One Night Only '97

Legacy Review

One Night Only '97

September 20, 1997 from the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England

Commentary: Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

This is the first in what would be a series of yearly UK exclusive PPVs that would continue until 2003. This show was only available to order on PPV in the UK and Canada, not the US. There were legitimate reasons for this, but Bret Hart leaped at the opportunity to take credit for it because stupid American fans didn't deserve to see it. They're also getting out of London into other parts of the country which is nice.

The Network copy still has the Sky Sports signature on it which is a nice touch. The opening video is all about the Bulldog, not much of a surprise. The stage is a very Raw type setup.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley (w/Chyna) def Dude Love in 12:51- HHH had a long feud over the summer with Mick Foley alter ego Mankind so they knew each other very well, and already had some quality matches with each other under their belt. Basic start with Love dodging a leapfrog and hitting a back elbow. Backdrop and HHH begs off. I'm distracted by a large gaggle of fans at ringside seemingly having an argument over whose seats are whose. This is why you get to the show early. Love blocks punches in the corner and hits some Mongolian style chops. We get a bit of a Love strut. Trips tries to take advantage of the showboating but runs into a clothesline and rolls out to recoup. Love punches him off the apron. Back in Love works HHH's arm for a bit. HHH tries a drop toe hold but Love dodges it and gets his own, with HHH landing right on his nose. Well it is a large target. Love puts on a modified Indian Death Lock. Trips Flip and he's in the tree of woe. Love chops his ankle. He starts tuning up the band for SWEET SHIN MUSIC. HHH dodges the kick and rolls out again. Love chases and runs right into a Chyna clothesline. HHH snaps him over the top rope. Chyna gets another shot in. HHH cover for 2. A Love comeback is cut off with a facebuster. Abdominal stretch with rope leverage. The ref catches HHH and kicks his hand off the rope. HHH does not like that and shoves the ref. The ref shoves back! Mike Chioda suddenly turning into Tommy Young out here. HHH goes full into the Flair/Young classics by selling the shove and literally running away from the angry ref. Love comes back with punches and hits a faceplant for 2. HHH swinging neckbreaker. Love counters the Pedigree with a corner slingshot. Slugfest with Love getting the edge and he runs HHH's head down the turnbuckle ladder. Avalanche from Love. HHH gets a boot up in the opposite corner. He goes up top but Love armdrags him off! Band tune up. Sweet Shin Music hits! Double underhook DDT! Chyna puts HHH's foot on the rope! Love argues with Chyna. Kick wham Pedigree! HHH gets the pin! Very house show match, but a fun one. ***1/4

Sunny comes out to be the special ring announcer for the next match in some serious thigh high boots. This was the period WWF was having a very difficult time finding things for her to do besides having her photos downloaded in insane numbers on the internet (something I may or may not have been participating in at the time). She couldn't manage anyone anymore because she'd always overshadow them.

 

Tiger Ali Singh (w/Tiger Jeet Singh) def Leif Cassidy in 4:06- Ali Singh, one of the most famous bombs of all time, is making his PPV debut a few months after signing with the company. I honestly thought Cassidy had transitioned to Al Snow by now. I guess not. Amazingly Singh is supposed to be the face here but the crowd wants nothing to do with him. He takes the mic before the match and says how proud he is to be Asian-Canadian, don't do drugs kids, he's the "true messiah" and the Canadian fans are always behind him. I don't see how any of that is supposed to get the crowd on his side. His dad Jeet Singh gets on the mic and Cassidy jumps in the middle of his talk. Good talk. Singh fights back with basic kicky punchy offense. Buckle whips and Singh hits a belly to belly suplex. Cassidy slides into the corner on a corner whip and hits a heel kick for 2. Arm work from Cassidy with an ARMBAR that seems to go on forever. Commentary gets bored and JR and Lawler start arguing about whether or not Brian Christopher is Lawler's son again. Singh completely blows a roll up that came off more like a weak leg takedown. Cassidy tries to set up a superplex but Singh can't find the top turnbuckle. Finally he gets up there, pushes Cassidy down, and hits the Tiger Bomb (a top rope bulldog) for the pin to more boos. Cassidy was in full jobber selling mode. It wasn't long after this that he finally had enough of being jobbed out in WWF and got back to ECW to reinvent himself as Al Snow. 1/4*

 

WWF Tag Team Championship: The Headbangers (c) def Los Boricuas in 13:34- It's leader Savio Vega and Miguel Perez Jr representing the Los Boricuas gang tonight. They pull the Suzuki-Gun jump before the bell. The Headbangers counter backdrops and hit clotheslines to send the heels to the floor. Perez jumps Mosh after getting back in. Armdrags from Mosh. Thrasher hits a clothesline off the second rope. Vega runs in and gets double hiptossed and elbow dropped. Thrasher and Vega do an extended headlock/headscissors sequence. Thrasher/Perez speed run and Vega kicks Thrasher from the apron to send him mosher in peril. Vega does his fall out of the ring corner heel kick. Mosh is baited in and the heels do some CHAOS style war drums on Thrasher. Thrasher gets a crossbody for 2. Another Vega heel kick for 2. Perez flat misses a corkscrew senton off the top that was supposed to hit, so he tries to make up for it with a standing moonsault. The nerve pinch is the rest hold de jour for the heels tonight. De jeur? I don't do French. I'm from Texas, I barely speak English. Perez hits a dropkick and suplex. Mosh breaks the pin up. More heel double teaming and they get the "ref didn't see the tag" spot in. More nerve pinch follows. A knee to the gut cuts off a Thrasher comeback. Thrasher gets his knees up on a Vega splash but the tag is cut off. Perez chinlock with arm drops. Thrasher fights out and gets a sunset flip for 2. He dodges Vega in the corner and hits a back suplex. Tags on both sides. Mosh runs wild. Top rope hurricanrana on Perez. DONNYBROOK! Perez barely pulls off a powerbomb on Thrasher. Mosh hits him with a butt splash off the top and gets the pin. This was the most basic of basic tag formula not very enthusiastically executed. The face in peril run by itself felt 30 minutes long. *1/2

Next up we get a taped sit down interview with JR and the Bulldog. Bulldog, not surprisingly, will have pretty much his whole family in the crowd tonight and dedicates his match to his sister who has been battling cancer.

 

The Patriot def Flash Funk in 8:47- The Patriot's sole purpose in WWF was to be a foil for anti-American heel Bret Hart. Now that feud is done, there's really no place for him anymore. His super serious character definitely did not mesh with early Attitude Era WWF. Del Wilkes is not popular in the UK. Vince calls it a "mixed reaction". Yeah, like Roman Reigns' "mixed reaction" in the early post-Shield days. Both guys are faces so we get a Code of Honor handshake to start, followed by a polite mat wrestling standoff. Patriot hits a shoulderblock to big boos. Funk slips out of a suplex, they do some counters, Funk hits a dropkick and armdrag, Patriot pops up with a clothesline. Nice little sequence there. Patriot came out on top so it gets booed. Patriot grounds things with a chinlock as the crowd reactions seem to be getting to him. Funk slides under. Patriot shoves him down and hits a fall down headbutt. Now he looks like he's embracing the heel role the crowd is determined to have him play. Funk dodges in the corner and hits a crossbody off the top for 2. Patriot blocks a spinning kick. Funk clothesline for 2. Some idiot in the crowd has a laser pointer. Banning those was a great move. Funk controls the match a bit with some pretty dull ground offense. If he wasn't doing his big aerial high spots he never really knew what to do. Patriot hulks up off some chops. Corner clothesline. Atomic drop/back suplex combo. Patriot tries a Euro clutch. Funk turns it into a surfboard. Spinning kick from Funk. Patriot powerslam for 2. Funk wheelbarrow roll up for 2. Patriot kills him with another clothesline. Patriot Missile! Funk kicks out! Funk blocks Uncle Slam. Avalanche and setup slam. Funk goes up top and hits a splash for 2. He goes up again. Patriot gets his knees up on a moonsault. Uncle Slam! That gets the pin. Decent. **1/4

 

The Legion of Doom def The Godwinns in 10:42- The "LOD broke Phineas' neck" feud continues (even though Phineas clearly did it to himself falling wrong). Animal and Henry start. Back and forth start. Animal hits a shoulderblock and Henry bails. Both sides tag. Hawk pounds away until he does his usual shoulder post spot, then gets grounded with a chinlock. Henry misses an elbow drop and Hawk says that's enough selling, pops up and hits a clothesline. LOD double elbow. Phineas hits Animal from the apron and Henry charges in with a Cactus Clothesline! Armbar slam from Phineas as Animal goes Road Warrior in peril. Animal gets his boot up on Phineas coming off the second rope and tags. Hawk runs wild. Slams and a neckbreaker. Everyone in the pool! Godwinn double clothesline on Hawk. Henry hits the slop drop. He takes forever to cover and Hawk kicks out. Hawk ends up in the heel corner and they choke him with the Rebel flag as Hawk is now LOD in peril. Hawk avoids a double team, bounces out of the corner and hits both Godwinns with clotheslines. Tag to Animal. Powerslam. The Godwinns double team him and hit a double clothesline. Hawk charges and clotheslines Henry 360 to the floor. Doomsday Device on Phineas! That gets the pin. At least he landed right this time. Surprisingly not a horrible match. **

JR is in the ring and brings out Ken Shamrock, who was scheduled to wrestle Owen Hart tonight but was out with a punctured lung suffered in a match with Faarooq. That match incidentally was in the first round of a tournament to crown a new Intercontinental champion after Steve Austin's injury, a tournament that will conclude at the next PPV, Badd Blood. Rockabilly (Billy Gunn) comes out and makes fun of Shamrock, says he thought he was the world's most dangerous man, and slaps him. Bad move. Shamrock goes nuts, puts the ankle lock on and makes Billy tap. Thanks for making the trip, Billy.

 

Vader def The Slammy Award Winning Owen Hart in 12:14- Oh yeah, this should be good. Vader's officially turned face, at least on the main product. Here he gets a mixed reaction that I think would have been the same no matter what. Owen gets about 70/30 cheers. He also helps to keep a guardrail section from collapsing during his entrance. Vader not surprisingly flashes his power early. Owen does a great fall into the ropes on a shoulderblock then takes a stiff Vader tackle. Owen tries a sunset flip and dodges the butt splash counter. He slides under Vader, leaps up and manages to take Vader over with a hurricanrana! Owen springboard crossbody off the second rope for 2. He goes for the Sharpshooter but Vader's legs are too strong. Vader tries a suplex. Owen slips out and gets a roll up for 2. He goes for the Sharpshooter again. This time he gets Vader's legs wrapped up, but Vader grabs a rope before Owen can turn him over. Owen tries a crucifix but Vader drops him. Vader splash off the second rope for 2. "Owen Hart is one with the canvas!" is a great line from Vince. Owen tries to get some space. Bret bump from Owen! The crowd has definitely turned on Vader as these guys seem to have had a solid plan going into this match: Vader heel, Owen face. Owen tries a slam and fails. Vader short clothesline. Avalanche. Vader does some work on Owen's arm, then switches to an almost ankle lock on his leg. Owen dodges another avalanche but again tries for a slam and can't get it. Another Vader tackle for 2 and he wraps the leg up again. Owen punches out and tries to out slug Vader. That's never going to work. Vader pounds back with his famous potato shots. Headbutt and big splash for 2. Owen flips out of a powerbomb. Enzuguri! The Sharpshooter is on! Vader gets to the ropes. Owen gets the body slam! Then he runs into another tackle. Vader bomb time. Owen gets his knees up! Missile dropkick! Kip up! The crowd is almost 100% behind Owen now. Spinning heel kick for 2. He goes to the top rope. Vader catches and powerslams him! That gets the pin! Really good match. Both guys were clearly holding back too, there's an even better one in there somewhere. This is one of the few times we got to see pure babyface Owen in a WWF ring. ***1/2

 

WWF Championship: Bret "Hitman" Hart (c) def The Undertaker by DQ in 28:34- This is a rematch from Summerslam, where guest ref Shawn Michaels cost Taker the title. Taker's taking time away from trying to murder Shawn to attempt to get the title back. The crowd is nuts for this match, with both guys getting the same 50/50 boo/cheer reaction for anything they do. It's a very modern style true split crowd. Bret ducks a Taker punch after the bell and tries to pound away in the corner. Taker flips it over and wins that exchange. The ref tells Taker off for choking. Taker stalks him and Bret uses the opening to take a top turnbuckle pad off. Taker blocks a hiptoss and hits a clothesline. Bret dodges an elbow drop. He tries for an early Sharpshooter but Taker fights it off. Bret adjusts to give him a diving clothesline instead. Taker gets clotheslined 360 to the floor, landing on his feet. Bret sliding kicks him into the announce table! Taker catches Bret jumping off the apron, but then his foot slips off the raised platform the ring is on for this show and they fall down. Reset and Taker runs Bret's back into the post. They fight up the aisle and Taker slams Bret on the ramp. The beatdown continues in the ring. Bret counters a backdrop with a DDT! Legdrop and a trio of elbow drops. Taker still sits up. Bret bump! Into the corner with the exposed buckle! Taker gives Bret a heart punch. He stretches Bret's arms out in a butterfly type hold, then transitions into a crucifix for 2. Bret kicks Taker's knee. Taker responds with an uppercut. Backbreaker. Bret kicks at the knee again. Taker hits a back elbow. Bret dodges in the corner and Taker runs knee first into the corner. Here we go. Now Bret has the opening to get to work on the knee and does so with gusto. Taker tries to fight off a knee posting but Bret gets it in. Post wraparound figure four! After a bit more knee picking apart Bret hooks on the figure four in the ring. Taker fights for a long time and finally reverses it. Bret grabs a rope and the ref had to untangle the hold. Taker is up first but limping. He pounds Bret down in the corner. Bret ducks a big boot and kicks the knee again. Back to the knee picking apart. After that Bret switches to headbutts to Taker's back and hits a Russian leg sweep for 2. Snap suplex. Backbreaker. Taker gets a boot up on the usual second rope elbow follow up. Double clothesline! Taker hits a gut legdrop. He goes for it again but Bret blocks it. Sharpshooter! Taker powers out. Gut headbutts from Bret and he goes for the Sharpshooter again. Goozle! Bret kicks the knee again before Taker can do anything else. Taker responds with body shots. Big boot and legdrop brother for 2. Bret rolls out and gets the bell. He goes to hit Taker with it but Taker cuts it off with a big boot. Now Taker says what the hell, use the bell. The ref takes it away from him! Bret chop blocks Taker. Taker pushes Bret out onto the floor and he takes out a cameraman! Back in on a corner whip Bret slides back first into the post. Taker goes for old school but Bret flips him off the top rope. Taker scoops Bret up for a Tombstone. Bret slips out and rolls him up for 2. Bret scoops for a Tombstone! Taker reverses it! They fight for leverage by the ropes and Bret ends up hung by the neck in the ropes! Taker punches him despite the ref's warnings, and gets DQ'd. There's a choke slam for the ref. Officials and Owen get Bret out. Gerald Brisco also takes a choke slam. The ring announcer says Bret wins by DQ and has to jump over the rail to keep from getting attacked as well. Another really good match between these two, but that ending was pretty weak. ***1/2

 

WWF European Championship: "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels def "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith (c) in 22:53- This is the absolute peak of the short lived European title mere months into its existence, being defended by inaugural champ Bulldog on his home soil. It was all downhill after this, a sharp downhill slope that starts pretty quickly after this match. Going into this match Shawn has been talking about becoming the first ever WWF Grand Slam champion. During his entrance Shawn gets very close to his young female fans. At one point he's so entangled I don't know how he got out. Bulldog's cancer fighting sister comes out with him on his entrance and joins the rest of the family ringside. Before the bell Shawn is arguing with Vince about something. Don't know if that was legit or not. The bell rings and Shawn walks. He's in full dick mode tonight. He gets back in and Bulldog shoves him down. Shawn gets shoved out of lockups and starts to get frustrated. In another lockup Shawn walks up the corner but that only lets Bulldog toss him back down. Pillar to post beating and Shawn gets clotheslined 360 to the floor, all the way into the guardrail. He walks again and wants a time out. Bulldog lets him. Shawn gets on the apron and eye pokes Bulldog. Bulldog quickly recovers and runs Shawn into both turnbuckles. Reverse suplex back in the ring. Bulldog press and he teases tossing Shawn outside. Hebner physically gets in the way and Bulldog drops Shawn in the ring in a great casual way while arguing. Bulldog abdominal stretch. Shawn hiptosses out. Bulldog backdrops Shawn to the floor! Man Shawn is bumping like a maniac tonight. Bulldog armdrags him back in and goes into some arm work. Shawn forearms out. They do an insane speed run where Shawn bounces off of Bulldog full speed into the ropes again multiple times, dodges a leapfrog, then hits the brakes and eye pokes Bulldog. Fantastic. Shawn jumps into a huge powerbomb! That gets a 2 count. Crucifix attempt by Shawn but Bulldog drops him. Bulldog hooks on a surfboard. But Bulldog's shoulders are down so Hebner counts. Bulldog gets up pissed. There's a "son of a bitch" dropped in there. Shawn jumps him from behind. Bulldog gets the delayed suplex for 2. Here comes Rick Rude, at this time Shawn's "insurance policy". Bulldog gets a roll up. Rude gets on the apron and pushes Shawn over on top for 2. Bulldog hits the ropes and Rude trips him. Shawn attacks from behind and Rude posts Bulldog. Shawn double ax handle off the top to the floor. Rude rams Bulldog's back into the apron. Shawn hooks on a sleeper. Bulldog goes down and they do the arm drops. Bulldog fights back and back suplexes out. Shawn hiptoss into a short arm scissors. Bulldog deadlifts and drops him. Midring collision. Now Triple H and Chyna are out. Bulldog backdrop. Shawn flip and Bulldog clothesline. Corner slingshot for 2. Shawn dodges and Bulldog posts his shoulder. Setup slam and Shawn hits the elbow off the top rope. Then goes up again and hits a second one! The band tunes up. Bulldog doesn't stand up so Shawn props him up in the corner. Bulldog ducks the superkick! He scoops Shawn up for the powerslam! Rude grabs Bulldog's foot. Shawn gets clotheslined to the floor again. Bulldog hops out and punches HHH down. He goes for the powerslam on the floor, but his foot gets caught in the gap between the ring platform and guardrail! Superkick! HHH gives him a Pedigree on the floor! Back in Shawn takes Bulldog's knee brace off and tosses it to his family. Figure four! HHH and Chyna help with illegal leverage from ringside. After a bit Bulldog almost gets to the ropes, only to have Rude punch him! HHH and Chyna continue to help as Bulldog's last ditch attempt to power out doesn't work and he goes out. Hebner calls it! Shawn wins! Oh that is not a popular decision in Birmingham at all. A ton of trash immediately gets thrown into the ring. Shawn grabs the mic to egg on the crowd even more, then turns his attention to Bulldog's family. He puts the figure four on again! Bulldog's wife Diana has enough. She runs in with the knee brace and chokes Shawn with it! Chyna gets her off. DX figure they've done enough damage and leave, but take plenty of time to pose and gloat on their way out to rile the crowd up even more. Fantastic match. Shawn was literally a blur at points he was going so hard, and the heel work was next level in this atmosphere. It takes some serious grapefruits to book that result in this setting. Bulldog's inaugural European title reign ends at 205 days, which will end up being the longest in the title's history. And true to his word, Shawn is the first ever Grand Slam champion. DX really took off after this, in no small part thanks to how this turned out. ****

Like I mentioned earlier, it was all downhill for the European title after this. On a Raw in December (after Shawn had also won the WWF Title back in even more controversial fashion) Commissioner Slaughter ordered Shawn to defend the European title as he'd been ducking defenses to that point, and to make it even better he made Shawn defend it against HHH. Being DX, they made a mockery of the whole thing and instead of having a proper match we basically got the Fingerpoke of Doom before the Fingerpoke of Doom. Shawn laid down for HHH to win and they both stuck it in Slaughter's face after. That did a world of good for getting DX over, but it also destroyed any credibility the European title might have ever had. It stayed around a few years as the lowest of low midcard titles, arguably even lower than the Hardcore title after that was introduced, before being unified with the IC title after the WCW buyout and invasion angle.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- The home US audience missed one of the best shows of the year, at least seeing it live. They would have to wait for the Coliseum Video release. The undercard matches have more of a house show feel than a PPV, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. House shows are usually fun. The UK crowd was also a huge novelty at the time and added to the atmosphere tremendously.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B