Survivor Series (1997 TV Special) User Reviews

A main event shaping future of wrestling

[paudieconnolly · 7/10 · 22 October 2022]

Survivor series four on four traditional matches will not be the talk of tonight. First match of note or real merit was Kane versus mankind not for the wrestling. But the imagery of Kane throwing mankind round would help to build a myth of undertaker's brother.

Owen hart gets back into the ring with stone cold Steve Austin in front of the Canadian crowd following the career ending injury for most that stone cold received at the hands of Hart by tombstone . But of course tonight will be remembered for is the Montréal screw job Brett the hitman hart versus Shawn Michaels Overshadowing everything that comes before it. To become a decisive time in wrestling. The most talked about moment in wrestling . A moment of real change in wrestling that would shape, the careers of the individuals futures. Affecting the two biggest wrestling federations. With hindsight Sergeant Slaughter Ringside, Vince McMahon (Calls of get in the ring) a mountain of referees made it seem like something was up. There will always be the questions of how things would've gone down for everyone If these 20 minutes in Canada had gone another way. Who Were the real winners and losers on the night. Who was wrong and who was right and for years to come is still a debate being held today.

Yes, The Screwjob, But Also A Lot Of Positives

[zkonedog · 8/10 · 9 March 2019]

The 1997 Survivor Series event will always be primarily remembered for the "Montreal Screwjob". While nothing will change that negative connotation, this event was actually pretty remarkable in terms of signifying some very positive changes within the WWE.

For example...

-Kane bursts on to the scene (here battling Mankind), and he will eventually provide Undertaker with a worthy foe (something that had been desperately needed for quite some time). -The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn & Road Dogg) really come together here, and they would be a fun pairing in the years to come. -Rocky Maivia (later "The Rock") takes a larger role in the Nation of Domination, presaging his breakout as a singles superstar right around the corner. -Steve Austin wrestles a great rematch with Owen Hart, especially considering Owen had nearly broken his neck with a botched piledriver in their previous matchup. -To be honest, even the Screwjob itself-where Vince McMahon, Shawn Michaels, and referee Earl Hebner only knew the true outcome of the match going in-paved one clear way forward. It was morally reprehensible and I would never outright condone such treatment of an icon like Bret Hart, but it led Shawn to D-Generation X (which thrived) and laid the roots for the "Mr. McMahon" character that would increasingly come out from behind the mic in short order.

So, even though the '97 Survivor Series will forever be branded with the controversial decision of its final match, this is truly the best WWE PPV of the previous 2-3 years to that point. The doldrums of the mid-90s seem to be ending as the company ramps up for 1998.

The night a part of wrestling fan in me died

[bh_tafe3 · 6/10 · 1 November 2009]

I'm not going to blow things out of proportion here. Bret Hart's infamous screwjob loss is not the first time a person has gone into a match expecting one result and had the owner, referees, wrestlers conspire to produce another. It's not even the first time it had happened in the WWE. It's certainly not the first time a wrestler had shown sour grapes toward their former promotion. Ric Flair bringing the WCW Championship belt onto the WWE television and Austin's angry rant at WCW politics on his arrival in ECW are about on the same level. But this was the night that I sat there as a 16 year old and was given, for the first time, an inkling that there was a bit more going on here than choreographed fighting between friends, It was for me the night wrestling lost its previous innocence.

The night kicked off with a traditional four on four Survivor Series match, with the New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) teaming with the Godwinns (Henry and Phineas) to defeat The Headbangers (mosh and Thrasher) and the New Blackjacks (Barry Windham and Bradshaw). This was quite an average match with Bradshaw getting the ball rolling, pinning Henry Godwinn. Phineas Godwinn struck back for his team, taking out Windham following a clothesline. Next it was Mosh taken out by the Bad Ass Billy Gunn following. Thrasher then hit a stagedive on Phineas to square the match again. The New Age Outlaws then combined to take care of Bradshaw and then beat down on Mosh a few times to settle the match with the New Age Outlaws surviving.

The next match, which I can't really tell you much about the lead up to saw The Truth Commission (The Jackyl, The Interrogator, Sniper and Recon) defeat the WWE's #4 stable the Disciples of the Apocalypse (Chainz, Skull, 8-Ball and Crush) with the INterrogator the sole survivor. This was a short, not very good, match and the less said about it the better.

Next match saw the Survivor Series match done properly with Team Canada (THe British Bulldog, Doug Furnas, Phil Lafon and Jim Neidhart) defeating Team USA (Vader, Marc Mero, Goldust and Steve Blackman)> THe match eventually came down to Furnas and Bulldog vs Vader. Vader was bale to hit the Vader bomb on Furnas for the pin, but was then jumped from behind and hit with the ring bell by the Bulldog who got the pin to be the sole survivor.

It was then time for Kane, who had debuted at the Badd Blood PPV where he cost the Undertaker the No.1 contendership in his Hell in a Cell match with Shawn Michaels, to have his first singles match on PPV taking on Mankind. This is not a great match, and Kane wins with the Tombstone. The Kane character still moved a little awkwardly at this stage. Guess it's not easy getting around in a rubber mask.

Next match, another four on four Survivor Series match was easily the best SS match of the night. It saw Ahmed Johnson enlist the help of the Road Warriors (Hawk and Animal) and Ken Shamrock to take on the evil Nation of Doimination (Farooq, The Rock, Kama Mustafa and D Lo Brown) The match comes down to an exhausted Shamrock taking on D Lo Brown and the Rock, but Shamrock survives, forcing first Brown, and then the Rock to tap out to his devastating ankle lock as JR screamed "Shamrock has survived!" in the background.

It was then time for rising star Steve Austin to win the Intercontinental Championship from Owen Hart. Austin had defeated Hart at the Summerslam PPV, but had broken his neck in the fight. Owen then won back the title in a tournament so he could lose it to Austin here. This was a bad short match.

This finally brings us to the infamous main event which saw Shawn Michaels put Bret Hart in the sharpshooter to win the WWE Title in an average match. The problem was that Bret Hart was not aware that he would be losing the title. He then blew up, spitting in Vince McMahon's face, breaking TV monitors and writing "WCW" with his finger as the show went off air. The incident has sparked various conspiracy theories and opinions that I'm not going to bother getting into here. The main immediate consequence was the establishment of Vince McMahon as a boss who likes to screw his employees, something that Vince would milk for all it was worth over the next decade.

Just imagine the shock for me, a 16 year old watching what was going on at home. Something off had just happened and wrestling would never be quite same again.

Recap

[Spawn Devil · 1 July 2002]

The Godwinns and the New Age Outlaws vs. the Headbangers and the Blackjacks Survivors: New Age Outlaws

The Truth Commission vs. Disciples of Apocalypse Survivors: Interrogator and Jackyl

British Bulldog, Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart, Doug Furnas and Phil Lafon vs. Vader, Steve Blackman, Goldust and Marc Mero Survivor: British Bulldog

The Road Warriors, Ken Shamrock and Ahmed Johnson vs. Nation of Domination Survivor: Ken Shamrock

Kane defeated Mankind via pinfall

Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Owen Hart to capture the Intercontinental Championship

Shawn Michaels defeated Bret "Hitman" Hart to capture the WWE Championship

Overall Mark: C+

Without Montreal Screwjob - pretty average card

[amanwhorocks · 6/10 · 6 May 2014]

1. The HeadBangers/New Blackjacks Vs. GodWinns/Billy Gunn/Road Dogg - Ordinary match. 6.5/10

2. Truth Commission Vs. D.O.A. - Kurrgan debuts 6.5/10

3. Vader/Goldust/Steve Blackman/Marc Mero Vs. Jim Neidhart/The British Bulldog/Lafon/Furnace - CLassic tag action. Vader was cool. 7.5/10

4. Nation of Domination Vs. Ahmed Johnson/Ken Shamrock/Legion of Doom - es Shamrock with nice final victory over Rock, thanks for that booking! 7.5/10

5. WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Champ-Owen Hart Vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin - Owen too easy job for Stone Cold. Shorty. 7/10

6. WWF World Heavyweight Title Match: Shawn Michaels Vs. Champ-Bret Hart - Montreal screw-job we all know. I always like Bret more. 6.5/10

All for all - without that controversial ending: pretty average card.

The Most Controversial Event of All Time

[Izzit249 · 9/10 · 3 February 2006]

Probably the greatest PPV for argument of all time.

Of course this event is not only remembered for the infamous 'montreal screw-over, it signifies the return of a then injured Stone Cold Steve Austin to the ring to regain intercontinental championship from Owen Hart, and other great matches Vince McMahon lined up.

This is also in my opinion remembered for careful viewers, to see it is the first tme Vince McMahon left the commentators seat to be announced officially as the owner of the company. Well we all know why now don't we....

This is the final display of the Hart Foundation (despite the death of Brian Pillman a month before), as they united to see Bret down the ring, but yet failed to notice why Vince was hanging around ringside, until the infamous screw over, seeing Bret spit in Vince's face, and watching what seemed to be a bewildered Shawn Michaels escorted out the stadium by a blatantly guilty Gerald Brisco.

Most definitely worth the watch.

Controversial moment somehow leads to a big future!!

[morantjavonte · 4/10 · 5 May 2023]

Survivor Series 1997 was the 11th annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWF. It was held on November 9, 1997 at the Molsen Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Attendance was at 20,593 and the buyrate was at 250,000 which was a lot better than the previous Survivor Series events. The WWE considers this event as the birth of the Attitude Era thanks to a controversial incident that took place on this night that also gave birth to an evil boss we would know as Mr. McMahon. Boy is there a lot too explain on this show. Also marked the in-ring debut of Glenn Jacobs as Kane.

The Incident I mentioned would later be known as the Montreal Screwjob and it marked Bret Hart's last appearance on WWE live TV for over 12. Bret Hart was set to defend the WWF Championship but Michaels won in a controversial fashion when Vince McMahon ordered referee Earl Hebner to end as HBK held Bret Hart in the sharpshooter even though Hart did not submit much to the anger to Bret Hart and confusion of the Broadcast and everyone around. If you want a full story, documentaries, Auto Bios, and Interviews are everywhere. Again this show had one moment that is too much to explain and give up in one review. We also had our Survivor Series matches as usual and Kane's in-ring debut against Mankind.

The Good - Well for the main event, it was a good match overall. HBK & Bret Hart had beef dating back to the rise of both men at the top. With the feud having that real-life heat with both men taking shots at one another with shoot promos and even a real physical fight backstage, it's a real shocker to see them still do a match. The match is good at the end but the unfortunate thing is that it's overshadowed by the aftermath. We had a good Canadian crowd all night. Canadians are always great for shows.

The Meh - Midcard very underwhelming despite the talent involved in the matches. They are were just generic elimination tag team matches. The Nation of Domination vs the team lead by Ken Shamrock was a little interesting when it all counted on Shamrock to win but we also get reminded of how non-important the Road Warriors were to the WWF. Kane's debut against Mankind wasn't all that but it was a good debut match. Really the important goal was to put over Kane which went well.

The Bad - The Disciples of Apocalypse vs. The Truth Commission was awful. That's all I would say. Such an awful match that really didn't need to be on the card. Hell the gimmick of the DOA didn't even last that long. I also feel it was not smart to have Stone Cold in the ring this early after the neck injury botch that he was still in recovery from SummerSlam of that year. You can see he is so limited and it felt pointless putting him in this match that didn't even go 5 minutes.

Overall - This show had an incident that makes this show Memorable. That incident is sooo huge that someone would lie to you if they said that the Montreal Screwjob is not the first to come in mine. The incident was so crazy it almost makes everything else on this show not even cared to be talked about. Some say Bret screwed Bret, some say Vince screwed Bret, some say Shawn & Earl screwed Bret and hell some still to this day think it was all a worked. For my quick ghoughts of the Montreal, I think I can sympathize with both sides of who screwed who but this whole thing is something to be talked about on a different topic. For the show it's not really that good.

Score - 4 out of 10: Boring

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time

1. The Goodwins, Billy Gunn & The Road Dogg vs. The Headbangers & The New Blackjacks (Elimination Tag) - 1/5

2. The Disciples Of Apocalypse vs. The Truth Commission (Elimination Tag) - 0/5

3. Goldust, Marc Mero, Steve Blackman & Vader vs. Team Canada (Doug Furnas, Jim Neidhart, Philip LaFon & The British Bulldog) (Elimination Tag) - 2/5

4. Kane vs. Mankind - 2/5

5. Ahmed Johnson, Ken Shamrock & The Legion Of Doom (Road Warrior Animal & Road Warrior Hawk) vs. The Nation Of Domination (D-Lo Brown, Faarooq, Kama Mustafa & The Rock) (Elimination Tag) - 2.5/5

6. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Owen Hart: WWF Intercontinental Championship - 0/5

7. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels: WWF Championship - 3.5/5

Best Match - Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels

Worst Match - DOA vs. Truth Commission

Most Memorable Moment - The obvious

Top 5 Performers

1. Bret Hart - Good Performance

2. Shawn Michaels - Good Performance

3. Ken Shamrock - Good Performance

4. The Rock Good Performance

5. Kane - Good Performance.

Survivor Series 1997

[edna_krabappel1982 · 10/10 · 29 September 2006]

Survivor Series 1997 let me get right to the point,the Main event of the Pay Per View the other matches were OK but i was only really interested in Bret's match so that's all I'm going to summarise

Main Event the best there is the best there was and the best there ever will be, Bret "Hitman" Hart vs HBK Shawn Michaels the match starts before the bell rings Hart and Michaels fight up and down the aisle before being coaxed into the ring to start the match for real.

I'm not going to spoil the ending of the match except to say that what happened was absolutely ridiculous and Vincent Kennedy McMahon should be ashamed of himself! I strongly suggest you get this pay per view on video or DVD and watch it for yourselves.

A Good Event Clouded By A Controversial Finish

[Big Movie Fan · 18 June 2002]

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

Firstly, let me get the bad bits out of the way. Longtime WWF fans will know that this was the event where Bret Hart parted company with the WWF after an incredible 13 year career. It's important to be objective here because there are two sides to a story but I do believe Vince McMahon made a mistake in doing what he did to Bret. Obviously, there was a ratings war going on with WCW at the time and I suppose that type of thing can make people do funny things. I don't need to go into great detail about the events here but despite this being a great event most people including myself only really remember it for the ending. Bret Hart was screwed in a way and it was so sad that his relationship with Vince McMahon ended like this. All I will say in closing is that the ending of the main event between Bret and Shawn Michaels really did spoil what was a great event.

Back to the action-the matches were brilliant.We had battles such as Mankind having a wild brawl against the invincible Kane and Vader leading a team to battle in a good match which was memorable for Vader's partner Goldust and his sulking on the ring apron (Goldust refused to enter the match). The action throughout was top notch which was typical for the WWF of that era.

The main event between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels was a good match spoilt only by the ending where Shawn Michaels was declared the winner via submission even though Bret Hart did clearly not submit.

The night the WWF change forever

[Terryfan · 8/10 · 26 May 2015]

Of course when wrestling fans think about the 1997 Survivor Series it's best known for the biggest Screw job in the history of Pro Wrestling everything this event is talked about we are reminded of the Screw Job where Vince McMahon cause Bret 'Hit Man' Hart the WWF Championship during the match with Shawn Michaels due to the fact that Vince didn't want Bret to leave the WWF with his Championship and Bret didn't want to lose in Canada to Shawn Michaels.

You can watch "Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows" to know more about the events leading up to this Survivor Series. This event is overlooked just for one match but when you actually watch the event you see some good wrestling matches

Match 1: The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg) and The Godwinns (Henry O and Phineas I) Vs The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) and The New Blackjacks (Bradshaw and Windham) now while I did say this show had some good matches this one wasn't one of them it just feature some slow pace and pretty much a one sided match at best.

Rating: 4 out of 10

Match 2: The Truth Commission (The Jackly, The Interrogator, Sniper and Recon) vs DOA: The Disciples Of Apocalypse (Crush, Chainz,8-Ball and Skull) Again this match wasn't much to talk about while DOA did get a huge roar from the fans this match just felt stall

Rating: 5 out of 10

Match 3: Team U.S.A (Vader, Goldust,Marc Mero, and Steve Blackman) with Sable vs Team Canada (The British Bulldog, Jim The Anvil Neidhart, Doug Furnas, and Phil Lafon) now this when the show starts to get better and this was a pretty good match from the start with drama and good spots as Vader show case his skills and Team Canada shows they came to fight. Could be match of the night

Rating: 8 out of 10

Match 4: Kane with Paul Bearer vs Mankind, when Kane debut in 1997 he was a monster and this was his first match on PPV, Mankind and Kane work a good match together and the whole match was light in red which made it a different feel for the match and they put off a strong one.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Match 5: The Legion Of Doom (Hawk and Animal) Ahmed Johnson and Ken Shamrock vs The Nation Of Domination (The Rock, Faarooq, Kama Mustafa, and D'Lo Brown) The fans show a lot of respect for L.O.D. during the match, clearly the fans were on the side of L.O.D. Johnson and Shamrock. The match itself could have been more but still a entertainment match

Rating: 7 out of 10

Match 6: Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Owen Hart for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. This match had a lot going into it since Owen injury Steve's neck and since has taunted him for it the match they pretty much brawl and it could have been a hardcore match but it was short which is a shame but still interesting match with Stone Cold getting his revenge

Rating: 7 out of 10

Match 7: Shawn Michaels vs Bret 'Hit Man' Hart for the World Wrestling Federation Championship

The match that is best know about this Survivor Series as it is without doubt one of the most controversial WWF matches in history both men started to brawl outside the ring before the match started and they couldn't be control when the match started finally it was mix as both men have been known for their classic matches but clearly this match was going to be talk about and in the match's climax when the finish about to take place Shawn had Bret in the Sharpshooter where Vince order the match and the Ref to ring the bell where Bret was robbed of his championship and you can see Shawn was very upset about the move.

Now you know why this Survivor Series only gets talk about one moment that is still talk about 18 years after the fact

I give the 1997 WWF Survivor Series an 8 out of 10

Bret Hart is whining & complaining again? I find that hard to believe!

[MarcMV12 · 15 May 2004]

It is now May 2004. This event took place in November 1997, Six and a half years ago. Even now Vince McMahon (owner of WWE) is trying to smooth things over with Bret, but Mr Hart will only return on the proviso that he can 'get revenge on Shawn Michaels or Vince McMahon' after what happened at this event. Three words Bret: GET OVER IT. It happened, its in the past, LET IT GO.

Every time I hear the term "The Montreal Screw-job" a shudder courses through my body. Bret Hart was leaving to go to WCW. He wanted the PPV match that people had payed good money to see, both in person & on Pay - Per - View from home to end in a massive brawl, and a double disqualification, then he wanted to ditch the WORLD Title the next night on TV and walk away. I'm sorry, but how would that have been better for anyone other than Bret himself, and his own fans? Neutrals will recall that titles in the WWF (as it was back then) were only ever surrendered due to injury, or other personal problems where the Wrestlers were left with no choice but to vacate their title. Even Shawn Michaels (who was fond of winning, but not very fond of losing his numerous titles) dropped the World Title to Stone-Cold Steve Austin at 'The Big One' Wrestlemania 14. What if he had refused? Austin winning his first World Title by being given it the next night on Raw wouldn't have had quite the same feel. Bret Hart's problem was that he couldn't handle not being the top dog anymore, and he wanted to spoil it for the fans by not doing the decent thing and letting Shawn win. A victory for Shawn after interference surely would have been a more acceptable way to end his tenure than what we got. Its just a pity that the owner was forced into doing something he didn't want to do by Bret's petulance.

Shawn Michaels was put in a precarious position. Whether he knew what was going to happen is fiercely debated even to this day, but even if he did, what was he meant to do? Refuse his chance at the World Title to show loyalty to someone who had dragged their feud into the schoolyard by saying his parents must be ashamed of their son Shawn? Why should he? The only person who screwed Bret Hart was Bret Hart, the minute he thought he was bigger than the Man and the company he was working for.

And on a side note, the only people that were really screwed that night were the fans, because controversial ending aside, the PPV was not memorable for anything else. The whole event had been built on the title match and it showed with a poor under-card. Normally any other Survivor Series (bar The woeful 6th Annual in 1992, which coincidently also had World Champion Bret Hart vs Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels for the World Title as the main event - which Bret won) would be recommendable, but not this one. Probably one of the hardest old events to get hold off, but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons.

Bret Hart has every right to be mad, with a capital AARRRGGGHH!

[Legend_Killa · 2 April 2006]

Before I get to the obvious match, let me just say that this was a time when the WWE's or F's (whatever) mid-card was terrible. I'm not going to go over the under card as they were only there to fill up time.

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Owen Hart - This match wasn't a good match, but is wasn't really supposed to be. It was just supposed to be Stone Cold re-establishing himself as the main mid-carder on his way to the top. All you had to do was see his beer belly to know that the pre-Summer Slam Steve Austin that Bret Hart said was the best wrestler in the world, was gone.

Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels - This match lets us see how Americans can't see past their own existence and how Canadians hate them for it. For all those who say get over it. What would you do if you carried a company for the majority of the 90's & was responsible for elevating Stone Cold Steve Austin to mainevent status? Bret Hart gave his life and sacrificed his marriage for the WWF only to be screwed like that in his own country. Not only would I not have let it go, but I wouldn't have left Montreal without making good use of my knuckle dusters.

Leave Bret Hart alone, he has every right to moan as long as he feels like it!