WWE’s week-long 30th anniversary celebration of the New World Order continued Wednesday, with footage uploaded to YouTube from the night Randy Savage shocked the world and essentially decided, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.”
The event was SuperBrawl VII, which took place February 23, 1997, at San Francisco’s historic Cow Palace. The main event was Hogan defending the WCW Championship against “Rowdy” Roddy Piper.
I was there that night, floor level, seated about seven rows back from where WWE’s announcers sit today. To say pandemonium broke out would be an understatement, though depending on where you were sitting, it wasn’t immediately clear what had happened.
Midway through the match, Savage and Sting emerged in the aisle. From my vantage point, I couldn’t see them, but as the Cow Palace began to rumble, word spread fast that the two were standing near the entrance.
Eventually, the “Macho Man” made his way to ringside while Sting disappeared. Most fans assumed Savage, who had been gone for months, was there for revenge after Hogan and the nWo beat, humiliated, and effectively blackballed him months earlier at Halloween Havoc 1996.
With Hogan facing his other longtime rival in Piper, it seemed only natural that Savage was there to tip the scales in “Hot Rod’s” favor.
Wrong.
Piper appeared to have won the title after putting Hogan to sleep with a sleeper hold. The referee even raised Piper’s hand in victory. Then, just as suddenly, the ref turned around, waved it all off, and restarted the match.
As Piper moved in for the kill, Hogan clocked him with a right hand and scored the three-count.
For many — including me — it wasn’t immediately clear why the match had been restarted. Before we could process it, Savage swarmed Piper, turning the closing moments into a two-on-one assault.
While the how and why remained a mystery, one thing was obvious: Savage had gone rogue.
Emotions were everywhere. Some fans hurled trash toward the ring. Others, proud nWo-ites, celebrated. Everyone else stood frozen in confusion.
As Hogan and Savage battered Piper with leg drops and flying elbows before spray-painting his back, 19-year-old me had only one thought.
“Wow, they got to Savage, too. This is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen!”
When I got home to San Diego, my mother had the answer waiting for me. She had taped the pay-per-view, and watching it back revealed what those of us in the arena had missed.
As Piper had Hogan trapped in the sleeper, Savage pulled Hogan’s foot under the bottom rope. That should have forced the referee to break the hold, which is why he restarted the match. During the confusion, Savage slipped Hogan a pair of brass knuckles wrapped in white tape, which Hogan used to knock Piper cold to steal a victory.
On commentary, Tony Schiavone suggested that Savage had sold out to get reinstated.
With the full picture finally in focus, I felt even better about my decision to make one last stop at the merchandise stand before leaving the arena, where I picked up more nWo gear, including a couple of Hogan T-shirts.
“Chaos” is the only word that truly captures what it felt like that night inside the Cow Palace. Unless you were in the front row or had eyes on Savage, you had no idea what was happening, as fans were on their feet, blocking views.
Still, the collective feeling of What the hell just happened? and Where’s Sting? created one of the most electric atmospheres I’ve ever experienced live.
Happy 30th, nWo. Thanks for the “Too Sweet” memories.
