Top Ten WWE SummerSlam Matches of the 1990s
Hunter and The Rock (courtesy of wwe.com)
Color me a traditionalist, but something about SummerSlam in July just seems off. Nevertheless, with the second (or third?) biggest PPV on the WWE calendar tonight, pre-game by revisiting some of these classics…
10. The Steiner Brothers def. The Heavenly Bodies (1993)
A sleeper that’s forgotten. Both teams had offenses that seemed so ahead of their time compared to the big lugs from the early 1990s. To me at age 7, Jimmy Del Ray looked like every creep boyfriend of a friend’s mom that lived in the house for a few weeks that left and was never spoken of again. Helluva goddamn physique that, Gigolo. ***
9. Ken Shamrock def. Owen Hart (1998)
People forget how credible Owen used to be as an upper mid-card threat. In kayfabe he could take anybody out (see Shawn Michales and Steve Austin) that he seemed believable in this role against Shamrock, ironically, more than Dan Severn. This bout took place in the short-term styled gimmick match made for Shamrock, the Lion’s Den Match, a WWE’d UFC style cage. It was a cool atmosphere and gave this match a real fight feel. I always thought the Vinces in WWE creative in ’98 or ’99 could have headlined a PPV with a heel Shamrock against Stone Cold in a Lion’s Den Match. Adding to the real fight flavor, was hosting this match a in the Paramount Theatre, the theatre connected to MSG, where the USA Network would broadcast boxing matches, too. Underrated and forgotten gem. ★★★
8. Shawn Michaels def. Vader (1996)
Shawn used to be such a piece of shit. On the surface, this is a fine match, but it’s riveting to watch as a smart fan in hindsight. Not only is the construction of the match clearly laid out by Shawn to draw your eye to
Shawn and Shawn only, but this also has one of the cringiest of Shawn’s in-ring meltdowns when he threw a hissy fit when Vader was in the wrong position for Shawn’s elbow. And poor Vader just took it. Like a Jack Russell Terrier improbably dominating a Rottweiler. Weird finish with two fake-out dud finishes of a count-out and DQ decision before Shawn won it outright. It was like Vader’s spirit never fully recovered in American wrestling after this. ★★★
7. HHH def. The Rock (1998)
Note the distinction, this was when Hunter was HHH and not Triple H. That titling made a world of difference to me then.
Far too often WWE would pair up two wrestlers they’d christen as the future of the company and it would be little more than a self-fulfilling prophecy that fell flat. In the moment, this felt like these guys really were the future, and it’s hilarious to think in 1998 how prescient that actually was, to the most unimaginable degree—one guy runs the wrestling side of WWE in the absence of Vince and the other guy is one of the most famous, bankable actors in Hollywood that everyone, regardless of their background, genuinely never dislikes.
Fans loved to rate this a 4.5 star match, almost for the symmetry of Razor and Shawn’s ladder match and star making performances that was also in MSG, but this outing was hampered by how ungodly slow the climbing of the ladder was by both men. Watch it today and tell me you don’t check your phone during one of Rocky’s sojourns upward. ★★★
The Hart Foundation (courtesy of wwe.com)
6. The Hart Foundation def. Demolition (1990)
Bret Hart always stole the show at SummerSlam. Sorry, I mean, THE SummerSlam. This was before Demolition were killed off by having Crush replace Ax. In the moment, this was the first time a heel team did the Freebird rule in WWE, and of course it was Vince’d by him on commentary being somehow incapable of telling the members of Demolition apart. Little kid me thought it was some real hipster shit of Bret to reference Phil Collins in the backstage promo. The last great moment for the Hart Foundation as a team; they had been in contention for years but never got the belts even though each SummerSlam previously they wrestled the champs, giving this a satisfying, underdog win vibe. ★★★★
5. Bret Hart def. Owen Hart (1994)
If you abhor the escape rules style of WWE cage matches, you’ll think this is so overrated. You get the sense Owen took it as a personal challenge to keep the match believable enough to placate Bret, while amusing his siblings in attendance by hamming it up any time he cartoonishly bounded towards the cage’s exit. Martha Hart was on camera! Hatless, sadly. And speaking of unfortunate headgear, manning the cage door was Mike Chioda, sporting what could only be described as a coon-skin-cap-mullet. It drag-on in hindsight. And I never got the fascination Vince and Pat had for having the Hart Family drama and their perpetual camera time and involvement. ★★★★
4. Bret Hart def. Mr. Perfect (1991)
Bret’s true, undeniable breakout performance. He had moments where his star shined but never had the momentum of the company fully behind him until this win here. Perfect’s back was injured and in Bret’s memoir he talked about how Curt wanted to take care of him for how much Bret made him years earlier. One of the first matches I saw as a little kid where I was conscious of workrate and storytelling. Oh, and Lord Alfred Hayes did a great, unintentional (?) burial of poor Stu Hart in the interview after the match. ★★★★ 1/4
Warrior/Savage II (courtesy of wwe.com)
3. The Ultimate Warrior def. “Macho Man” Randy Savage (1992)
Man, this match gets forgotten and is easily one of the most underrated classic WWE matches of the 90s. Being that these two were legitimately crazy, perhaps that fueled the crazy chemistry they always had whenever they were paired. WrestleMania VII’s bout was more famous, but I thought this had more intensity that never let up. Add in the Ric Flair interjection of, “who’s corner will Mr. Perfect be in?” for extra intrigue and you have a valid, storyline reason for the heels to prevent a clean finish. Savage mostly played heel here and redeemed himself by choosing to dive after Flair to his own demise. ★★★★ 1/2
Bret creates a masterclass (courtesy of WWE.com)
2. The British Bulldog def. Bret Hart (1992)
“Fooked” or not, The Bulldog had the moment of his career here (uh, ahem, wether he wanted to or not). One of the biggest WWE crowds of all time, with a huge, big fight atmosphere, drawn by the aura of this match, which was the right choice to main event. The Intercontinental title was the real wrestlers’ belt, and Bret made it his mission to make this, what he felt, would be the greatest match of all time. According to his memoir, Bulldog spent the summer of ’92 going over to the ol’ glass dick. I’m sure people will call this heresy but I could never justify giving this 5 stars. So many headlocks. And clearly it’s Bret carrying Davey and the best example ever of someone singlehandedly making a match in a one-sided effort. Nevertheless, great finish with Davey using his big, muscular frame to pin Bret in his finest hour. ★★★★ 1/2
1. Shawn Michaels def. Razor Ramon (1995)
Gorilla Monsoon truly was the most fan-friendly WWE President of all time by giving us this rematch as opposed to a dreary Sid outing. Talk about an IC title match that should have gotten the main event billing. Didn’t quite live up to their first, famous match at Mania X but still unbelievably great and ahead of its time all the same. Razor had no heat here and was floundering and clearly going to lose, so that took away a little shine from this.
So odd that Vince would book this match at the last minute, and according to various members of the Kliq in shoot interviews over the years, decree this ladder match could not have any violence in it, where they couldn’t use the ladder as a weapon. Scott Hall used good, subtle, tweener psychology by injuring Shawn’s leg from having Shawn’s knee serendipitously get commingled with the ladder. Weird finish with Shawn unable to rip the belt down from above. If only he would have let the belt dangle by the straps as initially shimmied upward before his annual SummerSlam match meltdown. ★★★★ 3/4
Shawn got his win back (courtesy of wwe.com)
