November to Remember (1997) was the fifth November to Remember professional wrestling event produced by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and the first edition of November to Remember to be broadcast on pay-per-view. The event took place on November 30, 1997 from the Golden Dome in Monaca, Pennsylvania.
Eight professional wrestling matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Shane Douglas defeated Bam Bam Bigelow to win the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. In the penultimate matches, Sabu defeated The Sandman in a Tables & Ladders match and Tommy Dreamer faced Rob Van Dam in a Flag match. Taz and The F.B.I. (Tracy Smothers and Little Guido) successfully defended the World Television Championship and the World Tag Team Championship respectively.
Rob Van Dam versus Tommy Dreamer was included on the 2005 WWE DVD release Rob Van Dam: One of a Kind. Shane Douglas versus Bam Bam Bigelow was included on the 2012 WWE DVD and Blu-ray release ECW Unreleased: Vol 1.
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 played out on ECW's television program Hardcore TV.
The main rivalry heading into the event was between Bam Bam Bigelow and Shane Douglas for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Rick Rude had been stalking Douglas and Francine since early 1997 and warned Douglas that he had been training a wrestler to take the title from Douglas. On the October 24 episode of Hardcore TV, Rude revealed Douglas' own Triple Threat teammate Bam Bam Bigelow as his handpicked man, who turned on Triple Threat and proceeded to defeat Douglas for the World Heavyweight Championship. Bigelow defeated Douglas to retain the title at Ultimate Jeopardy. Another rematch was signed between the two for the title at November to Remember.
At Barely Legal, Taz defeated Sabu and after the match, Rob Van Dam attacked Taz and Sabu joined RVD in the assault. As a result, both men turned heels and Taz's manager Bill Alfonso became the manager of RVD and Sabu. At Wrestlepalooza, RVD and Sabu turned on ECW by siding with Jerry Lawler in attacking Tommy Dreamer after Dreamer had beaten Raven in a loser leaves town match. This resulted in RVD and Sabu feuding with ECW wrestlers like Dreamer, Taz and The Sandman, which set up a flag match between Dreamer and RVD and a Tables & Ladders match between Sandman and Sabu at November to Remember.
Event
Before the event aired live on pay-per-view, Chris Chetti and Spike Dudley defeated Erin O'Grady and Paul Diamond.
Preliminary matches
In the first match, Chris Candido took on Tommy Rogers. After a back and forth action between the two, Lance Storm interfered in the match on Candido's behalf and attacked Rogers and then Jerry Lynn ran in to make the save for Rogers. The referee continued the match as a tag team match pitting Lynn and Rogers against Candido and Storm. Candido hit a Northern Lights suplex to Rogers for the win.
Next, Mikey Whipwreck took on the undefeated Justin Credible. After a back and forth action, Jason attempted to interfere on Credible's behalf but Whipwreck countered his interference and nailed a Whippersnapper on Credible to hand Credible, his first loss in ECW.
In the following match, Taz defended the World Television Championship against Pitbull #2. Pitbull hit a Powerbomb and a spinning heel kick but Taz dominated him with a series of Taz-plexes and applied a Tazmission to retain the title. After the match, Pitbull #1 tried to attack Taz but Taz overpowered him and issued a challenge to Brakkus but a security guard prevented the confrontation and Taz attacked the guard.
The Full Blooded Italians (Tracy Smothers and Little Guido) defended the World Tag Team Championship against The Dudley Boyz (Buh Buh Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley), The Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks (Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten) and The Gangstanators (New Jack and Kronus) in a four-way dance. Guido shoved Kronus into a Buh Buh Cutter by Buh Buh, causing the elimination of Gangstanators. Mahoney blinded Buh Buh with a powder, who accidentally nailed the 3D to D-Von, allowing Rotten to pin him to eliminate Dudleys. Hardcore Chair Swingin' Freaks gained the advantage as Mahoney hit a Nutcracker Suite to Guido but the referee got knocked out in the process. Judge Jeff Jones came out as the replacement referee who counted to two and then began checking on the referee. Mahoney confronted Jones, who kicked him in the groin and then Guido pinned Mahoney with a roll-up to retain the title.