Greatest Matches
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Part of the big four in the WWE calendar along with Wrestlemania, Royal Rumble and Survivor Series, Summerslam has always produced exciting matches. Although sometimes considered lesser in stature than Wrestlemania or the Royal Rumble it has always managed to give the WWE fans something to talk about with its interesting match-ups and great tussles. We have showcased a few such matches here which we found to be interesting. Please bear in mind that this is not a ranking of matches and readers are encouraged to put in their own choices as well.
The British Bulldog vs. Bret “Hit Man” Hart – Intercontinental Championship – 1992
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It is not often that the main event of WWE’s showpiece event is not the World Championship match. But on this occasion things were slightly different at the Wembly Stadium,
The match went back and forth with both superstars going at each other. Bret Hart’s superior class was very evident from the beginning itself. He had the upper hand almost throughout the match. At one point he even had the sharpshooter lock on the British Bulldog. To the Bulldog’s credit he found his reserve from the enormous support of the local crowd and fought back brilliantly. In the end the Bulldog reversed an attempted sunset flip by hooking the Hitman’s leg and rolling him up for the pin. It was a superb end to an equally superb match. Bret Hart’s show of sportsmanship in the end too made it all the more memorable.
Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon – Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship – 1995
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These are the two guys who made the ladder match famous. These two guys had taken everybody’s breath away with their awesome display in a ladder match the previous year at Wrestlemania. It is often argued as to which of the two ladder matches were the better. However there is no denying that each match is a classic one their own.
The two guys started out in brutal fashion using the ladder as weapon. Both were brutal in the way they used it to ram into the body of their opponent. During the course of the match the Heart Break Kid slipped his leg on the ladder and got his leg stuck on a rung. Ramon immediately began attacking the injured leg of HBK. Ramon went on to torture the injured leg of the Showstopper by slamming his injured knee on to the ladder, the apron and wrapping it around the post but HBK showed how big a heart he had for a fight by coming back again and again. Ramon even brought in a ladder of his own and both the superstars started climbing their respective ladders. Both of them traded Superkicks and Razor’s edge off the ladder. The devastated superstars tried again and this time Shawn Michaels back body dropped Ramon when the latter tried another Razor’s edge. He was thus able to claim the championship in a truly memorable match.
Undertaker vs. Mankind – Boiler Room Brawl – 1996
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Undertaker and Mankind have produced some truly unforgettable matches during their time. The most memorable of those was the Hell in the Cell match in 1998’s King of The Ring. This one though was a precursor to that match and was also a unique one. The object of the match was to escape the boiler room and retrieve the urn from Paul Bearer who was waiting inside the ring.
Of the two competitors it was Mankind who started off the more aggressive. He sneaked up behind the Undertaker and nailed him with a steel pipe. This gave us all an inkling of how the match would proceed from then on. The two superstars went at each other with everything they could get their hands on. From pipes to ladders to saw horses, everything and anything that could be used to inflict pain on a human being was used. In the middle the two traded 2x4 and piledrivers too. Towards the end the Undertaker set out to retrieve the urn. But in a shocking twist to the match, Paul Bearer turned his back on his protégé. This helped Mankind to apply the Mandible Claw on the Undertaker and thereby winning the match.
Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels – Unsanctioned Street Fight – 2002
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Right from the outset this match had all the makings of a classic. The match was between two best friends turned into bitter enemies, which added that extra personal touch to the whole proceedings. Shawn Michaels was returning from a potential career ending injury and had planned on joining Triple H and rebuilding the de-generation X team. However Triple H turned on Shawn Michaels and sowed the seeds for a bitter rivalry. They decided on having a street fight at SummerSlam. Due to the personal nature of the match and the brutality that could go with it WWE refused to sanction the match.
Triple H had the upper hand throughout this match. He put backbreakers after backbreakers on the Showstopper. He was targeting the injured back of HBK that had kept him out of action for so long. But HBK just wouldn’t give up and kept coming back at Triple H. Triple H tried chair shots on the back of the HBK and still Michaels would come back. Frustrated Triple H got his trusted sledgehammer out, but Michaels was able to avoid it. Triple H though further attacked HBK’s ailing back by slamming it into a chair. Even as HBK was getting up Triple H was waiting to give him another chair shot. But Michaels Superkicked the chair into the game’s face and came back strongly. Michaels then pummeled Triple H with chair and belt and followed it up with a top rope splash (while the game was laid on a table) and an elbow drop from the top off a ladder.The game however was able to duck a Supekick and went for the pedigree. But Michaels rolled him over for a pin and won the match. Triple H was so furious that he took out the sledgehammer and bludgeoned HBK to La La Land, bringing to an end a superb match.
