WWF One Night Only

One Night Only

Information
Promotion World Wrestling Federation
Date September 20, 1997
Attendance 11,000[1]
Venue NEC Arena
City Birmingham, England
Pay-per-view chronology

Ground Zero: In Your House One Night Only Badd Blood: In Your House

WWF One Night Only was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) that took place on September 20, 1997, at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England.

Background

One Night Only featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots and storylines that were played out on Raw Is War and other World Wrestling Federation television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a villain or a hero as they followed a series of events that built tension, and culminated into a wrestling match or series of matches.[2]

The event featured eight matches, with two main events. In the first main event, The Undertaker challenged Bret Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship in a rematch from the previous month's SummerSlam event, where the Undertaker had lost the title in controversial circumstances. This bout was not featured on the promotional poster for the event, which Hart resented and attributed to the backstage politics of Shawn Michaels and Triple H; he said The Undertaker was similarly bemused by the omission[3] (the match was also inexplicably removed from the VHS release, but included on the later DVD release). To close the show, Michaels challenged The British Bulldog for the WWF European Championship, as part of his ongoing feud with The Hart Foundation. The WWF Tag Team Championship was also defended on the card, with Los Boricuas members Savio Vega and Miguel Pérez, Jr. challenging champions, The Headbangers.

The event was available on pay-per-view in Canada and Europe, but not in the United States: the storyline reason for this was that WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart – then employing an Anti-American gimmick – had used a clause in his contract to block the event from being shown live in the US. It was subsequently released on home video there.

Reception

Fin Martin of professional wrestling magazine Power Slam described One Night Only as "a sensation", adding: "the card remains the WWF/WWE's best ever in-ring presentation on [UK] shores. The fireworks were provided by the last three matches, all of which were superb." He described Bret Hart vs. The Undertaker as "an epic encounter (over 28 minutes), which was the last truly great match of 'The Hitman's' career", and credited Michaels for having given "the heel performance of the year."[4]

The WWF sold a full 11,000 tickets for the event.[1][5] With restricted availability, the event, nonetheless, generated a 0.05 buy rate, equating to approximately 20,000 buys.[6]

Results

No. Results Stipulations Times
1 Hunter Hearst Helmsley (with Chyna) defeated Dude Love Singles match 12:53
2 Tiger Ali Singh defeated Leif Cassidy Singles match 04:10
3 The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) (c) defeated Los Boricuas (Savio Vega and Miguel Pérez Jr.) Tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship 14:07
4 The Patriot defeated Flash Funk Singles match 09:31
5 The Legion of Doom (Hawk and Animal) defeated The Godwinns (Henry O. and Phineas I. Godwinn) Tag team match 11:34
6 Vader defeated Owen Hart Singles match 14:21
7 Bret Hart (c) defeated The Undertaker by disqualification Singles match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship 28:35
8 Shawn Michaels (with Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Chyna, and Rick Rude) defeated The British Bulldog (c) by submission Singles match for the WWF European Championship 22:53
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match

References

  1. 1 2 "One Night Only". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2009-08-09.
  2. ↑ "Live & Televised Entertainment of World Wrestling Entertainment". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-12-06.
  3. ↑ "An Evening With Bret Hart". Revolution Pro Wrestling. Walkabout Temple, London. 18 October, 2013. "There was a lot of things that Shawn and Triple H were doing behind my back in those days...When I got to the dressing room with Undertaker, we both looked at each other and said: 'I can't believe how they're killing our match'." "When you rented the pay-per-view that match was deleted, which always drove me mad."
  4. ↑ Martin, Fin. "The Complete History of Wrestling On Pay-Per-View". Power Slam. Issue 223/March 2013. p. 16/17.
  5. ↑ WWF One Night Only (VHS). Birmingham, England: Coliseum Video. 1997.
  6. ↑ WWF Pay-Per-View Buy rates. Archived at DXpresso.

See also

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