I'm sure this fueled Bret not wanting to drop the belt to him.

I remember watching it live. That match just didn’t feel right. An odd one sided match that made Bulldog look incredibly weak along with the Hart Foundation look weak. The European belt was also treated like a joke immediately after

I felt my heart hit the floor when JR said she died shortly after . Wow just wow

It seems like JR and Bruce say opposite things when remembering these events. When Bruce talked about it he made it seem like Shawn had nothing to do with changing the finish. I trust JR more

As a big Bulldog fan, this night was disgusting

Cornette was right... davey should have just said f that and beat Shawn up for real.... my dying sister.. no way I’m disappointed her

Shit like this is why I’ve never been or will ever be an HBK or HHH fan.

This contributed heavily to bret's decision making regarding the screwjob. Its often forgotten about

Here’s my issue, Vince agreed to put Bulldog over Michaels, and he knew why it was being done. He knew the reason and agreed to it anyway. You can say “Don’t make a promise you can’t keep” on Bulldog’s part but Vince did exactly that too! He made a promise he couldn’t keep, regardless if it was a promise or not! And as for Shawn Michaels, the man was already hated by this time! He cost the Undertaker the World Title, he insulted Canadian fans, and so on. Plus, this is a European match, not a United States match. Let Bulldog have his win and then have Michaels win it back in the States on Raw or something. There was a better way of doing it. Shawn wasn’t doing it for the business, he was being Hulk Hogan.

If you're going to put HBK over, at least have the Hart foundation come out and get their pound of flesh after the match

Of course Michael Shawn Hickenbottom and Paul Michael Levesque use backroom politics to stay on top by all means regardless who family members is hurt.

When you are The Boytoy of the Chairman of the Board you get a lot of stroke.

You can tell JR is disgusted with how that event turned out. RIP

Well HBK's ego in the 90s was unbelievable

Man that is so sad. HBK was always my favourite wrestler as a kid but when ever the Bulldog was fighting in the UK or for a title i always wanted my countryman to win. Shawn should have let Davey win that match especially with his sister being ill like that .... that cuts deep

What a difference between Jr’s podcast and Bruce’s. One speaks with honesty and truth, the other is the “Artful Dodger” Bruce.

The Hart Foundation looked moronic on this night with Michaels, HHH and Chyna just doing everything they wanted during the entire match and post-match. The "faces" never got their heat back. Ever.

People have to remember the chaos around Davey the last 5 or 6 years of his life. -His sister was diagnosed with cancer, unfortunately passing around this time. -Former partner, friend and brother in law Dynamite Kid's health was horribly deteriorating. -Montreal in '97 -The horrific back injury in '98 -Owen passed in '99 -And his subsequent battle with morphine until the end there. Davey was the man. The fact he got hit with so many things over and over. Finally he's at peace.

That's top notch heel work

He should have used the Davey Boy chin lock.

I wish NXT UK had the European Championship on the brand.

Scumbag move. If Davey didn't think he was going over, he wouldn't have dedicated the match to his sister. It's not like Davey was trying to guilt-trip Vince into letting him go over. Shawn pushed to change the finish and was fully aware of how his politicking would redound on him. I guess he didn't care.

That was Vince being stupid. If Steve Austing wasn't getting hot in 1997, I think WWF would have gone out of business. Vince treated Bret and Bulldog like shit!!! Shawn and Hunter were horrible people.

Really thank God for Stone Cold Steve Austin all of this foolishness was officially done. HHH started fuckin with ppl again after Austin and the Rock left

Man... The more I hear stories like this the more I'm just confirmed how much of a joke vince mcMahon is as a booker and really overall person...

at 4:40 the way conrad is moving he looks like he wants to get up so badly to take a dump

7:00 JR's stomach is growling because he needs some BBQ immediately

Yet Jim Ross claims working with the Warrior was the worst. In my opinion that was worse than the Montreal Screwjob.

HBK is a disgrace.

AD FREE ....... includes 3 adverts

I was there live and capital carnage. Awesome shows.

That match really pissed me off. Bulldog should've won that match easily. Shawn Michaels and HHH are assholes. That gets to show Shawn Michaels and HHH pretty much can't win anything on their own by pulling shortcuts. Davey Boy Smith definitely was reluctant to go with this idea.

Michaels wouldn't even do the job for a terminal cancer victim.

Damn JR that's why he's so good! He learned from the original heartbreak kid!!

This is why I hate it when Stone Cold praises Vince McMahon for being a man of his word. wrestlers who would strongly disagree with that include, Bret Hart, Davey Boy, Vader, CM Punk, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, the list goes on.

This shouldn't have happened. Can't let the inmates run the asylum with a situation like this.

The British Bulldog should have gone over Shawn Michaels that night. They were in his hometown for crying out loud. Not only does Michaels take the European title away from Bulldog but he and DX also beat the crap out of him. Talk about adding insult to injury.

I always wondered if HBK felt remorse about this night like he did Montreal.

More I listen to everything I'm really really convinced Shawn and vince were more than boss and employee like something weird was going on land hanjobs after ppv type weird

Big up to Birmingham, England!

Hated sean after that i can't lie 😂😂😂 great heel work 😭

Why Wonder that the Great one would never do a one one match with HBK back then

Maybe this was more payback for Syracuse! 😂 BTW, I believe the fact checks against HBK, which include: It was an Army grunt, and not a Marine, who kicked HBK’s ass; and HBK was hardly ganged up on, as he’s claimed.

Shawn was a master manipulator

Unreal

2 me this did Davey n well b4 the injury on Ultimate Warrior trap door

Does davey boy suffer from the same thing sid did both of them where very underatted

could use some help, i asked and asked on twitter to ross, pritchard, bischoff, and youtube comments if they please do a podcast on raw japan 2005. Loved their reaction. If anyone reading this has twitter help me keep asking. I asked so many times but never a reply for months Ty

Michaels winning was the right move but Vince should have told Davey about it beforehand before he made all those interviews dedicating the Match to his sister.

I love Shawn Michaels but Jim Is right they muscled there way

Back when HBK was a 💩and HHH was a nugget. BB should have won.

By referee freaking stoppage. Smh

His sister was dying of cancer and yet Shawn Michaels politicked his way into a win

Seems to be a thing with HBK to fvck over folks in their own land. Way to kill international business, Shawn. I hope he's changed as folks say on these shows. I've got enough of my own bad karma to keep track of him overcoming his own. But DAMN, he buried himself a million times over.

And then Shawn proceeded to bury the European Championship

HBK winning was the right call imo.

Vince at his vicious best

the match should have never been booked with shawn, maybe HHH, but not shawn. Shawn was about to take on undertaker and make a run at the title. So it makes sense you dont want ur champ in waiting to take a clean L here, and i dont think a dq win would be a great win to have for a dedicated match either. It was badly booked and unfortunate for that family and fans.

This is why Steiner curses so many out Why stone cold walks out Why bret spat at Vince etc. What a corrupt

I will never understand this call.

Ultimately every booking decision is on Vince, and we don't know what went on behind closed doors. Even JR admitted he didn't know exactly what happened which is why he went into theorizing. People seem to forget that while Shawn and Bret had their issues, Shawn and "The Kliq" got along with Bulldog and Owen. Wrestling is a work, and "winning" and "losing" are no different that the winners and losers in a Hollywood blockbuster. While I'm sure it always feels better to win, it's not as though Bulldog actually lost. Booking wise, both sides make sense, and for all we know Bulldog agreed. I also wonder if Bulldog's sister was ever brought up and even a consideration in the conversation, as it's entirely possible she wasn't brought up. Callous as that sounds, wrestling is a work, and if all wrestling parties are aware of another tour of England coming up, Michaels versus Bulldog II and III for the WWF WH Title looks pretty good on paper.

I honestly would've had HBK go over too, but they should've followed it up with Davey Boy's sister costing Shawn the title the next night on RAW if she was well enough to attend.

A horrendous call by the booking team that should have never been accepted at all The neck on HHH and HBK stating "we'll make him do business" with Bret regards Montreal when Shawn wouldn't even do it for Davey on his home turf for his sister stinks of hypocrisy of the highest order You can tell something was up around this time and that the inmates were running the asylum Davey, along with a lot of others, deserved better from HBK back then

The worst part about all of this, Davey Boy Smith had NEVER beaten Shawn Michaels in the ring.

I ordered this ppv, garbage ending, vince screwed the bulldog out of title,, can't remember other matches

it's on Vince McMahon he allowed to much leeway to Shawn Michaels McMahon

Shawn winning was absolutely the right call. It got DX over huge as the main event heels and guess what, it fucking worked! Tony Kahn only dreams his wrestlers could get that kind of real visceral heat

Talk about being soulless

Shawn and his diva ways smh

Manipulate... yeah I’m sure it was “I go over or I don’t go at all” smh

In the minority, but I loved this. The last 5 minutes of that PPV were absolutely nuclear heat. Crowd were on the verge of rioting. Shawn throwing the kneepad to Bulldogs dying sister, dedicating the win to Bulldogs wife, then putting him back in the submission and Chyna forcing her to watch him continue to torture Davey after he’d passed out were absolutely evil heel moves. Bulldog & Diana sold perfectly. The only thing I’d change was to hold off Bret & Owen for an extra 30 secs. Hindsight shows everything went off the rails, but the money match was Bret vs Shawn in Montreal. This built to Survivor Series perfectly.

I lost all kind of respect for shawn that night.

I was a big fan of both Davey and Shawn, going back to Davey's days as a skinny wrestler in England and Shawn's days as a rocker, so absolutely no bias either way from me. Whilst I do ultimately think that Davey should have gone over due to the overall context of hometown, terminally ill sister etc. I can also see an alternative if the booked plan was to get heat with the family and then lead to a bigger revenge win for Davey as redemption. The reality is NOT as said in this video that she died shortly after the event - she died a year and a half later in 1999. If the plan was for a revenge triumph for Davey, and his family being involved, then that would have generated both heat on Shawn and drew money for Davey. That IS good booking, no matter what anyone says about it. The problem is that due to the events of Survivor Series in November, it threw all potential plans out of the window as Davey left the company. So when people bury the booking, they are doing it firstly in hindsight, secondly when they don't actually know what the full booking plan was, and thirdly, because of the misleading idea that Davey's sister was going to die in a matter of weeks or a couple of months, which was NOT the case. That is the reality of the whole situation.

I genuinely see the reason why Shawn went over. He can't win in another man's country? The audacity of Shawn Michaels that dastardly heel. That DX group. The only unfortunate part was Bulldog dedicating that to his sister.

Idk y everyone is on Shawn’s nuts...never saw the appeal. The Rock, Eddie Guerrero, Ric Flair all better than him.

Shawn has always had a little man complex when it came to the British.

this match made no sense. for some dumb reason they decided it made sense for Shawns little group to be around the ring while the Hart Foundation werent around. Just terrible script that made no sense

Perhaps not a popular opinion, but I honestly agree with Wrestling Bios assessment: HBK winning was the better outcome. Who would remember this PPV nowadays if we had the predictable good guy, in his hometown, come out on top? Keep in mind, the UK wasn't a big deal for the WWF at the time. So it makes sense from a business perspective to use all that heat to further the HBK hatred with the US crowd. With all that said, Shawn getting the outcome changed last minute is what sucks. No way Davey Boy dedicates his match to his dying sister or goes on a huge media tour proclaiming he'll beat Shawn if he was booked to lose. That's the assholey part to me.

Depending on who you believe, apparently Sunny left HBK and was secretly seeing Davey leading up to this. Look into that how you will on why Davey had to do the job.

convince him my ass lol its do it or we walkin..well shawn!

Bulldog shoulda won that match

Yea that scummy

The Guy's Dying Sister in the front row,in their home town,Davy dedicated the match to her,WHO CARES Shawn had to Grand Slam. Ridiculous. JR is right,for less than a mid card title,he would lay down for HHH to lose it. What are you going to say to Davey to make that better? I feel the need to correct JR though. HHH had no stroke,Hall Nash and Waltman had no backstage power. It was all Michaels. They just reaped the benefits. Say what you want about Michaels, you can't say he is stupid. He saw way before anyone else Vince let WWE stay too hokey character driven a year too long. Here is Nitro,they have a fight for the first time and they need a champion to lead the fight. It was going to be garbage man,a plumber? Michaels was the guy and he knew it and he took advantage. You never heard of any of that stuff in 02 when there were 20 guys that could be champion and draw money. Vince didn't need him then,it was nice having him there but Vince could fire him and not lose a wink of sleep.

i hate to say this but if bulldog won then we wouldnt probably talk about it as much

Shawn was an overrated POS that should have never been more than a mid card wrestler with the IC belt. Vince keeps doing the same thing which is the definition of insanity with Roman Reigns currently

The British Bulldogs gonna lose the European title whether he wants to or not...

So Lex Luger got from hero to zero and kicked out of WWF when he ONCE told the night before Yes he would win over Yokozuna over a beer at a bar. No internet then. 1 person or 10 person he might have told knew outside the WWF script circle. Who cares really..... for such a tragic act pulled on him?!?? It could have been 50% wrong just as well, trolling a fan or what are they expected to say when a fan comes up and of course ask such questions?!?? I guess besides I can't tell, which back then would be strange actively media pressuring the fights were indeed real, everyone would surely say I'll win even if they already know they'll lose. But when Davey is telling his entire family plus basically entire UK making it a big overall media splash everyone is feeling sorry for him when they then change the script pissed off?!?!!! It's more shameful he pulling his dying sister who truly didn't look well in a global entertainment circus, which he already know was coming down on Harts undisputed reign! PLUS screwing indeed his wife in real life at very least with Sunny playing still here the Perfect Family! Ugly balls of Family Values Hypocrisy! That's a real Babyface to clap for, yeah! What about Shawn Michaels private life troubles.... had he no family downers within 2 decades... using for cheap sympathy because lack of charisma/in ring ability?!?? A whopping 99,9999999X% of Wrestling Fans knew Bulldog simply couldn't lose under those circumstances and that's what personally pissed me as a evolving teenager off and I lost interest in Wrestling around 1996/1997! As a WWF writer I would be so pissed on this foreshadowing set-up to change the narrative and let him win it back next year as THE BIGGEST REVENGE ever. No Shawn Michaels needed.... or was he indeed the most gifted creative all around WWF! And noone truly else had the idea?!!! YES Shawn deserved the Grand Slam Honors by 1997 before Hart left! YES Shawn sold his Top Heel status after just being Top Face face when Bret innerly cried like a baby when he was turned to a little USA heel. Piece of unprofessional shit! Bulldog only got those EU champion honors due to his heritage, like that's NOT unfair?! He held it half a year. Neither Montreal nor Birmingham were remotely their hometowns and even if, get over it! The ppl are not anymore special and you don't know 99,99X% more than in any other city! The Mountie wasn't cheered for any more and French Canadians are known having bigger issues with their English speaking folks than foreign nations minus France! This JR is a pure hater and I never liked his bore ass from start. All these ppl ruined wrestling from the Golden Era! I only stuck around for Shawn and once he retired I 1998 I gladly did as well. I know he pushed for the Attitude Direction and it was a huge on ratings saving WWF, but I seen enough Wrestling already always. I only look once and then back to 1991-1997 with 1992/1993 being my favorite! This was a stellar rare moment, what Shawn Michaels is doing he is doing it right. Bret sucked up the Cheers being officially Heel, when the crowd was supposed to Boo for him. What a unprofessional clown with his dollar greed. Oh my merchandise percentage, I don't wanna be no heel. Dude you're in the wrong business. Try Disney Channel! Shawn's performance paid this lame JR dude as well... he may not have cared if WCW had swallowed WWF or he just went to other lil promotions. But Shawn cared next to Vince most for WWF to survive and strive and that's the difference between him and any lessers! Those lil side clowns need money 20 yrs later to talk about old backstage stuff from their egoistical perspective... so yeah! Personally I think they should be sued just as if it was as confidential relevant as 2 weeks ago. Brainwashing narratives for silly Low-Q fans who cannot think for themselves as if it was the gospel! Why Shawn not doing the housewives gossip shit.... because he is Class Act and don't need the lil money like these Nobodies!

Heartbreak kid is a legend

I think this was HHH"s idea Hhh messes up matches ganging up on a guy in Match and after match he has a disgusting imagination.

Shawn being European champion did nothin for him. In this era nobody really cared about accolades. Typical Shawn can’t draw a dime but always on top. Soon as he leaves business booms. He comes back it goes bacc to shit.

“It doesn’t matter where you lose the title, because millions of people are watching anyway.” -The “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase No truer words have been spoken.

Both of them also never drew a dime! 💰💵👎...

Disgusting that Shawn didn't give the win. Selfish

There was REAL anger concerning the fans.

Don't think this match gets the credit it deserves thought the booking was spot on

There were loads of matches that sucked with Michael's. I remember as a kid watching him vs yokozuna and it was just so unrealistic. I felt cheated.. The way hey flipped up after one of yokos main moves. I always hated him as a heel and a good guy. All makes sense when you hear the stories now.

I never liked Jim Ross, and still don't. Wwe, try to make him a good old boy bad guy.

I was there that night, the UK got 1 show a year and everyone left fuming and/or disappointed. The cancer addition was horrific. It was the worst intentional ending to the show they could have booked, horrific ego trip for Shawn. Never liked hbk since.

From the business standpoint it was right for Shawn to win because he was headed towards a WWF world title match. You don't have a lot of opportunities to get a heel this type of heat. From a human decency standpoint it would've been great for Bulldog to win. If he wins though it's just a throwaway, they don't have anywhere to go with it. Bulldog beats Shawn and then Shawn goes on to face Bret for the WWF title, but this world title contender can't even beat Bulldog? It didn't make sense from the business standpoint for Bulldog to win.

The Kliq is , and will be paying for their sins .