A wrestling year reviewed - 1997.

The year was 1997, the Monday Night Wars were in full flow and WCW were well and truly taking the WWF(E) to the learning tree. A mass-assembled who's-who of talent brought WCW into the fray as the leading force in the Wrestling world.

The NWO was in it's infancy and wasn't beginning to bore the wrestling fans silly...yet. The use of the Cruiserweights and the Lucha Libra's made for some breathtaking Television. The story, however, that dominated WCW for the whole year was the build up of Sting. Sting stalked and scared the NWO for the whole year, bringing them into a false sense of security for the best part of a month before showing behind his black and white, he had the heart of red and white. The use of Sting was truly fantastic and the build-up for the eventual calamity that was Hogan-Sting at Starrcade '97 was amazing. The match as we know, didn't warrant what the truly brilliant build-up gave it.

The WWF, however, was going through a transition period. 1997 may have been known for the year that WCW almost put the WWF out of business but for me, 1997 is the most underrated year in the WWF's history. From a creative standpoint, it was great viewing. The Undertaker finally won his 2nd WWF Championship and became the torch-bearer for the company. The WWF may have lacked main event talent at the time (Look at The Undertaker's opponents during his Championship reign) but it's creativity was 2nd to none.

Mick Foley showed his true diversity with a memorable promo at Madison Square Gardens and the creation of DX, The Hart Foundation but also the Nation of Domination gave the WWF 3 great heel factions. The build-up of the debut of Kane was probably the greatest storyline of the whole year. Paul Bearer sold the storyline perfectly as he threatened his former Compadre, The Undertaker that he would release his 'biggest secret'. Once Kane debuted at the 1st infamous HIAC, it didn't disappoint. It showed Kane to not only be a monster but also that he was possibly greater than The Undertaker.

1997, however, was all about the rise of Stone Cold Steve Austin. All through 1997, Stone Cold was built up as the anti-authority figure who wouldn't take any sh*t from anyone and while his broken neck may have taken time from his in-ring career, it not only built his character up but it also made him the most popular superstar in the sport. Stunner here, Stunner there, Stunners here, there and everywhere and the fans would erupt. Stone Cold has arrived.

The Montreal Screwjob, now that I look at it in hindsight, was probably the best for the WWF at that time. At the time, however, it was not just controversial but seemingly ended the WWF for good. The Montreal Screwjob for all it's 'Bret screwed Bret' and it's bad effect on wrestling at the time had one crowning moment above all the others. This, with the rise of Stone Cold created not only the character; Vince McMahon but also created the most infamous rivalry in history; Austin vs McMahon.

To sum up, 1997 was a great year, the most underrated year in Wrestling. Even in desperate times, the WWF showed it's creative genius and WCW also showed it's in-ring presence. A great year for Wrestling.

KEY EVENTS

• WCW Uncensored - Sting attacks the NWO and joins WCW.

• Wrestlemania 13 - The infamous Austin-Hart Submission Match and The Undertaker wins the WWF Championship.

• RAW 24/03/97 - Bret Hart turns heel promo

• RAW 21/4/97 - For the first time, Paul Bearer talks about The Undertaker's 'secret'.

• K.O.T.R - Triple H defeats Mankind in the Finals.

• RAW 07/97 - Rocky Maivia joins the Nation of Domination and becomes The Rock.

• Summerslam - Bret Hart wins the WWF Championship from The Undertaker after a chair shot from Shawn Michaels. Owen Hart breaks Stone Cold's neck after a botch piledriver.

• NITRO 04/08/97 - Lex Luger wins the WCW Heavyweight Championship from Hollywood Hogan.

• RAW 11/08/97 - Mankind vs Shawn Michaels - The beginning of DX

• NITRO 22/09/97 - The debut of Bill Goldberg.

• RAW ' ' - SCSA stuns Vince McMahon, Mick Foley's infamous '3 faces of Foley' promo.

• Badd Blood - The 1st ever HIAC match between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels. The debut of Kane w/ Paul Bearer.

• RAW 13/10/97 - DX are officially named DX.

• Survivor Series - The Montreal Screwjob.

• RAW/NITRO 10/11/97 - Rick Rude appears on both Nitro and Raw on the same night.

• Starrcade '97 - Sting vs Hogan ends in a 'botched' finish. Sting wins the belt with some controversy.

I don't think 1997 is underrated, for any WWF fan who was old enough to watch many claim its the best year ever, for me it was, the rise of Austin, Micheals heel turn, the formation of DX/The Nation/Hart Foundation, The Rock heel turn, Mankind/HHH feud, Kane is coming, the 1st Hell in a Cell, Montreal, just awesme from start to finish

Great article mate, really enjoyed reading it. One thing I'd say though is you said it was one of the most underrated years in pro wrestling, I'm not sure about this I thought it was a very highly rated year and lots of peoples favourite (mine included)?

As I was never in to WCW can only comment on the WWF stuff. To me this was the year Austin was at his best, and also Bret Hart, who hapen to be my 2 favourites. It really was a make of break year for WWE and it turned out to propel the attitude era.

Maybe not underrated but overshadowed by the years after it. 1997 was just a brilliant year in general. I much prefer watching Austin in '97 than '98, he was just much more raw (no pun intended) during that period.

I don't know if it was overshaddowed by the years after, for me it was the best, I often see that quoted as the best, top article tho, never enough conversations about 97

I'm thinking of doing this as a regular thing. I thought I'd start with 1997 as there's so much to talk about.

Thats the thing after 97 is downhill, I'd well be intrested in reading your year in reviews tho

Yeah, even though wrestling became much more popular after '97, '97 is the benchmark for me.
I think either '96 or '98 would be logically the best one.

Not a bad review pal. You forgot the Shawn Michaels 'lost his smile' speech on your key events list. This I feel was the 1st build block in the Montreal Screwjob...
This was my favourite year in wrestling

Ahh, yeah. Bret Hart having his hissy fit as well. I was doing it all by thought, so it's possible I left a few things out.

Cracking article mate.

But you missed the most important event of 1997:

The debut of Dude Love!

"Steve-O! It's me, Dude Love! And I'm comin' to save the day! OWW! Have mercy!"

theundisputedY2D2 wrote:Cracking article mate.

But you missed the most important event of 1997:

The debut of Dude Love!

"Steve-O! It's me, Dude Love! And I'm comin' to save the day! OWW! Have mercy!"

I forgot about that cool cat!

Excellent article. I'm yet another who would say 1997 was my favourite year for the WWF.

As for the "underrated" comment, I think that's fair. Business was poor, hardly anyone was watching, and the year is more remembered for the negatives than the positives.

However, there was so much of note going on backstage that it was constantly interesing, and the on-screen product was fantastic. There were some quality characters, excellent talkers and wrestlers, it was everything that is right about Vince Russo's approach to wrestling, before he started doing everything that's wrong about his approach! It was a really good roster of wrestlers who had next to no historical drawing power but were allowed to flourish into draws. WWE and TNA take note: In 1997 Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Triple H and Rocky Maivia were not proven draws, but they became draws because they had the talent, they were protected and they were treated as stars.

Up and down the card they had talent. Wrestlers weren't pushed one week and then jobbed out the next. They were protected and their weaknesses hidden. I genuinely believe that if WWE was as committed to making stars of its wrestlers in 2011 as it was in 1997, we'd see another boom peroid. It seemed like there was a hunger to the company that isn't there now (and it's understandable given how desperate things were financially).

I think it's worth mentioning that 1997 was also a pivotal year for ECW. Not only did they "invade" Raw but the company had its first PPV, the Dreamer-Raven feud reached its climax, the likes of Taz and RVD were at their peak and ECW was still enjoying the tail end of its glory years.

As for WCW, the entire Sting angle was done brilliantly except for the happy ending. Politics was already beginning to take over and the NWO was strangling the product. But WCW (and specifically the NWO) was cool, and that is something that can't be underestimated. They were obliterating the WWF in the ratings when they didn't have a better product, but had captured the public's imagination with the Hogan heel turn. I think that WCW was still pretty decent at times in 1997 but was already beginning to show the signs of all the flaws that would put it out of business four years later (it feels crazy typing that; it took just four years to go from destroying the WWF in the ratings to being bought by them!).

Great asssessment and a good shout on ECW