WWF In Your House - Canadian Stampede (July 1997)

This is another one I never saw live as a kid, as I planned on ordering it, but July 4^th weekend family activities got into the way (which is more than a little ironic, considering this is the ultimate Canadian patriotism show), and I never got around to it. So, once again, we play ‘did Ben’s twelve year old self get fucked over in 1997?’ Of course, with this one, it has many times made peoples’ shortlist for ‘greatest pay per view of all time,’ so the likely answer is, ‘yes, little Ben did get fucked over – and good.’ And not even by the girl he had a crush on in Middle school. As 1997 Bret Hart would say, ‘this is bullshit!’

This one took place during the thick of the very hot and innovative USA v Canada angle, as The Hart Foundation were heels in America, but faces everywhere else in the world – particularly Canada (where this show took place), and their main rivals (Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin), followed suit. It was incredibly innovative, as RAW would usually pinball between emanating from the States one week, and Canada the next – and the heat was off of the charts.

From Calgary, Alberta, Canada, your hosts are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler.


Opening Match: Mankind v Hunter Hearst Helmsley: Mankind with a bulldog to start, followed with a slam, and the double-arm DDT. He tries a backdrop, and eats knee, but gets him with a 2^nd try at it, this one putting HHH on the floor. Cactus elbow off of the apron, and a Flair Flip puts HHH back outside. Hunter bails up the aisle, so Mankind chases him with a suplex on the ramp way, as I marvel at the intensity of this crowd. They are just rabid. Mick tries to get a countout, but Chyna draws the action outside again. Hunter with an Irish whip, and Chyna catches Mankind, powerslamming him onto the steel steps - in a nice bump. Back in, Hunter clips the leg, and hammers away on it. He tries a cross corner whip, but Mankind's leg gives out - in a spot I've always loved. Hunter zeros in, slapping on the figure four - in another nod to Flair. He uses the ropes, but manages to avoid getting caught. I've always hated these spots, because the referee sees the ropes shaking. What, does he think the wind did it? Maybe that flies at WrestleMania IX, but otherwise, fuck off. Pedigree, but Mankind counters with a headbutt to the nuts. Well, that's not a DIRECT nod to Ric Flair, but, you know, close enough. Cross corner knee, and another Flair Flip leaves HHH in a tree of woe. Piledriver by Mankind gets two, and a Cactus clothesline puts them on the outside. Mankind grabs a chair, but Chyna wrestles it away, and lays him out with a clothesline. Inside, Hunter goes up, but gets crotched, and caught with the claw on the top rope. Chyna crotches Mankind in turn to stop THAT, and they spill outside again, where a brawl into the hot crowd leads to a double count out at 13:14, setting up a cage match for SummerSlam the next month. Great pacing, and chemistry between these two, as well as booking, as the ending set up a perfectly logical blowoff cage match for SummerSlam (the cage has a POINT - keep them in, keep Chyna from interfering). *** ½.

The Great Sasuke v Taka Michinoku: The 'the' is an issue here. Not in the match, exactly, but for me, personally. Before they even get started, HHH and Mankind pop out of the crowd, still engaged in their wild brawl. It was moments like this that made 1997 WWF – while not more highly rated than WCW - the hottest ticket in town. It was just so, so exciting as a fan. Speaking of WCW, this was a clear attempt by the WWF to compete with WCW's groundbreaking cruiserweight division, and they even have a little graphic the onset that reminds us that we're watching exciting Lightheavyweight Action! Sasuke with kicks to start, and he grounds him, but Taka comes back, working the arms and shoulders. He tries a blind charge, but gets backdropped to the floor, and Sasuke follows out with a flying bodypress. Inside, Sasuke nearly kills him in the corner with a series of kicks (think Vader, but with kicks!), but gets knocked to the floor, and Taka hits a gorgeous springboard bodypress to the outside. Inside, they fight over a German suplex, and Taka cradles him for two, but gets caught with a back elbow, putting him outside again. Sasuke follows, hitting a springboard moonsault, ending a nice sequence. Inside, Taka hits an overhead belly to belly off of a criss cross, and top rope springboard dropkick. Michinoku Driver only gets two, so he goes up, but eats a dropkick coming down, and Sasuke hits a springboard moonsault for two. Powerbomb finishes at 10:00. Vince desperately wanted to compete with the cruiserweights - in early 1997 he brought in some Luchadores, but they weren't exactly the guys to set the world on fire, and quickly flamed out - and he likely shouted at whomever was nearest him, 'WCW, fuckers got all the good Mexicans! Well, they have Asians, too! Get me some of those! The good ones, then!' and, so, you get matches like this, before the division eventually went away during the Attitude Era, as they realized they don’t need to be WCW – they’re better. Match was a spotfest - and literally nothing more - but it worked for what it was. **.

WWF Title Match: The Undertaker v Vader: Four months into his title reign, The Undertaker has yet to headline a pay per view - and wouldn't, until next month... where he would lose the title to Bret Hart. The Hart Foundation angle was just so hot on top that even the WWF Title (which was still very prestigious at that point) took a back seat. 'Taker with a Stinger Splash right away for two, and follows with the ropewalk for another two. Vader gets caught with the jumping clothesline, but grabs a headlock to slow the Undertaker down, in a sentence I don't believe has ever been written. 'Taker won't have his flow of workrate interrupted, however (again...), and dumps Vader to the floor with a pair of big boots. Back in with a flying clothesline for two, but he goes after Paul Bearer (with Vader at this point, for anyone Bearer-tracking), which gets him jumped. Awkward transition there - he had no reason to go after Bearer (he wasn't even interfering), as he was well in control of the bout, and could have finished Vader first. Vader with a 2^nd rope splash for two, and a suplex sets up a standard splash for two. Nervehold, but they're kind enough to keep it short (hey, that's all I ask for if you have to use a resthold), and 'Taker goes for the Tombstone, but can't hold him up properly, and looks to legitimately drop him/botch a reversal spot. It looks like they were going for Vader reversing the hold into 'Taker re-reversing, but couldn't pull it off, and instead, came down like a stack of dominos. Which makes sense, as Dominos was likely a key player in the incident. Vader goes for the Vaderbomb, but gets choke slammed off for two. Another chokeslam (what is this, 2008?) gets two, and the tombstone retains the title at 12:39, getting 'Taker his job back from the Royal Rumble. Some awkward spots, but not horrible, and certainly energetic. ¾*.

Main Event: Ten Man Tag Team Match: The Hart Foundation v Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust, and The Legion of Doom: As mentioned before, the Harts are super over in Canada to begin with, but in their home town? I don't think there's a way to properly describe the pop they receive (with individual entrances, to boot), and the WWF milks it for all it's worth, even bringing out the Canadian Dixie Chicks to sing their National Anthem before the match, and the Premier of Alberta, all while the entire Hart Family look on from ringside, beaming with pride (Stu! Helen! Other Guys!). This kind of shit made me envious enough that I actually wanted to BE Canadian as a kid - it was that well done. Giant, ten-man staredown to start, with Bret and Austin in the center of it all. They start, and the crowd loses it during the slugfest. Austin mule kicks him to take control, and locks the Million Dollar Dream early, but Bret it quick with his off the ropes counter for two. Jim Neidhart tags in, but takes a Thesz press, and Shamrock tags. He quickly goes for the anklelock, but Brian Pillman breaks it up. He tags in himself (because he's crazy), and goes literally goes right for the throat. Backbreaker, but Pillman gets caught in a belly to belly suplex, and high tails it to his corner. Both men tag (Owen Hart and Goldust), and Owen hits a dropkick for two, as this crowd has yet to calm down. I mean, it's literally hard to find a comfortable volume setting on the TV. Hawk in, with a gutwrench powerbomb, and a legdrop for two, and a flying splash for another two count. He misses a dropkick, however, and Owen grabs the Sharpshooter, but Animal breaks it up. Davey Boy Smith tags in, and hits his hanging vertical suplex for two, and the running powerslam looks to finish, but Goldust interferes. Bret and Goldust have a go, and Bret hangs him in a tree of woe - right in his corner. That triggers a ten-man brawl, but not before the Hart Foundation can just completely unload on Goldie. Back with Owen and Animal in, and Hart hits his spinning heel kick, followed by a breathtaking missile dropkick. He tries a rana, but Animal counters with a powerbomb, and then a powerslam. Doomsday Device looks to finish, but, whoops, here comes the cavalry, and all ten guys go. Austin uses the confusion to post Owen's leg, and go postal on it with a chair, until Bret can make the save, assisted by brother Bruce Hart, sitting at ringside. Surprised that didn't trigger a riot with this crowd, honestly. Back with Austin and Neidhart and Austin gets pinballed in the Hart corner, while Owen gets carried to the back due to the attack on the knee. Bret responds by posting Austin's knee, and beating it with an oxygen tank (of all things), leading to the ringpost figure four. Inside, Bret and Neidhart catch Animal with a Demolition Decapitator, while Austin gets helped to the back. God, this is like a war of attrition. Shamrock goes with Bret, and Hart takes his front first cross corner bump, but quickly dumps Ken after, where crazy Brian Pillman just LAUNCHES him into a table, triggering a brawl on the floor. Inside, Bret Russian legsweeps Ken for two, and Davey does his best Austin impression (complete with double middle finger) as he stomps a mud hole in him. Goldust catches him with a bulldog, however (bulldog on the... never mind...), but gets crotched on the top rope, and super-duperplexed off for two. Meanwhile, Austin limps back down to the ring, begging to be tagged. He gets it, as does Bret, setting the crowd off. Mud hole! Another front corner bump! Suplex! But Bret catches him with a neckbreaker, and hits a backbreaker. 2^nd rope elbow, and he grabs a quick sleeper, but Austin counters with a stunner. He tries to finish, but Bret's on him with the Sharpshooter, which Animal stops. Austin grabs his own, but Owen Hart comes back in to break it up, and tags in. That quickly spills outside, where Austin gets into a brawl with a bunch of the Harts sitting at ringside (again, ballsy to try that shit on THIS show), and in the confusion, Owen rolls him up (with a hand full of tights!) for the pin at 24:31. That triggers another big brawl, but with half the front row in on it now, The Harts easily clean house. Crazy, War Games-style brawl, brilliantly booked, and in front of a hot crowd. At points, I wondered how they would end it, as literally every time someone went for the finish, someone broke it up, and the booking there was perfect, especially since it set up Austin's Intercontinental title win from Owen at SummerSlam. **** ½.

BUExperience:  As mentioned at the top, this makes a lot of shortlists for ‘greatest pay per view of all time,’ usually losing to shows like WWF WrestleMania X-7 or NWA Wrestle War 1989 for historical significance.  And, while I wouldn’t agree, I can see why. You have a show under two hours long, and a half hour of it alone is taken up by a near flawless main event – and that match had legs so long, it could have easily went another twenty minutes. Everything else would just be gravy at that point – and there is gravy for all of your meat here. Nothing sucked, the crowd is insanely hot, the opener is a fuckton of fun – it’s an easy recommendation – but not in the league of ‘greatest shows of all time.’ ****.

While the subject of Montreal has been talked to death, it’s cards like this that leave me even more frustrated with it – as it derailed the projected Hart/Austin final blowoff for WrestleMania XIV – leaving a gaping hole in one of the most interesting feuds of all time.