One MIND-BLOWING Secret For Every WWE SummerSlam

29. 1997 | SummerSlam Almost Went Extreme

Rob Van Dam
WWE.com

You’ll probably recall that ECW “invaded” the WWF early into 1997 for the timing of the angle, if nothing else. It was odd, in that it distracted somewhat from a WrestleMania 13 build that was already in a state of weekly flux. What you might not know, or remember, is that the WWF teased more interpromotional warfare ahead of a second Big Four pay-per-view: SummerSlam 1997. 

Rob Van Dam and Jerry Lawler formed a very brief, and on the surface, equally strange tag team. They were almost diametrically opposed, stylistically, but shared one common trait. Lawler thought that ECW was “extremely crappy”, infamously saying that the ECW arena “should be made of toilet paper, ‘cause there’s nothing in it but sh*t”. Van Dam, meanwhile, believed he was above ECW, worthy of working for one of the WWF or WCW, as part of his ‘Mr. Monday Night’ gimmick. Lawler and Van Dam teamed together to take on the Headbangers in two WWF matches across Raw and Shotgun Saturday Night. 

At SummerSlam, per the July 7, 1997 issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Tommy Dreamer and the Sandman were meant to defend the honour of ECW. This didn’t happen; wrestling apocrypha has it that Van Dam annoyed Fed officials by refusing to do a job for Jesse James. 

Lawler and Van Dam never went by an official tag team name, but given their respective loves of puppies and high-flying, ‘Air Bud’ might have worked. Or, since Battle Creek, Michigan isn’t too far away from Detroit, maybe the Motor City Machine Goons. 

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick (Creative Writing BA Hons) is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over a decade of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential UK institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!