Thunder Struck: Top Ten Summerslam Matches Of All Time
Posted by TWV Guest Columnists
on 10/21/2006
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Guest Column By Joe Thunder
It's time for another special edition of Thunder Struck. This particular edition of TS is probably the most difficult I have ever written. This will hopefully stir some debate and I look forward to the reactions. With that being said, let's get to Joe Thunder's Top Ten Summerslam matches of all time.
10. In 2003, the SmackDown! brand of WWE featured Kurt Angle & Brock Lesnar in a one on one contest as it's main event for the WWE Championship. This was a long and grueling battle that lasted over twenty minutes. The match was compared favorably to the one the two put on earlier in the year at WM. Both athletes performed beyond their limits and this match was enjoyable from start to finish. Unlike WM, Kurt came out of the match as the winner and retained his WWE Championship.
9. The 1997 Summerslam opened its show with Mankind taking on Triple H in a steel cage match. Mankind had already lost to Hunter in the finals of the King Of The Ring tournament back in June. This has led to a rivalry that would continue on through the Canadian Stampede PPV in July and would take us all the way to Summerslam. Mick Foley lived his boyhood dream of jumping off the steel cage onto Hunter's body, just as he had seen his idol, "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka, do so many years earlier. Though Chyna produced plenty of outside interference even at one point battering the steel door into Mick's head, Mankind was able to overcome the odds and climb out of the cage before Hunter could be dragged through the door by Chyna.
8. The 2000 Summerslam featured an incredible Hardcore Championship match. Shane McMahon and Steve Blackman took their bodies to the limit in this contest. Aside from beating the hell out of each other with all sorts of weapons for the first nine minutes of the contest, Shane was then thrown from a huge distance off the entryway structure and through a table setup. Blackman then proceeded to leap off the structure himself and delivered a huge elbow drop on Shane where he covered him for the victory.
7. Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon put on an excellent WrestleMania X rematch at the 1995 Summerslam event. It was a nice change seeing Shawn as the face in this contest while Ramon was at the point in his WWF run where he had begun losing most of his popularity. Scott Hall would regain the title at the October PPV event that year and would go on to drop the gold to Goldust at the Rumble. Ramon's final WWF match would be at the February 1996 In Your House event where he defeated Sean Waltman in a diaper match. Shawn and Hall put on an impressive contest full of high spots that ended with Shawn retaining his title.
6. The 2004 Summerslam featured a RAW main event of Chris Benoit defending his title against the up and coming Randy Orton of Evolution. These two put on an amazing athletic contest that ended when Orton reversed the Crossface with the RKO for the victory. This would lead to Orton being dumped by Evolution the following night on RAW and would turn him face for a short period of time. The quality produced for such a lengthy contest between an experienced veteran and a younger talent is what has earned this match the number six spot on my top ten list.
5. Next we take a trip all the way back to the 1991 Summerslam event. The Legion Of Doom challenged the Nasty Boys for their World Tag Team Titles. This match was a classic example of what tag team wrestling should be today and set a precedent for many future matches to come. Knobs and Sags had defeated the Hart Foundation earlier in the year at WrestleMania VII to become the champs. They would go on to Summerslam to lose the belts to the LOD. The LOD would capture the titles that night after the use of the Doomsday Device on Sags. Their reign as champions would last all the way up until February of 1992, where they would drop the titles to Ted DiBiase & IRS.
4. The 2001 Summerslam event would feature the newly formed ECW/WCW Alliance going head to head with WWF competitors. The show featured a great deal of talent, but none was quite as impressive as the opening contest. Two talented Canadian athletes would go head to head for the Intercontinental Championship. Edge and Lance storm put on an incredible technical display of wrestling for over ten minutes. Lance was the defending champ going into the contest, but would face the thunderous DDT of Edge and would lose the title that evening. This was an awesome way to open the show in 2001, especially since the match put so much spotlight on Edge when he came out as the new champion.
3. The third greatest Summerslam match of all time, in my mind, came at the 1994 event. You had big brother Bret Hart defending his WWF Title against Owen in a steel cage match. This was a grueling contest that lasted well over a half hour. In the end, Bret was able to escape the cage and come out victorious. His successful title defense angered Owen and this would lead to he and Jim Neidhart locking themselves in the cage with Bret. This would cause the British Bulldog to return to the WWF by jumping out of the crowd and into the cage to save Bret. Overall, this contest was one of the most impressive of all time, but was not quite good enough to be number one on this top ten list.
2. This next pick will certainly create some argument. Every now and then, the WWE tries to schedule a dream match for a major PPV event. Well, I personally feel that last year's dream match lived up to all expectations. My number two Summerslam match of all time would have to be Shawn Michaels taking on the "Immortal" Hulk Hogan at the 2005 Summerslam PPV. HBK went into this contest with a slight heel turn, but would leave the match showing Hogan the ultimate respect with a handshake. This match exceeded my expectations, even if it was about nine years overdue. Shawn and Hogan put on a twenty minute contest that featured some of their best moves and creativity, and for that, we can truly appreciate what those two are still willing to do for this business so many years past their prime.
1. The best match of all time at Summerslam would have to be one that is memorable. However, it is not necessarily the one most of you would expect. My number one Summerslam match of all time would be from the 1991 event where Bret Hart would win the Intercontinental Championship from Mr. Perfect. These two put on the most impressive display of technical wrestling in this match that I have ever seen. The late Mr. Perfect could wrestle with the best of them, and he and Bret certainly proved their value in this long and drawn out contest. Anyone who watches this match knows that Bret was not even in his prime during this event, yet he still put on the impressive technical display that we have all come to appreciate from the Hitman. Mr. Perfect put over a lot of great athletes throughout his career in a lot of excellent contests, but none could even come close to this match at Summerslam.
Well, there are certainly matches out there from Summerslam past that one could argue as being better than these. Two of the runners up were Hogan & Beefcake taking on Zeus & Savage and the 1992 event where the Bulldog would defeat Bret at Wembley Stadium. My reason for not putting Bret/Bulldog on this list is simple. I feel the two put on a better contest three years later at the December 1995 In Your House event for the WWF Title. Bret cleanly pinned the Bulldog in a rollup after a long and bloody encounter. This match, to me, was a better technical display of wrestling than the match that occurred at Wembley. That's all for this edition. Until next time, you have been Thunder Struck.
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