10 Most Essential WWE European Title Matches

7. Shawn Michaels vs. Owen Hart (Raw 1997)

With the Bret Hart/Shawn Michaels match-up at the ’97 Survivor Series just a few short weeks away, the Hart Foundation/DX rivalry would boil over once more in the build-up to the monumental PPV, as the younger Hart brother, Owen, locked horns with No.1 Contender to Bret’s WWF Championship, Shawn Michaels.

Billed as a rare title for title showdown, both men would put their respective titles on the line for this one as Owen (IC Champ) and Shawn (European Champ) faced off on the aptly named WWF War Zone with dual championship status at stake in a fitting prelude of things to come. The match, while short, is a great snapshot of two outstanding performers in their prime at a time when WWF TV was genuinely unpredictable and it’s a shame the two men weren’t given longer to perform.

Despite Owen’s pre-match pleas for a one-on-one contest devoid of outside interference, the match would inevitably be interrupted, this time by “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, who would attack the referee and Owen Hart ahead of their own scheduled title grudge match also at the Survivor Series. Older brother, Bret, would soon hit the ring also, seizing the opportunity tee off on nemesis, HBK, once more and gain the upper hand on his own hated rival.

With widespread chaos involving all members of both DX and the Hart Foundation as well as the “Stone Cold” outsider, the bout was quickly ruled a no-contest; protecting each champion while setting the table for both the Intercontinental and World Title matches to come at the historic Survivor Series 1997. The wild Oklahoma City crowd in attendance lapped up every second and the camerawork gets visibly shaky at times as the raucous crowd continuously erupts with excitement.

Owen and Shawn would get another chance to go toe-to-toe on RAW just a few short weeks later, as the stoic Hart sibling – then nicknamed “The Black Hart” in the wake of the “Montreal Screwjob” – would unsuccessfully challenge Michaels for the WWF Championship on the final RAW of 1997. Owen’s WWF Championship snub would come at the hands of Triple H; all of which would lead into a continuation of the Hart/DX feud that would roll well into 1998.