WWE: 20 Best PPVs Of All Time

8. Canadian Stampede 1997

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdCJFHh9NeQ Highlights: Hart Foundation vs. Austin/Goldust/Shamrock, LOD and Undertaker vs. Vader Four matches. That's all there was at the July 1997 Canadian Stampede PPV that took place in Calgary, Alberta. The reason for that is when WWE initially started the In Your House PPV series in 1995, those PPVs were two hours long while the "big five" would go three hours. Canadian Stampede was actually the last two hour WWE PPV because the one that followed SummerSlam, which was Ground Zero, went three hours. Part of the reason this show is considered great is because it was so short. They put four matches out there, gave three of them 10-13 minutes and the main event was a 25 minute classic with an exciting post match brawl too. All of that together means a successful show. The main event saw the Hart Foundation (Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, Brian Pillman & Jim Neidhart) take on a team of Steve Austin, Ken Shamrock, Goldust and the Legion of Doom. What's interesting is that the Hart's were the faces in their hometown of Calgary while the other team were the heels even though they were faces in America. Steve Austin really shined during the main event as the heel that tried to piss off the entire Hart Family. He did cheap shots in the ring. He messed with the family at ringside. Then he got beat by a rollup by Owen. When it was over, he didn't want to stop fighting and ended up getting arrested much to the delight of the fans. Who can forget the middle fingers while he was in handcuffs? Classic. Other matches on the show saw Mankind and Triple H have a very physical match that ended in a double countout. This is when Triple H started to get a push while also dumping the "blue blood" gimmick soon after. I loved Undertaker's match with Vader as two of the best big men ever got to show what they can do in front of an appreciative crowd. The Taka Michinoku/Great Sasuke match was WWE's attempt at a cruiserweight division. This match was excellent. Most that followed were not partly because WWE didn't care enough about the division. It's the main event that helped to carry the show. That feud between Austin and the Hart Family was great. It's just that there weren't that many great cards surrounding that rivalry, but there was on this show. For two hours, the Calgary crowd was as hot as any in WWE history. Awesome show from top to bottom.