Ranking the Best Summerslam Matches Ever

[JaymeFuture]

As mentioned on last week's podcast (which you can find in my sig if you'd like to check it out), we're doing a show on the top Summerslam matches of all time this week and did a panel voting on the top 20 matches. Below is the outcome, based on the mean average score of the votes.

For the podcast, besides a debate on the final outcome below, we'd like your thoughts on which matches you rate higher or lower (and more importantly why), or if you think any should be on the list that aren't. As always we'll be reading the best contributions on the show and crediting you accordingly.

1. Shawn Michaels Vs. Triple H (2002)
2. Bret Hart Vs. Mr. Perfect (1991)
3. Bret Hart Vs. Davey Boy Smith (1992)
4. Bret Hart Vs. Owen Hart (1994)
5. Edge & Christian Vs. Hardy Boyz Vs. Dudley Boyz (2000)
6. The Rock Vs. Triple H (1998)
7. Shawn Michaels Vs. Razor Ramon (1995)
8. Kurt Angle Vs. Rey Mysterio (2002)
9. Steve Austin Vs. Kurt Angle (2001)
10. Brock Lesnar Vs. CM Punk (2013)
11a. Bret Hart Vs. Doink/Jerry Lawler (1993)
11b. Brock Lesnar Vs. John Cena (2014)
13. Hart Foundation Vs. Brain Busters (1989)
14. The Rock Vs. Brock Lesnar (2002)
15. Hart Foundation Vs. Demolition (1990)
16a. Daniel Bryan Vs. John Cena (2013)
16b. The Ultimate Warrior Vs. Rick Rude (1989)
18. Steiner Brothers Vs. Heavenly Bodies (1993)
19. Shane McMahon Vs. Test (1999)
20. Christian Vs. Randy Orton (2011)

EDIT - The show discussing the list, your comments on it and any notable omissions is now online and available to listen to at the following link: http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/play/234e8w/SCGRadio51-RankingTheBestSummerslamMatchesEver.mp3

[Mad Dog]

Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect (1991)

Bret Hart vs. Davey Boy Smith (1992)

Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (1995) - I personally like this better than the Mania X match.

John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar (2014)

Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (1994)

[Grimmas]

I just did a project where I watched most of the SummerSlam matches and ranked them myself. Boy is my list different. Sadly your number one didn't make my top forty.

 

1. Daniel Bryan vs John Cena (2013)
2. Brock Lesnar vs CM Punk (2013)
3. Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels (1995)
4. Bret Hart vs Davey Boy Smith (1992)
5. Kurt Angle vs Steve Austin (2001)
6. Brock Lesnar vs John Cena (2014)
7. Eddie Guerrero vs Rey Mysterio (2005)
8. Batista vs John Cena (2008)
9. Alberto del Rio vs Christian (2013)
10. Bret Hart vs Mr. Perfect (1991)
11. CM Punk vs John Cena (2011)
12. Dean Ambrose vs Seth Rollins (2014)
13. Bret Hart vs Owen Hart (1994)
14. Demolition vs Hart Foundation (1988)
15. Ultimate Warrior vs Rick Rude (1989)
16. Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio (2002)
17. Ric Flair vs Mick Foley (2006)
18. Bret Hart vs Doink, vs Jerry Lawler (1993)
19. Bret Hart vs Undertaker (1997)
20. John Cena vs Chris Jericho (2005)
21. Brock Lesnar vs The Rock (2002)
22. Rey Mysterio vs Dolph Ziggler (2009)
23. Ultimate Warrior vs Randy Savage (1992)
24. Brain Busters vs Hart Foundation (1989)
25. Triple H vs The Rock (1998)
26. Owen Hart vs Steve Austin (1997)
27. X-Pac vs Tajiri (2001)
28. Mark Henry vs Sheamus (2011)
29. Edge & Christian vs Dudley Boyz vs Hardy Boyz (2001)
30. Randy Orton vs Christian (2011)
31. Ken Shamrock vs Owen Hart (1998)
32. Mankind vs Undertaker (1996)
33. CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy (2009)
34. Rick Martel & Rougeau Brothers vs Tito Santana & Rockers (1989)
35. X-Pac vs Jeff Jarrett (1998)
36. Hulk Hogan vs Earthquake (1990)
37. Steiner Brothers vs Heavenly Bodies (1993)
38. Hakushi vs 1-2-3 Kid (1995)
39. CM Punk vs JBL (2008)
40. Mega Bucks vs Mega Powers (1988)

[Beast]

So Bret is Mr. Summerslam, correct?

 

1989-1994 are all good to great, 1995 against Yankem isn't anything special, but not horrible, and then 1997 is great again.

[Mad Dog]

Easily when you considered Hennig was pretty fucked up from his injury in 1991 and Bulldog was coked out of his mind in 92.

[WingedEagle]

Bryan/Cena, Lesnar/Punk, Lesnar/Cena, Triple H/Michaels, Austin/Angle are definitely the in the elite tier.

[Mad Dog]

And the Yankem match isn't bad either. That was probably the best you were getting out of him at the time.

[DMJ]

Bryan/Cena at 16a? Man, I think that's one of the top 5 matches of the past 15 years, maybe longer. Great build, great back-and-forth match, emotional ending...I can understand people hating the swerve at the ending, but I'll readily admit I hate the post-match because I got worked - the intention was for me to say "Fuck you, Triple H! You stole the spotlight again! You put yourself over the most over guy in the company! I hate you!" and thats exactly what I did.

 

I'm not as down on the HBK/HHH epics as other people here, but I wouldn't put that in my top 10. Maybe not even my top 20. I won't go through and list, but off the top of my head -

 

Cena/Bryan

Hardy/Punk (Ladder)

Bret/Perfect

Bret/Owen

Lesnar/Punk

Lesnar/Rock

Bret/Undertaker

Ambrose/Rollins (Best Lumberjack match ever?)

Eddie/Rey

 

and just to throw it out there - Hogan/HBK somewhere in the top 20. As much as that match is cartoonish and HBK is super unprofessional, it was the match that brought me back into being a WWE fan after 4-5 years of not caring at all about pro-wrestling. I've rewatched it since and it is an absurd match, but its also the last Hogan match that interested me at all (I didn't see any of his TNA matches and his feud with Orton the next year was a meaningless joke). I'd readily rewatch Hogan/HBK for its surreal value before I'd rewatch HHH/HBK. Anyone else have any secret enjoyment of that one?

[Mad Dog]

Hogan and Sting had a stunningly watchable match at Bound For Glory one year.

[El-P]

And the Yankem match isn't bad either. That was probably the best you were getting out of him at the any time.

 

Really, if you watch that Yankem match now, it's like Jacobs never really improved. They could have as well called him Unabomb instead of Kane.

[Russellmania]

I'm in agreement with those saying Cena/Bryan is top 5 easily.

 

It's really a shame we may never get more matches out of those two.

[Matt D]

There is no way in this world that the 90 Harts vs Demos match is better than the 88 Harts vs Demos match except for sort of as a cultural touchstone to people of a certain age.

[elliott]

I think I would struggle to name 5 matches from the history of WWE that I like more than Cena vs Bryan. I like Grimmas top 5.

[goodhelmet]

So Bret is Mr. Summerslam, correct?

 

1989-1994 are all good to great, 1995 against Yankem isn't anything special, but not horrible, and then 1997 is great again.

 

We'll be releasing the Mr. SummerSlam show this week on P2B.

[Matt D]

Last time I watched Summerslam 92 I liked Beverly Brothers vs Natural Disasters more than Bret vs Davey. It was a few years ago though and surprised me quite a bit.

[Bierschwale]

The finish on Lesnar-Punk bothers me too much for it to be above Bryan-Cena for the two GREAT matches from 2013. (I actually just like Bryan-Cena better on the whole, but if there had to be a deciding factor, the disparity between the finishes is it.) Plus the weird incongruity of it compared to 2014 on with Brock's match-to-match booking hurts it in the larger context of ranking it against 26 other shows' worth of matches.

[Jimmy Redman]

Y'all are sleeping on Cena vs Orton 2007. That is an awesome match.

 

My Top 5 would be something like:

 

Cena vs Bryan 2013

Punk vs Lesnar 2013

Cena vs Orton 2007

Shawn vs Hunter 2002

Cena vs Punk 2011

[Grimmas]

There is no way in this world that the 90 Harts vs Demos match is better than the 88 Harts vs Demos match except for sort of as a cultural touchstone to people of a certain age.

 

Exactly. 90 is alright, but 88 is a great ass match that everybody should watch. The announcers miss sooo much, as does the camera man, but there is a lot of depth if you watch closely.

 

I think I would struggle to name 5 matches from the history of WWE that I like more than Cena vs Bryan. I like Grimmas top 5.

Thank you. It was weeks of re-watch to come up with that.

[Bierschwale]

I'm actually surprised that you didn't have Angle-Mysterio in your top ten. I wouldn't, either, but I think that I remember you being really, really high on it.

[Grimmas]

I'm actually surprised that you didn't have Angle-Mysterio in your top ten. I wouldn't, either, but I think that I remember you being really, really high on it.

High on it for an Angle match

[JaymeFuture]

I expect Bryan/Cena to be the most debated match on the podcast in some respects. Again, it was an average ranking out of 4 different lists, and had the highest variance of almost any match. Without knowing, I'll guess there is an emotional detachment in the sense of foreboding of the Orton cash-in that lingered, and maybe the idea the match meant less ten minutes after it happened when it's appeal is as a classic main event match, when matches of that ilk you want the ability to revel in. The booking by design was to cockblock the feelgood, of course, but I'm curious if what people might be looking for from a match of that position wasn't achieved due to that factor (since it may have detracted from the ability to enjoy it as a whole, bask in it afterwards and let it feel complete and historically significant), whereas some matches designed to be more standalone (Angle/Rey, for example) are all-time gems in the position they are put in. Not exactly grading on a curve so much as the punch a match has given it's placing. Who knows. It's interesting anyway, part of why I wanted to do a voted list, see what the multiple votes pulled back.

[NotJayTabb]

I always thought Del Rio/Christan from SS13 smoked the Punk/Lesnar match. You had the perfect combination of a guy who is excellent at working body parts in fun ways vs a guy who was great at selling bodypart damage. Whereas even at the time (ie - after the dreadful HHH series threatened to ruin Lesnar's aura) I couldn't buy Punk as any sort of threat to Lesnar, and it felt ridiculous that Heyman had to interfere to save Brock.

 

My favourite SS match has always been Davey Boy vs Bret from 92. Not only is it a great match, but I think for a lot of people in the UK, it represents the pinacle of our childhood wrestling watching. I was 10 years old at the time, and wrestling was incredibly popular at the time: everyone in my school was talking about it and I remember a load of us gathered at my friend's house to watch the show. Davey Boy was so popular in our group, and I don't think they've ever had a British wrestler since that has resonated with so many people over here. Well, except maybe DJ Gabriel :-)

[jcmmnx]

Both of the big 2013 matches feel like top 5 matches to me. I'd have Angle/Austin, Bret/Perfect, and HBK/Razor round out my top 5. I have no idea if HHH/HBK holds up or not. Most of the drama for me was wondering if HBK would be crippled due to his back injury, but him going on to wrestle for 8 years after that match kinda takes away from it.

[Matt D]

As much as I'm not sure Bret/Davey holds up, except for maybe as a carry job, Bret/Perfect surprised me in how well it did.

[Loss]

Bryan-Cena would take the cake for me, but Warrior-Rude is in many ways a more impressive match, even if it's not as good.

 

I'll also submit the Rock-HHH ladder match. This is one of those cases where the magic of the moment results in something where the whole is just so much greater than the sum of its parts. That match could easily be nitpicked, but that would be tone-deaf and to me, that's like nitpicking Savage-Warrior at WM7 -- what's the point? It's a great spectacle, and it's hard to think of ten more heated matches at MSG. The best part of the crowd reaction is that they were at the top of the second tier at the time and they completely dwarfed the crowd reaction to Austin-Undertaker, which had months of great hype but couldn't pay it off in the ring.