This Day in History: A History-Changing SummerSlam in 1997

The year 1997 was one that featured many memorable moments—good and bad—during the big pay-per-views.

WrestleMania 13 in 1997 was where Bret Hart and Stone Cold Steve Austin had their famous character switch via a classic “I Quit” match.

The main event, and the rest of that WrestleMania was less than thrilling by the standards of the “grand daddy of them all” spring event.

King of the Ring 1997 saw Triple H get the crown. This award came a year later than originally expected. Originally he was slated to get the win in 1996 but took the punishment for the famous Curtain Call incident at Madison Square Garden in April of 1996.

November of 1997 had the infamous Montreal Screw Job at Survivor Series that would forever change the careers of Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart.

SummerSlam of 1997 contained its headline moments and took place 15 years ago to the day.

Stone Cold's Health Changed Forever

They say time heals all wounds. Sadly, this is still as chilling to watch a decade and a half later.

Owen Hart performed a Sit Down Tombstone pile driver on Austin. The trouble with this move is, Austin is slightly taller than Hart, which left Austin's head dangling between Hart's thighs and unprotected when he drops to the mat.

An on-the-fly finish was called as the Austin relayed to the referee who relayed to Hart that Austin was unable to move. Stone Cold was scheduled to get the belt off Hart and they stuck to the plan. An awkward amount of taunting went on while Austin found the strength to perform the weakest roll up possible to get the match over with.

Miraculously, Austin would return to action just three months later but the injury would never leave him. From this point on, there are certain bumps Austin doesn't take due to his close call and sensitivity regarding his neck, spine and vertebrae.

The Beginning of the End for Bret Hart in WWE

The main event was a thrilling 40-minute contest between a heel Bret Hart and The Undertaker with Shawn Michaels as special referee. A stipulation was on the line stating if Hart lost, he would never wrestle on American soil again.

The finish was perfect. Hart provoked Michaels by spitting in his face, which led to Michaels swinging a chair but hitting The Undertaker on accident.

A finish to the match but a cliffhanger to tune in the next night, this was the beginning of the end for Bret Hart in his 90s WWE run. This would set the course for conflict, real and scripted, over the next three months leading to the controversial Montreal Screw Job finish in November.

Say Hello to a Bad Guy

This WWE Championship match also provided the only time in the decade that a heel would leave SummerSlam with the WWE Championship.

What's more ironic, is that the heel was Bret Hart, who had headlined and had been the top babyface at SummerSlam several times prior to 1997.

The Debut of Michael Cole

That's right, this was the first night we all were graced with a young Michael Cole as the backstage interviewer. Fresh out of mainstream journalism, Cole replaced Todd Pettengill, who was the main interviewer for the first half of the 1990s.

Who could have predicted 15 years ago that the skinny, short guy backstage doing interviews, would be one of the biggest heels of 2011?

Follow @JustinLaBar