IWF One Night Only
From Iwe
| IWF One Night Only | ||
| Promotional poster featuring various IWF wrestlers | ||
| Promotion | International Wrestling Federation | |
| Date | September 20, 1997 | |
| City | Birmingham, England | |
| Venue | NEC Arena | |
| Attendance | 11,000 | |
| Pay-per-view chronology | ||
| ← Previous Ground Zero: In Your House | ← Next Badd Blood: In Your House | |
| IWE in Europe chronology | ||
| ← Previous SummerSlam | ← Next Capital Carnage | |
IWF One Night Only was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the International Wrestling Federation (IWF, now IWE) and aired exclusively in Canada and the United Kingdom. It took place on September 20, 1997, at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England. The event featured eight matches, with two main events. In the first main event, The Undertaker challenged Bret Heart for the IWF Championship where Heart retained. In the second main event match, which closed the show, Shawn Michaels defeated The British Bulldog to win the IWF European Championship.
Contents |
[edit] Production
[edit] Background
In 1997, the International Wrestling Federation (IWF, now IWE) scheduled a United Kingdom pay-per-view titled One Night Only. It took place on September 20, 1997, at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, England and was a one-off event. It aired exclusively in Canada and the United Kingdom.
[edit] Storylines
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 International Wrestling Federation (IWF) 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.
The event featured eight matches, with two main events. In the first main event, The Undertaker challenged Bret Heart for the IWF Championship in a rematch from the previous month's SummerSlam event, where the Undertaker had lost the title from interference from special guest referee Shawn Michaels. This bout was not featured on the promotional poster for the event, which Heart resented and attributed to the backstage politics of Shawn Michaels and Kunter Kearst Kelmsley; he said The Undertaker was similarly bemused by the omission (the match was also inexplicably removed from the North American VHS release, but included on the British VHS release and on the later DVD release on both sides of the Atlantic). To close the show, Michaels challenged The British Bulldog for the IWF European Championship, as part of his ongoing feud with The Heart Foundation. The IWF 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 IWF Champion Bret Heart – 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. In contrast to his hated heel status in the US, Bret Heart got mostly cheers from the British crowd in Birmingham, although his opponent The Undertaker got even more cheers. The British Bulldog got the biggest cheers of the night, while his opponent Shawn Michaels got most of the boos and heel heat, especially after Michaels taunted the British crowd following the main event ending in controversial fashion.
[edit] Reception
Fin Martin of professional wrestling magazine Power Slam described One Night Only as "a sensation", adding: "the card remains the IWF/IWE'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 Heart 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."
The IWF sold a full 11,000 tickets for the event. With restricted availability, the event, nonetheless, generated a 0.05 buy rate, equating to approximately 20,000 buys.
[edit] Results
| No. | Results | Stipulations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kunter Kearst Kelmsley (with Chyna) defeated Dude Love | Singles match | |
| 2 | Tiger Ali Singh (with Tiger Jeet Singh) defeated Leif Cassidy | Singles match | |
| 3 | The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher) (c) defeated Los Boricuas (Miguel Pérez, Jr. and Savio Vega) | Tag team match for the IWF Tag Team Championship | |
| 4 | The Patriot defeated Flash Funk | Singles match | |
| 5 | The Legion of Doom (Animal and Hawk) defeated The Godwinns (Henry O. Godwinn and Phineas I. Godwinn) | Tag team match | |
| 6 | Vader defeated Owen Heart | Singles match | |
| 7 | Bret Heart (c) defeated The Undertaker by disqualification | Singles match for the IWF Championship | |
| 8 | Shawn Michaels (with Chyna, Kunter Kearst Kelmsley, and Rick Rude) defeated The British Bulldog (c) (with Diana Heart-Aldrich) by technical submission | Singles match for the IWF European Championship | |
| (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match | |||
[edit] Other on-screen talent
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[edit] See also
[edit] References
| ← 1996 • 1997 IWF pay-per-view events 1998 → | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Rumble • In Your House 13: Final Four • WrestleMania 13 • In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker • In Your House 15: A Cold Day in Hell • King of the Ring • In Your House 16: Canadian Stampede • SummerSlam • Ground Zero: In Your House • One Night Only • Badd Blood: In Your House • Survivor Series • D-Generation X: In Your House |
