8 WWE Matches Where The Crowd Was The Star

Here’s a match where WWE actually was expecting a hostile crowd, and thus, they booked accordingly. By 1997, Bret Hart had turned heel and had begun a shtick of preaching anti-American sentiment, claiming that Canada and other countries throughout the world were superior in every aspect. In addition, he reformed the Hart Foundation as a stable with Davey Boy Smith, Owen Hart, and Jim Neidhart, with Brian Pillman also joining down the line.

For the Canadian Stampede PPV in Calgary, the main event was a 10-Man tag pitting the Hart Foundation against Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust, and the Legion of Doom. In the promo packages leading to the show, the WWF told the American audiences that the crowd would be partisan, and that those who would normally be cheered would be booed, and those who would normally be booed would be cheered.

And boy, were they correct. The Calgary audience was so vociferous, they turned what was otherwise an unremarkable tag match into an instant classic. For perhaps the last time in his career, Steve Austin got to work as a heel with actual heel heat, as the crowd were nuclear in their opposition to him, and he played up to it big time. Even more nuclear than him however was Bret, as the camera literally shook whenever he entered the ring.

After the Harts defeated Team WWF, the crowd exploded in jubilation as Stu Hart, Helen Hart, and all the children and grandchildren of the family gathered inside the ring to celebrate. It was a truly heartwarming moment, and one the city of Calgary shared together.