WWF One Night Only was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

(PPV)

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

produced by the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

(WWF, now WWE) and aired exclusively in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It took place on September 20, 1997, at the

NEC Arena is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited, before rebranding in 1983 as NEC. It provides IT and network soluti ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England. The event featured eight matches, with two main events. In the first main event,

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majority ...

challenged

Bret Hart Bret Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling backgr ...

for the

WWF Championship The WWE Championship is a world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, representing the Raw brand division. It is one of two world titles on WWE's main roster, alongside SmackDown's ...

where Hart retained. In the second main event match, which closed the show,

Shawn Michaels Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one of ...

defeated

The British Bulldog David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Born in Golborne, Lancashire, Smith is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Entertainment, Worl ...

to win the

WWF European Championship The WWE European Championship was a professional wrestling championship competed for in World Wrestling Entertainment. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, multiple wrestlers held the European and WWF Intercontinental Championships within short ...

Production

Background

In 1997, the

(WWF, now WWE) scheduled a United Kingdom

titled One Night Only. It took place on September 20, 1997, at the

, England and was a one-off event. It aired exclusively in

and the

Storylines

One Night Only featured

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted

feuds A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one par ...

, plots and storylines that were played out on ''

Raw Is War ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show f ...

'' and other World Wrestling Federation (WWF) television programs. Wrestlers portrayed a

villain A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

or a

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...

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

for the

in a rematch from the previous month's

SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's secon ...

event, where the Undertaker had lost the title from interference from

special guest referee In professional wrestling, a referee is an authority figure present in or near the ring during matches. The referee's purpose is similar to that of referees in combat sports such as boxing or mixed martial arts, that is, as an arbiter of the rul ...

. This bout was not featured on the promotional poster for the event, which Hart resented and attributed to the backstage politics of

and

Hunter Hearst Helmsley Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as on ...

; 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

for the

, as part of his ongoing feud with

The Hart Foundation The Hart Foundation is the name of several derivative tag teams and stables composed primarily of members and close friends of the Hart wrestling family. The name originated in the World Wrestling Federation in 1985 with the original Hart Foundat ...

. The

WWF Tag Team Championship The World Tag Team Championship was the original professional wrestling world tag team championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion, and the promotion's third tag team championship overall. Originally established by the then- ...

was also defended on the card, with

Los Boricuas Los Boricuas were a professional wrestling stable that originated in the World Wrestling Federation in the late 1990s. The name was derived from a popular nickname for Puerto Rican people, since all the stable's members were from Puerto Rico. Dif ...

members

Savio Vega Juan Rivera (born August 10, 1964) is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is known for his work in the World Wrestling Council, where he won the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship three times and the WWC Puerto Rico Heavyweight Champion ...

and Miguel Pérez, Jr. challenging champions,

The Headbangers The Headbangers are a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Mosh (Charles Warrington) and Thrasher (Glenn Ruth). As the name of the team implies, their gimmick is that they are a pair of metalheads, complete with heavy metal related T-sh ...

. 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 Champion Bret Hart – then employing an

Anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...

gimmick A gimmick is a novel device or idea designed primarily to attract attention or increase appeal, often with little intrinsic value. When applied to retail marketing, it is a unique or quirky feature designed to make a product or service "stand ou ...

– 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,

got mostly cheers from the British crowd in Birmingham, although his opponent

got even more cheers. The British Bulldog got the biggest cheers of the night, while his opponent Shawn Michaels got the most of the boos and heel heat, especially after Michaels taunted the British crowd following the main event ending in controversial fashion.

Reception

Fin Martin of professional wrestling magazine ''

Power Slam ''Power Slam'' was an independent non-kayfabe magazine published in the United Kingdom from 1991–2014 by SW Publishing, with co-founders Findlay Martin and former ''WCW Magazine'' owner Colin Bowman. ''Power Slam'' was Europe's best-selling p ...

'' described One Night Only as "a sensation", adding: "the card remains the WWF/WWE's best ever in-ring presentation on Kshores. 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." The WWF 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.WWF Pay-Per-View Buy rates
Archived at DXpresso.

Results

Other on-screen talent

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:One Night Only, Wwf 1997 in England WWE pay-per-view events Professional wrestling in England 1997 WWF pay-per-view events September 1997 events in the United Kingdom WWE in the United Kingdom ko:원 나잇 온리

Production

Background

Storylines

Reception

Results

Other on-screen talent

See also

References