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Post by randomone on Jul 26, 2016 12:56:46 GMT -6
40. Demolition vs The Hart Foundation (88) I’ll admit this 100%, this is by far the most overrated match in this list, by a mile. This is nowhere near as good as their 1990 match & I’d probably move it down the list more, but, I’m not going back & doing that. With that said, there was a reason I liked this match as much as I did, Jimmy Hart came to the ring with Fuji & Demolition, after having a falling out with the Hart Foundation. Bret & Anvil wanted to shut up The Mouth of the South & win the tag titles without his tutelage, so they took the fight to Ax & Smash quickly, but the champs turned the tables, working over Bret until Anvil got the hot tag. Just when it looked like the Harts would win back the titles, Demolition used the megaphone of Jimmy Hart to steal the win & retain the titles. That’s literally all that happened in this match, I was just really entertained by it. Maybe because the Summerslam 88 card was such a snoozer as a whole? Hell, there’s another tag match on this card that’s coming up. That one is a lot better from a wrestling standpoint, but this, I don’t know, I liked it a bunch, it was simple storytelling. Jimmy Hart was there to cost the Harts the titles & he did it. Ah, screw it, this match ruled, it’s my list!
39. Ultimate Warrior vs Rick Rude(89) Rick Rude was the best thing to happen to the Ultimate Warrior in the late 80s. He sold his offense like death, bumped his ass off & proceeded to look like a million bucks doing so. Warrior sucked on the microphone, so Rude was able to build this feud that way, then the addition of Bobby Heenan, it’s a no brainer. Rude had stolen the IC title from shenanigans at WrestleMania, so this was Warrior’s payback. Honestly, like it’s been said a bunch before, Warrior, when put in a big match situation, was pretty damn good. We always think of his 30 second squashes & insane promos, but looking back at his career, Mania with Hogan, Mania with Savage, Summerslam with Savage, this match with Rude. He was solid when the time came for it. This was your typical match though, but I just like it a lot. Warrior beat the hell out of Rude, until Rude turned the tables, looking like he was going to win, until Roddy Piper made his return, walking to ringside, distracting Rude, who was about to put away Warrior. Piper then proceeded to lift his kilt (or skirt, if you’re Bobby Heenan) & Rude was shocked at what he saw (which is weird in its own right), allowing The Ultimate Warrior…..to hit….a GERMAN SUPLEX on Rude (seriously!), then he did his whole run the ropes & splash for the win, but the sight of Warrior hitting a German was arguably the most shocking part of it all. Warrior regains the title & Rude has a new feud with the Hot Rod. Simple, not overdone, with a dash of ridiculousness. Perfect combo right there. Heartbreaking that Warrior, Rude & Piper are no longer with us.
38. Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose(14) Call me impartial (seeing as he lives in my town & I’ve seen him since almost the very beginning of his career), but anything Seth Rollins does is amazing to me. I was worried he’d get forgotten about when The Shield broke up, but luckily that wasn’t the case at all & he was the one who turned on Ambrose & Reigns. I couldn’t be happier & was thrilled when he won MITB because you knew they had confidence he could potentially be THE guy (not the dumb line Reigns repeats over & over). This feud between Rollins & Ambrose had a perfect backstory as The Shield destroyed everyone in their path for nearly 2 years before Rollins turned, leaving fans chomping at the bit for Ambrose to get his hands on him. This match was a very fun brawl that involved a whole bunch of Lumberjacks that were pretty much there to catch Dean Ambrose when he jumped on them. This match wasn’t to end a feud, it was to further it & what I love about these two is that no matter where they find themselves, they can always pick this feud up at any time. There was one point in this match where Ambrose hit a Nigel lariat & the roof exploded from the Staples Center, the pop was incredible. These two fought into the crowd, which led to Kane come out & tell the lumberjacks to do their damn jobs! Eventually Rollins won via cheating, the only way to win as a new heel, when he smacked Ambrose with the briefcase for the win. Fantastic all around. One of the best matches on this card.
37. Edge vs Lance Storm(01) If I could be serious for a minute……..with the Invasion storyline pretty much focused on the main event picture, a lot of the mid card guys matches were really pushed to the side during this time. So this gem is all but forgotten about (at least I don’t hear much about it). This was the opener for the 2001 Summerslam & if you were fans of good in ring work, this was somewhat of a little dream match. Granted I think Edge & Storm had wrestled on TV before (they had a tag match against each other at Invasion), this was more special as it was 2 of Canada’s finest wrestling for the workers belt, the Intercontinental title. They had finally decided to push Edge more prior to the Invasion, giving him the King of the Ring crown, but they briefly seemed to pull the reigns back as the Invasion got going. Lance Storm captured the IC title from Albert, who I totally forgot had this title. Storm was the perfect fit for the IC title & Edge was the perfect challenger. With Christian about to turn, having Edge win the IC title was the perfect piece for the tag partners to feud over. Christian joining the Alliance never made sense, it was unnecessary in their feud, but I digress. I think Lance Storm is one of the most underrated wrestlers of all time. Edge was still in the younger stages of his career & these two went back & forth with one of my favorite finishes too. The counter of the superkick, counter of the DDT, another superkick counter & Storm spins right into the Edgecution DDT for the win. Awesome opener, one I would definitely recommend checking out again if you haven’t seen it (or forgot all about it).
36. CM Punk vs John Cena(11) The Summer of Punk was the most interesting few months of WWE programming in a very long time. I thought they completely screwed it up when Triple H pinned Punk clean after this show & Punk got zero out of it, but that’s another story for another day. Punk/Cena had the best match of 2011 in their showdown at MITB in Chicago. I don’t get goosebumps that often watching a match, but I remember watching that PPV at my house & actually getting chills from the reaction Punk got from his hometown. This match, doesn’t hold a candle to that match as it was pretty sloppy as Punk missed his GTS by a mile, yet Cena sold it like death. Punk pinned Cena, even though his foot was under the bottom rope, something Triple H didn’t see. Despite how sloppy the end of the match was, having it ranked this high shows you how good these two were in the ring together, as even on one of their down days, it was still a solid match. I just think out of both World title matches this night, I thought the Smackdown title match was much better. So Punk had Cena down, with Trips the referee down as well, out from the crowd comes….KEVIN NASH! I was legit shocked by this as I never thought we’d see Nash in a main event program in WWE again. He came out, powerbombed Punk & bailed as Triple H was trying to put everything together. Of course, out comes Alberto Del Rio & wins the title from Punk. Just an ok ending to an otherwise pretty good Summerslam. Thought they dropped the ball majorly on the Punk storyline, but this match was fine, could’ve been much better though.
35. Kevin Owens vs Cesaro(15) Headlock Master vs the King of Swing. This was a long 48 hours for KO, as the night prior he was having an awesome ladder match with Finn Balor. Maybe I ranked this match too high, I’m not sure, but I’m such a huge fan of both guys that seeing them wrestle at Summerslam is pretty awesome in itself. This was your typical KO/Cesaro match, awesome wrestling, awesome crowd work & the crowd was desperate to cheer at something, seeing as they just watched a 9 Divas clusterfuck for nearly 20 minutes prior to this. They would’ve cheered anything after all that & luckily they were given 2 of the best in the business for 15 minutes. This was one of the few matches on this card that didn’t have any bells & whistles attached to it. No titles, no stipulations, no celebrities involved, just two dudes wrestling. KO towards the end hit his crazy Swinging Fisherman Superplex off the ropes (which I’ve been in awe with ever since I saw him do it to Adam Cole in PWG, to a stack of chairs) & was able to seal it with a Popup Powerbomb for the win. Happy that KO got a win this weekend & Cesaro looked impressive in defeat, as he always does. Nothing fancy or monumental, just two of my favorites, doing what they do best.
34. Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho(00) These two have probably had tons of matches better than this one, however, still, this was a very good 2 out of 3 falls match for the Intercontinental title. Benoit winning the 1st fall by submission, forcing Jericho into a must win situation, which he did, as he won the 2nd fall via submission & it led us to the deciding fall, in which Benoit cheated, held the ropes & got the pin. My biggest complaint is, this match got shafted for time. I know this card had a ton of matches on it, which was pretty much the reason, but why these two couldn’t get at least 7 minutes more, it just felt very rushed. You can’t tell a story with that little of time. This went about 11 minutes & for a 2 out of 3 falls match, that just isn’t enough. However, they worked with what they had & it was good. It’s weird to think of it, but the IC title seemed to be under these guys, as they would be feuding with Triple H & The Rock during this time. They almost didn’t need the title for this feud. Still a good match, one that should’ve gotten so much more time.
33. The British Bulldogs vs The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (88) So the real life back story to this one was that Dynamite Kid got his ass kicked by Jacques Rougeau. For months Dynamite, who was a known bully in the locker room, started really going hard at the Rougeaus with the bullying. According to Jimmy Hart, there were times when the Bulldogs would padlock your suitcase, cancel plane reservations, anything. So after Dynamite actually beat up Jacques backstage (by blindsiding him), Jacques decided to pick his spot for revenge. So when the time came, Jacques leveled Dynamite with a violent punch with a hand full of quarters! He started beating the fuck out of him & Raymond had to pull him off. After a few weeks, Vince sat both teams down & told them they could work together or not work at all. So this match was pretty much a punishment of sorts & it was a time limit draw because neither team was supposed to come out on the winning end. Good for Jacques for standing up for himself & Dynamite Kid is bitter bully, so I have no respect for that crap. Anyways, the match itself was pretty damn good. You couldn’t tell they hated one another, which is good, but their punishment was the fans reward as, like I’ve said before, there’s not many bright spots on the 1st Summerslam card. This was the best match on that card. Which I know isn’t saying much, but still. Crazy story, but entertaining wrestling match.
32. Edge vs John Cena(06) The start of the Edge/Cena feud was incredible. Edge cashing in the MITB on Cena after he had just won an Elimination Chamber to start 2006 was a historic moment. Unfortunately Edge held the title for just a few weeks before Cena won the title back at the Royal Rumble. Cut to later in the year, this feud was able to pick up some steam & it had a backstory to it. Edge made a habit out of winning his matches with the help of Lita. This was my favorite character Lita played, because, c’mon, it was awesome. So the stip in this one was had Edge gotten DQ’d, he would’ve lost the title, which he won after beating RVD. At one point Lita threw a chair to Edge, who quickly tossed it right back out. It was a good part of the storyline as both Edge & Lita played their roles great. In a great finish, Lita tossed Edge brass knucks just as Edge was hoisted up for a FU. Then Lita hopped on top of both men (which, why she wasn’t DQ’d then is beyond me) & she was the one who took the FU! As the ref got Lita out of the ring, this allowed Edge to hit Cena with the knucks & get the pin. This wasn’t their best match together (I preferred their TLC match at Unforgiven the next month), this was still an awesome match & one of my favorite feuds during this time. They worked together so incredibly well that I could honestly watch Edge/Cena wrestle a ton & would always be entertained. This was the best match on the 2006 Summerslam card IMO.
31. Rey Mysterio vs Eddie Guerrero(05) Ok, so let’s put the sheer lunacy of this storyline aside for a moment. Eddie Guerrero as a vicious heel was awesome, not as awesome as Lying, Cheating, Stealing babyface Eddie, but still, it ruled. The history between these two made each other perfect rivals & Eddie was out to destroy Rey & his family. So let’s get into it, Eddie basically was trying to steal Rey’s child, Dominick, away from him, claiming that he was the child’s father. So how do you settle this? In a Ladder Match of course, with the custody of a child at stake. The storyline, was mind-numbingly stupid, however, both Eddie & Rey went all in, which was what made this ridiculous angle at least entertaining. Neither man half assed this & the result was a friggin great ladder match. Eddie hit 3 Amigos onto the ladder, which was so brutal. At one point Eddie went to climb the ladder & Rey’s son tried to shake the ladder, but Eddie looked to go after the young son & Rey got up & cracked Eddie with a hard shot. Now, sadly the match itself gets somewhat overshadowed by Eddie snapping mid match, after Vickie Guerrero missed her cue running to the ring. She was supposed to run & knock Eddie off the ladder, as she had finally had enough of his antics. What happened was Eddie was left hanging, literally by his fingers as the ladder was taken out from under him & he crashed hard to the mat. You could see Eddie visibly pissed, yelling “WHERE THE F*CK WAS VICKIE!?!?!?” on live PPV. Of course Vickie finally got involved, knocked Eddie from the ladder & held onto him as Rey climbed up & got the briefcase, allowing him to keep his son, I guess. I would’ve preferred this just being a #1 Contender Ladder Match, but I guess they needed to really make this feud personal. Eddie & Rey did a fine job and put on an awesome match, but I legit couldn’t get fully into the story because, c’mon, are we supposed to think had Eddie won, if people asked Rey where his son was, would Rey go “Well, I lost a Ladder Match & therefore I lost my son.” Oh wrestling.
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Post by randomone on Jul 31, 2016 10:02:51 GMT -6
30. Randy Orton vs Christian(11) I’d have to really look at it, but this might be in my Top 3 all time favorite Christian matches as a singles wrestler. This feud I thought was fantastic all the way around. Christian wins the World Title from Del Rio at Extreme Rules, then starts a feud with Orton & becomes a heel in the process (which we all know, he totally rules as a heel). These two then fought for 4 straight PPVs, but while some think that’s overkill, it was showing they were willing to put time into a storyline. Orton won their first match at Over the Limit in a great match, he won the rematch at Capitol Punishment & that resulted in Christian getting one more match & if Orton got DQ’d, then Christian won the title. So, Orton accidentally got DQ’d & Christian won the title at Money in the Bank. While that wasn’t their best match, it helped advance the story & it was different. So here we were, their final showdown, No Holds Barred, the culmination of 4 months of story & this match, was insanely awesome. I’ve said it before, when Orton turns it on, he friggin turns it on. These two used tables, kendo sticks, fought in the crowd, used trash cans, then Orton hit a crazy RKO on the steps & won the match. It was the perfect time for the feud to end & I like how they didn’t bail on this story, they let it play out. Christian won the title cheaply by a DQ, only for Orton to come back & win in convincing fashion. Like I said, great all around. I’d absolutely suggest watching this match again, hell, watch the feud again, it’s good wrestling & that’s all we want, right?
29. Hart Foundation vs Demolition(90) I said it long ago in this list, the team that got shafted the most in 1990 was probably Power & Glory, as they were pretty much primed in late 90 to challenge for the tag titles, or maybe even win them, who knows. However, the addition of the Nasty Boys pretty much put a stop to that. I bring that up because also the addition of the Legion of Doom caused Vince to lose serious interest in what some might call a LOD knock off, that being Demolition. I always enjoyed Ax & Smash, but once LOD came in, it just felt like they were cast aside. Due to health issues for Ax, they brought in Crush as a 3rd member & they defended their titles against long time rivals the Hart Foundation on this night in a 2 out of 3 falls match. The key part to this one was only 2 members of Demolition was allowed at ringside. So after winning the tag titles at WM6, Demolition turned heel, so of course they cheated in this match. It started with Smash & Crush, but eventually Ax came down & got in the match. This is odd because the only similarities with Demolition were they wore the same gear & different face paint. They looked nothing alike. Crush was substantially taller than Ax & Smash, also Ax had short hair. Also all three had DIFFERENT face paint, like I said. This isn’t like when the Usos do it or when the Bellas used to be able to (before Nikki made some BIG changes). The ref looked like a moron for allowing this. Anyway, the Legion of Doom came down & pulled the 3rd man out from under the ring & what followed was the Hart Foundation getting the win & regaining the tag titles to a massive pop from the crowd. All the nonsense of the switcheroo aside, this match was awesome & the crowd played a big part in it. This show they didn’t have much to cheer about, so the few times they did pop, it was big. This was pretty much Demolition’s last moment in the spotlight, as Ax would leave after Survivor Series (where he got beat quickly) & then Smash/Crush would be around until Mania where they’d lose to Tenryu & Fred Kitao. Say what you want about Demolition though, they were a huge part of the tag division in the late 80s, which was a boom period for teams in the WWF. Underrated team if anything. This match showed it, they did their jobs great & it’s too bad they got pushed to the side once Hawk & Animal hit the scene.
28. CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy(09) So the heel turn of CM Punk in 2009 was done great & you can attribute that greatly to his feud being with Jeff Hardy. Brother Nero was the perfect person for Punk to start preaching his straight edge word to. Jeff has had documented problems with drugs in the past & who better to talk down to him than the person who is the Straight Edge Savior? Granted this was before the Straight Edge Society kicked in & Punk hadn’t declared himself a messiah just yet, but his true heelish colors were shining through ever so subtlety during this feud. So Punk cheated in matches, leading to this TLC match for the title, which headlined this Summerslam, which it absolutely should have. WWE actually made the right call & put this in the main event, because it was going to be the match of the show, which it was. Punk & Jeff beat the piss out of each other & took crazy bumps, cracking each other with chairs, jumping off ladders & Jeff did his signature dive off one through the announce table. The story in this one almost felt like Jeff didn’t know when to stop doing the high risk & it ultimately cost him the match. He did one big move too many & it allowed Punk to grab the title. This will be one of those forgotten about gems in Summerslam history, as when you think of Ladder Matches or TLC matches, other matches come to mind in regards to this show, but I strongly suggest if you’re on a Punk or Brother Nero kick, watch this match, you won’t be disappointed. This entire feud was great. It had a hero who overcame struggles against a heel who preached that he was better than anyone who did drugs & succumb to the addiction. Great storytelling.
27. Mankind vs Undertaker(96) The night after Wrestlemania 12, the debut of Mankind, who absolutely crushed Undertaker in impressive fashion. Usually if a new heel was going to beat up Taker, he had to be over 450 pounds or 7 feet tall. In a surprising change of pace, Mick Foley was neither of those thing & to top it all off, he was a great brawler & wrestler! How thrilled do you think Taker was about that? I was legit terrified of Mankind as a young kid when he first came in. I was also a moron and despite watching WCW growing up, didn’t put 2 & 2 together that it was Cactus Jack (again, I’m slow, took me a while with Goldust too). So when Mankind destroyed Taker at King of the Ring this year, it was only right for this to be a Boiler Room Brawl. This match really showed that Mankind was willing to do anything to his body in the WWF. Yeah he took insane bumps previously as Mankind, but still, Taker beat him up bad during this one. However, this would become Mankind’s specialty for a reason as he had some tricks up his sleeve, utilizing as much as possible in the boiler room, something Taker wasn’t accustomed to. The objective of this match though was to make it out of the boiler room, back to the ring & take possession of Paul Bearer’s urn. Which, thinking about it, made little sense, as it just seemed like a way to get Taker to get cracked with the urn by Uncle Paul. I remember legit being shocked at this heel turn, as you didn’t think Paul Bearer could possibly turn on his Undertaker, but he did & it was great. Think of what would’ve happened had he never turned on Taker? Heel Paul Bearer was the catalyst for the Kane character in 97. So Mankind won & had a new manager, while Paul Bearer had a new monster as his protégé. This feud would continue for years & it made Mick Foley the household name wrestling fans love. In my honest opinion, this was by far Taker’s best feud over his career (yes that includes the Kane feud too). These brawls/matches were more enjoyable & 96 was a big year in both men’s careers. Awesome brawl.
26. Brock Lesnar vs John Cena(14) Is this the greatest squash match in wrestling history? Fans hadn’t seen Brock Lesnar wrestle since he shocked the world in beating Taker at Mania 30. How do you make Brock into a legit monster & not just someone who got lucky & ended the Streak? Simple, you have him crush your franchise, which is exactly what he did. You could say in 2010 that John Cena was foolish for not putting over the Nexus, but 4 years later, Cena did what’s “best for business” & proceeded to get his ass handed to him in dominating fashion by The Beast. Watching Heyman at ringside was just icing on the cake for this one as fans were in awe witnessing this destruction. Cena got in about 30 seconds of offense & Brock shook it off. It was like watching a jobber try to get in offense in an early 90s squash. Brock hit an F-5 quick, but Cena kicked out. The ass kicking of a lifetime was then administered as he hit 16 German suplexes on Cena during the match. Brock won the title in incredible fashion and I honestly loved everything about it. Not because I’m not a Cena fan, I am a Cena fan actually; I just thought this was done perfectly. John Cena is still John Cena the next day, but Brock Lesnar is now feared by everyone who tries to challenge for the WWE title. Eat, Sleep, Conquer John Cena and Brock did just that.
25. Mankind vs HHH(97) I’m a sucker for the old school big blue cage. Obviously this wouldn’t be Mick Foley’s most memorable cage match, but this sure got him over as a pretty big babyface. Over the past month, Mankind had started having sit down interviews with Jim Ross about his past. This humanized the character of Mankind & it allowed people to (and I hate myself for using this phrase) see the man behind the mask. We saw the pain that Mick Foley went through as a child & it allowed the fans to connect with him on a more emotional level as a performer. So when Mankind & HHH had their feud (which started at the KOTR that year & then an awesome brawl of a match at Canadian Stampede) inside a cage & the fans knew of Mankind’s memory of traveling to MSG to see Jimmy Snuka leap off a cage onto Muraco, there was a lot of anticipation as to whether Mick could pull it off. The match wasn’t the most brutal cage match of all time, but damn did it have some brutal moments. Most notably, Chyna slamming the cage door into Mick’s face. I mean she laid that friggin shot in & you could hear Mick’s skull bounce right off that steel door. Cut to the moment, Triple H is down & Mick scaled the cage, almost going to escape, but instead, climbed back up & leapt off, connecting with an elbow drop. Mick started to climb the cage as Chyna blocked the door & was going to escape as Chyna got in the ring & dragged Hunter out, but it was too late. Awesome moment & it got Mankind really over, which I loved. I liked the ending with Mankind down on the floor, then the Dude Love music hits & his foot starts tapping, gets up & starts dancing his way to the back. So damn good. It’s remembered for what Mick did, but Trips deserves a bunch of credit in this feud too. It elevated him as well.
24. RVD vs Chris Benoit(02) With Benoit being out for the previous year, we were sort of robbed of Benoit in the Invasion angle. I always wondered how he would’ve been used in that storyline, but luckily we didn’t have to wait long for him & RVD to face off. When Benoit came back from injury, he briefly feuded with the Dudleys, then set his sights on RVD & the IC title, which he won from RVD on Raw. Benoit was set to take the title to Smackdown, where he was drafted, but RVD put a stop to it, by winning this match & the IC title back. I really enjoyed these two in the ring & it’s a feud we really didn’t get to see much of since both guys were always on different brands, so it was almost an enjoy it while you can type of deal. The high flying of RVD, the technical submission wrestling of Benoit, it just played off each other incredibly well & luckily, on this, in my opinion, the best Summerslam of all time, they got 16 minutes to bust their ass. What does it tell you about this show that we still have FOUR more matches from this show left on the list? This was an incredibly strong match, but others on this show are just better, which is hard to even imagine.
23. Kurt Angle vs Eddie Guerrero(04) Eddie & Kurt had a great match at Mania this year, one that sort of gets overshadowed by the Triple Threat main event, but still, it was a great match that saw Eddie steal a win when he loosened his boot so when Angle went for the Ankle Lock, Eddie slipped out & rolled up Kurt for the win. After Mania, Kurt took time off before becoming the General Manager of Smackdown & his mission was to make Eddie’s life a living hell. He succeeded, seeing as Eddie had lost the title to JBL a few months later. So when the time came to Angle to return to the ring, this was the most logical feud for him to have him back for. Angle worked Eddie for most of the match, until Eddie got his heat back by taking his boot off & smacking both Angle & Luther Reigns with the ref down. Eddie went for a Frog Splash, but Kurt was able to avoid it & lock in the Ankle Lock for the submission win. This was a big win for Kurt as he was immediately back in the mix on Smackdown as a competitor and while this match wasn’t as good as their Mania match, this was still one of the best matches on the card, which should surprise no one. Angle was a machine & Eddie was awesome.
22. The Brain Busters vs The Hart Foundation(89) Going to be completely honest, I literally just re-watched this Summerslam yesterday (as of this writing) and I have to admit, this one didn’t hold up as much as I thought it would. I liked this match a lot more growing up. We’ve come too far in the list for me to do edits & switch-a-roos so this is ranked where it’s ranked. I’d honestly say Hart Foundation were my favorite tag team in the late 80s during the tag team boom. I was a huge Bret Hart fan and both he & Anvil complimented each other so well with the technical/power dynamic. Granted the Brain Busters only stayed about a year in the WWF, it gave me an appreciation of Arn & Tully, one I didn’t have until later when I discovered their awesome NWA matches thanks to Blockbuster Video & their old VHS selection. I liked how this match was a non title, which sounds weird, but they stuck to the realism that despite the Brain Busters winning the tag titles from the Harts prior to this show, the contract for this match was already signed when the Harts were tag champs, therefore this match is a non title. Seems confusing, but it strangely made total sense to me. Harts signed the contracts as champs saying they’d defend their titles here. Brain Busters never signed a contract saying they’d defend. If anything it was foolish of the Harts to sign to defend their titles prior to this show anyway. Anyways, this match I thought was good, just not as great as I had assumed. All 4 men did their jobs great, I actually would’ve liked the Harts to win the match, thus deserve an actual title match, but they didn’t & the Brain Busters snuck out a cheap win. Nothing major in the match, but I had honestly built this one up bigger in my head than it was. If you want solid tag matches, you’re not going to find two better teams at this time, so you’ll see solid wrestling. It’s not saying much, but this was the best match on this PPV.
21. Bret Hart vs Undertaker(97) If Bret Hart lost, he would never wrestle on US soil ever again. That was the stipulation that was made for this one as Undertaker was champ since Mania when he beat Sid in a completely underwhelming match. This however, was the complete opposite of that one. With Shawn Michaels as the referee (wearing a freakishly small referee shirt) and HBK & the Hitman hating each other’s guts, it only made sense for Shawn to be smack in the middle of this. Heel Hart Foundation Bret Hart was one of the best characters in wrestling at this time. Say what you want about Bret’s promos, but damn, his heel work as a wrestler was fantastic. Also this was a weird time where Bret was heel, Taker was pretty much in a feud with Paul Bearer who said Kane was still alive & then Shawn Michaels who, depending on the week, was either 100% or not. I wasn’t a big fan of Shawn’s during 97 (until the DX stuff kicked in with Trips) because watching back some old RAW’s, he seemed pretty damn healthy. The matches he could’ve had during this time & didn’t was a little disappointing. I digress, after a long main event that saw both Taker & Bret bend the rules, knowing Shawn wasn’t going to DQ either man for something small, we got to the go home spot. This show is probably remembered for 3 things, Mankind jumping off the cage, Owen breaking Austin’s neck & the image of Bret Hart spitting in the face of HBK, who wipes it off, steps back, swings a chair at Bret, who ducks & HBK cracks Taker right in the head. Bret covers Taker & HBK reluctantly counts the three count & we have a new champion. It was masterfully done. 3 of the greatest of all time in a fantastic main event & a storyline that actually made sense. As silly as the stip of Bret never wrestling in the US again was, they were so good at telling this story that for a moment I thought, maybe, which is all it takes. Bret steals the title & is ready to feud with Shawn finally (and historically), then you have a new feud between Taker & Shawn, which gave us the Hell in a Cell. Bret would take the backseat & feud with The Patriot, which is totally forgettable, but still, this match here set all the events up that would end 1997. Pretty historic if you think about it.
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Post by randomone on Aug 7, 2016 16:52:40 GMT -6
20. Edge vs Eddie Guerrero(02) The brand split was a blessing & a curse to certain wrestlers. In the case of Edge, it was the best thing to happen to him. Although he’d suffer his bad neck injury less than a year later, in 2002 he showed that he was a future main eventer & it was feuds like the one with Eddie Guerrero that proved it. Edge & Eddie had amazing matches on Smackdown and this one was no different. I loved the feud because you had Edge win on this show, Eddie won at Unforgiven & then their blow off match came in a No DQ match that was absolutely insane on Smackdown, which was the best part. It was a PPV caliber match on free TV. These two took full advantage of every second of time they were given as 11 minutes in which Eddie went after the bad shoulder of Edge, which, at one point, even delivered a frog splash onto the arm. On the brink of defeat, Edge battled back & was able to hit his finish for the win. A pretty big win for Edge, who had been put in the spotlight since the brand split & rightfully so. Very underrated match that gets forgotten about due to being such a stacked card. I suggest watching this entire PPV again, but definitely watch this one, definition of hidden gem.
19. 123 Kid vs Hakushi(95) Some might think this is tremendously overrated, but unlike the last match, I firmly stand by this ranking. The WWF wasn’t filled with high flyers in 1995, so when the Kid & Hakushi opened the show in 95, it was something completely different. Aside from a few dives through the ropes & over the top by guys like Shawn Michaels & Bret Hart, you didn’t see springboard planchas, slingshot legdrops, somersault/backflips over the top. For the brief time Hakushi was in the WWF, he put on pretty damn solid matches. Unfortunately they put him with Barry friggin Horowitz toward the end of his run, which was the kiss of death. 123 Kid made a living in the WWF by taking on monsters & guys who were bigger than him, only on the rarest of occasion was the Kid able to fly around the ring with someone who did the same. I think a big part of why this match was so good was where this Summerslam was at, Philadelphia. You can see some of the ECW fans you’d usually see in the ECW Arena in attendance as fans appreciated what they were seeing. Toward the end, Kid hit a frog splash, but only got a 2 count. He hit the ropes, looking for a spinning heel kick, but Hakushi caught him in mid air & drove him to the mat with a back suplex variation, rolled over & got the pin. Crowd cheered for the match as they should, this was a fantastic opener to an otherwise pretty bad Summerslam (only this match & one other were great, the rest was pretty bad). With the exception of 1 other, this was my favorite Summerslam opener. This is the definition of the word hidden gem. We’re so used to seeing “flippy guys” wrestle all the time, but you must remember, this was 1995 in the WWF, they didn’t let them do that all that often. It was fantastic, definitely check it out!
18. The Rock vs HHH vs Kurt Angle(00) It’s incredible to look back at Kurt Angle’s first year in the WWF. Everything he accomplished in his rookie year & during the Attitude Era no less, shows just how great he was/is. His character fit in perfect in the Rock/HHH feud. Kurt was the shot in the arm that this feud needed as Rock/HHH had been feuding since Wrestlemania & trading the WWF title back and forth for months, until Kurt came into the picture & began a strictly professional relationship with Stephanie McMahon Helmsley. While I loved the Jericho/Steph feud, her storyline with Kurt goes incredibly underappreciated as both performers did such a great job. Say what we want about the screeching, never put anyone else over, always have to be noticed version of Stephanie McMahon we see on TV in 2016, but in 2000, Daddy’s Little Girl played her role to a tee. Kurt was everything Triple H wasn’t in terms of a heel in 2000, so when another man started hanging out with his wife, Trips absolutely should’ve been pissed. Leading up to the show, Trips & Angle teamed and Steph accidentally got knocked to the floor, allowing Kurt to turn into Prince Charming while Trips got his ass kicked. Kurt carried Steph to the back & eventually planted a kiss on her, where Steph seemed to kiss him back! It was the perfect Days of Our Lives storylines (see, told you it wasn’t the last time I’d mention Days of Our Lives! That’s a callback!). So the main event of Summerslam 2000 saw Trips want to rip Kurt’s head off prior to the match as he hit a Pedigree on Angle (it was actually botched as the table collapsed early), but Kurt still was out & taken to the back as The Rock had just made his entrance! Angle came back halfway through & went right for The Game. Towards the end of the match, Stephanie tossed the sledgehammer into the ring, which Kurt & Trips fought over, leading to Steph getting taken out by accident. The Rock picked up the pieces & won the match, leaving the McMahon/Helmsley/Angle story even more complicated with The Great One standing tall. This match goes absolutely unnoticed as there is one other match on this show that is always talked about.
17. Randy Orton vs Chris Benoit(04) I remember legit being surprised when Orton beat Benoit on this night. I didn’t think they’d pull the trigger on his push that quickly, but they did & it turned out being a mistake as Orton was essentially just a placeholder for a month until Triple H got the title back the following month. This was a period where I absolutely hated Trips and not an “aww, he’s such a good bad guy, he’s a great heel” type of hate, I mean he was terrible. I could go on a long diatribe about that, but I’ll just stick to this match. So Orton got this title shot after winning a battle royal & I remember even being surprised at that. Benoit’s title reign wasn’t that bad, but it was forgettable, which was a shame, because they way he won it was so memorable. I don’t think Orton should’ve been the guy to beat him, but he was & it was a pleasant surprise. Wish they hadn’t given up on the Orton face champion run within 3 weeks, but that’s WWE in 2004, aka Triple H’s quest to reach Flair’s record. At one point Benoit hit Orton with 7 German suplexes & the best finish as Orton countered the Crossface into a RKO for the win! It put over Orton, but also his finish as a “hit it & it’s all over” type move. Orton had a great 2004, from feuding with Mick Foley to being the most popular member of Evolution. It was a very quick push for the title & some might say they put the title on Orton quickly so he’d erase Brock as the youngest World Champion in WWE history, but I’m in the camp of that he busted his ass & deserved it. He just also deserved more than a few weeks with it, because it immediately devalued his main event status when he lost it to a guy who the previous month battered a wrestler whose gimmick was that of a “special person”. Yeah, beating Eugene really warrants a title shot. Anyways, I liked the ending with Benoit telling Orton to be a man & shake his hand, which Orton reluctantly did. I liked how the fans took to Orton on this night & this was an excellent match. If I had to make a Top 5 Orton match list, I’d absolutely put this one on it (Backlash vs Mick this year too would be on it). First half of 2004 was strong for Orton, I just wish the last half would’ve been the same.
16. Brock Lesnar vs The Rock(02) So I just talked about how great Kurt Angle’s rookie year was in the WWF, but look at what Brock did in about 6 months. Sure, Kurt won more titles, but the names Brock steamrolled through is as impressive as it gets. He brutally bloodied Hulk Hogan leading up to this show (rumors were that Hogan was going to return at Survivor Series, but I’m happy that never happened), so The Rock was next on the King of the Ring winners hit list. Fresh off winning the WWE title at Vengeance in an awesome Triple Threat with Kurt & Taker, The Rock was about ready to head back to Hollywood, but he had The Next Big Thing to fight before doing so. The video packages leading up to this one was incredible as it showed both men training their asses off & we got to hear Brock’s back story as well as hear The Rock, who didn’t take this match lightly. Lots of people knew what to expect in this one, but I don’t think people knew that in 15 minutes, the Rookie would beat The Great One. The crowd knew Rock was leaving, so they booed him, badly, so whenever Brock landed offense, they cheered, loudly. At one point in the match, Paul Heyman got involved, but took a crazy Rock Bottom through an announce table! Brock showed he could hang with one of the best ever & got out of the Rock Bottom, countering into an F-5 for the win & the title, making him the youngest WWE Champion in history at that point. Good for The Rock putting him over on his way out. It’s one of my favorite Brock matches. Is it one of the best, no, but still, this is the night where The Next Big Thing became The Big Thing. It was really cool to see this guy massacre guys & actually accomplish his goal. You rarely see that anymore, which is unfortunate, but back in 2002, it was a very good match with a great story told throughout.
15. Kurt Angle vs Steve Austin(01) There wasn’t a ton that was memorable about the Alliance vs WWF storyline, but Angle vs Austin was a great feud during this time. Austin was the perfect blend of comedic & vicious as you always knew in big match situations, he’d be aggressive, violent & just brutal (in a good way) in the ring. With The Rock just coming back, Angle was still right up there with most over guy on the WWF side of the battle. Early in the match, it was the German Suplex clinic put on by Angle, who hit German after German. Austin was able to fight out & hit a Stunner, but Angle kicked out at 2. Angle got busted opened badly in this one & once Austin saw blood, he pounced, as he was going right after the wound. Kurt was bleeding buckets, but he made a big comeback as the fans cheered loudly. He actually nailed Austin with a moonsault (so used to seeing Kurt miss that move), but Austin kicked out. Cut to Austin locking in a Million Dollar Dream, which Angle tried to pull a Bret Hart & kick off the ropes for a pin, but Austin kicked out. Over the course of the match, Kurt kicked out of THREE Stone Cold Stunners, which drove Austin over the edge, he went nuts & punched Earl Hebner in the face. Enter another ref & he’d get hit with a Stunner. Enter a 3rd ref, who got waffled with the WWF title by Austin. Then came Nick Patrick, referee of the Alliance, who DQ’d Austin after all of that. Kurt got screwed & Austin retained. Somewhat overbooked finish, but I really liked it as it set the stage for Angle to win the title the following month (let’s just forget about Angle eventually joining the Alliance a few months later). I really loved this match, as it showed just how crazy Austin would get if his title was in danger & it got the fans really behind Kurt. Best match on this Summerslam.
14. Undertaker vs Edge(08) After losing a TLC match to Edge at One Night Stand a few months prior, Taker hadn’t been seen on Smackdown. So when Edge pissed off & cheated on his wife Vickie Guerrero, she decided he needed to be punished badly & what better way than to throw him in there with Taker in Hell in a Cell? The Taker/Edge feud was fantastic from start to finish. Hard to believe this all STARTED at Wrestlemania, but after taking a few months off like I said, it was given new life for this showdown. Match started with Edge getting his ass handed to him, Taker dishing out the usual moves, until Edge turned the tables & sent Taker into the stairs that were set up in the ring. Edge then went under the ring & got Tables, Ladders & Chairs as he set up everything he needed to try to take out the Dead Man. He hit an elbow drop from the top of a ladder, through a table. Cut to a spot where Edge sprinted on the outside, jumped off the steps & speared Taker THROUGH THE CAGE! Both men battled around ringside until Edge ran across 3 tables to Spear Taker through an announce table. Miraculously Taker got back up & took the fight to Edge. Both guys beat the hell out of one another as Undertaker got cracked with a camera, callback to how Taker lost the title at last year’s Survivor Series. The big spot of the actual match (as if those others weren’t big spots) came when Edge tried to go Old School, but Taker caught up & chokeslammed him from the ring, through TWO STACKED TABLES! Taker tossed Edge back in the ring & connected with a Spear of his own before delivering a Con-Chair-To to The Rated R Superstar! After a Tombstone for good measure, Taker won the match & afterwards, brought in 2 ladders, brought Edge up to the top & delivered a SUPER CHOKESLAM sending Edge crashing through the ring straight to hell as fire came up through the ring. Amazing Hell in a Cell featuring two of the very best. Very underrated Summerslam main event.
13. Seth Rollins vs John Cena(15) Like I said in the Ambrose/Rollins match, I’m 100% bias when it comes to my hometown boy Seth Rollins, thank God he’s an amazing wrestler & one of the best in the world, otherwise you’d think I was nuts ranking his matches as high as I do on these list. You’ll probably think it’s solely because he lives in my town, but that’s not the reason, like I said, he’s incredible in the ring & despite seeing Rollins/Cena many times, this match was fantastic & the best by far on this card. Say what you want about John Cena, the dude turns it on and despite that dumb springboard stunner, all his matches in his United States Title Open Challenges were phenomenal and some of his best work in years. Rollins got it going early with two suicide dives followed by a somersault plancha as the crowd was going nuts already. Rollins hit a Frog Splash & tried for a Pedigree but Cena reversed & locked in a Figure Four, but towards the end of the awesome back & forth match, we got a ref bump. Enter Jon Stewart. Now, I’m usually against all the dumb celebrities involved in matches, let alone big match situations. However, Jon Stewart isn’t a dumb celebrity & actual did his role perfectly. Since both he & Rollins had bad blood from an appearance on The Daily Show (which was great), you had to believe Stewart was going to smack Rollins, but no, HERE IT IS, YOUR MOMENT OF ZEN as Stewart cracked Cena in the ribs allowing Rollins to his a Pedigree on the chair for the win. I loved it, some might’ve hated it, but they used Stewart perfectly & Rollins controlled both titles. Phenomenal match & one of my favorite matches of 2015 entirely. I think the only other match I liked more was Cena/Rollins/Brock from the Rumble. My boy Rollins beat the franchise with help from one of my favorite TV personalities. I’m all for that.
12. Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio(02) Mysterio’s PPV debut for the WWE & boy was it a great one. He & Kurt set the stage for what would be the best top to bottom Summerslam in history. Such a fast pace set by these two as Kurt really was a jack of all trades when it came to changing his style, whether it be big guys, old guys, young guys or in this case high flyers, Kurt could do it all. Rey snuck in from under the ring prior to the match & he took the offense to Kurt quick, but Angle managed to turn the tables. After some amazing counters, including a head scissors attempt into a side suplex, Rey showed his career wasn’t over in WCW, in fact, it was really just getting going as he was on fire in this one. He managed to work his way out of an Ankle Lock & use his high risk moves to his advantage, breaking out his somersault plancha over the referee to the floor. He even hit Kurt with a 619 & West Coast Pop, but Angle kept fighting. With Angle set up in the corner ropes, Rey went for a spinning hurricanrana off the top, but Kurt just let Rey fall to the mat as he jumped down, turned around & locked in the Ankle Lock as the crowd cheered loudly for the finish. They loved Rey’s effort & were actually fine with Kurt winning, as was I, as it really was a match that set the stage for the Smackdown Six (Angle, Rey, Edge, Eddie, Benoit, Chavo) to get going over the rest of 2002. These guys have had better matches, but not many, as this was a great match & my all time favorite Summerslam opener due to the quality & pace set. Such a hot opener, watch it if you haven’t for a while, it’s worth it.
11. Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar(03) Out of the 3 major Brock vs Kurt matches (WM19, Ironman & this one), I’d probably rank this one last, yet, it’s still number 11 on the all time Summerslam matches list. What’s that go to tell you, not just the caliber of Brock & Kurt, but their ability to put on one hell of a match. Kurt was much healthier in this match than he was going into Wrestlemania & they were about to put on my all time favorite match in Smackdown history in about a month in their Ironman match. This one though was different, because Brock Lesnar was a freshly turned heel, aligning himself with Mr. McMahon. Bell sounds & we get, what else, solid chain wrestling from both men, with Brock showing off his power with him pressing Angle over his head early & launching him to the floor. Brock was in control as he suplexed Kurt all around the ring, but Kurt kept fighting. It seemed like every time Kurt got an offensive move in; Brock would counter & go right back to work. Commentary played a big part of why I enjoyed Smackdown so much as Cole & Tazz really hit their stride in 2003, they were a great duo, playing off each other incredibly well. I know the Michael Cole of 2016 is pretty bad, but we tend to forget how great these two were. Anyways, back to the match, Brock pretty much worked Kurt for most of the match until the champion made his comeback. Finally Kurt got the comeback and started to hit Brock with multiple Germans until Brock would counter with power moves. Kurt finally locked in the Ankle Lock, but Brock rolled through & the ref took a bump. Out comes Mr. McMahon, decked in a dress shirt you’d never see him wear, he cracked Kurt with a chair as he had the Ankle Lock on Brock & quickly bailed. Brock got up & hit an F5 ON ONE LEG. Vince told him to end it as he went for another, but Kurt got out & locked in another Ankle Lock. Brock tried to crawl to every rope, but Kurt would always pull him back to the center. With Vince pleading for Brock to roll through, he couldn’t & tapped. Crowd really got into it as the match went on, but I loved this from the start. This is the best PRO WRESTLING you’ll ever see in the WWE. Plus, Kurt hit an Angle Slam on Vince through a chair afterwards.
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Post by randomone on Aug 13, 2016 10:17:09 GMT -6
Try to post one a day from here until Summerslam! Home stretch! We did it!
10. Randy Savage vs The Ultimate Warrior (92) Whose corner will Mr. Perfect be in? That was the big question leading up to this match as weeks before; we learned that the executive consultant for Ric Flair had offered his services for either man. So fans began to wonder, which of their beloved good guys sold out to Perfect? The crowd at Wembley was amazing and the amount of Macho Man foam fingers alone easily had to draw a million bucks for WWF (ok maybe not a million, but damn there were lots of them!). So Savage & Warrior went at it for the first 15 minutes or so before out came Flair & Perfect. Savage & Warrior had such great chemistry in the ring, as Savage really knew how to get the best out of Warrior, who again, like him or not, turned it on in a big match situation. So when Perfect tripped Savage, fans thought it was Warrior who sold out, but later in the match, Warrior got cracked with a chair by Flair. With both Bobby Heenan & Vince McMahon wondering what in the hell was going on, fans wondered the same thing. The culmination of the match came when Savage got to his feet & saw Warrior down and out. He climbed to the top, looking to the crowd, wondering what to do, before turning to Ric Flair & jumping at him, only for Flair to smack him in the leg with a chair. Savage ultimately would get counted out and Flair & Perfect attacked like dogs. They beat the hell out of Savage as Warrior struggled to go around the ring & chase away Flair & Perfect to the back. Post match saw Warrior handing Savage the title & helping him up as the fans went nuts. My only complaint in this match was the non finish. I know it was meant to keep both guys strong, but would it honestly have been so bad for there to be a pin? I know Vince had no idea that Warrior would get popped for steroids & leave the WWF again in about a month anyway, but still, I would’ve liked to see Savage get a win over Warrior, especially after their epic at WM7. It was a different spin on a face vs face and while I would’ve liked Flair having an actual match on this show, this at least kept him as a main player in the World title picture. This was a fantastic match, only added to by the amazing crowd at Wembley. More on them later. However this was the last major title defense for Randy Savage, as he'd lose the title to Flair soon after. I guess thinking about it, the bad knee of Savage here played a big role in that match with Flair, so in a way this non finish made sense. So I retract everything I said about wanting there to be a definitive winner. It's sad that Savage & Warrior (and Perfect) are no longer with us, but this is probably their last great image of the two. It's sad, but look at the pic, it's awesome, just like this match.
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Post by randomone on Aug 14, 2016 19:15:14 GMT -6
9. Bret Hart vs Mr. Perfect(91) I wish these two fought more than once for the IC title on PPV. I know they fought in 93 in the KOTR & I know Perfect’s back was really messed up heading into this one, but these are two of my Top 10 all time favorite wrestlers & this match was just awesome. Aside from a brief reign by the Texas Tornado in the fall of the previous year, Mr. Perfect had a stranglehold on the IC title for about a year, but Perfect’s back injury like I mentioned was so bad that I looked it up & he was replaced on a bunch of house shows & wrestled really only a handful of matches since that June. However that shows you just how much Perfect wanted to do the job for Bret & pass the torch. So if you haven’t seen this match, you’re sorely missing out as this was the 1st singles title win for Bret as these two wrestled one hell of a match with Monsoon, Piper & Heenan on the call. It was fitting for Bobby to be on commentary in this match as he really was pulling for Perfect in this one since he had retired from managing that year. Perfect was replaced by Coach, who really just blew his whistle & caught Perfect’s towel. The MSG crowd were on fire for this one as Bret was able to lock in the Sharpshooter in a completely different way, wrapping Curt’s legs up & leaning back as hard as he could and Perfect tapped. Bret went to hug Stu & Helen in the crowd after his win as Heenan was distraught & Piper and Monsoon were celebrating just like the rest of the MSG crowd. We didn’t know Perfect was coming back at the time, so it was a hell of a match to go out on. I’d have to watch their King of the Ring match again to judge whether that was better than this one, but damn, this was pretty great. Set the wheels in motion for Bret to become a major singles star for the company too, so pretty historic as well.
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Optimisn
Moderator
The Voice of Reason
Posts: 33,705
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Post by Optimisn on Aug 14, 2016 19:26:52 GMT -6
This was the first match I watched where I really understood what pro wrestling could be. If that makes sense. So f'ing good.
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Post by randomone on Aug 15, 2016 10:53:27 GMT -6
8. CM Punk vs Brock Lesnar(13) When you look at CM Punk next to Brock Lesnar, you think, holy smokes, he’s going to get murdered. I was so happy that wasn’t the case & this wasn’t like Cena/Lesnar the following year. Instead, CM Punk went out there & looked like a major threat in actually defeating Brock. The reason being that this was a hard hitting match that wasn’t filled with any silly storylines or dumb angles. It was CM Punk, wanting revenge on Paul Heyman and Paul brought his beast to destroy The Best in the World. I loved Punk & Heyman as a duo, so when the time came to break them apart (foolishly I might add), I was happy Brock & Punk tore the house down and we didn’t just leapfrog or save Brock for another time and we get Ryback/Punk or Axel/Punk at this show. Instead we got a No DQ match with The Best vs The Beast. This match practically built itself. They did everything in this match, from submissions, weapon shots, high flying, table spots, everything you could possibly want, they did. Punk finally got his hands on Paul after he interfered twice & was locked in the Anaconda Vice as the crowd exploded. Brock got up & annihilated Punk with chair shots before dropping him with an F5 onto the chair to end it. Sure Brock won, but Punk looked like a star after the loss (and he did before, whether Vince/Trips/Others liked it or not). Unfortunately his next feud was with Ryback & Curtis Axel, which, if you ever question why Punk was so furious prior to him leaving, it’s because of things like that. Brock was gone the night after & Punk feuded with Rybaxel the next few months, yeah, that makes tons of sense. Regardless, on this night, Punk & Brock put on one hell of a brawl and luckily the Staples Center crowd loved every minute of it, as did I. One of my all time favorites.
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Post by randomone on Aug 16, 2016 14:10:01 GMT -6
7. Edge & Christian vs The Dudley Boyz vs The Hardy Boyz(00) Tables & Ladders & Chairs...OH MY! It all started at the Terri Invitational Tournament (T.I.T.) at No Mercy 99 when Edge, Christian & the Hardys stole the show in a Ladder Match. Then the Royal Rumble, the Hardys & Dudleys stole the show in a Tables Match. Cut to Wrestlemania 16 and these three teams again, stole the show with the first Triangle Ladder Match. So the stage was set, but were these 6 guys going to be able to top themselves after all they’ve done & all the shows they’d stolen over the past year? The answer quite simply, is an astounding yes. We’ve seen tons of TLC matches since, but you have to remember, this was the 1st & it still ranks right up there (I would say the best, but let’s face it; TLC 2 at WM17 tops this one easily IMO). So with this show being in North Carolina, we were in Hardy territory as they were the odds on favorites to take this home. I honestly have a hard time writing about this as how do I really describe everything, it was all so brutal to watch. The Dudleys hit a 3D on Christian through a table, Bubba with a Bubba Bomb off the ladder onto Christian, Jeff misses a Swanton on Bubba from the super ladder, Bubba tries for the belts but gets tossed onto 4 set up tables on the floor, Matt nearly grabbing the titles, but gets sent backwards crashing through 2 tables. It’s a huge run on sentence of carnage what I just listed. That’s not even including D-Von & Jeff dangling from the belts before E&C smacked them with a ladder, knocking them to the mat. Lita came into the match briefly, crotching E&C off the ladder onto the top rope, but she eventually got hit with a spear by Edge, which, always scared me, because I don’t know if when he did, she hit her head on one of the down ladders or not? It sure look like it did. So in the end, Edge & Christian got the titles to massive boos from the crowd, but it almost felt less like they won & more like they survived. Another show stolen by the 3 best tag teams in wrestling & it would only get bigger and better from here. Put any of these guys in a match like this, you know you’ll have a show stealer on your hands. If you like annihilation and high spots, this is the match for you. You might think I ranked this a little low, but the remaining matches had not just amazing wrestling, but storytelling & overall emotion drawn to it as well, made me rank them higher, you'll see.
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Post by randomone on Aug 17, 2016 11:50:03 GMT -6
6. Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon(95) Thank goodness we didn’t get the match that was originally scheduled for this PPV, that being Shawn vs Sid for the IC title. Gorilla Monsoon made the change & we’re all better for it. While Shawn & Sid had good matches together, if you’re going to pick between that or a ladder match with Shawn & Razor, it’s a no brainer. So after some work in the ring, once they got the ladders, Razor went right to work on Shawn’s leg, which is an incredibly smart strategy. Also Shawn got backdropped to the floor & his leg smacked the guard rail & it’s a miracle he didn’t break his ankle. While Dok Hendrix (who I couldn’t stand honestly, at least in this character when he first came in) was saying this was so Shawn couldn’t use Sweet Chin Music, it was Vince McMahon of all people who pointed out that maybe it’s also so he couldn’t climb the ladder to retrieve the title. Leave it to ol’ Vinnie Mac to make the most sense! So when Razor went to get the title, Shawn leapt off the top with a double axe handle. Shawn was in control, but only briefly as after a back suplex onto Razor off the ladder, Shawn tried to jump off the top with a splash, but Razor moves & HBK crashed and burned. With both men down, it seemed like the crowd was behind Razor more than Shawn. Don’t know if it was because this was in Philly, but there were points where Shawn would be in control & you could hear boos, which is shocking for 1995, as Shawn was super over. Anyway, after both men crotched one another on the top rope after the ladder tipped over, Razor & Shawn both grabbed ladders & Shawn superkicked Razor off of his. It looked weak, but think about it, it was fine that it did because Shawn was not only doing it out of desperation, his knee was weakened. Razor still tumbled & Shawn was going to grab the title, he jumped for it, but MISSED! Razor got up & went for the Razor’s Edge, but got backdropped to the floor & Shawn started to climb. I sadly think this was a botch as Shawn went to grab the title & lost his grip & crashed to the mat. He got up quick, slammed the ladder around pissed off, climbed the ladder again & grabbed the title for the win. While I don’t think this topped their WrestleMania match, which I think Shawn was the MVP, I think both men were the MVP in this one as both men bumped their asses off & put on a fantastic match. You have to remember, this was 95, the only standard in ladder matches was the one they set the year prior. It still holds up, which is a huge compliment seeing how many ladder matches we’ve had in wrestling history.
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Post by randomone on Aug 18, 2016 16:28:42 GMT -6
5. Daniel Bryan vs John Cena(13) The reaction Daniel Bryan got over the summer of 2013 was absolutely incredible. Of course as we all know, it’ll get even bigger as the year would go on & heading into 2014, but the Staples Center was rocking when he came to the ring to fight John Cena, who had a serious problem with his elbow. Say what you want about Cena, the dude is tough as nails & his elbow looked like he had pretty much a baseball coming out of it. It was wrapped & you knew he would be taking time off after this, but damn, he put it all out there on this night. I know Triple H screwed over Bryan after, but in regards to this match, he stayed out of the way & let these two battle it out, which was the right thing to do. Of course the Yay’s for Bryan & the Boo’s for Cena were in full effect whenever they’d trade shots. The crowd loved chanting “You Can’t Wrestle” at Cena, but he stayed right with Bryan. The challenger wisely worked the bad arm & eventually Cena used his power to avoid the kicks & offense of Bryan, hitting a superplex off the ring steps on the floor (sick bump) and then a vicious powerbomb, but only got 2. Bryan was brutally kicking the bad arm, screaming at Cena to “GET UP!” as he hit multiple Germans on the champ, but Cena got out. Bryan hit a superplex, but locked his legs & only Cena crashed to the mat as Bryan, upside down, started to hulk up! He hit a huge headbutt from the top & only got 2. Cena then proceeded to hit the best looking legdrop off the top I’ve seen him do. At one point Bryan went for a hurricanrana from the 2nd rope, but Cena caught him & damn near crippled Bryan as Cena dropped Bryan down right on his face before locking in the STF. Bryan fought valiantly as he reversed it into a Yes Lock as Cena grabbed the ropes. Then the moment where I really got chills, as Cena & Bryan started slapping each other, hard, as with each shot the fans went crazier & crazier. Cena was yelling at Bryan to bring it until Bryan was relentless. Finally Bryan stepped back, charged & hit the running knee for the WIN! What happened post match set up Bryan’s chase for the title, but the crowd exploded when Bryan had defeated Cena. It was the night where wrestling fans got what they wanted, even if it was for just a few moments. Daniel Bryan, the guy who wasn’t supposed to be “the man” was the WWE Champion. An incredible main event, incredible performances all around, strengthened by the fact that Cena was as injured as he was. One of my absolute favorite PPV main events. Wish Bryan & Cena had more matches on PPV.
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Post by randomone on Aug 19, 2016 14:07:14 GMT -6
4. Triple H vs The Rock(98) You might think I overrated this one slightly, but I certainly don’t. This match, I feel, is the match that made people realize that these two were future main event guys. This wasn’t like Summerslam 92 where people realized Bret was a future World champ; this was BOTH Trips & Rock. With the World title picture being filled by Stone Cold vs Vince McMahon, these two brought the IC title to another level & made sure it wasn’t overlooked at this time where the roster was absolutely stacked. The feud between The Nation & DX was filled with comedy, brutality & awesome matches between the leaders of both groups. So when the time came for this Ladder Match in front of a MSG crowd, we’d seen history made before with Shawn & Razor, but the difference between their feud & this one was the hate & amazing storyline surrounding it. Trips & Rock had fought 30 minutes the previous month in a 2 out of 3 falls match without a clear winner. So this was the best way to determine it. With the DX band playing Trips to the ring & him taking the fight to Rock immediately as the crowd was hot from the get go. Both men beat the shit out of one another, utilizing the ladder very well as we’d see one guy get so close, but the other would rip it out from under him. The addition of Chyna & Mark Henry on the outside were solid because both got involved with Henry throwing powder in the face of Trips, blinding him, then Chyna took him out, leading to Rock climbing the ladder, only for Chyna, who was humiliated right before the show by The Rock, hit a low blow causing Rock to crumble from the ladder. Trips, who couldn’t see at all & had his knee worked over for the majority of the match, slowly got his way up the ladder & grabbed the title just as Rock was almost able to stop him. It was an amazing story from top to bottom & one of my all time favorite ladder matches overall. It was a night where the two stars who put the company on their back in 2000 became stars. Sure they were loved/hated by fans already, but this night fans realized they had what it took to become World Champs one day. At least I did. Phenomenal match that I can’t suggest watching enough. It is pretty surreal looking back 2 years earlier & here's happy go lucky Rocky Maivia on one Survivor Series team in 96, with the Greenwich blue blood on the other. Flash forward to 98 in the same arena & they're tearing the roof off MSG. What a difference 2 years makes in the Attitude Era!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 20, 2016 9:51:54 GMT -6
You have 3 left but only 2 days...
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Post by randomone on Aug 20, 2016 10:06:49 GMT -6
Yup, will be posting #3 later today and then the final 2 tomorrow. Gotta build the suspense up til the very last second!
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Post by randomone on Aug 20, 2016 14:12:21 GMT -6
3. British Bulldog vs Bret Hart (92) Fun Fact (to only me probably), but Summerslam 1992 was the very 1st PPV I ever actually ordered as a kid. Not too bad of a 1st show to get, seeing as, in my opinion, two of the Top 10 Summerslam matches in history were on it. This entire show holds a special place in my heart & still does. Anyway, I know a lot of people say this is the best match in Summerslam history & their all time favorite Intercontinental Title match, while I’m all for people saying that, I think there are others better on both accounts. Savage/Steamboat is my all time favorite IC title match & there are obviously better Summerslam matches. However, I will say this is my favorite Summerslam MAIN EVENT, so that’s a pretty big honor. The match was fantastic, but having just watched it yesterday (as of this writing) I should really just list Bret Hart here by himself. This was the night I truly believe Bret made people in the WWF know that he could be THE guy & soon after this show, he’d go on to defeat Ric Flair for the title. I’ve heard rumors of Shawn vs Bret possibly here in a Ladder Match, but I’m happy this was the match. Let’s get to Bulldog, who, in Bret’s book, said that he was up the past few days doing drugs with Jim Neidhart. Bulldog was a mess & was blown up literally 6-7 minutes into this thing. Knowing that, I made sure to watch closely when I watched this again & it’s very obvious, Bulldog gassed QUICK. So it was all on Bret, who put together a classic. There was a scary spot where Bret launched over the top, but Bulldog forgot to catch him & Bret just grabbed Bulldog’s neck & helped him break his fall. The only big annoyance in this match was the crowd with their damn air horns. Every 5 seconds they did the “HONK HONK—HONK HONK HONK – HONK HONK HONK HONK---BULLDOG!” chant. That’s nitpicky though, because the pop Bulldog got on his way to the ring with Lennox Lewis waving the flag was the biggest pop of his career, aside from winning the match. Bret had to play heel, but not full blown over the top 97 heel, he was just subtle enough for the crowd to boo him & cheer Davey even more. Bulldog got out of the Sharpshooter, Bret kicked out of the powerslam, it all culminated with Bret going for a sunset flip, but Bulldog dropped to his knees, hooked the legs & got the three as the crowd exploded! It was the Bulldog’s finest moment & the launching pad Bret needed to be taken to the main event. It’s a testament to Bret Hart that he was able to pull this kind of match out of Bulldog, who was in no shape to put on this caliber of match, but alas, they did & it’s in the Top 3 all time Summerslam matches for a reason. While the other matches remaining have some sort of stipulation, this would be my all time favorite Summerslam WRESTLING match.
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Post by randomone on Aug 21, 2016 13:05:03 GMT -6
2. Shawn Michaels vs HHH(02)As a young kid, Macho Man Randy Savage was my favorite wrestler, but as I started to grow up, Shawn Michaels took over that role. Everything Shawn did in the ring I was in awe, so when the time came for him to retire in 98 (or so we all thought), I was crushed. Cut to 2002 & realizing that my favorite wrestler was actually coming back, I was ecstatic and he was going to fight Triple H, who he never really had a feud with before at that time. Could Shawn still go? Would this just be a sad overly booked attempt for him to look halfway decent? Was this all going to blow up in their faces & be a giant mistake? Umm, any critics of Shawn were quickly silenced as once it started, people realized, oh yeah, he’s the Showstopper, he’s Shawn Michaels. Having not wrestled in 5 years, Shawn didn’t lose a step & it was a thing of beauty. I’m so happy this was a “Non-Sanctioned” match as you didn’t want to see Shawn do rest holds on Triple H, who leading up to this had turned on Shawn on the 1st night of their official DX reunion, including the wildest Pedigree ever. So here we were, Michaels with a giant pop & tons of confetti and pyro on his way to the ring as Trips made his way out and the fight was on. Trips controlled the match early and I really liked how he went after the back of HBK, using backbreakers and weapons on the highly documented injured back. My biggest pet peeve in all of this was Earl Hebner. This match was billed as “non-sanction” meaning the ref was only there to count a pin or submission. So why was Earl constantly stepping in front of Trips from using weapons, but never Shawn? It just seemed like way too much of him & I was begging for Trips to crack him with a punch or wallop him with a trash can. It didn’t happen, but Trips did land a visually awesome backbreaker on a steel chair. He beat the shit out of Shawn, who was bloodied at this point. Then, the tables turned & a vintage kip up later, Shawn took the fight to Hunter, bloodying him up even worse. He whipped him with his belt, slammed his head into the steps & set up a table & did a splash from the top to the floor crashing down! Crowd knew, Shawn could still go! He brought out the ladder, looking to the crowd saying “remember me?” as he tossed it into the ring & hit a massive elbow drop before tuning up the band. You could hear the crowd stomp their feet as Shawn went for Sweet Chin Music, but was caught! Trips went for a Pedigree, but Shawn got a rollup for the 1…2…3!! Crowd went wild as Shawn thanked the Lord. Jim Ross & The King were flawless on commentary as JR put over how The Heartbreak Kid did it! The celebration though, was short lived, as Trips came into the camera shot, cracking Shawn in the back with a sledgehammer! Shawn crumbled to his knees as Trips looked as him, telling Shawn to look him in the eye as he put him out of his misery & slammed the sledgehammer down again! The bloodied Game walked to the back smiling at what he did as JR called him a cold, heartless, son of a bitch. Shawn won the match, but Trips was the one standing, leaving more of this story left to be told. On this night though, Shawn Michaels proved he was still the Showstopper, the Icon, the Main Event. HBK was back & I for one couldn’t be happier! This is in my Top 3 all time Shawn Michaels matches just for the pure emotion that surrounded it. Sure, we look back after Shawn had wrestled 8 more years, but we didn’t know if this was a one time deal. If this was the last time we’d see Shawn, he went out like a champ.
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Post by randomone on Aug 21, 2016 13:05:13 GMT -6
Here we are, 223 matches later we’ve arrived to the All Time Greatest Summerslam Match in history! I literally didn’t even try to do this, but it seems pretty fitting looking back that this list is bookended by Summerslam 1994 and the best worst match in Summerslam history. From Undertaker vs Underfaker to arguably the best sibling rivalry in wrestling history, we have a huge contrast from worst to first, so let’s get started. You’ve made it through my rambling this far (or maybe you haven’t whatever).
1. Bret Hart vs Owen Hart(94) Owen Hart turning heel on Bret to start 1994 pretty much set the wheels in motion for one of the best feuds of the New Generation era in the WWF. After defeating Bret at Wrestlemania Bret ultimately still winning the WWF title, they were right back where they started, on a collision course, only adding to it when Owen won the King of the Ring, something Bret did the year prior. Brother vs Brother, inside a steel cage, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, all for the WWF World Heavyweight Title. The feud was perfectly told one I thought should’ve gone on longer or at the very least should’ve picked up again, so while Owen vs Bret would happen every so often after this, THIS was the best of them all. Some could say their Mania match is better, but from an overall storytelling standpoint, I’m going with this one.
When you think of 30+ minute cage matches, you have to think it would drag a bunch during it, but that’s a testament to both Bret & Owen as they kept fans on their seats, trying to escape just when you thought they’d bring it down a bit. Every time Owen went to the cage, fans would loudly cheer Bret on to get up stop him, then when Bret nearly escaped, fans exploded knowing he was on the verge of victory. Add in some high risk moves (we’re so used to HUGE moves in cage matches, that despite being in 94, it’s still incredibly memorable) like a superplex by Bret from the top rope with Owen hanging on the top of the cage. They used false finishes picked their high spots beautifully. So when the time came for both men to start climbing the cage they made their way to the other side, only for Owen to get hung by his feet, trapping him upside down as Bret leapt down to the floor, the crowd erupted. Owen was so close, he was nearly touching the floor with his hands, but that wasn’t enough. Bret won & retained the title, but it wasn’t over.
Say what you want about the Hart Family, but they were such a key role in this feud I thought they used them all perfectly. Prior to the match, Owen’s sidekick, Jim Neidhart along with the returning British Bulldog, were interviewed at ringside with all the Harts there, including Stu, Helen, Bruce, Diana all the other 800 Hart Family members. So when Bret won, Anvil took the chance to attack Bulldog, clotheslining him into Diana as both fell over the barricade. Anvil & Owen brought Bret into the ring chained the door shut, beating up the Hitman as Harts climbed the cage, trying to save him. Owen & Anvil held them off for a while, but managed to escape as finally the family got into the cage. Such a great post-match moment.
I loved this match so much as a kid, when I first saw it LIVE on Pay Per View (I even remember ordering Dominos pizza with my dad because it was the big sponsor of the night, yes, I’m totally serious about that), to when I just watched it yesterday. After seeing tons of cage matches with moonsaults off the cage, weapons used, etc, this one still holds up to the standard of being one of the best (if not, THE) best cage match in WWF history and one I could watch over over again. It stands the test of time for that reason and all those I rambled on about, that is why it takes the prize of being the all time greatest Summerslam match in history!
This is my 3rd time making a Countdown list & like always, seriously, thanks for taking time to read any of it. It was a lot of fun going back through all these, even though it was a rough going early on in this list, it also made me realize how many hidden classics there are buried on these shows. So, as always...
Ranking Every Team in Survivor Series History....Check
Ranking Every Match in WrestleMania History......Check Ranking Every Match in Summerslam History......Check
I'm tired.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 21, 2016 14:21:02 GMT -6
Great list man. It's much harder to think of SummerSlam matches off the top of one's head than Mania. It was fun to read through these. For me, HBK-HHH was my number one. Just watched it now. Call me JR, but there is something to adding a little color for extra flavor when it makes sense.
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Optimisn
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Post by Optimisn on Aug 21, 2016 14:45:10 GMT -6
Awesome job as always randomone.
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Post by PositivelyJackref on Aug 22, 2016 13:03:23 GMT -6
This was tremendous. I don't know how you remember your memories (that sounds dumb) of watching these originally. I know I watched these matches but I don't have the recall of them that you do and the perspective in the larger picture. Its great to read man. Thank you for putting in the time to do these.
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Post by randomone on Aug 23, 2016 11:50:27 GMT -6
This was tremendous. I don't know how you remember your memories (that sounds dumb) of watching these originally. I know I watched these matches but I don't have the recall of them that you do and the perspective in the larger picture. Its great to read man. Thank you for putting in the time to do these. Thanks man, I appreciate it. I honestly don't know why I remember certain things like that. I remember weird things like my 1st PPV I got as a kid, my 1st VHS tape I rented that started me off as a wrestling fan (Summerslam 90, horrible show looking back, but that's what it was), my 1st wrestling figure (Hasbro Warrior), 1st wrestling magazine (WWF October 92).
Maybe because I was so overly obsessed with it from such a young age? I honestly couldn't tell you. It's like a weird tick. It's been that way all my life too.
If only I could make money off my knowledge of wrestling, haha.
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Optimisn
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Post by Optimisn on Aug 23, 2016 17:34:40 GMT -6
I vividly remember the stuff from my youth. Anything after a certain time period is very questionable. I mean WM Main Event questionable.
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