Survivor Series (1997)

Production

Background

Survivor Series is an annual gimmick pay-per-view (PPV), produced every November by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1987. In what has 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, SummerSlam, and Royal Rumble, and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs, along with King of the Ring. 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 11th event in the Survivor Series chronology, and was scheduled to be held on November 9, 1997, at the Molson Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

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.

The storyline feud between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels began after Michaels became the number one contender to the WWF Championship by defeating The Undertaker in the first Hell in a Cell match at Badd Blood: In Your House. On the following night's 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 countout after Michaels hit him with Sweet Chin Music while Hart was arguing with Helmsley's bodyguard Chyna.

Immediately after the Steve Austin vs. Owen Hart match and before the Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels match, a video package was aired featuring promos from Ahmed Johnson, The Undertaker, Bret Hart, Faarooq, Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels discussing their real-life athletic backgrounds and injuries suffered, ending with Bret Hart saying "Try lacing my boots," and finally with the first use of the "WWF Attitude" scratch logo displayed on the screen. In later re-airings of the video package, Hart's tagline was replaced by Austin (also saying "Try lacing my boots").

In the main event, Shawn Michaels defeated Bret Hart at 19:58 and became the new WWF Champion, after Michaels locked Hart into the sharpshooter. Even though Hart had not submitted, Michaels was declared the winner, as Earl Hebner, on direct orders from Vince McMahon, called for the bell.

Reception

In 2015, Kevin Pantoja of 411Mania gave the event a rating of 6.0 [Average], stating, "Shortly after the WWE Network launched, I watched this show, and disliked it. Looking at it now, it’s pretty good. The Survivor Series matches, except for the DOA one, are all relatively fun. It also gets the score bumped up a bit more due to the historical value here. The main event, while not classic, kind of has to be seen by any, and every wrestling fan."

Aftermath

The controversial ending surrounding Shawn Michaels defeating Bret Hart by submission, and winning the WWF Championship due to Vince McMahon ordering the referee Earl Hebner to ring the bell without Hart submitting became known as the Montreal Screwjob. Hart left the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) immediately after the incident and moved to World Championship Wrestling (WCW) over a month later, where he eventually became a two-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, a four-time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion and one half of the WCW World Tag Team Champions before retiring in 2000 due to a severe concussion. Hart would not make an on-screen return to the WWF (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE) until 2010, when he and Michaels called a truce and buried the hatchet on the Montreal Screwjob, while also having been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame four years prior.

After the Survivor Series, Shawn Michaels began his third reign as WWF Champion. He entered a feud with Ken Shamrock over the WWF 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 (DX) members Triple H and Chyna. Michaels would eventually lose the WWF Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin at WrestleMania XIV, before going on a four-year hiatus due to a back injury suffered during a casket match against The Undertaker at the 1998 Royal Rumble. Michaels would make his in-ring return at SummerSlam 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 an ambush 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. However, Austin would forfeit the title to The Rock the next night on Raw is War, with the sole intention of going after the WWF Championship, before hitting The Rock with a Stone Cold Stunner.

Vince McMahon's actions of screwing Bret Hart from the WWF Championship marked the beginning of the "Mr. McMahon" character, the tyrannical CEO of WWF. In 1998, McMahon began a legendary rivalry with Stone Cold Steve Austin.

The events of the Montreal Screwjob repeated itself at the following year's Survivor Series, albeit worked, 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

Other on-screen personnel

References

Sources

• hoffco-inc.com - Survivor Series '97 review (Archived)
• 1997 Survivor Series Results

References

1. (25 March 2020). "WWE Pay-Per-View Buys (1993-2015)". Wrestlenomics.
2. Ahmed, Zeeshan. (December 31, 2016). "WWF ATTIUDE ERA promo!!!(VERY FIRST)".
3. Ian Hamilton. ''Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition'' (p. 160)
4. (November 23, 2010). "The WWE Championship: A Look Back at the Rich History of the WWE Championship". [[Gallery Books]].
5. (November 9, 1997). "Survivor Series 1997 official results". [[World Wrestling Entertainment]].
6. "Live & Televised Entertainment of World Wrestling Entertainment". [[WWE.
7. "Full Event Results SURVIVOR SERIES 1997".
8. Pantoja, Kevin. (September 13, 2015). "Random Network Reviews: Survivor Series 1997". 411Mania.
9. Powell, John. (November 10, 1997). "Survivor Series screws the fans". Slam Wrestling.
10. (November 9, 1997). "WWE Championship Match: Shawn Michaels def. Bret "Hit Man" Hart to become new WWE Champion". [[WWE.