wrestling / TV Reports

411’s WWE This is Awesome: Episode One Report: Most Awesome SummerSlam Moments!

July 30, 2022 | Posted by Robert Leighty Jr.
WWE This Is Awesome Image Credit: WWE

-New series time as WWE has dropped this show on Peacock. Seems it will be uploaded weekly, so I figured I would give it a look. I should have my Retro Review of WCW Bash at The Beach 97 up this weekend as well.

-Greg Miller is our host and is a life long WWE Fan. This debut episode is all about SummerSlam and Greg lets us know he attended SummerSlam 1994 in Chicago (Taker vs Taker).

-We start with talking heads discussing the importance of SummerSlam. Miz says it was the last party before you had to go back to school. We touch on the Jailhouse Match, TLC Match, Boiler Room Brawl, Razor/Shawn Ladder, Bret/Owen cage and more. Riddle tells us that since it is summer, fans and the wrestlers want to get wild. Becky Lynch’s return, Cena/Reigns, HHH screwing over Daniel Bryan. THIS IS AWESOME! Roll credits!

-Now we get to specific moments and first it’s Edge/Christian, The Hardy Boyz, and The Dudley Boyz. The talking heads cover that each team had their own gimmick and it culminates with Mick Foley informing the three teams they will be in a TLC Match. SummerSlam 2000 sees the first TLC Match and it steals the show and inspires a generation of wrestlers. Twenty two years later and that match is still off the wall crazy. The Matt Hardy backwards bump off the ladder over the top and through the tables is still sick. Edge and Christian win as they were one to do in these kind of matches. Gable points out that this match still stands up today. No kidding!

-Back to Miller as he segues to out next moment. THE GREATEST SQUASH MATCH OF ALL TIME!

-The Honky Tonk Man won the IC Title from Ricky Steamboat 9 months into his WWE career and held the title for 454 days, still a record. Sam Roberts says Honky Tonk Man was terrible and everyone saw right through him. That’s not giving him the credit he deserves. Honky Tonk makes an open challenge at SummerSlam 1988 and The Ultimate Warrior answers. The Garden explodes as Warrior just destroys Honky and the crowd pop is insane. Just a perfectly booked end to Honky’s run and it strapped the rocker to Warrior. Great stuff!

-Miller says our next moment is a match made in heaven. OH MAN! ALL THE FEELS!

-SummerSlam 1991 sees Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth get married on screen. WE GET THE WRESTLEMANIA VII MOMENT WITH LIZ SAVING SAVAGE AFTER HIS CAREER ENDED. I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THAT MOMENT. Even, Zeke say he can get emotional thinking about it. Then on Superstars, Macho gets on a knee and “Elizabeth, will you marry me.” THIS IS MAKING ME SO HAPPY! I still remember that entire segment with Piper yelling from the broadcast booth “get down on your knee.” Savage answers “Oh Yeah.” is still great. Miz says usually something happens at a wedding, but not this one. True, they saved it for the wedding reception and that was awesome as well as EVIL JAKE RULED EVERYTHING AND SUPER PISSED OFF MACHO PROBABLY RULED EVEN MORE!

-Back to Miller as he segues to Seth Rollins and Jon Stewart. Well, they can’t all be winners I guess.

-Seth Rollins was on a roll in 2015 and started taking shots at John Stewart. He even showed up on The Daily Show to continue the angle. Stewart ends up as the host of SummerSlam where Cena vs Rollins happens in a WWE Title vs US Title Match. Then for some reason Stewart turns on Cena and helps Rollins win. Theory calls Stewart a piece of crowd. Just so bizarre! I would have left this off this show. Stewart’s reason is he couldn’t let Cena tie Ric Flair, but where was he when Cena did tie the record by beating AJ Styles 18 months later.

-Miller segues to our next moment: Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena!

-The talking heads go over the rise of Bryan and the connection he had with the fans. Cena was allowed to pick his challenger for SummerSlam and picked Daniel Bryan. Vince wasn’t a fan as he wanted Bryan to be Champion even less than he wanted Cena to be Champion. HHH appointed himself as special ref as this was the period he was still a face and he was so good at not being noticed that you forget he was even the ref at times. Cena and Bryan have a classic that was only eclipsed by the greatness of Brock/Punk earlier in the night. Quite possibly the greatest SummerSlam off all time. Bryan gets the win clean as a sheet to become a made man for life. Then Orton heads down with the briefcase, HHH turns, and Orton cashes in to kick of Bryan vs. The Authority where Bryan got his moment at WrestleMania. Well, it took the fans turning on Royal Rumble, and CM Punk walking out, but they will have you believe it was planned the entire time. Still, we eventually got there!

-Back to Miller and next it’s The Rise of Brock!

-SummerSlam 2002: The Rock vs. Brock! Great SummerSlam that some will have as the best one ever. Brock debuted in 2002 and was immediately given the monster push, because well, IT’S BROCK LESNAR. He breezes through and wins King of The Ring which gets an automatic WWE Title Match at SummerSlam. Nassau Coliseum loved Brock and booed Rock out of the building. That crowd knew what was up! The Rock puts Brock over clean as a sheet to solidify him as the Mega Star of The Future! He debuted only a few months earlier and obliterated HULK HOGAN AND THE ROCK on his way to the WWE Title. Rollins calls it a changing of the guard.

-Miller segues to a match from earlier in the show: Shawn/HHH!

-Shawn Michaels returns in what was to be a one off against HHH after 4 ½ years away from the ring. We see the bump on the casket that jacked up Shawn’s career and seemingly ended it. HHH becomes the man in Shawn’s absence as he took over the role as leader of DX. We cover the story of HHH attacking Shawn in a parking lot leading to the non-sanctioned match. I had friends who weren’t really into wrestling come to my house just because they heard Shawn Michaels was returning. A one off ends up becoming nearly eight years because Shawn hadn’t lost a step and was still better than 90% of the guys in the company. Great match and Shawn gets the win with the roll-up, as again, the thought was this was just a one-time thing. Ciampa says he was in awe of everything and Bliss calls it an amazing moment. Theory calls it a 5 Star Match and calls Shawn the best!

-Miler segues from a showstopper to a show-stealer: Shane McMahon!

-SummerSlam 1999: Shane drops an elbow from the top through a table on Test, but that was just a warm up. We jump ahead to 2000 where it’s Shane vs. Steve Blackman. The talking heads put over the real credentials of Steve Blackman. The signature spot from the Hardcore Title Match is Shane climbing the scaffolding around the stage and Blackman giving chase. Shane takes a kendo shot and plunges from darn near the top of the scaffold and through a nearby stage. Blackman jumps down just to show he will take a crazy bump as well and lands on Shane to get the win.

-Miller throws it to SummerSlam 2008: Hell in a Cell!

-Edge and Taker continue their feud with a Hell in a Cell Match to close the show. Riddle, who sounds even more stoned than normal, calls the match magic. They break through the Cell wall and break tables before Taker wins with a Tombstone. I mean, great match, but they only included this because of what happened after the match. Taker choke slams Edge off a ladder and through the ring. Then a fireball comes up through the ring. Not a fan of this being featured.

-Bret/Bulldog: Was getting worried they were going to forget this match and this show. Bret says English wrestling fans love wrestling. Drew says the UK is untouchable for how loud and passionate their fans are. The talking heads discuss the family dynamic with it being a battle of brother-in-laws. Bret says it was real and he knew it would be special. Drew notes Bret was his favorite growing up and he rooted for him even against the hometown hero, Bulldog. Amazing match where the fans are sent home happy with Bulldog winning The IC Title. Drew says it was the perfect end to a perfect show and Bret calls it one of his proudest moments.

-Miller wraps things up and we are finished with episode one.

-Next time it’s all about defining entrances in WWE history.

-Mixed bag with the moments as there was a bit of bias to moments post 2000 as apparently nothing noteworthy happened in the 90s other than Bulldog/Bret. With that said it was an easy watch at just under 43 minutes and anything that lets me relive my childhood works for me. Thanks for reading!