Podcast on a Pole is a monthly episodic podcast, looking back at wrestling’s Monday Night War, through the eyes of one’s of its biggest influences, Vince Russo. As the head-writer as both the WWE and WCW, Russo was involved with some of wrestling’s most famous segments, featuring the likes of Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, The Undertaker, Mick Foley, DX, Bret Hart, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Goldberg, the NWO and more.

On this episode of Podcast on a Pole, we deep delve into August 1997– which featured one of the biggest SummerSlam’s in history. Vince Russo eventually made himself available, to break down all the key happenings, which saw Bret Hart become the 5th time world champion and the entire company hold their collective breaths, as Owen Hart inexplicably dropped Steve Austin - the company’s cash cow - on his head.

Elsewhere in August, we saw the heel turn Shawn Michaels’ who would begin his program with The Undertaker following the SummerSlam finish. We also saw the continuation of the USA vs Hart Foundation storyline, as The Patriot emerged as the first challenger for Bret Hart’s newly won title, while the injured Steve Austin was kept on TV to terrorise the late Owen Hart. For those of you joining us late in the proceedings, the WWE was changing in the spring/summer of 1997.

Stone Cold Steve Austin – who in any other year before would have been a dastardly heel – was becoming the company’s hottest babyface, while Bret Hart – a longtime good guy in WWE – was being rejected by the modern fans, and decided to turn heel. shortly thereafter, Bret reunited with his brother Owen, brothers-in-law The British Bulldog and Jim Neidhart, and longtime family friend Brian Pillman, to form The new Hart Foundation. This was debatably Bret’s finest year in the WWF, as But Hart’s transition to heel alone, was a groundbreaking storyline, but when you factor the twist that The Hart Foundation bashed America every week on TV - and were booed as heels in the US - but we’re cheered as babyfaces everywhere else on the planet, this really was an unforgettable and groundbreaking period in WWF history, that you’ll never experience ever again. You’ll also never see it covered more extensively, on a month to month basis, than right here on Podcast on a Pole— from the man responsible for writing it.

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