 | This articleis missing information about the event of WWF One Night Only. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on thetalk page.(September 2021) |
| WWF One Night Only | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster featuring various WWF wrestlers | |||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Federation | ||
| Date | September 20, 1997 | ||
| City | Birmingham, England | ||
| Venue | NEC Arena | ||
| Attendance | 11,000[1] | ||
| Buy rate | 20,000[2] | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
| |||
WWF One Night Only was aprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced by theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), and aired exclusively inCanada, and theUnited Kingdom. It took place on September 20, 1997, at theNEC Arena inBirmingham, England. The event featured eight matches, with two main events. In the first main event,The Undertaker challengedBret Hart for theWWF Championship, where Hart retained. In the second main event match, which closed the show,Shawn Michaels defeatedThe British Bulldog to win theWWF European Championship.
In 1997, theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) scheduled a United Kingdompay-per-view titled One Night Only. It took place on September 20, 1997, at theNEC Arena inBirmingham, England, and was a one-off event.[1] It aired exclusively inCanada, and theUnited Kingdom, where the live show aired exclusively onSky Box Office and the show was heavily promoted.
One Night Only featuredprofessional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scriptedfeuds,plots, andstorylines that were played out onRaw Is War, and other World Wrestling Federation (WWF) television programs. Wrestlers portrayed avillain or ahero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches.[3]
The event featured eight matches, with two main events. In the first main event, The Undertaker challengedBret Hart for theWWF Championship in a rematch from the previous month'sSummerSlam event, where the Undertaker had lost the title from interference fromspecial guest refereeShawn Michaels. This bout was not featured on the promotional poster for the event, which Hart resented, and attributed to the backstage politics ofShawn Michaels, andHunter Hearst Helmsley; he said The Undertaker was similarly bemused by the omission[4] (the match was also inexplicably removed from the North American VHS release, but included on the British VHS release, and the later DVD release on both sides of the Atlantic). To close the show, Michaels challengedThe British Bulldog for theWWF European Championship, as part of his ongoing feud withThe Hart Foundation. TheWWF Tag Team Championship was also defended on the card, withLos Boricuas membersSavio Vega, andMiguel Pérez, Jr. challenging champions,The Headbangers.
The event was available on pay-per-view in Canada, and Europe, but not in the United States: the storyline reason for this was that WWF Champion Bret Hart – then employing anAnti-Americangimmick – had used a clause in his contract to block the event from being shown live in the US. It was subsequently released on home video there. In contrast to his hated heel status in the US,Bret Hart got mostly cheers from the British crowd in Birmingham, although his opponentThe Undertaker got even more cheers. The British Bulldog got the biggest cheers of the night, while his opponent Shawn Michaels got most of the boos, and heel heat, especially after Michaels taunted the British crowd following the main event ending controversially.
Fin Martin of professional wrestling magazinePower Slam described One Night Only as "a sensation", adding: "the card remains the WWF/WWE's best ever in-ring presentation on [UK] shores. The fireworks were provided by the last three matches, all of which were superb." He described Bret Hart vs. The Undertaker as "an epic encounter (over 28 minutes), which was the last truly great match of 'The Hitman's' career", and credited Michaels for having given "the heel performance of the year."[5]
The WWF sold a full 11,000 tickets for the event.[1][6] With restricted availability, the event, nonetheless, generated a 0.05 buy rate, equating to approximately 20,000 buys.[7]
| No. | Results | Stipulations | Times[8] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hunter Hearst Helmsley (withChyna) defeatedDude Love | Singles match | 12:51 | ||
| 2 | Tiger Ali Singh (withTiger Jeet Singh) defeatedLeif Cassidy | Singles match | 4:06 | ||
| 3 | The Headbangers (Mosh andThrasher) (c) defeatedLos Boricuas (Miguel Pérez Jr. andSavio Vega) | Tag team match for theWWF Tag Team Championship | 13:34 | ||
| 4 | The Patriot defeatedFlash Funk | Singles match | 8:47 | ||
| 5 | The Legion of Doom (Animal andHawk) defeatedThe Godwinns (Henry O. Godwinn andPhineas I. Godwinn) | Tag team match | 10:42 | ||
| 6 | Vader defeatedOwen Hart | Singles match | 12:14 | ||
| 7 | Bret Hart (c) defeatedThe Undertaker bydisqualification | Singles match for theWWF Championship | 28:34 | ||
| 8 | Shawn Michaels (withChyna,Hunter Hearst Helmsley, andRick Rude) defeatedThe British Bulldog (c) (withDiana Hart-Smith) bytechnical submission | Singles match for theWWF European Championship | 22:53 | ||
| |||||
|
|
