Survivor Series (1997)

Survivor Series (1997)
Promotional poster
Tagline(s)	Gang Rulz
Information
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Sponsor(s)	Milton Bradley
Date	November 9, 1997
Attendance	20,593
Venue	Molson Centre
City	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Pay-per-view chronology
Badd Blood: In Your House Survivor Series (1997) D-Generation X: In Your House
Survivor Series chronology
Survivor Series (1996) Survivor Series (1997) Survivor Series (1998)

Survivor Series (1997) was the 11th annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It was the third consecutive Survivor Series presented by Milton Bradley's Karate Fighters, 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.

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.^[1] This incident became known as the Montreal Screwjob and marked Hart's last appearance on WWE programming until 2010. 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.

The undercard featured Stone Cold Steve Austin versus Owen Hart in a standard wrestling match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal), Ahmed Johnson and Ken Shamrock versus Nation of Domination (The Rock, Faarooq, Kama Mustafa and D'Lo Brown) in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match, Kane versus Mankind in a standard wrestling match, Team Canada (The British Bulldog, Jim Neidhart, Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon) versus Team USA (Vader, Goldust, Marc Mero and Steve Blackman) in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match, Truth Commission (The Jackyl, The Interrogator, Sniper, and Recon) versus Disciples of Apocalypse (Crush, Chainz, 8-Ball and Skull) in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match and New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) and The Godwinns (Henry and Phineas) versus The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) and The New Blackjacks (Blackjack Windham and Blackjack Bradshaw) in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match.^[2]

Background

Storylines

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 immediately after the incident and moved to World Championship Wrestling, 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.

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 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 itself at the following year's Survivor Series 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

Survivor Series elimination matches

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Other on-screen talent

References

Sources

• "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts". Wrestling’s Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 99. 
• hoffco-inc.com - Survivor Series '97 review
• 1997 Survivor Series Results

External links

• Official 1997 Survivor Series site