Summerslam (1997)

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1996
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Summerslam 1997 was the thirteenth Summerslam event produced by World Wrestling Federation which took place on 17th August 1997

## Background

The main match heading into Summerslam is The Undertaker vs Mankind in a hell in a cell match. Terry Funk was kidnapped by Ministry of Darkness as Undertaker tried to sacrifice him to bring back Barry Horowitz, Mankind turned on MOD as he beat them all up and saved Terry Funk, Mankind and Taker had a boiler room match where Taker electrocuted him, Mankind returned immediatly on the sunday after as he challenged a member of MOD Bradshaw but was easily defeated due to his injuries, on the same show Mankind cost Taker the money in the bank briefcase. They had another match where Taker asked for Paul Bearer to give him the urn so he could emprision Mankind's soul forever but Bearer knocks the urn on Taker's head and gives Mankind the win, Taker proceeded to brutalize Mankind and chokeslam him through a table, he challenged him to one of the most dangerous structures ever in the first ever hell in a cell match, Vince refused to give Taker the match as Mankind was in no condition to compete but Taker choked him out to get the match

Owen Hart will defend the WWF Championship against Shawn Michaels. At Canadian Stampede there was a huge winner take all between Hart Foundation vs DX and Stone Cold for the WWF, Intercontinental and Tag titles, Owen cashed in on Shawn Michaels during the match to become WWF champion, Hart Foundation vs DX have been a constant feud since 1996 with both groups wanting to end each other, Shawn defeated Austin to become NO1 contender for the title

At Canadian Stampede, since Owen cashed in, when Hart Foundation won the match Bret Hart took the Intercontinental Championship from Stone Cold, at first he didn't want this title as he felt like he was above it but he also refused to lose to Stone Cold whom he had a 5 star match against at Royal Rumble 1997 which turned him heel, Austin won back the title at King of the Ring while The Rock became the King of the Ring winner, Bret was furious at his first loss against Austin and wanted a rematch but Rock was the actual NO1 contender, Vince Mcmahon made a NO1 contender match between Bret and Rock where Brian Pillman showed up and chairshotted Rock for him to win by DQ, Bret was pissed at this but Pillman also attacked him. Vince Mcmahon decided to give both men the title shot as he's Hart Foundation's ally and Austin gave him the middle finger disrespecting the boss for the first time

Nation of Domination and Los Boricuas have engaged in a gang war against each other as they kept brawling with each other, Vega said there should only be 1 gang in WWF, black people or latinos so they decided on a 3 on 3 match at Wrestlemania 13, a group of bikers made their debut during the match and attacked them all as they introduced themselves as Disciples of Apocalypse, a group of south africans The Truth Commision also made their debut and this has been constant brawls since then, they finally decided to have a 3 on 3 on 3 on 3 to put a finish to the gang wars, Vince Mcmahon added the stipulation that only 1 gang could stay so the losers would be forced to leave WWF(This is due to the gang war being poorly recieved and people only liking 1 group)

After Vader lost to Undertaker at Wrestlemania 13, Vader has been trying to beat up Ministry of Darkness but to not much success, Sycho Sid recently saved Vader from an attack as both men challenged Legion of Doom, they decided to add Bradshaw into the match to make it a handicap, recently MOD have beaten up Sid so it's unknown if he will be able to compete tonight

The lightweight division was reintroduced as The One Cold Scorpio defeated Marc Mero to become champion at Wrestlemania, three new stars were introduced in Taka Michinoku, Essa Rios and Jerry Lawler's son Brian Christopher as Christopher defeated them in a triple threat, Vader destroyed Brian in a match and injured him so Taka started going up the ranks, after Christopher lost to Scorpio at Money in the Bank, Taka was next in line as he wanted him in a ladder match, he felt like Scorpio was a good champion but not a good fit as the face of the division as no one respects them yet but with this match, he hopes people will respect them

Marc Mero defeated Jim Neidhart in a singles match and felt like that should give him a tag title shot, Neidhart and Bulldog refused but after Mero called Neidhart the weak link of the Hart Foundation, he accepted. Mero has promised that his tag partner tonight is someone no one is expecting

## Details

* Scorpio climbs the ladder and is gonna win it when Taka starts pushing off the ladder so Scorpio jumps and grabs onto the top of the cell that was set there for the main event, Scorpio does a shooting star press falling off at least 15 feet in the big spot of the match
* Savio Vega, Miguel Perez, Jose Estrada, Jesus Castillo, Chainz, 8-Ball, Skull, Kurrgan, Sniper, Recon and The Jackyl are all fired from WWF, this was a relief to people as Nation of Domination was the only over group in this gang war
* Vince Mcmahon reveals to Vader that Sid is in no shape to compete here tonight, Vader will have to do it on his own. But he decided to add the stipulation that if Vader wins, he will be inserted in the WWF title match later on the night
* Bart Gunn and Marc Mero show up on the handicap match and unload on Vader making sure he loses
* Marc Mero's tag partner is the returning Sable
* Sable lifts her shirt up which gets Neidhart distracted enough for Mero to roll him up and win
* During Owen vs Shawn, Shawn hit a SCM and both men go down, BRET HART'S THEME STARTS, THIS IS NOW A TRIPLE THREAT AS HE'S CASHING IN
* Owen argues with Bret, they argue and start coming to blows, Bret has Owen locked in the sharpshooter but Shawn hits the SCM and wins pinning Bret
* Undertaker vs Mankind has 3 big spots, the match starts on top of the cage as Taker climbs down the rafters wearing a batman style of gear, after a bit of brawling, Taker throws Mankind off the top of the cell through the announcer's table, as god as my witness he's broken in half. Mankind starts getting stretchered out but Mankind ain't done yet, he starts climbing the cell with a broken arm, Taker starts punchimg him again and kicks him down not letting him get to the top as Mankind goes flying but this time falls onto the medics, more start coming out and even Terry Funk but Mankind does THE TAKER SITUP, HE IS NOT DONE YET. He starts getting up the cell and manages to mandible claw Taker, Taker gets out of it, hits a chokeslam and THE TOP OF THE CELL BREAKS AND MANKIND IS SENT RIGHT THROUGH THE CELL HEAD FIRST INTO A CHAIR THAT WAS ON THE RING, Mankind smiles at the camera with teeth falling out and falls down not moving, Taker climbs down and pins Mankind to win
* Mankind vs Undertaker was 5 stars