good or not.

Welcome to Battlebowl

There was nothing fancy about tonight’s opening. 

A basic video package ran down some of the bigger names in tonight’s event as a voiceover reminded us that we’d see 20 tag teams drawn at random.
 
WCW Starrcade 1991 - Tony Schiavone & Jim Ross called all the action

 

Cameras then cut to the Norfolk Scope Arena which looked genuinely cool, especially as it seemed to be packed.

As the camera panned down, Jim Ross welcomed us to the show before he and Tony Schiavone explained the Battlebowl rules:

The ten teams who won their matches would compete in a two-ring battle royal.

Wrestlers would be dumped from one ring into the next then out on the floor until there was one man left in the school ring.

They would then go at it to determine a winner.

Honestly, that sounds way more complicated than it needed to be, but since this was the brainchild of the same Dusty Rhodes who gave us the Bunkhouse Stampede nonsense a few years earlier, it was hardly surprising.

WCW Starrcade 1991 - Eric Bischoff, Missy Hyatt, and Magnum TA draw the Lethal Lottery pairings

The announcers then sent it to Eric Bischoff who was standing by with the ever-lovely Missy Hyatt and former US Champion Magnum T.A. Who was our commissioner for the evening.

A huge black curtain then lifted to reveal the entire WCW roster standing on the stage as pyro exploded in front of them. 

Bischoff, Hyatt, and Magnum then drew the first two tag teams, putting Michael 'P.S' Hayes together with Tracy Smothers against Jimmy 'Jam' Garvin and newcomer Marcus Alexander Bagwell

Hayes looked annoyed about having to team with Smothers, though whether that was because he had to team with long-standing 'Young Pistols revival Tracy Smothers or because he had to fight his own partner I couldn't say. 

What I could say is that while Hayes looked upset, Garvin himself looked super excited. 

Lethal Lottery Match #1
Michael 'P.S' Hayes & Tracy Smothers vs. Jimmy 'Jam' Garvin & MArarcus Alexander Bagwell 

WCW Starrcade 1991 - Tracy Smothers squares off against Buff Bagwell



Making his PPV debut, Marcus Bagwell spent the first few minutes stalling around with Tracy Smothers.

The two would lock up, hit a basic sequence, stall, and repeat, making for quite a boring start to the match.

Eventually, things picked up with Bagwell and Garvin making frequent tags while Smothers did all the work for his team.

Inevitably, Hayes finally tagged in and we got a Freebirds showdown which consisted of him and Garvin locking up a few times and hitting an arm drag each before Hayes got a two-count from a roll-up on his opponent. 

More lackluster action continued until all four men ended up in the ring. 

At that point, Hayes accidentally struck Garvin and the two argued while Bagwell caught smothers coming off the top rope with a couple of knees and put him away with a fisherman's suplex.

That put an end to a pretty underwhelming opening match that could have easily been five minutes shorter.
Your Winners: Marcus Bagwell & Jimmy Garvin 

Up next, Missy, Magnum, and Eric drew Dangerous Alliance teammates Stunning Steve Austin and Ravishing Rick Rude as partners against Van Hammer and Big Josh
 
WCW Starrcade 1991 - Eric Bischoff, Magnum TA, and Missy Hyatt

 

The camera then stayed on the trio for far too long as they stood around awkwardly doing nothing. While they did that, it gave me a moment to reflect on how WCW wasn't even trying to convince anyone that these drawings were "random."

Seriously, two partners "randomly" facing off in one match and then two more partners being matched up in the second one?

Yeah, sorry WCW, you're going to have to try harder. 

Stunning Steve Austin & Ravishing Rick Rude (w/ Paul E. Dangerously) vs. Van Hammer & Big Josh

This was technically better than the last match from an actual wrestling standpoint, but it still wasn't very interesting or entertaining. 
 
WCW Starrcade 1991 - Rick Rude prevents Van Hammer from making a tag to Big Josh

 

Seriously, the sole highlight here was when Big Josh stomped on Rude's belly but Rude showed that he was impervious to it because his abs were rock hard. Josh struck Rude twice more in the abs but to the same effect. It was basically a "headbutting The Samoans never works" thing, except with Rick Rude and his abs. 

It was fun, but when that's the best thing in the match, it doesn't say very much.

To the surprise of no one, the Dangerous Alliance members won when Rude hit Van Hammer with the Rude Awakening.
Your Winners: Steve Austin & Rick Rude 

More names were drawn next. I won't say much about these drawings unless anything legitimately interesting or unusual happens, which so far hasn't happened.

The Natural Dustin Rhodes & Richard Morton vs. El Gigante & Larry Zybysko (w/ Madusa) 

Again, things got marginally better here, but mostly because it was funny to hear Larry Zybysko barking orders at El Gigante and the giant Argintian completely ignoring him.
 
WCW Starrcade 1991 - Larry Zybysko & El Gigante vs. Richard Morton & Dustin Rhodes

 

This wasn't a great match by any stretch, but Zybyso, Dustin Rhodes, and Richard Morton could all go, and helped guide Gigante through a service contest. 

It all ended when Gigante got fed up with Zybysko and shot him into a double dropkick from Dustin Rhodes and Richard Morton, sacrificing his own place in the Battlebowl for the sake of taking out Big Bad Larry.
Your Winners: Dustin Rhodes and Richard Morton

As the stars for the next match were introduced, Larry and Richard Morton made their way to the back and got into a minor shoving contest. 

Bill Kazmaier & Jushin 'Thunder' Liger vs. Diamond Dallas Page & Mike Graham

For those paying attention, this was Diamond Dallas Page's debut PPV match. He was still super green here, so trainer Mike Graham was paired with him to help him out. 
 
WCW Starrcade 1991 - Bill Kazmaier watches on as his partner Jushin Liger squares off against Mike Graham

 

Graham was a solid wrestler but he had all the personality of a neglected toilet brush which was a shame because he wrestled most of the match for his team.

Fortunately, Jushin 'Thunder' Liger was here with his awesome mask and helped make this one marginally more entertaining than it might have been.

I'll be honest with you, I'm finding this show kind of dull so far, but at least we're already an hour in.

Liger and Kazmier won when the latter hurled the former on top of Page for the three count.
Your Winners: Bill Kazmaier & Jushin Liger 

Before the next match, we got a commercial for the upcoming Superbrawl PPV which had me excited because, as I think I've mentioned before, it's one of my favorite WCW events.

WCW Champion Lex Luger (w/ Harley Race) & Arn Anderson vs. Terrence Taylor & The Z-Man

Tony Schiavone called this the best tag team match of the night so far and I have to say I agree with him.
 
 
WCW Starrcade 1991 - The Tailormade Man wrenches the arm of The Total Package



One of the few matches to hold my attention from start to finish, this one featured Arn Anderson and Terrence Taylor as the standout performers while Lex Luger played his part well and Z-Man (other than falling flat on his fooking arse at one point) was OK too.

After a genuinely good effort, the world champion took out Taylor with the Attitude Adjustment Piledriver for the win.
Your Winners: Lex Luger & Arn Anderson

With five matches down and five to go, JR looked at those men who had made it to Battlebowl before Tony Schiavone expressed how eager he was to see The Steiners face each other.

Up next, Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker was drawn as Cactus Jack’s partner for a match against Ricky Steamboat and Todd Champion, but Abdullah The Butcher took exception to that and destroyed Parker in the dressing room.

I can’t explain why, but I found that completely random attack to be hilarious.

Abby and his boobs then made their way out to tag with his buddy Cactus but the WCW referees stopped him and sent him to the back.
 
WCW Starrcade 1991 - Abdullah The Butcher destroys Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker

 

As he got to the entranceway, Abby met Buddy Lee who was trying to make his way to the ring so he attacked him for a second time while screaming like crazy.

Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat & Todd Champion vs. Cactus Jack


All that left Cactus to go it alone against his opponents.

He started off with Ricky Steamboat and the two had a genuinely enjoyable back-and-forth together that made you wonder how good a straight-up singles match could be between them.
 
WCW Starrcade 1991 - Todd Champion gets the better of Cactus Jack

 

Even when Todd Champion got involved, Cactus was good enough to keep this match entertaining

As the out-numbered Cactus continued to hold his own, Sarge crawled painfully to the ring to the point that the fans were genuinely starting to get behind him.

He propped himself up on the corner, only for Cactus to tag him in and then literally hurl Sarge's lifeless body into the ring where he mounted a valiant babyface-style powerup, only to be immediately taken out by a Ricky Steamboat crossbody.
Your Winners: Ricky Steamboat & Todd Champion

Honestly, I enjoyed the heck out of that. Cactus wrestling Ricky Steamboat was great and the whole stuff with Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker honestly had me laughing my ass off.

Sting & Abdullah The Butcher vs. Flyin' Brian Pillman & Bobby Eaton


This was a chaotic mess of a match in the best possible sense.
 
WCW Starrcade 1991 - Bobby Eaton works over Sting

 

Abdullah The Butcher came down grinning like a lunatic and even extended his hand to Sting, only to immediately turn on him and beat him down with that stick he always carried. 

Fortunately for Sting, his opponent, Brian Pillman, actually came to his rescue and attacked The Butcher, only for Bobby to even the score.

Once in the ring, this became a unique match where Sting basically wrestled a one-on-one match with Bobby Eaton while Abby kept attacking him and Pillman kept coming to Sting's aid and beating up Abby even though it was to the detriment of his own team. 

It wasn't great from a technical wrestling standpoint, but it was a good little story that ended when Cactus Jack came down and accidentally whacked Butcher with The Big Weird Stick of Doom.

Sting then got the cover, the count, and the fall.
Your Winners: Sting and Abdullah The Butcher

Post-match, Abby and Cactus brawled to the back.

Rick Steiner & The Nightstalker (w/ Diamond Studd) vs. Big Van Vader & Mr. Hughes


The Diamond Studd had originally been drawn as Rick Steiner's partner, but he had a sling on, so he was replaced by The Nightstalker (Bryan "Adam Bomb" Clarke), which makes you wonder why the injured Studd was included in the drawing in the first place.

WCW Starrcade 1991 - Vader prepares to smash Rick Steiner's face in


Not caring who his partner was, Steiner entered into a strong performance with Vader that was a lot of fun to watc until Mr. Hughes got in the ring and dragged everything down to a snail's pace.

Things got even worse when The Nightstalker tagged himself in. Steiner either didn't realize or didn't care that a tag had been made and headed to the top rope. '

Stalker encouraged him, but he was so busy looking at The Dog Faced Gremlin that he didn't even notice Vader running towards him with a Belly Bump of Death. 

Steiner then hit Hughes with a bulldog and made a cover, but the official refused to count because Steiner wasn't the legal man. 

Vader then splashed right onto 'Stalker's head and pinned him, but Steier kept his cover on Hughes and thought he'd won the match too.

It was a cluttered finish that spoiled what was otherwise a decent little match.
Your Winners: Vader & Mr. Hughes

Another Superbrawl commercial followed, after which it was back to the action. 

Scott Steiner & Firebreaker Chip vs. Johnny B. Badd & Arachnaman 

Arachnaman = Brad Armstrong in a purple and yellow Spiderman costume. Somebody came up with that and thought it was a good idea to put it on TV. 

I'm honestly shocked that I can't find an entry on Wrestlecrap about it anywhere.

WCW Starrcade 1991 - Firebreaker Chip works over Archnaman's arm



Anyway, this was the only match that featured four babyfaces, but the crowd didn't really care about that and only came alive whenever Scott Steiner got involved.

That was a shame, really, because you could tell that all four men worked as hard as they could but the match fell completely flat, probably because the audience had no time for matches involving such low-rent indie gimmicks as a fake Spiderman.

To be honest, I don't blame them, especially given how dumb the spider looked. 

At one point, he and Firebreaker Chip crisscrossed the ropes, Chip made a tag to Steiner then slid outside and Steiner just watched Armstrong as he ran back and forth between the ropes like an idiot.

Honestly, it looked like that goofy spot some wrestlers used to do on Saturday Morning Slam

Thankfully, Steiner eventually put everybody out of our collective misery by pinning ArachnaGoof following a big power slam.
Your Winners: Scott Steiner & Firebreaker Chip

At last, we got our final tag match of the evening.

Ron Simmons & Thomas Rich vs. Steve Armstrong & PN News

This started decently enough, dragged down in the middle, and then picked up towards the end as Ron Simmons predictably got the win for his team.
 
WCW Starrcade '91 review - Ron Simmons & Thomas Rich vs. Steve Armstrong & PN News

 

To be honest, most of these tag team matches were way too long for what they were and the show felt so repetitive that by the time this match happened, Starrcade 1991 had pretty much drained the life out of me. 

Thank goodness there's only the Battlebowl match left to go:

Battlebowl Battle Royal
Featuring: Jimmy Garvin, Marcus Alexander Bagwell, Steve Austin, Rick Rude, Bill Kazmaier, Jushin 'Thunder' Liger, Dustin Rhodes, Richard Morton, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, Ricky Steamboat, Todd Champion, Mr. Hughes, Vader, Sting, Abdullah The Butcher, Thomas Rich, Ron Simmons, Scott Steiner, Firebreaker Chip



I'm not one of those fans that write off all battle royals before they even get started. Just because it's a lot of brawling doesn't mean it can't be entertaining.

Fortunately, this one was pretty decent but was hampered somewhat by the fact that the wrestlers kept forgetting they were supposed to throw people into the second ring rather than to the arena floor.

That part of the match was good enough, but it was when Sting and Lex Luger ended up as the final two men that things really hotted up. 

At that pointk we got an exciting brawl that ended when Sting dumped Luger to the outside,
Your Winner: Sting

Post-match, pyro exploded as Sting celebrated before Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone signed off for the night.

---------------

Man, am I glad that one was over. 

Truth be told, Starrcade 1991 wasn't entirely terrible. 

The Anderson/Luger vs. Zenk/Taylor match was solid and that whole thing with Cactus Jack, Abdullah The Butcher, and poor old Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker was entertaining, but the rest of it was too mediocre to make it a truly good show. 

Honestly, this all felt like it was done more to set up various storylines than to actually be what was supposedly WCW's flagship show of the year.


About half way through, the amount of uninteresting stuff made me completely zone out and it was a chore to get through the rest of the event. 

Hopefully things pick up soon as, despite having never seen early 1990s WCW before I began this blog, I hear the company really had a great year in 1992.


Friday, 28 October 2022

PPV REVIEW: WWF Survivor Series 1997

WWF / WWE - Survivor Series 1997 - Event poster

WWF Survivor Series 1997
Molson Centre, Montreal, Canada

This year marks the 25th anniversary of Survivor Series 1997, a game-changing event which, despite a lackluster undercard, went down as one of the most significant PPVs in pro wrestling history thanks to a little incident known as The Montreal Screwjob. 

Given that my last review of this event was written in 2010 and published a few years later when I started Retro Pro Wrestling, the 25-year anniversary seems like a good time to go back and revisit it all over again.


Besides, I wasn't all that happy with the original Survivor Series '97 review published on this site to begin with. So, without further ado, here's a fresh look at an event that changed the course of the WWF forever.

 



Hart vs. Michaels II: This Time, It's Personal 

Our show tonight began with a dramatic look back at the iron man match between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 12, followed by sound bites from the two’s scathing, animosity-filled promos in the build-up to their rematch here, a year-and-half later.

It says a lot about the quality of that feud that many of those sound bites have become iconic, as permanently etched in this fan’s mind as Austin’s King of the Ring ‘96 promo or Hulk Hogan declaring a new world order of wrestling at Bash at the Beach that same year.

With the opening video out of the way, Milton Bradley’s Karate Fighters presented the 11th annual Survivor Series before we got pyro galore and sweeping shots of the rabid Montreal crowd.

WWF / WWE - Survivor Series 1997 - Jerry Lawler and Jim Ros called the event


Our announcers, Jim Ross & Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler were as psyched as the fans for tonight’s event as they put over Hart/Michaels II (or III if you count their Survivor Series '92 match) and then sent it to the ring for our opening bout.

Traditional 4 vs. 4 Survivor Series Match
The Headbangers (Mosh & Thrasher) and The New Blackjacks (Windham & Bradshaw) vs. The Godwins (Henry & Phineas Godwin), Road Dogg Jesse James, and Bad Ass Billy Gunn

Road Dogg Jesse James and Bad Ass Billy Gunn weren’t officially the New Age Outlaws yet, but they were solidifying their status as the most villainous heel tandem in the company at the time.

WWF / WWE - Survivor Series 1997 - The Road Dog leads his team into battle

Tonight, the two stayed out of the ring as much as possible as The Godwins and The New Blackjacks kicked things off in a good, old-fashioned hoss battle.

The first I reviewed this match, I wrote it off as boring. Years later, while I’m not claiming it was a workrate classic or anything, I certainly enjoyed it more the second time around.

After Bradshaw and Windham had spent the first minute or so exchanging the advantage with Henry and Phineas Godwin, it was Henry who was the first to be taken out, putting the good guys up 3 to 4.

Phineas soon evened the score, getting revenge for his partner by eliminating Barry Windham.

After Billy Gunn took out Mosh, the other Headbanger, Thrasher, worked over Phineas’ arm for a lengthy stretch of time.

Although it wasn’t the most exciting part of the match, the arm spot wasn’t so bad that it ruined what was an otherwise perfectly acceptable opener.

As it wore to a finish, Thrasher did away with Phineas by jumping off the top rope and crashing on the pig farmer’s chest.

Not long after, Roadie and Bad Ass took out Bradshaw and Thrasher in quick succession to become the sole survivors and further cement their status as the top team in the division.
Your Winners: Road Dogg Jesse James & Bad Ass Billy Gunn

Remember The Truth Commission? They were up next.

Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match
The Truth Commission (Sniper, Recon, The Interrogator, and The Jackyl) vs. The Disciples of Apocalypse (Crush, Chainz, 8-Ball, and Skull)

The big problem with a match like The Truth Commission vs. DOA was that, once the biker gang stepped off their motorcycles they had nothing interesting to offer, while Jackyl’s gang of paramilitary soldiers were never had anything interesting to offer to begin with.

WWF / WWE - Survivor Series 1997 - The Truth Commission



Thus, after Crush, Chainz (Brian ‘Fake Undertaker’ Lee), and the team of Skull & 8-Ball (The Harris Brothers) got done popping the crowd by riding around on their bikes all that was left was a fairly lifeless match that was 80% clobberin’ and 20% sidewalk slams.

Seriously, I think there were more sidewalk slams in this match than you’d see in the entire body of work of The Big Boss Man.

The Interrogator (Kurrgan) established his dominance early on by taking out Chainz (with a sidewalk slam, obviously), only for the biker boys to get their revenge by eliminating The Jackyl first and then Recon (Bull Buchanan) a few minutes later.

After he was eliminated, The Jackyl immediately hopped over to the announce table and spent the rest of the match on commentary where he denied JR’s accusation of being the WWF’s answer to cult leader David Koresh and consistently promised to tell us the truth without actually saying what that truth was.

The battle continued as a two-on-two affair pitting Crush and whichever Harris Brother hadn’t been eliminated against Sniper and the big man, The Interrogator.

To the surprise of no one, it was the latter who was left standing as the sole survivor after Crush eliminated Sniper but then got himself pinned after -you guessed it— another sidewalk slam.

To be fair, this wasn’t completely horrible, but it certainly wasn’t much fun to watch either.
Your Winner and Sole Survivor: The Interrogator

Post-match, The Jackyl claimed that he had won the Survivor Series and lept into the ring to celebrate with his man Kurrgan.

Shawn Michaels is Gonna Win

Whenever the WWF would poll fans on their predictions for a high-profile match, I can’t help but think of the kid from Summerslam 1992 who proudly declared that the British Bulldog would beat Bret Hart ‘whether he wants to or not.’

Tonight, nobody claimed that The Hitman’s opponent had no choice in winning, but the vast majority of the Montreal fans who featured in this show’s “whose going to win?” segment all seemed to be rooting for the Heartbreak Kid despite Bret apparently being The Canadian Hero.

From there, we went to the America Online room where Stone Cold Steve Austin told interviewer Kevin Kelly that despite being concerned about his neck, he was still going to emerge victorious in his upcoming match with Owen Hart.

Austin was as compelling as ever here and ended his promo by leaning over and staring at a laptop running the WWF America Online chat room with such an exaggerated intensity that it made this fan crack up laughing.

A Word With Team USA

Back in the arena, Jim Ross put over tonight’s sponsors, Milton Bradley Karate Fighters, and took us to a clip of some kind of pre-show party to celebrate that sponsorship.

WWF / WWE - Survivor Series 1997 - Michael Cole interviews Team USA

Or at least something like that. To be honest, I’m not sure quite what the event was that we saw. All I know is that the clip featured an overhead crowd shot, Thrasher ramming some poor dude’s face into a cake, and nothing else.

Then, as we prepared for our next match, JR reminded us that Steve Blackman had debuted on Raw as a fan who just so happened to be a martial arts bad ass.

Blackman had jumped into the ring to save Vader from an attack at the hands of The British Bulldog, Jim Neidhart, and the duo of Doug Furnas & Philip LaFon.

As a ‘fan,’ Blackman had been arrested, but Vader had apparently bailed him out and then petitioned to have him join Team USA for tonight’s next traditional Survivor Series match.

Before we could get to that, however, Blackman, Vader, and their partners Marc Mero and Goldust stood by for a backstage interview with Michael “I’ve Been in this Company Forever” Cole.

Coming off as though he was struggling to remember his lines, Vader did nothing to endear himself to the Montreal faithful by declaring that he and his teammates were sick of "loud-mouthed, trash-talking Canadians telling us what to do.”

For his part, Steve Blackman insisted that despite being new to the WWF, he was plenty experienced in “every form of martial arts known to man” and was thus looking forward to tonight’s big fight.

Offering a retort, well-known Canadian The British Bulldog promised victory for Team Canada while Doug Furnas claimed that he hates America so much he’d moved out of the country.

Traditional 4 vs. 4 Survivor Series Match
Team USA (Vader, Steve Blackman, Goldust, and Marc Mero w/ Sable) vs. Team Canada (The British Bulldog, Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart, Doug Furnas, and Phillip LaFon)

With Goldust slowly transitioning into his Artist Formerly Known As phase and Marc Mero also becoming a heel due to his wife, Sable overshadowing him everywhere they went, Team USA made their way to the ring to the theme that used to belong to The Patriot but which has since become synonymous with Kurt Angle.

WWF / WWE - Survivor Series 1997 - Team Canada vs. Team USA



Once their opponents hit the ring, JR took the time to note that only one man representing Team Canada -Phil LaFon- was actually Canadian, with the rest of his team comprising two Americans and an Englishman.

The match itself wasn’t the most spectacular, but with Vader doing most of the work and his teammates providing some interesting moments, it was nonetheless a fun encounter.

Steve Blackman was the first to go when, apparently unfamiliar with the rules of pro wrestling, he went brawling on the outside with Phil LaFon and didn’t bother to answer the referee’s ten count to get back inside.

I mean, that was one way to get the newcomer out of there while still looking like a major badass, but you’d think one of his teammates would have sat him down to explain simple things like the count-out rule, right?

Vader soon evened the odds for his team by destroying Jim Neidhart and then got the upper hand moments later by also doing away with LaFon.

Team USA’s run of luck didn’t last long, however, as Marc Mero was taken out by Furnas.

To be honest, I would have eliminated Mero earlier, not because he wasn’t any good, but simply because the crowd were so hot for Sable that they didn’t really care much about anything else until she was gone.

Down to 2 vs. 2, Vader found that his only remaining teammate, Goldust, didn’t really care about much either. Not only had he not yet stepped in the ring, but when Vader actually tried to tag him in, the former Intercontinental Champion refused.

That left The Mastadon to duke it out with Bulldog and Furnas in an impressive display that was exciting to watch before finally forcing Dusty’s kid into the ring.

Wanting no part of Doug and Davey Boy, Goldust merely walked off and got counted out.

Not long after, Vader eliminated Furnas but was then immediately struck with a ring bell by the Bulldog behind the referee’s back and promptly pinned.
Your Winner and Sole Survivor: The British Bulldog

Despite the crowd cheering him hugely for winning whether he wanted to or not, Davey Boy immediately left the ring and stormed straight to the back.


Either that, or there was something going on backstage that he was eager to get back for.

Who knows

Not me, that’s who, but what I do know is that Milton Bradley Karate Fighters got another mention as the PPV sponsors had hosted something called the Survivor Series Super Supper Sweepstakes.

Hmm, I wonder if they were also responsible for the Super Summer Sizzler Spectacular or whatever that show ECW did in ‘93 was called.

Lawler and Ross spoke on the phone to the winner of that sweepstake, a giggly young lady called Jaqueline who, as her prize, got to choose Steve Austin as her dinner date.

Mankind Seeks to Avenge Dude Love’s Demise

From there, we got a video package recapping the arrival of Kane at In Your House 18: Badd Blood, The Undertaker’s refusal to fight his brother, and how that led to Kane annihilating Dude Love.

WWF / WWE - Survivor Series 1997 - Mankind cuts a promo on Kane



The Dude’s demise brought back Mankind to seek revenge for his own alter-ego, and that took us to an excellent backstage promo from Foley in which he likened Kane to a brick wall and vowed to run right into him.

I swear down, Foley in his prime has to be up there as one of the best promos in the business.

Mankind vs. Kane (w/ Paul Bearer)

You also have to give Mick credit for sacrificing himself in order to put Kane over as a truly dominant force in this match.

WWF / WWE - Survivor Series 1997 - Kane gets ready to face Mankind



Though Mankind certainly got his moments to shine here, he was mostly pulverized by The Big Red Machine.

He took a beating, had the ring steps hurled in his face, and was even sent crashing through a table.

Yet as unstoppable as all this made Kane look, it wasn’t enough to put his opponent away until a tombstone piledriver sealed the deal.

All of this played out beneath red lights which, although they were a little distracting, they did add something unique to a match that was otherwise already entertaining.
Your Winner: Kane

Did any of you send your cable bill proving you’d bought Survivor Series 97 so that you could get a free WWF dog tag?

Me neither, but JR told us they had 3,000 of those bad boys to give away, so I hope somebody did.

WWF / WWE - Survivor Series 1997 - Michael Cole interviews Vince McMahon and Sgt. Slaughter



Meanwhile, out in the back, Sgt. Slaughter told Michael Cole that they had extra security in place should anything crazy happen in tonight’s main event.

Cole then turned his attention to Vince McMahon and asked him who would win said main event.

Vince lied and said he had no idea.

What a Rush!

Backstage, Doc Hendrix interviewed Ken Shamrock, The Legion of Doom, and Ahmed Johnson about their upcoming match with the Nation of Domination.

WWF / WWE - Survivor Series 1997 - Doc Hendrix interviews Ken Shamrock, Legion of Doom, and Ahmed Johnson



Shamrock kicked things off by delivering a promo that was all Jeff Farmer levels of bad in which he basically said he and his men were all business.

Fairing a little better on the mic, Hawk gave the usual Road Warrior promo in which he promised that he and Animal would wipe out the “criminal element” from the WWF.

Fortunately, Hendrix was smart enough to keep the microphone away from Ahmed Johnson.

Traditional 4 vs. 4 Survivor Series Match
The Nation of Domination (Farooq, D’Lo Brown, Kama Mustafa, and Rocky Maivia) vs. Ken Shamrock, Ahmed Johnson, and WWF Tag Team Champions The Legion of Doom (Hawk & Animal)

A year on from his debut as a perma-grinned babyface, Rocky Maivia wasn’t yet The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment, but he was certainly on his way to becoming a heel worth paying attention to and further established himself by eliminating Hawk in the first two minutes of the match.

WWF / WWE - Survivor Series 1997 - They are the nation...of DOMINATION!



Ahmed Johnson then ensured an even playing field by pinning arch-nemesis Farooq, but the Nation leader retaliated by holding Johnson’s legs down while Rocky scored his second elimination on the master of the Pearl River Plunge.

Proving that their never-ending rivalry was far from done, Johnson and Farooq then brawled all the way to the back, ending an exciting first six minutes of the match.

From there, things slowed down considerably and the middle portion of the match seemed to drag on with little in the way of excitement.

It was during this lackluster middle section that Animal took out Kama Mustafa, only to be eliminated himself when Road Dogg and Billy Gunn interfered, blasting the Road Warrior with powder to the eyes and causing him to get counted out.

It was at that point that the match really picked up again. Shamrock snapped, eliminated D’Lo Brown, and then went at it with The Rock in a hot exchange that ended things in fine form.

Shamrock made Rocky tap in the ankle lock to win the match and emerge as the sole survivor.

The opening and closing minutes of this match more than made up for the lag in the middle, ensuring that this was an all-round enjoyable contest.
Your Winner and Sole Survivor: Ken Shamrock

1.55.02 - record attendance.

As Shamrock celebrated his big time win, Jim Ross announced that tonight’s event had set a brand new attendance record.

Prior to the next match, a clip aired to promote the next WWF PPV, D-Generation-X: In Your House 19. That show would see Shamrock capitalize on his big win here, and his overall popularity, by headlining the show as a challenger for the WWF title.

We then took a look back at all the times Stone Cold Steve Austin’s rivalry with Owen Hart, including that awful moment Owen dropped him on his head back at Summerslam ‘97.

The two would meet in a hotly anticipated rematch next.

World Wrestling Federation Intercontinental Championship
WWF Intercontinental Champion Owen Hart (w/ Team Canada) vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin

Damn, I miss Owen Hart.


Wearing his infamous Owen 3:16 t-shirt, the reigning and defending champion was accompanied to the ring by Neidhart, Smith, Furnas, and LaFon, but shortly after Anvil ate a stunner, those guys left and we got a short but explosive one-on-one encounter.

With the cruel Canadians showing their support for their countryman by yelling “break his neck! Break his neck!” Owen first got his ass whooped by Stone Cold but got a modicum of revenge outside the ring.

There, he choked Austin with a cable, and, when the referee threatened to disqualify him, Hart told him to go ahead and even rang the bell for him.

Of course, the official was having none of that, so it was back to the ring where Stone Cold regained the advantage and captured his second Intercontinental championship with an almighty stunner.

That wasn’t a long match. In fact, it was more of a short version of the main event brawls that would eventually become Austin’s trademark than an actual match, but the crowd and the competitors were both on fire and it made for compelling viewing
Your Winner and New WWF Intercontinental Champion: Owen Hart

Before a final look at Hart/Michaels, JR warned us that their match was going to be very personal and, I quote, “very stiff.”

World Wrestling Federation Championship
WWF Champion Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart vs. WWF European Champion Shawn Michaels

And so, five years after they first headlined a Survivor Series and began their journey to becoming bonafide main eventers, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels would meet one last time in a match that is still talked about today.

WWF / WWE - Survivor Series 1997 - Shawn Michaels puts Bret Hart in a sharpshooter



Adding an extra sense of suspense and drama to an already historic match, both HBK and The Hitman were filmed walking from their respective dressing rooms to the gorilla position with their allies in tow.

Michaels had HHH, Chyna, and Rick Rude with him while Bulldog and Anvil accompanied Hart.

Once both men were in the ring, they wasted no time in going at it, giving us a wild and out-of-control brawl into the stands and up the entranceway for a full solid ten minutes before the bell even rang.

The in-ring action was equally as enthralling, and though the spot where Michaels held Hart on the mat in a front face lock wasn’t the most exciting moment, it was an obvious call back to their Survivor Series ‘92 encounter.

Bret regained the advantage and began working over the European Champion’s legs, softening him up for the inevitable sharpshooter.

Of course, that move was applied, not by the man who had mastered it and made it so famous, but by Shawn himself.

A moment later, the call was made to “ring the f**king bell” and arguably the most controversial moment in WWF history occurred.

Ladies and gentlemen, we had all just witnessed The Montreal Screwjob.
Your Winner and New WWF Champion: Shawn Michaels

Post-match, the last live shot of Bret Hart on WWF programming for many years saw a bewildered and enraged Hitman spit in the face of chairman Vince McMahon while Michaels acted equally as surprised and annoyed as he grabbed the title and was rushed to the back by Triple H and Gerald Briscoe.

The camera followed him, zoomed in on the Survivor Series logo, and faded to black as Jim Ross wished us a good night.






Had the show not ended the way it did, Survivor Series 1997 would have probably gone down in history as a largely forgettable show, with only the main event, the IC title match, and arguably the Nation vs. Team Shamrock main event standing out as above average.

Yet that final call to “ring the f**king bell” and that lasting image of The Hitman grozzing right in Vince McMahon’s face would ensure that it didn’t really matter whether the show was any good or not.

Writing this review 25 years after the fact, it’s fair to say that it matters not one jot whether DOA vs. The Truth Commission sucked, or that the red lights in the Kane/Mankind match were distracting. It doesn’t even really matter that the Rock/Shamrock ending was a lot of fun.

All that matters is that Survivor Series ‘97 was an event that altered the course of history, serving as the catalyst for Vince McMahon’s groundbreaking heel turn, Bret Hart’s disappointing WCW run and sad end to his career in WCW and, with the then-new Intercontinental Champion Steve Austin at the helm, the dawning of the WWF’s hottest period of its existence.

Make no mistake about it. The World Wrestling Federation and, indeed, the entire landscape of professional wrestling would never be the same again.



Retro Pro Wrestling

New reviews of classic WWF/WWE events recalling every moment from Wrestlemania 1 - 30. You'll also find reviews of WCW, ECW, TNA and the occasional indie event, along with a look at old school magazines, merchandise and more.