Great American Bash 1997
The pay-per-view took place on July 6, 1997 at the Canadian Airlines Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The American-themed PPV being north of the border was dubbed "The Great Canadian Bash" by wrestling pundits and many fans. Edge (The Great White North's own) had won the SmackDown! battle royal, and The Sandman had won the ECW battle royal, so the RAW battle royal was the main event. The Canadian crowd cheered for Orton and Piper, two of WWE's top heels, yet booed McMahon. The bell rang, and the action had finally begun. Until the fifth minute, eliminations were scarce. Guys like WWF Legend Bret Hart and Rhyno lasted pretty long. However, it was physically taxing, and at one point, Orton double-suplexed McMahon and Piper off the top turnbuckle onto the canvas. As Piper was having the performance of his life, commentator Jim Ross said, "At least this time, he lasted longer than eight seconds", referring to Piper's horrible performance at the Royal Rumble, where he spent only eight seconds in the ring, the second-shortest time in Rumble history (The Warlord set the unbroken record in 1989 with two seconds). Eventually, the Calgary crowd watched in anticipation as Orton, McMahon, Piper, and Hart were the final four. Hart went down early after McMahon hit a roundhouse kick which sent The Hitman flying. The Saddledome cheered on Hart as he exited and went backstage. So now it was down to the three favorites. Orton gained the early advantage and seemed poised to eliminate Piper, his best friend and protege, until the Hot Rod snapped and gave Orton a low blow, which is perfectly legal in this type of match, and also gave McMahon a blarney stone sandwich. Just like that, Piper was in control. He went through the ropes (going over would be eliminating yourself) and grabbed two steel chairs and a pair of brass knuckles. Piper then began to assault the Legend Killer and The Money with the cold steel. Just as McMahon was stirring, he was brought back down with a brass knuckles shot straight from Scotland. The Hot Rod then picked up Orton for Forth Bridge, which is a sitout powerbomb off the top turnbuckle, onto a steel chair, but The Viper hit a back bodydrop. He then hit the RKO, and threw the Hot Rod over the top for the elimination. So as Orton turned around, McMahon caught him with a DDT onto the steel chair. The Legend Killer, though incapacitated, realized that he had to eliminate McMahon to win it all. So The Money brought a garbage can into the ring, propped Orton up, and was about to end it with a Coast-to-Coast. But The Viper avoided McMahon's mid-air attack and stunned him by moving out of the way. Orton hit the RKO onto the garbage can and then eliminated The Money. The Calgary crowd popped big for the win, but The Legend Killer was a heel. A heel going to SummerSlam to achieve the illustrious prize known as the WWE Championship. To see if Orton ended up winning the title at SummerSlam and John Cena's big return, read my next story, Survivor Series 1997. I guarantee you will not be disappointed!
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