Hail The Harts: Canadian Stampede 1997

In 1997, the World Wrestling Federation was in the middle of a war with World Championship Wrestling. Competition was at its peak and the creative juices were flowing, yet the WWF just seemed to be always one step behind. By July, though, you began to see new players emerging. Undertaker and Bret Hart were still running strong, but had to continuously up their game to keep up with new blood like Mankind, Triple H, Ken Shamrock and Steve Austin. Pushing the envelope with its storylines, WWF leaned into the Hart Foundation’s anti-American viewpoints, creating an interesting divide between the U.S. and the rest of the world.

That’s what made In Your House: Canadian Stampede so much fun. The Hart Foundation was welcomed as heroes in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, while longtime favorites like the Legion of Doom and rising star Stone Cold were treated as the enemy.

MANKIND VS TRIPLE H W/ CHYNA

This was a great match until the final moments, leading to a double count out. I’d usually say that this is a horrible way to end a good match, but in hindsight, this simply built up to the tremendous cage match at SummerSlam 1997. It’s hard to pinpoint feuds that elevated both participants at the same time, but that’s exactly what happened with Mankind and Triple H. It would only be two years later around this same time that both men would be challenging for the WWF Championship. And the next night, Triple H would beat Mankind to win his first world title. Don’t forget Chyna by Triple H’s side during all of this.

TAKA MICHINOKU VS THE GREAT SASUKE

I recently re-listened to the Something to Wrestle With…Bruce Prichard podcast on the Canadian Stampede and forgot that when WWE brass wanted to begin the light-heavyweight division, they wanted to showcase great Japanese talent. That’s what this match was. Although Sasuke won the match, it was Taka that Vince and Co. recruited. It’s interesting to see that Vince was on board with putting Japanese talent in the spotlight of a pay-per-view while losing the war against WCW. Sadly, while you can see that Taka and Sasuke put everything out there, it just seemed like a cheap rip-off of WCW’s cruiserweight matches.

WWF CHAMPIONSHIP: THE UNDERTAKER (C) VS VADER W/ PAUL BEARER

Let’s keep in mind that this match was made on less than two weeks’ notice considering that Ahmed Johnson blew out his knee during a multi-man brawl on Raw. Vader got the call as a substitute for Canadian Stampede and it made sense by playing back Vader’s win over Taker just six months beforehand at the Royal Rumble. Plus, Vader aligned with Paul Bearer, who just began the Kane revelation storyline. This match was not good, which is sad because Undertaker was always good for great matches and I’ve seen what Vader could do back in WCW 1992, but that wasn’t the same Vader in this match. If there was one positive, this match was probably 100 times better than what Taker vs. Ahmed would have been.

10 MAN TAG TEAM MAIN EVENT:
THE HART FOUNDATION (BRET HART, BRITISH BULLDOG, OWEN HART, JIM NEIDHART, & BRIAN PILLMAN) VS STEVE AUSTIN, THE LEGION OF DOOM (HAWK & ANIMAL), KEN SHAMROCK & GOLDUST

This was amazing. The crowd was excellent and added so much to it. I’d put this crowd up against any Raw after WrestleMania and see who brings the energy more. They go louder and louder with each Hart Foundation member entrance with J.R. yelling “the roof is blowing off this arena” when Bret Hart’s music hits. The storytelling is great as well. The 10-man stare down before the bell slowly dispersed into just Bret and Austin staring each other down until the bell rang and the brawl is on. Austin injuring Owen’s knee to give the American team the numbers advantage was great to drag the crowd down a little, but the sequence lost some luster for me with the interference and stupidity of one of Bret’s brothers.

The Hitman getting revenge was good, too, but I’d argue maybe leaving the match to 5-4, advantage Team Austin, so that when Owen comes limping back down to the ring would be even bigger live and maybe at home, too. You can see that this match was being called on the fly because of how sloppy it would occasionally get, but it was still done so well. The ending prevents this from being the greatest match of all time. Austin gets into it with Stu Hart, which I’m fine with, but then the brothers get involved again and Austin rolls back into the ring only for Owen to roll him up for the win. I understand protecting Austin, but in this environment with this crowd, just let the hometown heroes get their decisive win. The final shot of Canadian Stampede is the entire Hart family celebrating in the ring, including future wrestlers Natalya Neidhart and Harry Smith.

Great main event match, just needed a different finish.