|
|
Post by hbkjason on Oct 25, 2019 11:06:04 GMT -5
Wrestling Memories: One Night Only
Today I am talking about one of the most exciting and highly anticipated live events I have ever been to and that is WWF One Night Only which took place in Birmingham on the 20th of September 1997. This was actually the first-ever WWF UK PPV and it was a massive and I mean massive deal at the time. Sky TV went all out hyping his event and they actually did such a great job it was one of these events that you felt like you had to watch live. One of the strangest things about this event looking back now is the PPV concept. I remember there was this event center thing on one of the WWF shows before the event took place. They made a big deal about how people in the UK had been asking “when are we going to get PPV?” which even back then to me was crazy as we got all of the WWE PPV events as part of our Sky Sports subscription so why would people actually want to pay more? Well, I knew that I had to go to this show and me and a buddy had to get the train all the way from Edinburgh to Birmingham which was not cheap and took over four hours! This at the time was the most expensive WWF show I had ever been to. Not only did I have to buy the tickets, but I also had to buy my train ticket and accommodation for the night! I do not actually remember having a super hard time getting tickets for this event. I rang up and got through quite quickly and scored some pretty good seats in the tiers section. So, I was happy and the hype for the show started to set in. Out of all the WWF UK PPV events that the WWF put on from this one all the way to 2003, this one had the most hype and promotion behind it. It came as close as you could get to them promoting a full PPV event and that just made me even more excited for the event. This is a show that was really about three matches. These were Shawn Michaels vs British Bulldog for the European Championship. Bret Hart vs Undertaker for the WWF Championship and Dude Love vs Triple H which may sound surprising, but this feud was white-hot at the time. One of the things that One Night Only is infamous for is the just horrible match between Al Snow (as Leif Cassidy) and Tiger Ali Singh I swear to god, watching live this match felt like it lasted forever. However, apart from this stinker I actually feel that the rest of the card was solid. You had other matches such as Owen Hart vs Vader and the LOD vs The Godwins which watching live were a ton of fun. So, while it has a reputation as being an event that is just all about Shawn Michaels vs British Bulldog, this was a fun night of wrestling. One match I have to talk about is Bret Hart vs Undertaker, this was awesome! I loved watching these two wrestle at SummerSlam and this match here is even better. The spot where Bret Hart gets whipped into the turnbuckle chest first looks extra brutal here! I really think that the heel Bret Hart of 1997 is in the running for the best heel in WWF history. He was awesome from a character point of view, but I swear this guy just got better and better with age when it came to his in ring work. Also, seeing Undertaker during this period actually get to “wrestle” people like Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels, not to mention Steve Austin after WrestleMania was great. Speaking of Steve Austin, that is one the huge let down of the show. As we all know he got injured at SummerSlam so he was not here. He was actually supposed to wrestle Bret Hart for the WWF Championship and Undertaker was supposed to wrestle Ahmed Johnson, who was also injured. These two matches along with Bulldog vs HBK were what was featured on the advertising in the WWF Magazine. I would have to wait a little longer for my chance to get to cheer on Stone Cold Steve Austin. Also, truth be told I liked Ahmed Jonson as well so it was a shame he could not be there either. Now let’s get to the main event, Shawn Michaels vs British Bulldog! This is the most insane wrestling crowd I had ever been in. Full disclosure people, going into this match I was cheering for Shawn Michaels. Hey, I loved Bulldog, but HBK was my guy and I was not going to turn on him…. But let me say my enthusiastic cheers that were going on while the match was taking place started to get less and less as I noticed the mood in the arena start to change and get more and more hostile. It kind of comes off a little bit when you watch it on TV, but being there live, honestly if someone had jumped the rail and punched Shawn Michaels I would not have been surprised at all. I do not think that this match was as good as some of the others these two have had, in particular, King of the Ring 96, but it certainly cemented Shawn Michaels as that prick heel. To this day I have never been to a live show that has had as many people leave the arena as angry as this one. One last thing about this show. I still have my t-shirt (complete with a giant hole in the armpit) and program. But my most prized item to do with this show is a kind of weird one. For some reason, Silver Vision sent people on their mailing list a postcard with Shawn Michaels super kicking Bulldog on it to promote this event. It is something I have kept all these years and I do not think I will ever get rid of it. I would love to know what you guys thought of this event. Did you watch it live as a UK fan in the arena or on Sky? Also was this event hyped up at all in the USA? Did you guys even have access to it before it was released on VHS? As always thanks for reading and I look forward to reading your thoughts on this event. |
|
|
|
Post by LA Times on Oct 25, 2019 12:43:12 GMT -5
I dont think this was shown in the US at all at the time. For some reason, all I know and remember about this show was that The Patriot beat Flash Funk, LOL.
|
|
|
|
Post by The Brain on Oct 25, 2019 14:09:42 GMT -5
Overall decent event with Bret/Taker being the standout.
I remember being disappointed when I got the VHS all those years ago and finding out they removed that match lol
*edit* I also really liked the Owen/Vader match as well. |
|
|
|
Post by hbkjason on Oct 25, 2019 15:22:42 GMT -5
Overall decent event with Bret/Taker being the standout.
I remember being disappointed when I got the VHS all those years ago and finding out they removed that match lol
*edit* I also really liked the Owen/Vader match as well. No way!!! That is crazy, I had no idea they did that. Why on earth would they take that match off the VHS? I know it was on the VHS tape that was released here in the UK. Did the USA tape still have Leif Cassidy vs Tiger Ali Signh? |
|
|
|
Post by The Brain on Oct 25, 2019 15:26:52 GMT -5
Overall decent event with Bret/Taker being the standout.
I remember being disappointed when I got the VHS all those years ago and finding out they removed that match lol
*edit* I also really liked the Owen/Vader match as well. No way!!! That is crazy, I had no idea they did that. Why on earth would they take that match off the VHS? I know it was on the VHS tape that was released here in the UK. Did the USA tape still have Leif Cassidy vs Tiger Ali Signh? IIRC they removed Bret/Taker,Leif/Singh and Funk/Patriot. |
|
|
|
Post by hbkjason on Oct 25, 2019 15:29:07 GMT -5
No way!!! That is crazy, I had no idea they did that. Why on earth would they take that match off the VHS? I know it was on the VHS tape that was released here in the UK. Did the USA tape still have Leif Cassidy vs Tiger Ali Signh? IIRC they removed HBK/Taker,Leif/Singh and Funk/Patriot. Thanks for the info, the other two matches I completly get, but Bret vs Taker is just insane to me. Maybe it was to cut down the amount of tape they used as if I remember right this show actually goes a fair bit over the three hour mark. |
|
|
|
Post by The Brain on Oct 25, 2019 15:31:43 GMT -5
IIRC they removed HBK/Taker,Leif/Singh and Funk/Patriot. Thanks for the info, the other two matches I completly get, but Bret vs Taker is just insane to me. Maybe it was to cut down the amount of tape they used as if I remember right this show actually goes a fair bit over the three hour mark. Yeah it reminded me when they would cut out matches on those old Rumble tapes like Haku/Race from 89 and Mountie/Koko from 91.Annoying but I can see why they did it. |
|
|
|
Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Oct 25, 2019 18:40:57 GMT -5
I got to see it live on PPV. For some reason, Canada was allowed to view it, so my friends and I ordered it. I liked it when I watched it. I am not sure how well it'd hold up now when watching it.
HBK vs. Bulldog I have seen many times since the PPV thanks to it being on HBK DVDs. I did have the WWF Home Video version, but like others said, it only had 5 matches on it, and the rest of the matches were cut off... including Bret vs. Taker for the WWE Title. Which seemed odd.
|
|
|
|
Post by hbkjason on Oct 26, 2019 3:46:29 GMT -5
I got to see it live on PPV. For some reason, Canada was allowed to view it, so my friends and I ordered it. I liked it when I watched it. I am not sure how well it'd hold up now when watching it. HBK vs. Bulldog I have seen many times since the PPV thanks to it being on HBK DVDs. I did have the WWF Home Video version, but like others said, it only had 5 matches on it, and the rest of the matches were cut off... including Bret vs. Taker for the WWE Title. Which seemed odd. Here in the UK the VHS tape that Silver Vision put out had all of the matches. Myabe Bret Hart vs Undertaker was cut out due to the length of the match and that was easier to cut out than a couple of smaller matches? Still, it is a very strange decision. |
|
|
|
Post by JokerFC on Oct 26, 2019 14:34:03 GMT -5
Oh man there was some heat on HBK that night....both from the crowd & backstage....man oh man it was nuclear.
Harts were clearly genuinely fuming at his antics with Smiths sister & the amount of time they were held back before making the save. they looked like IDIOTS.
Vince was fuming with him because he warned him about Diana & Smiths sister..
Crowd was absolutely losing it over HBK beating Bulldog..
just a very fun scenario @ the time that cemented HBKs heel turn.
|
|
|
|
Post by hbkjason on Oct 26, 2019 15:11:57 GMT -5
Oh man there was some heat on HBK that night....both from the crowd & backstage....man oh man it was nuclear. Harts were clearly genuinely fuming at his antics with Smiths sister & the amount of time they were held back before making the save. they looked like IDIOTS. Vince was fuming with him because he warned him about Diana & Smiths sister.. Crowd was absolutely losing it over HBK beating Bulldog.. just a very fun scenario @ the time that cemented HBKs heel turn. It's by a mile the most insane wrestling crowd I've ever been in. I would say crowd in genersl,but once I went to watch Aberdeen play rangers at pittodrie in the 90s (gazza era) and the rangers supporters bus I was on got pelted with rocks, bricks and god knows what else! While the hbk vs bulldog match certainly cemented hbk as the number one heel. You have to wonder how much him wanting to do this was to stick it to the harts. |
|
|
|
Post by JokerFC on Oct 26, 2019 15:40:25 GMT -5
It was 100% all about sticking it to Bret.
Went to Vince & got the finish to the match changed. Match went from Davey beating Shawn to HBK beating davey and whooping on him for nearly 5 minutes while the Harts were nowhere to be seen. Asked for Harts making the save to be delayed to maximise heat....ahhhhh stop. I think the Harts actually came out before cue because Bret was that angry..
|
|
|
|
Post by Hulkster2001 on Oct 29, 2019 13:54:42 GMT -5
Harts were clearly genuinely fuming at his antics with Smiths sister Vince was fuming with him because he warned him about Diana & Smiths sister.. What happened between HBK and the girls? |
|
|
|
Post by JokerFC on Oct 30, 2019 5:43:12 GMT -5
Harts were clearly genuinely fuming at his antics with Smiths sister Vince was fuming with him because he warned him about Diana & Smiths sister.. What happened between HBK and the girls? Smith made it clear to Vince he didn't want his sister( who was quite sick at the time involved). Vince warned Michaels that Diana was ringside as a carer for Smiths sister and they weren't to be taunted or used for heat. Diana was to be shown on camera once or twice "concerned" for Smith during the match. Shawn disobeyed.... A LOT. Diana's look of disgust is said to be VERY genuine....she hated Shawn & the Harts were furious. A Lot of what went on after the match was off book. Bret had a screaming match with Vince that night asking "when the f*ck are you going to do something about him" etc etc. Think all this is in his book....it was deffo on the HF shoot |
|
