Ranking the Best Summerslam Matches Ever

[Loss]

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.

 

I'll always remember this match most for Lord Alfred Hays being so unnecessarily rude to Stu Hart in the post-match celebration. Ask a question and yank the mic away as soon as he starts to talk.

[JaymeFuture]

Especially since Stu is clearly trying to continue his answer in the background as Hayes wraps it up.

[El-P]

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.

 

This ladder match is exactly the point where I began to dislike ladder matches, because of stupid ultra-slow climbs and illogical use of objects (like using a chair to beat on a ladder prone on a guy's body, how in the hell that's supposed to hurt more than a simple chair shot ?). Take away the crowd heat, and I don't think it's that good of a match. Maybe my opinion would change today, but last time I checked, it was all heat over an awkward gimmick match.

[Loss]

While I agree with that to an extent, the crowd heat is a big thing to take away, though. By taking away the crowd heat, you're taking away what they accomplished while being limited wrestlers untested in such a long match on such a big stage.

 

EDIT: The gap between their 2/3 falls match the month before and this was significant.

[JerryvonKramer]

My fave Summerslam match is Warrior vs. Savage at 92. Love all the BS around it.

[Laz]

My top 5 off that list would probably be...

 

Bryan/Cena

Bret/Owen

TLC

Shane/Test

Rock/HHH

[Loss]

Bret/Owen I sadly didn't even think was any good when I watched it. Really long and kinda boring with all the spots built around climbing. I'll give it credit for being an interesting take on the WWF-style cage match, though.

[C.S.]

As much as I'm not sure Bret/Davey holds up, except for maybe as a carry job

 

Serious question: Would anyone know it was a carry job if Bret Hart didn't egotistically broadcast that fact everywhere to toot his own horn? No, so I don't see why that knowledge should affect the perceived quality of the match.

[Matt D]

I'll have to rewatch it for specifics, but last time I saw cracks that, yes, I wouldn't have noticed before reading Bret's book, but now that I saw them, I sort of can't unsee them.

[El-P]

EDIT: The gap between their 2/3 falls match the month before and this was significant.

 

Not hard. That match was horrendous. It's impressive how Rocky improved over the next two years, as they were able to have an excellent 1hour Iron match in 2000, although it's the epitome of Attitude era overbooking that works, which helped both of them quite a bit.

[Tenese Sarwieh]

One match I feel many don’t discuss as one of the great Summerslam matches is the Nakano/Blayze match from 94. Besides Bret/Owen it’s the strongest match on the show and one the best that year. Just the simple story of how can the undersized hero contend with and defeat the monster. Loving the show and keep it up.

[MJH]

For me, Bryan/Cena is hurt more by HHH/Bryan at Mania than the cash-in afterwards; going purely from memory, I recall being colder than most on Cena/Bryan and thought it was in the mould of Cena/Punk MITB (i.e. lacking in any real structure/"narrative" focus). Sure, with Hunter being the heel, the Mania match was always going to come together more naturally, but even with Cena as face (or tweener), they're too similar in story that when HHH/Bryan highlights what I remember as being a big weakness in the Cena/Bryan match, it hurts it. Still a very good match that I might re-watch for clarification. I was similarly colder than most on Lesnar/Punk but I forget the reasons. Re-watch in order.

 

[(Edit from rewatch) There's a lot of good work in Bryan/Cena, but I don't think it's laid-out particularly well. They hit most of the necessary notes (Cena's power, Bryan's resilience/"never say die" - the underdog comes from the announcers not the work which is too back-and-forth for me) but it doesn't come together as a whole and there's some miss-steps both doing that (the guillotine choke spot would be really good but the audience don't get it) and otherwise (Daniel's awfully close to heel in his aggression when he first gets control). In some ways, it's as if they were afraid to lay out a Cena match where the other guy is the one to root for. For me, the match needed a longer control from Cena (we got a few minutes and an oddly-placed powerbomb), but also a really strong near fall for him; he hits the AA too early in the stretch so whilst there's a pop for the kick-out, it's not a heart-stopper like the one towards the end of the Mania 3way. The stretch doesn't go overboard as Cena might work it now with Owens etc, but I think they scaled it back just that one or two spots too many.]

 

//

 

Incidentally, I wouldn't have HHH/HBK as #1 by any stretch, but I can't think of many singular spots more unfairly maligned than Shawn's kip up in that one.

[Jingus]

This ladder match is exactly the point where I began to dislike ladder matches, because of stupid ultra-slow climbs and illogical use of objects (like using a chair to beat on a ladder prone on a guy's body, how in the hell that's supposed to hurt more than a simple chair shot ?). Take away the crowd heat, and I don't think it's that good of a match. Maybe my opinion would change today, but last time I checked, it was all heat over an awkward gimmick match.

Yeah. It worked, the crowd loved it, but I personally kinda hated it. The ludicrously slow climbing would've been understandable if it was Dusty Rhodes on that ladder, but a guy like The Rock doing it was one of those moments where Wrestling just slaps you in the face and says "he didn't do the obvious thing to win because otherwise the match would be over too soon!".

 

I always thought Austin/Taker from that night was an underrated match. Considering you've got two guys whose gimmicks are 90% offense and don't sell too much, and Austin gets a concussion early in the match, and they're both babyfaces... I mean, seriously, they had SO many hurdles to overcome out there, plus both men's nagging injuries at the time. They had the deck so thoroughly stacked against them, but still managed to deliver one hell of an Attitude-era brawl. Did Austin ever have a better match with Taker anywhere else?

[Loss]

I liked A Cold Day In Hell, but that may just be because Earl Hebner flipping off Austin behind his back was such an awesome spot.

[Mad Dog]

I haven't seen HHH/Rock since the original airing but I remember being disappointed by it at the time. I thought it was maybe the 3rd best match on the show. Possibly 4th because I liked Austin/Taker the first time I saw it.

[Sidebottom]

No Bret vs Undertaker from 1997? Perhaps my favourite ever Summerslam match. Sad bear.

[El-P]

I always thought Austin/Taker from that night was an underrated match. Considering you've got two guys whose gimmicks are 90% offense and don't sell too much, and Austin gets a concussion early in the match, and they're both babyfaces... I mean, seriously, they had SO many hurdles to overcome out there, plus both men's nagging injuries at the time. They had the deck so thoroughly stacked against them, but still managed to deliver one hell of an Attitude-era brawl. Did Austin ever have a better match with Taker anywhere else?

 

They really went All Japan on our asses and it was excellent, but the crowd was spent after getting crazy for Rocky & HHH. Their best match together, before their feud would degenerate into actual awful boring matches thanks to idiotic gimmicks and the involvment of Kane.

[Mr. Lacelle]

Warrior/Rude is so damn good it can't be ignored, easily Warrior's best performance.

[Sidebottom]

I don't think Austin / Undertaker ever meshed well to be honest. Not in angles, in the ring... just didn't work for me.

[Benbeeach]

HBK/Hogan is really fine, really well worked match. I haven't seen a lot of these matches in a decade and a half plus, would be hard to know where it ranks in the grand scale, but it definitely should rank . . . somewhere.

Number 1 is probably Bret/Bulldog. For scale, storyline, pomp, circumstance, position on the card, finish. Not sure there's any other match that hits all the marks as well as it does. But I'd have to go back and rewatch a lot.

Match for match I'm pretty sure a summerslam top 40 matches blows away Wrestlemania by a wide margin.

---EDIT---
Count me as on the positive side for Kurt/Rey, Kurt/Austin and HHH/Rock 98. And Bret Taker 97 is very good as well

Edited August 19, 2015 by Benbeeach

[JaymeFuture]

Just wanted to thank everybody for the posts, comments and nominations, we got to read many of them on the show, and the podcast debating the Top 20 Matches in Summerslam History is now available at the following link:

http://squaredcirclegazette.podbean.com/mf/play/234e8w/SCGRadio51-RankingTheBestSummerslamMatchesEver.mp3

Join us as we talk about the rankings determined by a cumulative vote, and debate which matches should be higher or lower, as well as your thoughts on the list, the classic encounters, and any matches you felt belong amongst the all time greats. A huge show this week, longer than usual so posting it a day early, check it out and let us know what you think!