Spring Stampede (1997)

Spring Stampede (1997)
Promotional poster featuring The Four Horsemen
Promotion	World Championship Wrestling
Date	April 6, 1997 [1] [2]
City	Tupelo, Mississippi [1] [2]
Venue	Tupelo Coliseum [1] [2]
Attendance	8,356 [1] [2]
Buy rate	0.58 [2]
Tagline(s)	These Men Do Solemnly Swear... to Kick, Fight, Punch, Stomp, and Flatten anybody who gets in their way!
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous Uncensored Next → Slamboree
Spring Stampede chronology
← Previous 1994 Next → 1998

The 1997 Spring Stampede was the second Spring Stampede pay-per-view (PPV) event scripted and produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The event took place on April 6, 1997 from the Tupelo Coliseum in Tupelo, Mississippi. ^[3]

The main event was a no disqualification match between Randy Savage and Diamond Dallas Page, which Page won. Other featured matches on the undercard were a Four Corners match between Lex Luger, The Giant, Booker T and Stevie Ray. What was originally scheduled to be a tag team match between The Outsiders and The Steiner Brothers for the WCW World Tag Team Championship, became a singles match between Kevin Nash and Rick Steiner as a result of Scott Hall no-showing the event. WCW presented a storyline that showed Scott Steiner being maced and arrested earlier in the evening to explain why the scheduled match was changed.

The event is known for the infamous Harlem Heat's botched promo, in which Booker T accidentally calls Hulk Hogan "nigga". ^[4] It was removed in both the VHS release as well as the version found on Peacock (streaming service).

Background

Production

The first Spring Stampede event was held in April 1994, the first time World Championship Wrestling (WCW) held a pay-per-view (PPV) in April as they expanded their PPV schedule. ^[5] The event did not return in 1995 or 1996 but was brought back in 1997 on April 6. ^[1] The "Spring Stampede" name would be used three more times, 1998, 1999 and 2000, before WCW closed in March 2001. ^[6] All WCW intellectual property was sold to WWE at that time, and with the launch of the WWE Network in 2014 all five Spring Stampede events became available to subscribers. ^[7]

All of the Spring Stampede events had a cowboy or Wild West theme, reflected both in the opening montage, posters and entrance set decorations. The 1997 event was held at the Tupelo Coliseum in Tupelo, Mississippi. ^[1] WCW had previously held both the 1995 Uncensored, and 1996 Uncensored PPVs at the Tupelo Coliseum, but did not use it for any subsequent PPVs. ^[8] The promotional poster for the event featured The Four Horsemen (Arn Anderson, Steve McMichael, Ric Flair and Chris Benoit, with the tagline "'These Men Do Solemnly Swear... to Kick, Fight, Punch, Stomp, and Flatten anybody who gets in their way!'". Neither Ric Flair, nor Arn Anderson competed in any matches at the event. ^{[1] [2]}

Storylines

The event featured wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. ^[9]

Other on-screen personnel

Role:	Name:
Commentators	Tony Schiavone
	Bobby Heenan
	Dusty Rhodes
	Mike Tenay
Interviewers	Gene Okerlund
	Lee Marshall
Ring announcers	David Penzer
	Michael Buffer
Refereed	Randy Anderson
	Mark Curtis
	Mickie Jay
	Nick Patrick

Results

No.	Results [1] [2]	Stipulations	Times
1	Rey Misterio Jr. defeated Ultimate Dragon	Singles match	14:55
2	Akira Hokuto (c) (with Sonny Onoo) defeated Madusa	Singles match for the WCW Women's Championship	05:14
3	Prince Iaukea (c) defeated Lord Steven Regal	Singles match for the WCW World Television Championship	10:00
4	The Public Enemy (Rocco Rock and Johnny Grunge) defeated Steve McMichael and Jeff Jarrett (with Debra)	Tag team match	10:42
5	Dean Malenko (c) vs. Chris Benoit (with Woman) ended in a no contest	Singles match for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship	17:53
6	Kevin Nash (c) (with Syxx and Ted DiBiase) defeated Rick Steiner	Singles match for the WCW World Tag Team Championship	10:25
7	Lex Luger defeated The Giant, Booker T and Stevie Ray [note 1]	Four Corners match to determine the #1 contender for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship	18:18
8	Diamond Dallas Page (with Kimberly Page) defeated Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth)	No Disqualification match	15:38
(c)  – the champion(s) heading into the match

Aftermath

Lex Luger received his title shot against Hollywood Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship on the hundredth episode of Monday Nitro on August 4, where he defeated Hogan to win the title which bring a massive celebration with WCW wrestlers in the ring. However, Luger lost the title back to Hogan at Road Wild.

Footnotes

1. Both Stevie Ray and Booker T were both accompanied by Sister Sherri.

References

1. "Spring Stampede 1997". ProWrestlingHistory. April 6, 1997. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
2. "2007 Wrestling Almanac & Book of Facts". Wrestling’s Historical Cards. Kappa Publishing. 2007. p. 138.
3. "WCW Live Events - April, 1997". wcwwrestling.com. Archived from the original on 20 April 1997. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
4. Stroud, Brandon (December 14, 2016). "The Best And Worst Of WCW Spring Stampede 1997". Uproxx . Retrieved April 30, 2019.
5. "Spring Stampede 1994". ProWrestlingHistory. April 17, 1994. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
6. "Spring Stampede". ProWrestlingHistory. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
7. "Every pay-per-view available on WWE Network". WWE. February 4, 2014. Archived from the original on February 5, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
8. Cawthon, Graham. "WCW Uncensored". The History of WWE. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
9. Grabianowski, Ed (13 January 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications . Retrieved 2015-11-15.