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 Promotional poster featuring silhouettes ofThe New Hart Foundation | |||
| Promotion | World Wrestling Federation | ||
| Date | November 9, 1997 | ||
| City | Montreal,Quebec,Canada | ||
| Venue | Molson Centre | ||
| Attendance | 20,593 | ||
| Buy rate | 284,000[1] | ||
| Tagline | Gang Rulz | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| Survivor Series chronology | |||
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The 1997Survivor Series was the 11th annualSurvivor Seriesprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV)event produced by theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the third, and final Survivor Series event to bepresented byMilton Bradley's Karate Fighters. The event took place on Sunday, November 9, 1997, at theMolson Centre inMontreal,Quebec,Canada. The event's tagline "Gang Rulz" refers to the various wrestlingstables that feuded with each other heading into this event. Seven matches were contested on the event'scard.
Themain event was a standard wrestling match for theWWF Championship, in whichBret Hart defended the title againstShawn Michaels. It was the last of three WWF Championship matches between the two, who had previously headlined the1992 Survivor Series, andWrestleMania XII together. Michaels won the title controversially whenVince McMahon orderedmatch refereeEarl Hebner to end the match as Michaels held Hart in Hart's finishing maneuver, theSharpshooter, even though Hart had notsubmitted. This incident became known as theMontreal 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 untilSummerSlam 2010. A video package aired immediately before the Hart vs. Michaels match, featuring the first use of the "WWF Attitude" scratch logo.[2]
Theundercard featuredStone Cold Steve Austin versusOwen Hart in astandard wrestling match for theWWF Intercontinental Championship,Kane versusMankind, and four 4-a-side Survivor Series matches were included.
Survivor Series is an annualgimmickpay-per-view (PPV), produced every November by theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1987. In what has become the second longest-running pay-per-view event in history (behind WWE'sWrestleMania), it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along withWrestleMania,SummerSlam, andRoyal Rumble,[3] and was considered one of the "Big Five" PPVs, along withKing of the Ring.[4] The event is traditionally characterized by havingSurvivor Series matches, which aretag 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 theMolson Centre inMontreal,Quebec,Canada.[5]
Survivor Series consisted ofprofessional wrestling matches involving wrestlers from pre-existing feuds andstorylines that played out onRaw is War — WWF's primary television program. Wrestlers portrayed ahero or avillain as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[6]
The Storyline feud betweenBret Hart andShawn Michaels began after Michaels became the number one contender to theWWF Championship by defeatingThe Undertaker in the firstHell in a Cell match atBadd Blood: In Your House. On the following night's episode ofRaw is War, while Michaels, alongside his friendHunter Hearst Helmsley were blurting out insults to Vince McMahon by the announce table, Hart, alongside members ofThe 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 he was blocking an attack by 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 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.[2] 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.[7] Even though Hart had not submitted, Michaels was declared the winner, as Earl Hebner, on direct orders from McMahon, called for the bell.[8]
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."[8]
The controversial ending surroundingShawn Michaels defeatingBret Hart by submission, and winning theWWF Championship due toVince McMahon ordering the refereeEarl Hebner to ring the bell without Hart submitting became known as theMontreal Screwjob. Hart left theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) immediately after the incident and moved toWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW) over a month later, where he eventually became a two-timeWCW World Heavyweight Champion, a four-timeWCW United States Heavyweight Champion and one half of theWCW World Tag Team Champions before retiring in 2000 after a severe concussion. Hart next appeared in the WWF (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment orWWE) in 2010, when he and Michaels called a truce and buried the hatchet on the Montreal Screwjob, while also having been inducted into theWWE Hall of Fame four years prior.
After the Survivor Series, Shawn Michaels began his third reign as WWF Champion. He entered a feud withKen Shamrock over the WWF Championship, which culminated atD-Generation X: In Your House, where Michaels retained the title after Shamrock won by disqualification after being attacked byD-Generation X (DX) membersTriple H andChyna. Michaels lost the WWF Championship toStone Cold Steve Austin atWrestleMania XIV; before going on a four-year hiatus after a back injury during acasket match againstThe Undertaker at the1998 Royal Rumble. He returned atSummerSlam 2002.
After winning the Intercontinental Championship, Stone Cold Steve Austin entered into a feud withThe Rock over the title after The Rock stole Austin's title belt after a beat down fromThe Nation of Domination on the November 17 episode ofRaw 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 onRaw 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 atthe following year's Survivor Series, albeit worked, when The Rock lockedMankind 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.
| Eliminated | Wrestler | Eliminated by | Method | Time[10] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Henry O. Godwinn | Bradshaw | Pinfall | 3:52 |
| 2 | Blackjack Windham | Phineas I. Godwinn | 5:14 | |
| 3 | Mosh | Billy Gunn | 8:42 | |
| 4 | Phineas I. Godwinn | Thrasher | 12:38 | |
| 5 | Blackjack Bradshaw | Road Dogg | 13:44 | |
| 6 | Thrasher | Billy Gunn | 15:25 | |
| Survivors: | The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg andBilly Gunn) | |||
| Eliminated | Wrestler | Eliminated by | Method | Time[10] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chainz | The Interrogator | Pinfall | 1:18 |
| 2 | The Jackyl | 8-Ball | 2:50 | |
| 3 | Recon | Skull | 5:18 | |
| 4 | Skull | Sniper | 6:30 | |
| 5 | 8-Ball | The Interrogator | 8:50 | |
| 6 | Sniper | Crush | 9:46 | |
| 7 | Crush | The Interrogator | 9:59 | |
| Sole Survivor: | The Interrogator | |||
| Eliminated | Wrestler | Eliminated by | Method | Time[10] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Steve Blackman | N/A | Countout | 5:16 |
| 2 | Jim Neidhart | Vader | Pinfall | 6:53 |
| 3 | Phil Lafon | 8:28 | ||
| 4 | Marc Mero | Doug Furnas | 11:18 | |
| 5 | Goldust | N/A | Countout | 16:26 |
| 6 | Doug Furnas | Vader | Pinfall | 16:54 |
| 7 | Vader | The British Bulldog | 17:05 | |
| Sole Survivor: | The British Bulldog | |||
| Eliminated | Wrestler | Eliminated by | Method | Time[10] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawk | Rocky Maivia | Pinfall | 2:09 |
| 2 | Faarooq | Ahmed Johnson | 4:53 | |
| 3 | Ahmed Johnson | Rocky Maivia | 6:09 | |
| 4 | Kama Mustafa | Animal | 10:44 | |
| 5 | Animal | N/A | Countout | 14:12 |
| 6 | D'Lo Brown | Ken Shamrock | Submission | 16:54 |
| 7 | Rocky Maivia | 20:28 | ||
| Sole Survivor: | Ken Shamrock | |||
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{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)At the time, SummerSlam was one of WWE's "big five" Pay-Per-Views (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, King of the Ring, and Survivor Series were the others), ...
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