Survivor Series (1997)

Survivor Series was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and presented by Milton Bradley's Karate Fighters. It was the eleventh annual Survivor Series event and took place on November 9, 1997, at the Molson Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The tagline "Gang Rulz" refers to the various wrestling stables that feuded with each other coming to this event. Seven matches were contested on the event's card. The undercard featured Stone Cold Steve Austin versus Owen Hart in a standard wrestling match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, Kane versus Mankind and 4 four-on-four elimination tag team matches.[1]

Survivor Series
Promotional poster featuring silhouettes of The New Hart Foundation
PromotionWorld Wrestling Federation
DateNovember 9, 1997
CityMontreal, Quebec, Canada
VenueMolson Centre
Attendance20,593
Tagline(s)Gang Rulz
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous
Badd Blood: In Your House		 Next →
D-Generation X: In Your House
Survivor Series chronology
← Previous
1996		 Next →
1998

The main event was a standard wrestling match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship, in which Bret Hart defended the title against Shawn Michaels. It would be the last of three WWF World Heavyweight Championship matches between the two, who had previously headlined the 1992 Survivor Series and WrestleMania XII together. Michaels won the title in controversial fashion when Vince McMahon ordered match referee Earl Hebner to end the match as Michaels held Hart in Hart's own finishing maneuver, the Sharpshooter, even though Hart had not submitted.[2] This incident became known as the Montreal Screwjob and marked Hart's last appearance on WWE programming until 2006. This was also the last time that Hart held a title in WWE until May 2010, and the last time he headlined a WWE pay-per-view until SummerSlam 2010.

Production

Background

Survivor Series is an annual gimmick pay-per-view, produced every November by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1987. In what has since become the second longest running pay-per-view event in history (behind WWE's WrestleMania), it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and SummerSlam, dubbed the "Big Four".[3] The event is traditionally characterized by having Survivor Series matches, which are tag team elimination matches that typically pits teams of four or five wrestlers against each other. The 1997 event was the eleventh event in the Survivor Series chronology and included four 4-on-4 Survivor Series matches.

Storylines

Survivor Series consisted of professional wrestling matches involving wrestlers from pre-existing feuds and storylines that played out on Raw is War — WWF's primary television program. Wrestlers portrayed a hero or a villain as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[4]

The Storyline feud between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels began after Michaels became the number one contender to the WWF World Heavyweight Championship by defeating The Undertaker in the first ever Hell in a Cell match at Badd Blood: In Your House. On the following nights episode of Raw is War, while Michaels, alongside his friend Hunter Hearst Helmsley were blurting out insults to Vince McMahon by the announce table, Hart alongside members of The Hart Foundation appeared with Hart calling Michaels nothing more than a degenerate before challenging Triple H to a match later that night. Hart later lost to Helmsley by count out after Michaels hit him with Sweet Chin Music while he was blocking an attack by Helmsley's bodyguard Chyna.

Aftermath

The controversial ending surrounding Shawn Michaels defeating Bret Hart by submission and winning the WWF World Heavyweight Championship due to Vince McMahon ordering the referee Earl Hebner to ring the bell without Hart submitting would become known as the Montreal Screwjob. Hart left the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) immediately after the incident and moved to World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where during his tenure, he would become a 2-time World Heavyweight Champion, a 4-time United States Heavyweight Champion and a 1-time Tag Team Champion before retiring in 2000 after suffering a severe concussion. Hart would not appear in WWF (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE) until 2010 when he and Michaels finally called a truce and buried the hatchet on the Montreal Screwjob, having been inducted to the WWE Hall of Fame four years prior.

After Survivor Series, Shawn Michaels began his third reign as WWF World Heavyweight Champion. He entered a feud with Ken Shamrock over the WWF World Heavyweight Championship which culminated at D-Generation X: In Your House where Michaels retained the title after Shamrock won by disqualification after being attacked by D-Generation X members Triple H and Chyna. Michaels would lose the WWF World Heavyweight Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIV before being forced into a four-year retirement after suffering a serious back injury during a casket match against The Undertaker at the 1998 Royal Rumble. Michaels would not recover and wrestle again until 2002.

After winning the Intercontinental Championship, Stone Cold Steve Austin entered into a feud with The Rock over the title after The Rock stole Austin's title belt after a beat down from The Nation of Domination on the November 17 episode of Raw is War. Austin retained the Intercontinental Championship and regained the belt by defeating The Rock at D-Generation X: In Your House. Austin forfeited the title to The Rock the next night on Raw is War with the sole intention of going after the WWF World Heavyweight Championship before hitting The Rock with a Stone Cold Stunner.

Vince McMahon's actions of screwing Bret Hart from the WWF World Heavyweight Championship marked the beginning of the Mr. McMahon character, the tyrannical CEO of WWF. By 1998, McMahon would begin a legendary rivalry with Stone Cold Steve Austin.

The events of the Montreal Screwjob would repeat at the following year's Survivor Series, albeit as part of a work, when The Rock locked Mankind in the Sharpshooter before Mr. McMahon ordered the referee to call for the bell, "screwing" Mankind and awarding the then-vacant WWF Championship to The Rock.

Results
No. Results Stipulations Times[5]
1 The Godwinns (Henry O. Godwinn and Phineas I. Godwinn) and The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) defeated The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) and The New Blackjacks (Blackjack Bradshaw and Blackjack Windham) 4-on-4 Survivor Series elimination match1 15:25
2 The Truth Commission (The Interrogator, The Jackyl, Recon and Sniper) defeated The Disciples of Apocalypse (8-Ball, Chainz, Crush and Skull) 4-on-4 Survivor Series elimination match2 9:59
3 Team Canada (The British Bulldog, Doug Furnas, Jim Neidhart and Phil Lafon) defeated Team USA (Goldust, Marc Mero, Steve Blackman and Vader) (with Sable) 4-on-4 Survivor Series elimination match3 17:05
4 Kane (with Paul Bearer) defeated Mankind Singles match 9:27
5 Ken Shamrock, Ahmed Johnson and The Legion of Doom (Animal and Hawk) defeated The Nation of Domination (Faarooq, D'Lo Brown, Kama Mustafa and Rocky Maivia) 4-on-4 Survivor Series elimination match4 20:28
6 Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Owen Hart (c) (with The British Bulldog, Doug Furnas, Jim Neidhart and Phil Lafon) Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship 4:03
7 Shawn Michaels defeated Bret Hart (c) by submission Singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship 12:19
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

Survivor Series elimination matches

^1

Eliminated Wrestler Eliminated by Method Time[5]
1 Henry O. Godwinn Bradshaw Pinfall 3:52
2 Barry Windham Phineas I. Godwinn Pinfall 5:14
3 Mosh Billy Gunn Pinfall 8:42
4 Phineas I. Godwinn Thrasher Pinfall 12:38
5 Bradshaw Road Dogg Pinfall 13:44
6 Thrasher Billy Gunn Pinfall 15:25
Survivor(s): The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg & Billy Gunn)

^2

Eliminated Wrestler Eliminated by Method Time[5]
1 Chainz The Interrogator Pinfall 1:18
2 The Jackyl 8-Ball Pinfall 2:50
3 Recon Skull Pinfall 5:18
4 Skull Sniper Pinfall 6:30
5 8-Ball The Interrogator Pinfall 8:50
6 Sniper Crush Pinfall 9:46
7 Crush The Interrogator Pinfall 9:59
Survivor(s): The Interrogator

^3

Eliminated Wrestler Eliminated by Method Time[5]
1 Steve Blackman N/A Countout 5:16
2 Jim Neidhart Vader Pinfall 6:53
3 Phil Lafon Vader Pinfall 8:28
4 Marc Mero Doug Furnas Pinfall 11:18
5 Goldust N/A Countout 16:26
6 Doug Furnas Vader Pinfall 16:54
7 Vader The British Bulldog Pinfall 17:05
Survivor(s): The British Bulldog

^4

Eliminated Wrestler Eliminated by Method Time[5]
1 Hawk Rocky Maivia Pinfall 2:09
2 Faarooq Ahmed Johnson Pinfall 4:53
3 Ahmed Johnson Rocky Maivia Pinfall 6:09
4 Kama Mustafa Animal Pinfall 10:44
5 Animal N/A Countout 14:12
6 D'Lo Brown Ken Shamrock Submission 16:54
7 Rocky Maivia Ken Shamrock Submission 20:28
Survivor(s): Ken Shamrock

Other on-screen personnel
English Commentators
Spanish Commentators
French Commentators
Other
Ring announcer
  • Albert DeFrusia
Referees
Interviewers

See also

References
  1. "Survivor Series 1997 official results". World Wrestling Entertainment. November 9, 1997. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  2. "WWE Championship Match: Shawn Michaels def. Bret "Hit Man" Hart to become new WWE Champion". World Wrestling Entertainment. November 9, 1997. Retrieved 2011-01-04.
  3. Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160)
  4. "Live & Televised Entertainment of World Wrestling Entertainment". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-12-05.
  5. Powell, John (November 10, 1997). "Survivor Series screws the fans". Slam! Sports. Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved October 27, 2012.

Sources
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