World Wrestling Entertainment is fond of calling SummerSlam “The Biggest Party of the Summer”. While that slogan is somewhat debatable, it is a clever marketing catch phrase, and looking at this year’s card, it certainly does feel big. They have also expanded the event to a bloated four hour event, which will extend into five hours for anyone watching the kick off show. This will also be the first year that SummerSlam is being offered exclusively on the WWE Network, a bold move for WWE. Although it may not be the biggest party of the Summer, Big is clearly an appropriate adjective to describe SummerSlam this year.
Looking at the matches presented, there is certainly some possibility for one of the battles on Sunday to emerge as a true classic. A match that defines an era, or simply comes out of nowhere to remain in the memories of wrestling fans young and old. Memories are what gather the Last Word On Sports Wrestling Department of Aaron Wrotkowski, Adam Contant, Jeff DeHaan, and Shawn Wilken here today. Each of these writers have grown up with the August tradition as a staple of their Summer, and as such, they all have some fond memories of matches from SummerSlam’s past. Last Word On Sports gave them the unenviable task of narrowing down their favorites to a single contest, and espouse on why they chose that particular battle.
SummerSlam 1991
WWF Intercontinental Championship Match
Mr. Perfect w/Coach (c) vs Bret “Hitman” Hart
August 26, 1991
Madison Square Garden
New York, NY
Thoughts by Jeff DeHaan: When choosing my all-time favourite SummerSlam match, it’s no choice at all. Bret “Hitman” Hart vs. Mr. Perfect for the Intercontinental Championship. This is not only one of my favourite SummerSlam matches, it’s one of my favourite matches ever, period. These two had such chemistry and from bell to bell put on one hell of a match. It’s an understatement to say they stole the show.
A pure wrestling match that made a star out of Bret Hart. This was Bret’s first singles championship in WWE and was a test to see how he could handle a solo push. Needless to say he excelled and went on to even greater accomplishments, but Bret couldn’t have done that without the man who helped define his singles career, Mr. Perfect.
Perfect was a workhorse in this match, selling everything to, well, perfection and making Hart look like a million bucks in the process. Never did Perfect seem like a pushover, nor did he make Bret look like a non-threat. He sold like a champ, fought hard and helped give the fans one of the greatest bouts in SummerSlam history.
SummerSlam 1994
The Undertaker w/ “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase vs The Undertaker w/Paul Bearer
August 29, 1994
United Centre
Chicago, IL
Thoughts by Aaron Wrotkowski: There wasn’t a lot of wrestling actually going on in this main event but it was the sort of thing that attracted me to the World Wrestling Federation as a nine year old. The Undertaker was unlike anything I had seen before. He was a bizarre combination of everything I enjoyed in Super Nintendo RPGs and Dungeons and Dragons. I didn’t understand his Southern Frontier look or why he would walk the ropes like a trapeze artist in a circus, but I didn’t care. He was dark and mysterious and magical. And he was now fighting a clone! The clone story made no sense and I still don’t care. Where did Ted DiBiase find an imposter Undertaker? Can you just buy one in a Consumers Distributing catalogue? Who cares, there’s two of them! This kind of thing is mocked today (and when they tried to re-do it with Kane it was scrapped fast) but I still love it to this day and it’s my most vivid “SummerSlam match” memory. Also, Leslie Nielsen was involved, and he’s the greatest.
SummerSlam 2001
WWF Championship Match
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin (c) vs Kurt Angle
August 19, 2001
Compaq Centre
San Jose, CA
Thoughts by Shawn Wilken: It was close between this match and the showdown between Shawn Michaels and Triple H in 2002, but this one ultimately takes the cake for me. In what was recognized as a co-main-event on the night, during the pinnacle of the Invasion era, Stone Cold Steve Austin defended his WWF Championship against the Olympic Hero Kurt Angle.
A little history, at the Invasion pay-per-view, Steve Austin defected to the side of World Championship Wrestling/Extreme Championship Wrestling, ultimately becoming the captain of the ship. After explaining how he felt unappreciated and believed Vince McMahon was grooming Kurt Angle to take the top spot. This set up our big match between the Texas Rattlesnake and the Olympic Gold Medalist. It would also be an important anniversary for Angle, as five years before the match, in the same month as the SummerSlam PPV, Angle had won his Gold medal.
The match itself is memorable. The story told was that of a more technical based wrestler in Angle clashing with a brawler in Austin. The match-up brought out several sides to Stone Cold’s wrestling ability. We saw the technical and deceptive Hollywood Blond, the submission-aware Austin from the mid-90s to even a throwback to his Ringmaster gimmick when he locked on the Cobra Clutch. Meanwhile, Angle displayed the tale of courage. Kicking out of three Stunners despite losing an ample amount of blood got the crowd on his side.
When all else failed, Austin attacked Earl Hebner in a fit of rage, knowing he couldn’t beat Angle clean. After two more WWF-based referees came down as replacement and were immediately attacked by Stone Cold, Angle had made his way back up and delivered another Olympic Slam. Only this time, WCW-based referee Nick Patrick ran down and fooled the crowd, calling for the bell to announce Angle as the winner by disqualification. The screw-job finish would ultimately conclude with Austin walking away with the WWF Championship still in his possession.
SummerSlam 2013
Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs C.M Punk
August 18, 2013
Staples Centre
Los Angeles, CA
Thoughts by Adam Contant: Some of my favorite matches in professional wrestling history have come from SummerSlam, so one would think that choosing a match from the litany of available classics would be a difficult decision. Had this match not occurred at SummerSlam, I would agree with you, but since this battle of the Beast vs the Best did happen at the biggest party of the Summer, it was a no brainer.
When we reviewed the year in wrestling for 2013, I chose this as match of the year with my reasoning being that it really had everything I could want in a pro wrestling contest: intensity, drama, character development, an incredible finish and lots of emotion. Brock Lesnar was at his bully best here, man handling C.M Punk, who played his role of scrappy underdog to perfection.
Watching it again, I still get caught up in it. The crowd was just as intense as the competitors, which knowing Lesnar and Punk, was no small task. It was the first, and as of this writing, only time these two would ever clash, which in retrospect makes it feel even more special to me somehow. In my mind I’ll always look at this contest as a rare treasure that I continue to discover over and over again.
Final Thoughts
Of course, there are many other matches from Summer Slam’s 27 year history that could have made this list: Bret Hart vs The British Bulldog from Wembley Stadium in 1992, Edge & Christian vs The Dudleys vs The Hardys in the first ever Tables Ladders and Chairs match from SummerSlam 2000, or even last year’s absolutely vicious WWE World Heavyweight Championship match between John Cena and Brock Lesnar. The proof of SummerSlam’s lasting legacy and pedigree is the fact that there are so many great matches to choose from, the fact that none of the writers chose the same contest, and the fact that they all chose a match from different eras.
Will this year’s edition of SummerSlam create new classics to write about next year and for years to come? That has yet to be seen, but there are certainly a number of potential candidates. Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker in this year’s main event certainly have lots to prove after their history making contest from WrestleMania XXX was declared a dud, despite it’s shocking outcome. Seth Rollins and John Cena are two of WWE’s best talents, and both want nothing more than to steal the show. The Divas revolution continues with a unique tag team match that could put the focus squarely on the ladies in WWE moving forward. Maybe the match with the biggest impact won’t even come from a WWE performer, but from Stephen Amell, who jumps from the set of Arrow to partner up with Neville in a tag tam contest against Stardust and King Barrett.
Looking over this list as well as the matches left unanalyzed, it can be stated without hyperbole that SummerSlam is one of the biggest events of the year for WWE and professional wrestling in general. We won’t discover whether WWE produces another classic or a forgettable dud until the show closes on Sunday, but you can rest assured that the Last Word On Sports Wrestling Department will be watching. Snacks in hand, surrounded by friends, anxiously awaiting the creation of another memorable match at the biggest party of the Summer.
