Originally published on ProWrestlingSheet.

To celebrate Slammy season, we decided to reminisce about one of the weirdest and most cringe-inducing events in the history of professional wrestling ... the infamous 1997 Slammy Awards ceremony.

It all went down on March 21, 1997, at the Westin Hotel in Chicago. It was two nights before WrestleMania 13, and excitement was in the air. Well, it would have been if the event had been hosted by anyone other than WWF's resident "Michael Scott at the Dundies"  Todd Pettengill.

Pettengill opened the show with a painfully unfunny (not to mention transphobic) rendition of an awful song. The performance featured original lyrics which attempted to roast various members of the company's '97 roster. It's clear that very few people in the room were amused.

Although Pettengill was the show's host, Vince McMahon and Jerry "The King" Lawler sat an announce desk and provided unnecessary commentary throughout the evening.

The term "start as you mean to go on" has seldom been more applicable. The ceremony drags on thanks to a bunch of boring acceptance speeches for completely meaningless awards. Yeah, okay -- it's just a bit of fun. The problem is they forgot to include any actual fun. Almost every joke falls completely flat, and it's obvious that even Vince is unhappy with the way things are going.

Here's  a list of the awards that were given out at the 1997 Slammy Awards:

  • Star of the Highest Magnitude (won by The Undertaker, because duh)
  • Miss Slammy (won by Sable, also because duh)
  • Match of the Year (won by HBK and Bret for their WrestleMania XII match even though that match is aggressively average)
  • Best Couple (won by Goldust and Marlena who are no longer a couple)
  • Best Hair (won by Triple H, who no longer has hair)
  • New Sensation (won by Rocky Maivia who was never heard from again)
  • Best Finisher (won by HBK and his Sweet Chin Music, making the '97 Slammys the first ever superkick party)
  • Best Tattoo (won by The Undertaker because sure why not)
  • Best Entrance Music (also won by The Undertaker, no arguments here)
  • Best Dressed (won by Sable because it was the '90s)
  • Loose Screw (Mankind beat out the likes of Sycho Sid and *checks notes* Kramer from Seinfeld)
  • Freedom of Speech (won by Steve Austin because hell yeah)

Needless to say, the 1997 Slammy Awards are difficult to watch. But they are not entirely without merit thanks to the comedy chops of Owen Hart.

Owen was supposed to be presenting the award for "Best Bowtie," only things didn't quite go according to plan. When Owen got up on stage he grabbed the Slammy and declared himself the winner.

"I did it again! And I have nobody to thank! Once again, I did it all by my sweet little self!," Owen yelled at the bemused audience of his peers.

At one point, the camera cuts to a proud Davey Boy Smith, with whom Owen held the WWF Tag Team Championship at the time. With hindsight, this hilarious moment becomes somewhat melancholy when you consider what lay ahead for these two men.

Two nights later, Owen and Davey would take on the team of Vader and Mankind in a match that disappointingly ended in a double count-out. Owen's WrestleMania match may have been a bit of a letdown, but no one can deny that he stole the show at the Slammys.

WWE recently revealed the nominees for the upcoming 2020 Slammy Awards, which will be presented live on the WWE Network on December 23 at 10 AM ET.

The categories and nominees are as follows:

Superstar of the Year

  • Drew McIntyre
  • Roman Reigns
  • Randy Orton
  • Braun Strowman
  • “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
  • Asuka
  • Sasha Banks
  • Bayley
  • Becky Lynch
  • Charlotte Flair

Match of the Year

  • Undertaker vs. AJ Styles – Boneyard Match, WrestleMania 36
  • The New Day vs. The Hurt Business – Raw Tag Team Championship Match: Raw, Nov. 16, 2020
  • Edge vs. Randy Orton – The Greatest Wrestling Match Ever: WWE Backlash 2020
  • Men’s Royal Rumble Match: Royal Rumble 2020
  • AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan – Intercontinental Championship Tournament Finals: SmackDown, June 12, 2020
  • Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso – Universal Championship Hell in a Cell “I Quit” Match: WWE Hell in a Cell 2020
  • Sasha Banks vs. Bayley – SmackDown Women’s Championship Hell in a Cell Match: WWE Hell in a Cell 2020
  • AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn vs. Jeff Hardy – Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat Ladder Match: WWE Clash of Champions 2020
  • Drew McIntyre vs. Roman Reigns: Survivor Series 2020
  • Becky Lynch vs. Asuka – Royal Rumble 2020

Rivalry of the Year

  • Seth Rollins vs. The Mysterio Family
  • Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton
  • Edge vs. Randy Orton
  • Sasha Banks vs. Bayley
  • R-Truth vs. The World
  • Lana vs. Announcer Tables

Tag Team of the Year

  • The Golden Role Models
  • Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler
  • The New Day
  • The Street Profits
  • Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro

Return of the Year

  • Edge
  • Roman Reigns
  • MVP
  • Goldberg
  • Sami Zayn

Ring Gear of the Year

  • Charlotte Flair
  • Sasha Banks
  • Seth Rollins
  • The New Day
  • Bianca Belair
  • Shinsuke Nakamura
  • Carmella

Breakout Star of the Year

  • Dominik Mysterio
  • Bianca Belair
  • Otis
  • The Street Profits
  • Murphy

Female Superstar of the Year

  • Asuka
  • Sasha Banks
  • Bayley
  • Becky Lynch
  • Charlotte Flair

Male Superstar of the Year

  • Drew McIntyre
  • Roman Reigns
  • Randy Orton
  • Braun Strowman
  • “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt

Moment of the Year

  • The Undertaker’s Final Farewell: Survivor Series 2020
  • Drew McIntyre defeats Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship: WrestleMania 36
  • Becky Lynch announces her pregnancy: Raw, May 11, 2020
  • Edge returns in the Men’s Royal Rumble Match: Royal Rumble 2020
  • The New Day’s farewell address: SmackDown, Oct. 16, 2020
  • Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman unite: SmackDown, August 28, 2020
  • Bayley betrays Sasha Banks: SmackDown, Sept. 4, 2020
  • The New Day gets drafted to different brands: Raw, Oct. 12, 2020

As we previously reported, this will be the first time the company has given out Slammy Awards since 2015, when Superstars like Seth Rollins (Superstar of the Year), Neville (Breakout Star of the Year), and Sting (Surprise Return of the Year) were victorious in their respective categories.