Survivor Series (1997)

Survivor Series (1997)
File:Survivor Series 1997.jpg Promotional poster
Tagline(s)	Gang Rulz
Information
Promotion	World Wrestling Federation
Sponsor(s)	Milton Bradley
Date	November 9, 1997
Attendance	20,593
Venue	Molson Centre
City	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Pay-per-view chronology
Badd Blood: In Your House Survivor Series (1997) D-Generation X: In Your House
Survivor Series chronology
Survivor Series (1996) Survivor Series (1997) Survivor Series (1998)

Survivor Series (1997) was the 11th annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It was the third consecutive Survivor Series presented by Milton Bradley's Karate Fighters, and took place on November 9, 1997, at the Molson Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The tagline "Gang Rulz" refers to the various wrestling stables that feuded with each other coming to this event.

The main event was a standard wrestling match for the WWF Championship, in which Bret Hart defended the title against Shawn Michaels. It would be the last of three WWF Championship matches between the two, who had previously headlined the 1992 Survivor Series and WrestleMania XII together. Michaels won the title in controversial fashion when Vince McMahon ordered match referee Earl Hebner to end the match as Michaels held Hart in Hart's own finishing maneuver, the Sharpshooter, even though Hart had not submitted. This incident became known as the Montreal Screwjob and marked Hart's last appearance on WWE programming until 2010. 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 until SummerSlam 2010.

The undercard featured Stone Cold Steve Austin versus Owen Hart in a standard wrestling match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship, Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal), Ahmed Johnson and Ken Shamrock versus Nation of Domination (The Rock, Faarooq, Kama Mustafa and D'Lo Brown) in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match, Kane versus Mankind in a standard wrestling match, Team Canada (The British Bulldog, Jim Neidhart, Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon) versus Team USA (Vader, Goldust, Marc Mero and Steve Blackman) in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match, Truth Commission (The Jackyl, The Interrogator, Sniper, and Recon) versus Disciples of Apocalypse (Crush, Chainz, 8-Ball and Skull) in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match and New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) and The Godwinns (Henry and Phineas) versus The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) and The New Blackjacks (Blackjack Windham and Blackjack Bradshaw) in a four-on-four Survivor Series elimination match.

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 would become known as the Montreal Screwjob. Hart left the World Wrestling Federation immediately after the incident and moved to World Championship Wrestling, where during his tenure, he would become a 2-time World Heavyweight Champion, a 4-time United States Heavyweight Champion and a 1-time Tag Team Champion before retiring in 2000 after suffering a severe concussion. Hart would not appear in WWF (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE) until 2010 when he and Michaels finally called a truce and buried the hatchet on the Montreal Screwjob.

After 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 members Triple H and Chyna. Michaels would lose the WWF Championship to Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania XIV before being forced into a four-year retirement after suffering a serious back injury during a casket match against The Undertaker at the 1998 Royal Rumble. Michaels would not recover and wrestle again until 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 a beat down from The Nation of Domination on 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. Austin forfeited 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. By 1998. McMahon would begin a Legendary rivalry with Stone Cold Steve Austin.

The events of the Montreal Screwjob would repeat itself at the following year's Survivor Series 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

No.	Results	Stipulations	Times
1	The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) and The Godwinns (Henry O. and Phineas I. Goddwinn) defeated The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) and The New Blackjacks (Blackjack Windham and Blackjack Bradshaw)	4-on-4 elimination match	15:25
2	The Truth Commission (The Jackyl, The Interrogator, Sniper and Recon) defeated The Disciples of Apocalypse (Crush, Chainz, 8-Ball and Skull)	4-on-4 elimination match	9:59
3	Team Canada (The British Bulldog, Jim Neidhart, Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon) defeated Team USA (Vader, Goldust, Marc Mero and Steve Blackman) (with Sable)	4-on-4 elimination match	17:05
4	Kane (with Paul Bearer) defeated Mankind	Singles match	9:27
5	The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal), Ahmed Johnson and Ken Shamrock defeated The Nation of Domination (The Rock, Faarooq, Kama Mustafa and D'Lo Brown)	4-on-4 elimination match	20:28
6	Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Owen Hart (c) (with The British Bulldog, Jim Neidhart, Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon)	Singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship	4:03
7	Shawn Michaels defeated Bret Hart (c) by submission	Singles match for the WWF Championship	12:19
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

Survivor Series elimination matches

^1

Elimination no.	Wrestler	Team	Eliminated by	Elimination move	Time
1	Henry Godwinn	Godwinns & Outlaws	Bradshaw	Abdominal Stretch Pin	03:52
2	Barry Windham	Headbangers & Blackjacks	Phineas Godwinn	Pinfall after a Clothesline	05:14
3	Mosh	Headbangers & Blackjacks	Billy Gunn	Pinfall after a Reversed Bulldog	08:42
4	Phineas Godwinn	Godwinns & Outlaws	Thrasher	Pinfall after a Stagedive	12:38
5	Bradshaw	Headbangers & Blackjacks	Road Dogg	Pinfall by School Boy	13:44
6	Thrasher	Headbangers & Blackjacks	Billy Gunn	Pinfall after a Guillotine Leg Drop	15:25
Survivor:	Road Dogg & Billy Gunn (New Age Outlaws)

^2

Elimination no.	Wrestler	Team	Eliminated by	Elimination move	Time
1	Chainz	D.O.A.	The Interrogator	Pinfall after a Sidewalk Slam	01:18
2	The Jackyl	Truth Commission	8-Ball	Pinfall after a Sidewalk Slam	02:50
3	Recon	Truth Commission	Skull	Pinfall after a Running Clothesline	05:18
4	Skull	D.O.A.	Sniper	Pinfall after a Bulldog	06:30
5	8-Ball	D.O.A.	The Interrogator	Pinfall after a Sidewalk Slam	08:50
6	Sniper	Truth Commission	Crush	Pinfall after a Powerslam	09:46
7	Crush	D.O.A.	The Interrogator	Pinfall after a Sidewalk Slam	09:46
Survivor:	The Interrogator (Truth Commission)

^3

Elimination no.	Wrestler	Team	Eliminated by	Elimination move	Time
1	Steve Blackman	Team USA	N/A	Countout after brawling with Furnas and Lafon outside the ring	05:16
2	Jim Neidhart	Team Canada	Vader	Pinfall after a Big Splash	06:53
3	Phil Lafon	Team Canada	Vader	Pinfall after a middle rope Splash	08:28
4	Marc Mero	Team USA	Doug Furnas	Pinfall with a Roll-Up and handful of tights	11:18
5	Goldust	Team USA	N/A	Countout after walking out on Vader	16:26
6	Doug Furnas	Team Canada	Vader	Pinfall after a Vader Bomb	16:54
7	Vader	Team USA	The British Bulldog	Pinfall after striking Vader with the ring bell	17:05
Survivor:	The British Bulldog (Team Canada)

^4

Elimination no.	Wrestler	Team	Eliminated by	Elimination move	Time
1	Hawk	Legion of Doom	The Rock	Pinfall after a Rock Bottom	02:09
2	Faarooq	Nation of Domination	Ahmed Johnson	Pinfall after a Pearl River Plunge	04:53
3	Ahmed Johnson	Legion of Doom	The Rock	Pinfall after Faarooq tripped and held Johnson's foot	06:09
4	Kama Mustafa	Nation of Domination	Animal	Pinfall by School Boy	10:44
5	Animal	Legion of Doom	N/A	Countout (Chased after the New Age Outlaws, who were wearing the L.O.D. spikes)	14:12
6	D'Lo Brown	Nation of Domination	Ken Shamrock	Submission by Ankle Lock	16:54
7	The Rock	Nation of Domination	Ken Shamrock	Submission by Ankle Lock	20:28
Survivor:	Ken Shamrock (Legion of Doom)

Other on-screen talent

Commentators Jerry "The King" Lawler Jim Ross Spanish Commentators Carlos Cabrera Tito Santana French Commentators Raymond Rougeau Jean Brassard Jacques Rougeau, Sr. Other Albert DeFrusia - ring announcer Vince McMahon Sgt. Slaughter Gerald Brisco Pat Patterson

Referees Mike Chioda Jack Doan Earl Hebner Jim Korderas Tim White Interviewers Michael Cole Kevin Kelly

References

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

External links

• Official 1997 Survivor Series site