Wrestler Of The Year: Bret "Hitman" Hart
In his final year in the WWF, "The Hitman" had an entertaining feud with Steve Austin, which featured a memorable (but overrated, IMO) "I Quit" blood bath at Wrestlemania 13, where Bret officially turned heel by pounding the bloodied "Rattlesnake" after the bell (Austin, meanwhile, officially won over the fans by refusing to submit and "passing out" due to the pain of The Sharpshooter).
Turning his back on the fans, Bret was a hated man in America, but in Canada, he could do no wrong. This provided the backdrop for a truly surreal and amazing 10-Man Tag-Team Match at In Your House: Canadian Stampede in July, where The Hart Foundation (Bret, Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and Brian "Loose Cannon" Pillman) were the heroes, and Team USA (Steve Austin, The Legion Of Doom, Ken Shamrock and Goldust) were the despised heels. The Harts prevailed over Austin and co in one of the most compelling wrestling matches of all time.
After beating The Undertaker at Summerslam to raise his final WWF World Title (due to an "inadvertent" chair-shot from Special Guest Referee, Shawn Michaels), Bret dropped the belt to Michaels at Survivor Series in a decent, brawling-based main event (you all know how it finished).
Leaving the WWF on bad terms, Bret arrived in WCW at Starrcade in December. Calling for the bell in the money-spinning Sting/Hollywood Hogan main event, Hart's WCW career got off to a promising start, but soon faltered due to inept booking. Unfortunately, he was wasted for most of his 3-year career with WCW. But the ultra-reliable "Hitman" still gets this award for being "The Best There Was" in 1997.
Babyface Of The Year: Stone Cold Steve Austin
Despite literally sticking his middle finger (sometimes two fingers) up to authority and engaging in unprovoked attacks on whomever the hell he wanted, the fans just couldn't hate Steve Austin. Even as early as 1996, cheers could be heard for "The Rattlesnake".
By 1997, these cheers had grown louder and were more obvious. At Wrestlemania 13, the WWF pulled off an incredible "double turn", turning Austin babyface and Bret Hart heel. Austin juiced a major gusher in his "I Quit" match with "The Hitman", and lost the match via stoppage when Guest ref. Ken Shamrock called for the bell.
The fans respected Austin's guts, but they didn't respect Bret's actions after the match. Bret pummelled Austin, signifying his heel turn to the fans (who had cheered on Austin for months while he attacked "The Hitman"). Although Austin suffered a devastating neck injury at Summerslam 97', his popularity remained as strong as ever, before exploding in 1998.
Heel Of The Year: Hollywood Hogan
Nobody thought it would ever come to pass, but Hulk Hogan actually developed into on of the most hated men in wrestling! 1997 was no exception. The NWO VS WCW story line was still compelling Television, especially with Sting thrown into the mix as WCW's eventual knight in shining armour. Hogan's feud with Sting did big business, and made sure that Hollywood truly remained a despised character.
Gimmick Of The Year: Sting ("Crow" Persona)
With the anti-authority NWO running the show, Sting's dated "surfer" character just didn't fit in with WCW's new direction. So in a truly spectacular metamorphism, Sting developed into a sinister and silent "Crow"-like figure and remained out of in-ring competition for a year.
The wheels were put into motion at Fall Brawl in September 96', where Sting helped put his WCW team mates in a War Games Match against The NWO, but then walked out on them and then told WCW and its fans to "Stick It" the following night on Nitro (Sting was tired of being accused of attacking Lex Luger and other WCW wrestlers, who were really being jumped by a bogus NWO Sting). At Starrcade, Sting unveiled his new look: Black and white face paint jet-black hair, a leather jacket and a baseball bat in hand.
The Sting/WCW/NWO saga was truly something to behold in 1997. Nobody knew whose side Sting was on, as he would randomly attack both WCW and NWO wrestlers. Climbing up through the ring, emerging from the crowd or flying down from the rafters, Sting could pop up anywhere at anytime.
Eventually, Sting defended the honour of WCW and battled Hollywood Hogan at Starrcade 97', bringing the WCW World Title "back home". Starrcade also achieved the biggest buy-rate of all time for WCW, which shows just how popular Sting's new persona was.
Match Of The Year: The Undertaker VS Shawn Michaels (Hell In A Cell Match: In Your House, Badd Blood)
The first ever Hell In A Cell Match remains the best one to date. "The Taker'" and HBK truly put on a spectacle that no wrestling fan had witnessed before. Michaels bumped like crazy and bled buckets for the cause. The awe-inspiring blood-fest was capped off brilliantly by the debut of The Undertaker's brother Kane, who tore the Cell door off its hinges and Tombstoned his sibling, allowing a battered and bloodied Michaels to make the cover and get the victory.
Feud Of The Year: WCW VS The NWO
On the back of the gripping Sting scenario, the WCW/NWO feud was still the hottest thing going in 1997. The booking and the execution of the whole thing was a thing of beauty, and kept WCW at the top, for another year, at least.
Card Of The Year: WWF: In Your House: Canadian Stampede (July 1997)
Kicking off with an entertaining brawl between Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Mankind (which continued into the crowd and in the parking lot for nearly the entire show), continuing with a truly amazing high-flying display from Taka Michinoku and The Great Sasuke, and a suprisingly enjoyable WWF Title Match between The Undertaker and Vader, Canadian Stampede came to a close with a truly breathtaking 10-Man Tag between The Hart Foundation and Steve Austin, LOD, Ken Shamrock and Goldust. Wrestling PPVs don't get much better than this.
Worst Card Of The Year: ECW: Crossing The Line Again (February 1997)
Some may disagree, but I'm afraid that "Team Extreme" crossed the line here, with regards to how bad a wrestling event can be. I believe this was a video-only event, but I'm still not letting them off the hook. Apart from the efforts of Rob Van Dam, Sabu and a few select others, there was little to enjoy on this card, which is a big shame as ECW almost always delivered the goods on PPV or on big shows like this.
Promotion Of The Year: WCW (World Championship Wrestling)
Although the WWF produced a superb rivalry between Bret Hart and Steve Austin (aswell as an ingenious America VS Canada storyline), WCW were still beating the pants off Vince and company by keeping wrestling fans on the edge of their seats with their Sting/WCW/NWO story telling. Indeed, an impressive year for the Atlanta boys. Shame the success story didn’t last.
Previously posted on Smash Wrestling:
http://www.firetank.com/smashwrestling/
