Ranking WWE's One-Off Pay-Per-Views From Worst To Best
1. One Night Only - 1997
The United Kingdom’s exposure to televised WWE programming broke new ground this week when the company’s most prestigious championship changed hands outside of North America for the first time with AJ Styles’ victory over Jinder Mahal in Manchester.
It was a reminder of a better time, when WWF would visit British shores with quality, high-stakes action and not throwaway pay-per-views like Rebellion or Insurrextion, which fans settled for before they too were removed from WWE’s calendar after June 2003.
One Night Only at Birmingham’s NEC Arena in 1997 was the greatest showcase of in-ring action ever brought to the UK by WWE, and also the best one-off pay-per-view in its history.
The undercard featured Hunter Hearst Helmsley against Dude Love, who would famously meet under different aliases a few years later, and The Legion of Doom versus The Godwins.
And the card kept getting better and better. Owen Hart against Vader and Bret Hart defending the WWF Championship against The Undertaker - ‘The Hitman’s’ last great match before leaving for WCW - were outstanding precursors to the main event, which saw Shawn Michaels cheat to beat crowd favourite The British Bulldog for the European Championship.
It was a genius move which generated major heel heat on Michaels and D-Generation X, and provided an unexpected yet logical ending to a show that was great from top to bottom.