Ranking every WWE SummerSlam PPV in history

22. WWE SummerSlam 1997

• Mankind def. Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Steel Cage Match)
• Goldust def. Brian Pillman
• The Legion of Doom def. The Godwinns
• The British Bulldog def. Ken Shamrock by DQ to retain the WWE European Championship
• Los Boricuas def. The Disciples of Apocalypse (8-Man Tag Match)
• Stone Cold Steve Austin def. Owen Hart to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship
• Bret Hart def. The Undertaker to win the WWE Championship

SummerSlam 1997 was certainly an interesting night, even if some of the matches were fairly subpar. But what lacked on the undercard was certainly made up for in the final two matches, even if one will always be remembered for what happened at the end.

In a preview of a better program that would come a few years later, Triple H and Mick Foley kicked the night off with a Steel Cage Match that was decent enough but not great. They had better matches in ’97 than this one but there were a few nice spots here. Naturally, Mankind had to go crazy and achieved that by dropping an elbow from the top of the cage and he later escaped to pick up the win.

What followed was four matches that just aren’t good. Goldust and Pillman was a mess because Flyin’ Brian couldn’t do much with all of his injuries. LOD was still over with the crowd but their match with The Godwinns was very slow. Davey Boy and Ken Shamrock didn’t even get to eight minutes and there were way too many rest holds for guys that athletic. The DQ finish didn’t help matters. The eight-man tag was an absolute mess and if you can remember even two members of Los Boricuas without using Google, you’ve got my respect.

The penultimate match of the evening featured Stone Cold Steve Austin and Owen Hart battling for the Intercontinental Championship and, as I said earlier, this match will always be remembered for what happened at the end but the rest of it was very, very good. The two had great chemistry (must be a normal thing with Austin and the Hart family) and they told an excellent story in the ring with Owen working the neck, which led right into the finish. Owen went for a piledriver and it went horribly wrong as Austin’s head had gone down too far and it hit the mat before anything else (the slo-mo replay is hard to watch sometimes).

Owen went for a cover but Austin was clearly telling him that he was legitimately hurt and Hart just got up and walked around yelling at the crowd for a few minutes. Owen had been booked to lose and major props to him for taking the pin the way he did. Yes, it looked horrible but he did his job and did it well. It was a crazy match that only made Austin look stronger upon his return, although it was that same injury that forced him to miss a lot of time in the next few years and ultimately ended his career.

The main event was Bret Hart taking on The Undertaker for the WWE Championship with none other than Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee. There were a few weird stipulations thrown in, but the biggest point of things was that Shawn wouldn’t be able to screw Bret, which is even more hilarious now given what transpired just a few short months later.

The match went on a little too long but it was still solid. Bret was great as the Canadian heel and ‘Taker was fantastic, even knowing he wasn’t the real focus here. HBK caught it on both sides as the referee and we all knew something was coming at the end. The shock here was that Shawn inadvertently helped Bret win the title.

At the end of the match, Michaels went to hit Hart with a steel chair and wound up blasting The Undertaker in the head. This match was actually quite historic as it led to the start of Shawn’s heel turn and the formation of D-X. It also led into the first-ever Hell in a Cell Match as he and The Deadman settled things from this bout, which then led into Michaels getting the title shot at Survivor Series, and we all know what happened there.