The 411 Wrestling Top 5: The Top 5 Summerslam Matches

The 411 Wrestling Top 5: Hello everyone and welcome to 411 Wrestling’s Top 5 List. We take a topic each week and all the writers here on 411 wrestling will have the ability to participate and give us their Top 5 on said topic. So, onto this week’s topic…

Week 346 – The Top 5 Summerslam Matches

What are your top five WWE Summerslam matches?

Ryan Byers
5. Triple H vs. The Rock (Ladder Match, 1998) – This bout is just as memorable for who it elevated as it is for the action that occurred between the bells. Before meeting each other here, Rocky and Trips were midcarders with popular gimmicks, though the jury was still out on whether they were ever going to push their way in to the main event. Once the smoke cleared, it was patently obvious that they were two names to watch, and it was just as obvious that they were going to have many more run ins with one another as they continued to work their way up the card . . . though even at the time we couldn’t have predicted that one of them would become the heir apparent to running the WWF and the other would become literally the biggest star associated with wrestling in the history of anything ever.

4. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels (2002) – Are matches that are “unsanctioned” by WWE still eligible for Top 5 consideration? Hopefully they are, because these two guys went in to the ring after Shawn Michaels had been out of wrestling for over four years and absolutely tore down the house. This match was an example of a rare phenomenon in which a relatively modern, smarky crowd was convinced by the wrestlers that they should be legitimately concerned for the well being of one of the competitors. HHH and Shawn told a story so compelling that every shot Michaels took to his injured back elicited a reaction from the audience as though it was going to put him on the shelf for ANOTHER four years. It was a thing of beauty and the perfect way to set up an HBKomeback.

3. Davey Boy Smith vs. Bret Hart (1992) – If you believe the story that Bret Hart has told about this match in many interviews, the Bulldog “blew up” very early in the bout, basically becoming as inanimate as Yoshihiko. (OK, I may have added the bit about Yoshihiko.) As a result, the contest that we saw largely consisted of the Excellence of Execution walking his opponent through motions. If true, that makes the match a thousand times more impressive than it appears watching the battle without the back story. One man essentially wrestling himself for twenty-five minutes is incredible. One man wrestling himself for twenty-five minutes and putting on a match of this caliber is nothing short of miraculous and is a testament to just how great the Hitman was. Combine that with a red-hot live crowd that just happened to be the largest live audience in the history of WWE at the time, and you’ve got an instant classic.

2. Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect (1991) – I admit that there is a lot of nostalgia involved in my ranking this match so highly. This is the first match from my childhood that I remember watching and thinking, “Holy cow, that was a great match!” as opposed to watching a match and caring more about who won and lost than I did about the performance. The performances of Hart and Hennig in this one lead to something clicking in my young head that caused me to look at wrestling in a way that I had not previously. The performances also have remained indelibly etched in my memory to the point that I still get excited when thinking about it, even though I have not actually watched the match for several years now.

1. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (Steel Cage Match, 1994) – Looking at my top three, you may as well dub Bret Hart “Mr. Summerslam.” The Best Their Is, the Best Their Was, and the Best Their Ever Will Be also had the best string of matches at this pay per view that could be imagined. The capper of it all was his main event cage match against brother Owen, who was the only man in the WWF in 1994 who was rivaling the Hitman and Shawn Michaels as the company’s best in-ring performer. The brothers Hart built a beautiful match around the WWF blue bars and “escape” rules for cage matches, which I normally class as the inferior variety of cage match. Instead of just having a five star match inside of the cage, the brothers had a five star match that integrated the cage and made it a vital part of what they were doing. That’s the mark of a truly classic gimmick match, right there.

Rob Stewart
5. Bret Hart vs Owen Hart (1994) – Did your favorite match[es] not make my list? Hey, don’t feelbad; it was probably really close. When I started reviewing SummerSlams for this Top 5, I started with a list of SEVENTEEN MATCHES that I had to narrow down. So you may be mad that I left off a favorite of yours, but hey… so am I. There are a lot of SummerSlam gems. Like this battle between brothers during their summer-long feud over the WWF World title as an epilogue to WrestleMania 10. This is possibly the finest pure steel cage match in WWE history. Owen was rocking his glorious King of Harts reign. Bret was the world champ. The match is an intense classic.

4. TLC I (2000): The Hardyz vs The Dudleys vs Edge & Christian – Rematches aren’t that special of a thing. Hell, sometimes it seems like feuds in WWE last infinitely longer than they need to. But when one match is so specific, both in stipulation and in the uncommon number of contenders, and yet so amazing that it gets a second go at WrestleMania? Then you know it must have done something right. And let there be no doubt: TLC I at SummerSlam 2000 was damn right. After fiddling around with successful ladder matches and table matches, combined with Edge & Christian’s propensity for chairshots, the three teams that reinvigorated tag team wrestling threw it all together for a three-way title match and brought the house down. It’s a spotfest, but the absolute right kind of spotfest the makes you laugh and gasp and cheer while you watch it.

3. Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon (1995) – I’m partial to this match because I saw it live, and it was the only match worth watching on this card. It stands as the only pay-per-view I have attended live, and that’s because I could have gone to King of the Ring 1998 and decided against it, probably because I figured “What are the odds a classic moment will happen at this show that will be replayed thousands of times from now until the apes take over?” Anyway, this affair was a classic that added onto their original ladder match at WrestleMania 10. The WrestleMania bout may have been the ground-breaker, but for my money, this one was the superior contest.

2. Shawn Michaels vs Triple-H (2002) – I think it’s safe to say when the Heartbreak Kid made an in-ring return in 2002, virtually nobody thought it would kick off a career revival that would see him cement himself as a true all-time legend who would have several classic matches in the years to come. I think we all just hoped he’d be healthy enough to have at least one more great Shawn Michaels affair. It’s almost an understatement to say he succeeded at that. He and Hunter went to war for almost half an hour in a match that blended great wrestling with hardcore sensibilities to sell the rage that HBK felt over being betrayed by HHH when promised a D-X revival. Shawn got the surprise win with a jackknife pin, which was a superb way to whet all of our appetites for more of him in years to come.

1. John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan (2013) – After three or four years where I kept peripherally aware of WWE but was not really watching it, it was Daniel Bryan who brought me back as a full-time fan. So I’m a bit biased here. But make no mistake, this match was great. There were so many stories here: the shaggy, tiny Bryan not being Vince McMahon’s idea of a worthy contender; HHH earning a spot as guest referee (a move that was supposed to make things fair for Bryan, but ended up being… less so); Bryan’s refusal to acknowledge John Cena as a “wrestler” (including refusing to slap him back when Cena smacked him). This match wore a lot of different hats. And while Bryan had been a World Heavyweight Champion, that was always the B-Belt; winning the WWE title proved he belonged. So he and an injured Cena went out, tore the house down, and Bryan went over clean for an all-too-brief celebration to mark him as a true main eventer.

Kevin Pantoja
5. Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk (2013) – Originally, I debated on putting the famous Bret Hart/British Bulldog match here or even Shawn Michaels/Razor Ramon but I decided to add some variety to this list. Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk is the most recent match here and I loved it. This was before Brock went into Suplex City mode and actually had competitive matches. Yea, Brock was the monster who dominated at points but this was booked exactly how the Ambrose/Lesnar match should have been at WrestleMania 32. Punk was overmatched but went out of his way to use weapons and find any opening to combat Lesnar. Along with the match against Cena at Extreme Rules 2012 (though that finish was horseshit), this was easily the best work by Lesnar during his second run.

4. Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect (1991) – This is more of a personal choice. Brock/Punk may be a better match but this is one of my all time favorites. Growing up, I would always rent one of three wrestling shows from my local video store. Either Royal Rumble 1992, Survivor Series 1992 or SummerSlam 1991. The main reason I’d get it would be because I loved this match, even as a kid. I was and still am a huge fan of both guys and this is great. Mr. Perfect selling and bumping like crazy despite his injuries to make sure Bret came across as a star was great. The emotion of Bret’s first singles title win in MSG in front of his family was an added cherry on top. They’d best themselves at the King of the Ring two years later, but this has a special place in my heart.

3. TLC 1 (2000) – Edge and Christian. The Hardy Boyz. The Dudley Boyz. Those team names are synonymous with Tables, Ladders and Chairs. After stealing the show at WrestleMania 2000 in a Triangle Ladder match, these three teams were tasked with going to the next level a few months later at SummerSlam 2000. Adding in the Dudleys’ specialty of tables and Edge and Christian’s chairs only added to the carnage. This was a car wreck in the best possible way. Tons of huge spots, Lita getting involved and all six men putting their bodies on the line for the Tag Team Titles. Edge and Christian retained in an excellent match that would be the second best of their series together. This was tremendous and holds up to this day.

2. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H (2002) – Shawn Michaels’ run with the WWF Title in 1996 was great but I still prefer his second run in the WWE. On this night in 2002, Shawn returned to the company and had his first match in over four years against his real life best friend. Making this a street fight was the right move just in case Shawn didn’t have it anymore and it made sense within the heated story between them. Shawn went out and showed the world that he was still one of the best and told a compelling story in a relatively brutal match. It was this match that solidified Shawn’s return and remains one of my favorite HBK matches. That’s saying a lot.

1. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (1994) – This isn’t just the best match in SummerSlam history, I believe it has a strong case for the best Steel Cage match ever. Bret and Owen had phenomenal chemistry together, which they proved at WrestleMania earlier in the year. I prefer that match, but this cage match is spectacular. With that stipulation, you could buy Owen Hart as a potential winner. The addition of the Hart Family (including the returning British Bulldog at ringside) only made this even more dramatic. If you want a master class in how to book a steel cage match around the actual idea of escaping the confines, this is what you want to see. One of the best gimmick matches ever.

YOUR TURN KNOW IT ALLS

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