I've been asked to review a PPV that happened in the New Generation Era as part of #EOTRNewGenerationWeek, and with Canadian Stampede falling on July 6, 1997, it does still qualify. The Attitude Era didn't officially start until November 9, of the same year so by the time July 6th rolled around there was still four months left in the New Generation.
There were four matches that took place on this show and it's considered to be the best In Your House Pay Per View throughout the entire In Your House series.
Okay, so according to the great Wikipedia, there were five matches on this show, but one of those matches was a dark match therefore it doesn't count. Since it was a dark match, I didn't see it and I can't really talk much about it, but for reference it was The Godwinns of Henry O. and Phineas I. Godwinn taking on The New Blackjacks of Barry Windham and Blackjack Bradshaw (sounds exciting right?).
The first official match of the night was Mankind vs. Hunter Hearst Helmsley w/ Chyna
The match wasn't what you would expect from a Triple H vs. Mankind affair. However this match, while it wasn't their best (that honor belongs to Summerslam 1997 and the cage match they had), it was still pretty good, but most people tend to overlook the match due to the way it ended being that it was a double count out. Still it's the match that kicked off the show and it did a great job of setting the tone for what was to come.
Onto the second match of the night which featured Taka Michinoku taking on the Great Sasuke.
This match was great, the match took place back when people were still becoming familiar with Taka Michinoku's body of work and The Great Sasuke was rarely seen in a America so this was a treat for the fans in Canada that night. This match featured great action and a hot crowd; in fact the crowd for this entire show was amazing and probably one of the best wrestling crowds you will ever come across. This match is definitely one you should check out if you are looking for something different. The match went ten minutes and surprisingly enough, The Great Sasuke defeated Taka Michinoku which may sound weird, but it's mainly due to the fact that Taka hadn't yet been established as a top light heavyweight star in the federation as of yet.
From there, we go to the third match of the night and already the co main event as Vader challenged then champion the Undertaker for the World Wrestling Federation Championship. As you may remember the storyline going into this match started on the June 23rd episode of RAW is War when Vader was announced as the number one contender for the WWF Championship. At the same time The Undertaker was forced to team with his future opponent in a tag team tournament match for the vacant WWF Tag Team Titles. The duo took on The Nation Of Domination's D'Lo Brown and Faarooq. Vader's manager Paul Bearer forced The Undertaker to do what Bearer wanted otherwise he would reveal a secret about the Undertaker's past to the entire world.
Undertaker would attack Vader in the match, which would lead Bearer to reveal the secret the next week. He said that throughout Taker's childhood and teen years, he lived in a funeral home with his parents and half brother. According to Bearer, the Undertaker killed both his parents and caused his half brothers face to be bruised and scarred when he set the funeral home on fire. The Undertaker would of course deny everything, saying that Kane was the one who burned the house down. During an attack from the Undertaker after Vader's match with Rockabilly, Bearer said he heard from Kane himself, which would lead one of the best storylines in wrestling history.
The match itself for the WWF Title went almost 13:00 minutes and these two absolutely destroyed one another, but in the end, The Undertaker would stand tall with the title in hand after putting away his 450 pound adversary with the tombstone piledriver.
Finally, we head into the main event which was the Hart Foundation squaring off with Team USA in a ten man tag team match. The members of team USA were Stone Cold Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust and The Legion Of Doom(Hawk and Animal) taking on The Hart Foundation, which was comprised of Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart, Owen Hart, British Bulldog and Brian Pillman. This match marked the final time that the entire Hart family would be under the same roof in a match.
The match was one fall to a finish and would go almost twenty-five minutes in length. This match was absolutely fantastic from start to finish and it features one of the hottest crowds in wrestling history.
They were one hundred percent behind The Hart Foundation during this match and even went so far as to boo Stone Cold Steve Austin, who at the time was turning into the Stone Cold Steve Austin that we all know and love today.
Towards the end of the match, Austin would put Bret in his own Sharpshooter, Owen would return to the ring and make the save for his team. Austin goes to the outside to beat up the retired Hart Brothers. Austin gets back in the ring, but turns to mouth off to the Hart's once again and Owen capitalizes and rolls him up with a handful of tights to get the victory at 24:32. The Hart Brothers jump the railing and clear the ring of the Americans. Austin would return and attack Anvil with a chair before getting jumped on by the rest of the foundation. Security cuffs Austin before taking him to the back. Austin still manages to flip off the crowd, as the Hart's would go on to celebrate their final moment together in the ring as a family.
This pay per view was great from top to bottom, but the main event is extremely significant from a historical perspective especially if you know what would eventually happen with the Hart family. So I can only recommend this show with my highest regard, go fire up the WWE Network and watch this show immediately.
-Nathan
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