Mike Reviews WWF Survivor Series 1997

Happy Friday Everyone!

We end our journey into WWF pay per views from 1997 today (as I’ve already reviewed In Your House: DX) with Survivor Series 1997. We’ve got Kane Vs Mankind, Owen Hart Vs Stone Cold and Shawn Michaels Vs Bret Hart in a match that I’m guessing most of you will have heard of before

I don’t think we need much pre-amble for this one. It’s Survivor Series 1997. It’s Montreal. So strap in, cos stuff is gonna happen

You can view the full card for Survivor Series 1997 by clicking below;

WWF Survivor Series 1997 Card

Survivor Series is emanating from the Molson Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on the 9th of November 1997

Calling the action are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

The opening video package is really good, detailing all of the issues between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart, helping to make it feel like a real grudge match later on. Interestingly this was an example of a genuine “Heel Programme” although this one drew money and Bret is obviously going to cheered here in Canada

Our first botch of the evening is when we throw to the international announce teams and you can’t actually hear what they’re saying

Opening Match
Survivor Series Elimination 8 Man Tag Team Bout
The Godwinns (Henry and Phineas), Billy Gunn and The Road Dogg Vs The Head Bangers (Mosh and Thrasher) and The New Blackjacks (Bradshaw and Windham)

The Godwinns defeated The Bangers for the belts back at Badd Blood whilst Gunn and Dogg (not yet named as The New Age Outlaws, but on their way) had an issue with The Blackjacks, hence we get this match here at Survivor Series. Billy Gunn also smashed a Boom-Box over the head of Thrasher on an episode of television building to Survivor Series, cutting Thrasher open in the process. In a “I’m surprised they left that in on Netflix” moment; Road Dogg refers to the babyface team as “Steers and Q****s” during his pre-match promo and calls the Canadian fans “Yankee Ba$7ards” for good measure. Uncle Cletus (Dirty White Boy/Tony Anthony) seems to have already been removed from The Godwinns act here.

Windham and Bradshaw were big slugging Texans, which might have worked as a gimmick if they hadn’t saddled them with The Blackjack name because then they had to live up to the reputation of a famous previous act rather than being allowed to just do their own thing. There’s a lot of slugging between The Godwinns and Blackjacks to start, with the crowd not really caring but the fighting itself being acceptable “big dudes clubbing away on one another” stuff if you’re into that sort of thing. The first elimination comes completely OUTTA NOWHERE, as Bradshaw catches Henry into an abdominal stretch and then rolls back into a pinning hold for three, with the crowd giving a surprised pop for it at least.

Elimination #1
Henry Godwinn eliminated after 4 minutes – Abdominal Stretch Pinning Hold by Blackjack Bradshaw (1)

The slugging continues following that, as none of Road Dogg, Gunn or The Bangers have actually tagged into the match next. Phineas and Windham actually have a totally acceptable power brawl for a minute or so, with Phineas clotheslining Windham out of his boots to give us another innocuous Survivor Series three count, as transition moves can seemingly be enough to win in these kinds of matches.

Elimination #2
Blackjack Windham eliminated after 5 minutes – Clothesline from Phineas Godwinn (1)

We finally get to see The Bangers and Gunn/Dogg get legally involved in the match now, with Gunn drawing some genuine Heel heat from the crowd when he tags in. Honestly, hearing a reaction like that I can totally get why the WWF rolled the dice on the Gunn/Dogg duo. Sadly pretty much all of the heat Gunn was drawing there was viciously homophobic in nature, but wrestling fans were like that in 1997 unfortunately. Mosh tries a leaping bulldog out of the corner, but Gunn counters it into a facebuster and that’s enough for three.

Elimination #3
Head Banger Mosh eliminated after 9 minutes – Facebuster from Billy Gunn (1)

Thrasher works a wristlock and chews on Phineas’ fingers in the process, with Lawler making a good point on commentary that you probably don’t want to be putting Phineas’ fingers in your mouth. At the very least there’s probably pig filth under there. Phineas and Thrasher totally slow the pace of the match down by working some headlocks and doing arm drags, which is stuff you do in the shine not stuff you do when you’re halfway through the match. The crowd responds in kind, flattening out a bit after getting invested booing whilst Gunn was in there. Thrasher ends up knocking Phineas down and then comes off the top with the Stage Dive for three. Couldn’t they have had some quick paced back and forth fighting prior to that, rather than working holds like it was a house show match when you come straight back from the interval?

Elimination #4
Phineas Godwinn eliminated after 13 minutes – Stage Dive from Thrasher (1)

Road Dogg and Bradshaw do a bit, with Bradshaw mostly getting the better of it. Gunn distracts Bradshaw from the apron though and Road Dogg seemingly pins Bradshaw with a School Boy, although it looks like Bradshaw probably kicked out before three and everyone looks confused for a moment before Jack Doan sends Bradshaw on his way.

Elimination #5
Blackjack Bradshaw eliminated after 14 minutes – School Boy Roll-up from Road Dogg (1)

So Thrasher now has to fight Dogg and Gunn all by himself. It doesn’t last very long, as Thrasher fights his way out of the Pumphandle Slam and lands on top of Dogg. However, just before that happened, Gunn blind tagged himself in and comes flying off the top with a leg drop onto the back of Thrasher (although he really missed by a mile, and it was glaringly obvious) and that’s enough for three.

Elimination #6
Head Banger Thrasher eliminated after 15 minutes – Leg Drop off the top rope from Billy Gunn (2)

SURVIVORS: BILLY GUNN & ROAD DOGG
MOST ELIMINATIONS: BILLY GUNN (2)
RATING: *1/2

Thoughts: When the best part of your Survivor Series Elimination match is Barry Windham wrestling a Godwinn in 1997, then you know the match isn’t up to much. Gunn and Dogg drew some reasonable heat at least, but that’s about where the good parts of this one ended. For some reason Gunn and Dogg don’t get music when they win either. That’s either a botch or they just didn’t have music yet. Either way, it didn’t look good

Match Two
Survivor Series Elimination 8 Man Tag Team Bout
The Truth Commission (Jackyl, Recon, Sniper and The Interrogator) Vs The Disciples Of Apocalypse (8-Ball, Chainz, Crush and Skull)

GANG WARZZZZZZZZZZZ

The story here is that the WWF has a host of factions going at it, and these are two of them. TTC used to be apartheid styled South Africans but now they’re more of a generic evil solider cult with the addition of Jackyl (Don Callis) as their new leader and the actual South African member of the group being ousted for him. DOA are tough angry bikers led by Crush, and probably the only faction in the whole Gang Warz that the fans somewhat seemed to like/care about alongside The Nation of Domination. Interrogator would go on to be known as Kurrgan and would have a decent movie career once wrestling didn’t work out for him, getting to do battle with Robert Downey Jr in one of the better scenes of the Sherlock Holmes movie.

This match basically exists to get Interrogator over, as he’s the tank that none of DOA can deal with, which would have been a pretty effective way to push him if he could have even remotely backed it up in the ring. Chainz clotheslines Interrogator, but Interrogator shrugs it off and pins Chainz with a Side Slam.

Elimination #1
Chainz eliminated after 1 minute – Side Slam by The Interrogator (1)

Recon would go on to become Bull Buchanan, and he takes Skull down, which allows Jackyl to come in and taunt, only for him to take a Side Slam from Skull, as this match would appear to be the Dino Bravo tribute match. Well, we are in Montreal I guess.

Elimination #2
Jackyl eliminated after 3 minutes – Side Slam by Skull (1)

Jackyl joins the commentary desk, as he was doing that even back in 1997. The DOA actually get some cheers here, as Crush comes in and gets a pretty impressive looking belly to belly suplex on Recon at one stage. Jackyl actually does a good job on commentary stating that DOA are all very impressive tough guys, but they don’t have the brains to match his, which is a good way for Jackyl to put himself over without burying The DOA too much. Recon tries to land on his feet on an Skull back body drop and blows it pretty badly. That leads to 8-Ball coming in without a tag in an example of TWIN MAGIC, leading to 8-Ball giving Recon a clothesline for three.

Elimination #3
Recon eliminated after 5 minutes – Clothesline from 8-Ball (1)

We get a prototypical version of the H-Bomb onto Sniper, but Interrogator distracts the referee, so Sniper is able to avoid being pinned. Interrogator then clocks Skull from the apron and Sniper gets a bulldog for three.

Elimination #4
Skull eliminated after 7 minutes – Bulldog from Sniper (1)

Crush goes to a head scissors on a downed Sniper, which is apparently supposed to be a submission attempt, but that goes nowhere as this match continues to meander whenever it isn’t built around it’s primary focus on making Interrogator look big and scary. Interrogator gets a blind tag (how do you not see a guy THAT big getting a tag?!) and then gets the Side Slam on 8-Ball for three.

Elimination #5
8-Ball eliminated after 9 minutes – Side Slam from The Interrogator (2)

The crowd is basically comatose at this point after the orgy of Side Slam’s they’ve been forced to endure. Crush thankfully busts out a different kind of move with a powerslam onto Sniper (although I think it was supposed to be a Tilt-a-Whirl Backbreaker that went awry and they covered for it) and that’s enough for Crush to pin Sniper. However, Interrogator then sneaks up on Crush with YET ANOTHER Side Slam and that’s another three count to bring this craptastic bout to a conclusion.

Elimination #6
Sniper eliminated after 10 minutes – Powerslam from Crush (1)

Elimination #7
Crush eliminated after 10 minutes -Side Slam from The Interrogator (3)

I mean, couldn’t they have at least showed Kurrgan a couple of extra moves to do so he didn’t have to pin everyone with a Side Slam? Couldn’t he have done a Big Boot for instance? Or a Choke Slam? Also, I find it hilarious that a 7 foot monster like Kurrgan could just sneak up on Crush without Crush realising.

SOLE SURVIVOR: INTERROGATOR
MOST ELIMINATIONS: INTERROGATOR (3)
RATING: 1/2*

Thoughts: They had plan here, and I guess they executed it properly, but the crowd didn’t care about it and it involved pushing someone who wasn’t ready who could only do one move. Still, at least they were trying to get someone new over I guess

We get a vox-pop where fans are asked who they think will win, and some of them actually want Shawn Michaels win. Wrestling fans are notoriously contrarian of course…

Stone Cold Steve Austin is answering questions on the WWF Superstar Line on AOL and is as bullish as ever. Kevin Kelly going through all the hoops you have to jump through just to find the bloody chatroom is something that younger readers who have grown up with search engines probably couldn’t even comprehend

We see footage of Steve Blackman coming out of the crowd and getting arrested on the previous edition of Raw, leading to Vader apparently bailing him out

Michael Cole interviews Team USA (Vader, Steve Blackman, Goldust and Marc Mero) w/ Sable. Vader does most of the talking, and it’s a bit of a car crash at the start but he eventually manages to get it together and brings it home reasonably well enough. Blackman simply says that a fight is a fight and he’s ready to go. Not a terrible interview segment but it wasn’t great either

Match Three
Survivor Series Elimination 8 Man Tag Team Bout
Team Canada (Doug Furnas, Phil LaFon, Jim Neidhart and The British Bulldog) Vs Team USA (Goldust, Marc Mero, Steve Blackman and Vader) w/ Sable

Team Canada of course only has one actual Canadian on it in the form of LaFon, but 25% of the team is British at least so they’ve got that going for them. Steve Blackman had come out of the crowd the week before this to help Team USA and re-debut in the wrestling world after spending many years out of the business due to a debilitating case of Malaria. I’m actually surprised that the WWF got away with using the term Team USA here as I believe the US Olympic Team owns that trademark and is very strict on who gets to use it and where. Team USA actually enters to The Patriot’s theme here, which would then go on to become Sgt. Slaughter’s theme and eventually Kurt Angle’s them as well. Goldust has “FU” on his cheeks, which isn’t a tribute to John Cena but rather stands for “Forever Unchained” as Goldust was in the midst of a Heel turn at the time and had recently dumped Marlena on-screen.

Bulldog is essentially working this one as a total babyface, causing the roof to blow off the building with an impressive hanging vertical suplex onto Vader at one stage. LaFon and Mero do a decent bit together, with the crowd actually being into it due to the Canada Vs USA dynamic going on. It’s nice to see LaFon get to do some wrestling on a WWF show and actually get a decent reaction for it. LaFon also does a decent bit with Blackman as well, with Blackman looking good in his WWF pay per view debut. Blackman’s supposed inexperience costs him though, as he brawls outside the ring with Neidhart and gets himself counted out because he’s not familiar with the rules.

Elimination #1
Steve Blackman eliminated after 6 minutes – Count Out

Neidhart and Mero actually have an okay bit together as well, as this is the first Survivor Series Match of the show where they actually seem to have an idea on how to make it entertaining, as they’ve kept the pace up and have mixed up who wrestles one another rather than just having two guys wrestle a normal match in lower gear with rest holds. Vader comes in so we can have a HOSS BATTEL between Neidhart and The Mastodon, which is reasonably entertaining and ends with Vader splashing Neidhart for three.

Elimination #2
Jim Neidhart eliminated after 8 minutes – Splash from Vader (1)

LaFon continues to be the star of this one thus far, as he sends Vader to the floor with a Spinning Wheel Kick. However, his run in the match comes to an end when Vader gets a belly to belly Suplex and then follows with a Splash off the second rope for another three count.

Elimination #3
Phil LaFon eliminated after 9 minutes – Second Rope Splash from Vader (2)

Boo for removing the most entertaining wrestler in the match thus far, but they’re doing a good with making Vader look like a tough guy at least. Furnas and Mero try something where Mero goes for a Moonsault Press off the top rope with the idea seemingly being for Furnas to catch Mero and turn it into a move of some kind, but Furnas times it completely wrong and Mero lands right on top of Furnas in a painful looking landing. Bulldog comes in following that, continuing to be hugely over with crowd, and he slams Mero into the corner ten times, with Mero selling it brilliantly like he’s punch drunk. Mero fights back though and tries it again with Furnas, with it being a bit better this time and ending with Furnas getting a tights assisted pin on Mero for three.

Elimination #4
Marc Mero eliminated after 12 minutes – Tights Assisted Pinning Hold from Doug Furnas (1)

So now Vader and Goldust have to carry the hopes of the USA, with Goldust standing on the apron and looking barely interested. Goldust does have a cast on his left arm though, which might be a shoot injury and that’s why he hasn’t tagged in yet. I could see the WWF being so desperate with their depleted roster in a wrestling war to get a guy with a broken arm just to stand on apron and do nothing. Goldust keeps refusing to tag in, as we get another impressive display of strength from Team Canada as Furnas suplexes Vader before following up with the Frankensteiner for two. They’re letting Furnas and LaFon look like actual wrestlers here at Survivor Series at least. Vader eventually tags Goldust in and that leads to Goldust walking out rather than wrestling.

Elimination #5
Goldust eliminated after 17 minutes – Count Out

So Vader now has to go it alone, as the crowd is less into this now that Vader has to be the gutsy babyface fighting the odds seeing as they want the Canadians to win. Vader manages to pin Furnas with the Vader Bomb, but whilst the referee is focusing on getting Furnas out of the ring now that he’s been pinned, it allows Bulldog to clock Vader with the ring bell and get the three count when the referee turns around.

Elimination #6
Doug Furnas eliminated after 18 minutes – Vader Bomb from Vader (3)

Elimination #7
Vader eliminated after 18 minutes – ring bell shot from British Bulldog (1)

SOLE SURVIVOR: BRITISH BULLDOG
MOST ELIMINATIONS: VADER (3)
RATING: **1/2

Thoughts: This started out good and kind of lost it’s way in the second half due to them trying to portray Vader as a sympathetic figure who got let down by Goldust, but the crowd didn’t want the American’s to win so they were left cold by that storytelling. Honestly they should have stuck with the formula of the USA being the Heels for the night and just working it like that rather than going for the heat finish of Vader getting screwed. This was the first match on Survivor Series 1997 to finally approach the realm of “good” though, so I’ll take what I can get

Max Mini is supposedly flying the Karate Fighters blimp, which leads to the winner of the Milton Bradley Super Supper Sweepstakes, Jacqueline Cook from Columbia, South Carolina, calling to say that she’ll be picking Stone Cold to have dinner with, which causes Jerry Lawler to get offended. She’s probably too old for you anyway Jerry

Mankind cuts a good promo backstage, saying he’s not wrestling a man but a brick wall tonight in the form of Kane. Mankind says that his plan is to take out Kane long enough for Mankind to be able to get revenge on Paul Bearer for discarding him as a client. This was excellent from Mankind and actually made you think like he might have a chance against the new monster in town

Match Four
Kane w/ Paul Bearer Vs Mankind

Kane debuted back at Badd Blood and this is his first pay per view singles match, with Mick Foley getting drafted in to make Kane look good, which is a skill Foley is very good at. This was all part of an ongoing storyline where Kane was trying to get Undertaker to face him in a match by destroying people until Undertaker finally agreed. Vince Russo apparently wanted Undertaker to Choke Slam Kane through a table the night after Badd Blood according to Jim Cornette, which would have derailed that storyline somewhat and thankfully he didn’t get his way if that was what he actually wanted to do. Unfortunately they were insisting on having Kane wrestle with a red light shining over the ring during this timeframe, which is pretty distracting. Thankfully they’d drop that aspect soon but it didn’t stop them trying again with Sin Cara and Bray Wyatt later on.

Mankind tries to brawl to start, but Kane no sells it and shoves Mankind into the ring steps a couple of times, although we don’t get a good look at it due to it being so dark at ringside thanks to the red lights. Kane takes most of the match here, with Mankind mostly selling and taking punishment. It’s an effective way both to make Kane look like a scary monster whilst also making Mankind look like a gutsy and resilient babyface character. It works for the crowd as well, as they are into Mankind whenever he gets a chance to try and fight back, including when Mankind hits Kane with a chair at one stage whilst the referee argues with Bearer. Mankind knocks Kane down with a Piledriver and goes after Bearer as promised, locking in the Mandible Claw. However, this allows Kane to sit up and knock Mankind off the ring apron through the Spanish announce table.

Mankind actually still manages to mount a bit of a comeback even following THAT, as Mankind kicks Kane right in the Jacobs’ and follows up with a DDT on the floor, drawing a faint “EC-DUB” chant in the process from pockets of the crowd. Mankind follows up with an Elbow Drop off the apron, but Kane sits up from that and slams Mankind from the top rope down to the floor. Mankind bravely drags himself back into the ring, but he doesn’t really have much else to offer following that and Kane delivers the Tombstone Piledriver for the three count after about 9 minutes.

WINNER: KANE
RATING: ***

Thoughts: This was a good way to debut Kane in an official pay per view match, as he absorbed everything that Mankind threw at him and then picked up a clean win. A lot of credit has to go to Mick Foley for taking so much punishment in order to make Kane look good. Mankind was one of Undertaker’s toughest opponents in the past 18 months prior to this, defeating Taker on pay per view twice and even burying him alive at one stage. Having Kane walk in and essentially brush Mankind aside like this would be like having a new enemy show up for Batman and having that villain defeat someone like Bane without really breaking a sweat. You’d instantly know that they were to be feared and that Batman was going to be in trouble whenever he finally came up against them. It’s a very effective storytelling tool and they nailed the presentation of it here

Want a WWF dog tag? Well then send in your cable bill!

Michael Cole interviews Commissioner Slaughter and Vince McMahon, who stress that they’ve got extra security tonight to ensure that the Main Event goes ahead. Cole actually refers to Vince as “Vince” which would of course change soon when Vince pivoted to being “Mr. McMahon” and peons like Cole wouldn’t dare call him anything else

Match Five
Survivor Series Elimination 8 Man Tag Team Bout
The Nation Of Domination (D-Lo Brown, Faarooq, Kama Mustafa and The Rock) Vs Ahmed Johnson, Ken Shamrock and WWF Tag Team Champions The Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal)

This was the beginning of Shamrock’s long feud with The Nation that would spill well into 1998. Ahmed was in The Nation but got kicked out and replaced by The Rock, so he’s looking for payback here. Jerry Lawler actually references the real life fight between Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart that he got caught in the middle of on commentary here. Apparently Lawler was in the middle of using the toilet and had to rush out of the stall in order to try and prise Bret off of Shawn, which led to Bret tearing off some of Shawn’s hair. The Roadies lost to The Nation in a handicap match back at Badd Blood, so they’ve got some motivation to go after The Nation here as well. Shamrock gets a pretty great reaction here, which wouldn’t last by the time the WWF came back to Canada for a pay per view at Breakdown 1998. The Roadies don’t have their signature shoulder pads here, which I believe was down to Billy Gunn and The Road Dogg nicking them in order to set up a feud between the two teams.

Hawk quickly no sells a Piledriver from Brown, causing Brown to flee and tag in Rock. Mustafa cheap shots Hawk from the outside of the ring following that though, which allows Rock to pin Hawk with the Rock Bottom in a shockingly short night for Hawk.

Elimination #1
Hawk eliminated after 2 minutes – Rock Bottom by The Rock (1)

Faarooq and Ahmed of course do a bit together, as their eternal feud was seemingly never going to end and they’d been at it for over a year prior to Survivor Series 1997. The Nation quadruple up on Ahmed at points, but Ahmed escapes The Dominator and delivers the Pearl River Plunge to pin Faarooq.

Elimination #2
Faarooq eliminated after 5 minutes – Pear River Plunge from Ahmed Johnson (1)

Brown cheap shots Ahmed following that and actually comes off the top rope with a Frogsplash, but Brown stops to taunt and that allows Ahmed to Hulk Up and nearly end Brown’s existence with a Gourd Buster. Rock tags in following that, leading to Ahmed and Rock messing up a Spine Buster attempt somehow. They just keep going after that though, leading to Ahmed hitting the ropes and getting tripped up by Faarooq so that Rock can pin Ahmed whilst Faarooq holds Ahmed’s leg down.

Elimination #3
Ahmed Johnson eliminated after 6 minutes – Faarooq assisted pin from The Rock (2)

Ahmed looked totally checked out for all of that and he’d be gone by February 1998. Rock and Shamrock get do to a brief bit following Ahmed’s elimination, and their decent chemistry is already on display. Shamrock gets cut off pretty quickly though, which feels like a mistake as the crowd is clearly into him and a more sustained period of offence might have been a better idea there. Animal comes in soon after, so that we can get a power match between Animal and Mustafa. This one is being fought at a bit of a slower pace now and it’s caused the momentum to halt a bit, like was happening in the first two Survivor Series Elimination bouts. The audio goes all weird for a bit, leading to Kevin Dunn getting mentioned by name on the air by Lawler. Mustafa clubs away on Animal but stops to taunt, and that leads to Animal dropkicking Mustafa into Rock and then rolling Mustafa up for three.

Elimination #4
Kama Mustafa eliminated after 11 minutes – School Boy Roll-up from Animal (1)

So now we’ve got a standard tag match, with The Nation attacking Shamrock’s octagon in order to cut him off, with Rock just straight up rearing back and punching Shamrock low at one stage whilst the referee is arguing with Animal. Shamrock sells reasonably well whilst getting worked over, which was impressive considering that he’d only briefly been a pro wrestler before beginning his MMA career so he was still pretty green at this stage all things considered. Brown misses a second rope Moonsault and that leads to Animal making the comeback and looking good. However, Billy Gunn and Road Dogg come down to distract Animal and that leads to Animal having powder thrown in his face by Dogg whilst the referee argues with the guys in the ring, meaning that Animal gets counted out.

Elimination #5
Animal eliminated after 15 minutes – Count Out

So Shamrock is now at a 1 on 2 disadvantage, with the crowd getting into the story being told and cheering when Shamrock fights back and makes Brown tap out in the Ankle Lock.

Elimination #6
D-Lo Brown eliminated after 17 minutes – Ankle Lock from Ken Shamrock (1)

Brown feigns a broken ankle following that, which distracts the referees and allows Rock to sneak in with a chair shot to Shamrock. Shamrock somehow kicks out of that at two though, which causes Rock to do a great freak out and the crowd to react with surprise that Shamrock survived it. We get a quick Rock Vs Shamrock match following that near fall, and it’s a good one, as matches between them usually were. Rock gets another near fall with a Swinging DDT, but Shamrock keeps coming and the crowd continues to cheer for him. Rock delivers the People’s Elbow, back before it was either over or a finisher, and Shamrock manages to kick out once again before making the comeback. Rock ends up caught in the Ankle Lock and taps out to make Shamrock the survivor.

Elimination #7
The Rock eliminated after 21 minutes – Ankle Lock from Ken Shamrock (2)

SOLE SURVIVOR: KEN SHAMROCK
MOST ELIMINATIONS: THE ROCK & KEN SHAMROCK (2 EACH)
RATING: **1/2

Thoughts: This one was a bit hit and miss, but it picked up once it came down to Brown and Rock Vs Animal and Shamrock, with the Rock Vs Shamrock singles match at the end being executed well and doing a solid job of getting Shamrock over in a way that didn’t hurt Rock because Rock had already eliminated two people and was good in the role of an arrogant Heel getting his comeuppance. What was smart about this as well is that in all of the previous Survivor Series Elimination matches on this show, the wrestler who was at the 1 Vs 2 disadvantage in their match (Thrasher, Crush and Vader) all went on to lose, whilst Shamrock was the first one to actually overcome the odds and win, making his achievement seem all the more impressive because three people had already failed earlier in the night

D-Generation X is on pay per view next month, and it’s a honker

We get a video package to hype up the next match, and it succeeds in making the bout feel like a big deal

Co-Main
WWF Intercontinental Title
Champ: Owen Hart w/ Doug Furnas, Jim Neidhart, Philip LaFon and The British Bulldog Vs Stone Cold Steve Austin

Owen dropped Austin on his head back at SummerSlam so Austin is now looking for revenge. Austin helped Owen win the IC Title back at Badd Blood with the sole purpose of making it so that Austin could take the belt from Owen here at Survivor Series. Austin is of course the Heel here being that the match is in Canada, although following this show the Canadian fans would essentially embrace Austin as a babyface again, especially when he started opposing Vince McMahon. We get one of the rare instances of Stone Cold breaking his way through a glass wall in the entrance way, which I think the WWF only did 3 or 4 times in total. I can think of this show, WrestleMania 13 and SummerSlam 1998 off the top of my head but there might be a fourth example I’m blanking on. They actually included it in the WWF Attitude game if you used the Raw entrance way (we’ll ignore that I don’t think Stone Cold ever did that entrance on Raw).

Austin’s neck was still pretty bad at this point, so they can’t really do a proper match between the two, which is a shame because their match at SummerSlam 1997 was great prior to the botched Piledriver and we never got to see them work together in a proper singles match following that as Austin didn’t trust Owen anymore and then Owen died before they could mend fences and work again. They are careful here to work this in a way that Austin doesn’t need to take any flat back bumps or land on his neck in any real serious way. The crowd chants for Owen to break Austin’s neck to start and cheer loudly when Owen tries a Piledriver at one stage, which is wild to see and listen to. The match is decent enough for what it is considering Austin’s limitations, with the crowd at least being into it. It’s just clear watching this that Austin really shouldn’t be wrestling here, but there was a wrestling war going on and the WWF needed him in the ring, especially with Bret Hart leaving the promotion, so he’s in the ring. Austin manages to fight off another Owen Piledriver attempt and gets the Stunner for three after 4 minutes.

WINNER AND NEW CHAMPION: STONE COLD
RATING: *1/2

Thoughts: Austin actually gets a pop once he wins, because I think deep down the Canadian fans knew where the WWF’s bread was buttered and that Stone Cold was the future. The match itself wasn’t good and really shouldn’t have happened, but they made it work to some degree

Doug Furnas and Phil LaFon take Stunners post match as well

We get the WWF Attitude video, with Bret Hart included, proving that Bret was indeed involved in the Attitude Era, despite what some say

Main Event
WWF Title
Champ: Bret Hart Vs Shawn Michaels

I’ve reviewed this one before; so let’s make no money for old rope and re-use it here;

You might have possibly heard of this one. For those not au fait, Bret Hart had given notice to the WWF whilst still the Champ and was WCW bound. Logic dictated that he’d drop the belt here due to it being essentially the last big show he’d work for the company (I think he was contracted up until December’s pay per view, but by then WCW would have likely already announced the signing), but he didn’t want to lose in Canada due to seeing himself as a Canadian Hero and he especially didn’t want to lose to Shawn Michaels because he didn’t like the fact Shawn had previously stated he wouldn’t do jobs for anyone. Vince McMahon feared that if WCW announced that they had poached his Champ then it would do serious PR damage to the company, so he put a real life plan in place to get it back. Hence he told Bret the match would end in a DQ and that the Title issue would get sorted at a later date, but that wasn’t how things were to turn out.

Shawn was all about being a Heel jerk during this period, and he makes sure to ingratiate himself with the Canadian crowd by humping the Canadian flag right in the middle of the ring. I’d think that would probably cross a line as to what is acceptable, even on a wrestling show, but this is the same company that brought us Ultimate Warrior quote literally ripping up the Iraqi flag and trying to shove it down Sgt. Slaughter’s throat, so you know. One interesting aspect of this show is that they have a French speaking ring announcer due to it being in Montreal, which is the sort of thing you never get in the more anodyne WWE of today where every show needs to look exactly the same as the last one (In defence of WWE, in the five years since I reviewed this one they’ve actually gotten better with that stuff and will use more interesting set-ups for some of the shows these days). Bret is of course hugely over amongst his fellow Canadians, getting a great reaction for his entrance.

The cut of the show on the WWE Network is one that omits “WWF”, which makes me think they just copied and pasted it from one of those anthology sets that they released before settling things with the panda shaggers. This match is a wild brawl to start, with both men brawling all over ringside and even into the crowd at one stage. It’s actually really good action and delivers what you’d want from the hate filled rivalry this had been promoted as being. This also gives an excuse for a gaggle of refs, Sgt Slaughter and Vince McMahon to come down to ringside, which will prove to be important later on.

After a really fantastic bit of brawling, we make it back to the ring where Shawn chokes Bret with the flag of Quebec before working some heat. Shawn really was a heat magnet during this period, as there are people on the front row challenging him to a fight, so he heads outside so he can beat Bret up right in front of them just so he can make them even angrier. That’s outstanding heeling I must say. This match really is great, it has the sort of intensity that matches today so rarely have, and it’s not like they’ve done anything really other than brawling and heat spots either, because they haven’t had to. Less can truly be more sometimes.

Bret eventually fights back by going after Shawn’s legs, getting the ring post figure four to a big pop from the crowd. Shawn sells that exceptionally, with the referee finally being able to prise Bret off. A standard figure four follows back inside, with Shawn again selling it fantastically. Say what you want about Shawn for what comes next, but his actual performance in this match has been top notch. Bret has been good too, showing a real mean streak and looking as believable as always. This is possibly my second favourite match I’ve seen from these two outside of the Smack Em’ Whack Em’ tape.

However, all good things must come to an end and thus does this match, as Shawn puts Bret in a Sharpshooter, ostensibly to allow Bret to counter it to one of his own and lead leading to a run-in for the agreed DQ finish (and indeed, we saw that very same counter at the Ground Zero and Badd Blood pay per views, almost as if the WWF was priming people to expect it here). Before Bret can execute the counter however, referee Earl Hebner calls for the bell as if Bret tapped out, and Vince aggressively orders the timekeeper to ring the bell also after about 12 minutes official match time (there was plenty of fighting prior to that). Thus Shawn is declared the “winner” and is handed the belt, whilst Bret looks on perplexed. They quickly end the show before we get to see any of the post-match where Bret destroys the ringside area and mimes “W-C-W” with his hand.

WINNER AND NEW CHAMPION: SHAWN MICHAELS
RATING: ***3/4

Thoughts: This was a great brawl, and in another time and place where they could have done a clean non-screw job finish it might have even been a MOTYC for the WWF in 1997. As it was, this would be Bret’s last match in WWE until 2010, and it laid the groundwork for Vince to become the evil Mr. McMahon character, thus giving hot babyface act Stone Cold his main foil and leading to the WWF fighting their way back to the top spot in North American wrestling. Its weird how things work out sometimes isn’t it?

In Conclusion:

The Main Event of Survivor Series 1997 isn’t just memorable for the controversial ending, but it’s also a really good match as well. It’s the only match you can really say that about on Survivor Series 1997 in all honesty.

Kane Vs Mankind is good, and two of the Survivor Series Elimination bouts are okay, but aside from that there’s not a lot to see here. I think some people at the time thought that the WWF was done following the ending of the show and the general below-average quality of the event itself, but of course the company would bounce back massively from it once they started leaning into Vince McMahon as the top Heel and WrestleMania XIV four months later ended up being a gigantic success.

Overall I can’t recommend Survivor Series 1997 as a whole, but if you’ve only heard the story of the Main Event and never actually watched it, then it’s worth doing so because it’s a very good match indeed before it goes off the rails at the end.