Part 1 - WWF SummerSlam 1997
Screwjobs and Stunners: A Tale about Wrestling
August 3, 1997
East Rutherford, New Jersey
August 3, 1997
East Rutherford, New Jersey
Tonight on the outskirts of America’s most populous city is the SummerSlam pay-per-view, produced by the World Wrestling Federation. At this moment in time, the World Wrestling Federation is in a losing battle. Vince McMahon’s wrestling empire has now come under attack by rebels down in Atlanta. Over the previous year, World Championship Wrestling has been dominating the American wrestling scene with one revolutionary storyline - the New World Order (nWo).
The core three of the nWo were composed of former WWF wrestlers - Scott Hall (known in the WWF as Razor Ramon), Kevin Nash (known in the WWF as Diesel), and the most well-known wrestler to mainstream audiences, Hulk Hogan. Hogan, who helped turn the WWF and wrestling itself into a phenomenon a decade earlier, turned on the fans in July 1996 and formed the nWo. The nWo fueled success for WCW as wrestling started to become mainstream again.
At the opposite end of this was the WWF. The company had been going through tough times in the middle of the decade. Vince McMahon even was put on trial for distributing steroids. WWF was criticized for its clean image when the 90’s counterculture movement was ramping up.
Vince McMahon then brought some attitude.
1997 was a turn of fortune for the WWF. One of the major factors of a man named Steve Austin. “Stone Cold” used to wrestle for WCW, but then was fired in 1995. He signed to the WWF and debuted in 1996 as the Ringmaster. Within a few months he became Stone Cold, a Texan who was anti-authortatian. He became King of the Ring and gave the famous Austin 3:16 speech. He won the Royal Rumble. He and Bret Hart had the WWF’s first five-star match in 2 and a half years at WrestleMania.
Stone Cold Steve Austin is who we are focusing on tonight. In the penultimate event, Austin is challenging Owen Hart for the company’s secondary belt, the Intercontinental Championship. This title has been described as a stepping stone. If you have a good reign with this belt, there are chances you could become the top guy in the company.
The match is well crafted and well executed. At one point during the match, Owen Hart planned to give Austin a piledriver. The piledriver is one of the most dangerous moves in professional wrestling. If the move is executed poorly, it could mean a broken neck to the person on the receiving end. Both Hart and Austin know this. The day of the match, both Austin and Hart agreed to call that move off. At the end of the match, Austin gives a stunner to Hart and pins him to win the Intercontinental Championship.
SummerSlam 1997 results:
Steel cage match: Mankind d. Hunter Hearst Helmsley by escaping the cage
Goldust d. Brian Pillman
Tag team match: The Legion of Doom d. the Godwins
WWF European Championship: The British Bulldog (c) d. Ken Shamrock by DQ
Tag team match: Los Boricuas d. the Disciples of Apocalypse
WWF Intercontinental Championship: Stone Cold Steve Austin d. Owen Hart (c)
WWF Championship: Bret Hart d. The Undertaker (c) (Shawn Michaels as special guest referee)
Steel cage match: Mankind d. Hunter Hearst Helmsley by escaping the cage
Goldust d. Brian Pillman
Tag team match: The Legion of Doom d. the Godwins
WWF European Championship: The British Bulldog (c) d. Ken Shamrock by DQ
Tag team match: Los Boricuas d. the Disciples of Apocalypse
WWF Intercontinental Championship: Stone Cold Steve Austin d. Owen Hart (c)
WWF Championship: Bret Hart d. The Undertaker (c) (Shawn Michaels as special guest referee)
Hello everyone! I hope that you are doing well during this time. Over the past few years, I have gotten into professional wrestling. I have read some great timelines on here, including "The Cornette Call" by @Megafighter3. Reading these TL's has inspired me to create my own wrestling TL. The POD here is that Stone Cold Steve Austin never suffers a broken neck due to a botched piledriver that ended up shortening his career. Constructive criticism is always appreciated!
