{"id":16223,"date":"2014-08-17T16:12:57","date_gmt":"2014-08-17T06:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=16223"},"modified":"2015-11-22T15:11:49","modified_gmt":"2015-11-22T05:11:49","slug":"the-ten-greatest-summerslam-matches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=16223","title":{"rendered":"The Ten Greatest Summerslam Matches"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"tagwwe\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"summerslamcrowd\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Summerslam<\/em> is the WWE’s third oldest PPV and historically the second most important event on the WWE wrestling calendar.\u00a0 Perhaps because it is not quite beholden to the spectacle and weight of expectation that Wrestlemania<\/em> carries, it is not uncommon for\u00a0Summerslam<\/em> to produce the greater matches.\u00a0 There have been 26\u00a0Summerslam<\/em> events and I’ve seen every one of them.\u00a0 Out of over 200 matches that have taken place, here is my top ten.<\/p>\n

10.\u00a0 Shawn Michaels vs Vader
\nWWF Title Match, Summerslam ’96<\/em><\/h2>\n

\"hbkvader\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Between 1995 and 1998 when Shawn Michaels was in his prime, he made his name working the best variations of David vs Goliath matches against the biggest monster heels of the decade.\u00a0 He had classic matches with Kevin Nash, Sid Justice, Mankind, The Undertaker and at Summerslam ’96 he came up against Vader.\u00a0 When booked correctly, few wrestlers could be as imposing as Vader.\u00a0 He had a great look, brutal looking offence and some surprisingly high flying moves for a big guy.\u00a0 This match is great for seeing HBK bounce around like a ping pong ball and work the formula that made him one of the top performers in the country at the time.<\/p>\n

9.\u00a0 Bret Hart vs Owen Hart
\nWWF Title, Steel Cage Match Summerslam ’94<\/em><\/h2>\n

\"bretowencage\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Bret Hart and Owen Hart tore down the house with a classic mat wrestling match at Wrestlemania X <\/em>which Owen unexpectedly won.\u00a0 Bret would go on to win the title later that night against Yokozuna.\u00a0 A month later, Owen would become crowned as the second ever King of the Ring<\/em> and challenge Bret to a title match at Summerslam 94<\/em>.\u00a0 The resulting 30 minute cage match is actually one of the more divisive matches in WWF history.\u00a0 Some people find the match boring thanks to its long running time and slow climbing of the cage by both participants.\u00a0 Others think its pretty much the perfect cage match.\u00a0 For me, I fall into the latter category.\u00a0 Put it this way – its the most brutal match you can have in a cage without resorting to blood letting.\u00a0 These two worked their asses off in this match, finding a dozen different ways to incorporate the cage into their arsenal.\u00a0 In 1994, you wouldn’t have seen a bigger bump on TV than when Bret superplexed Owen off the top of the cage.\u00a0 It’s a great match and the family feud is taken up another level by the presence of the British Bulldog and Jim Neidhart in opposing corners.<\/p>\n

8.\u00a0 Steve Austin vs Kurt Angle
\nWWF Title, Summerslam ’01<\/em><\/h2>\n

\"kurtsteve\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Steve Austin’s heel turn at Wrestlemania X7 <\/em>didn’t really go down well with wrestling fans.\u00a0 That PPV was the apex of wrestling’s last major popularity boom with the general public and it’s never been the same since.\u00a0 A pity since I absolutely loved Austin’s run as a paranoid, desperate heel champion clinging to his title at all costs.\u00a0 At Summerslam 2001<\/em> he faced a rampaging Kurt Angle who had an incredible first two years of his career at was at the top of his game.\u00a0 In this match these two threw everything at each other – suplexes, chairshots, Stone Cold Stunners, Angle Slams, anklelocks, you name it.\u00a0 It’s a great match to see just how talented Angle had become in a short span of time and to see how versatile Austin could be when his body was slowing down due to injury and he had to adapt his style.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0 The Hart Foundation vs Demolition
\nWWF Tag Team Titles, Best 2 out of 3 Falls Summerslam ’90<\/em><\/h2>\n

\"hartfoundationdemolition\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The two best and most over WWF tag teams of the late Eighties and the early Nineties met at Summerslam 1990\u00a0<\/em>in a Best 2 out of 3 falls match up.\u00a0 There is a lot to enjoy about this match.\u00a0 As I said, both teams were enourmously popular at the time so the crowd is molten hot for this one.\u00a0 Demolition had been gradually phasing out Ax with the introduction of the younger, fresher Crush who takes his place.\u00a0 Of course, Demolition are working as heels so Ax gets involved and swaps places with Crush periodically when the ref isn’t looking.\u00a0 Lastly, this one of the few times where I enjoy the fact that a match ends with a run-in.\u00a0 The Road Warriors make their debut in the WWF and get involved in the finish and the crowd absolutely blows the roof off the arena at the end of the final fall.\u00a0 One of the tag matches in the WWF in that era.\u00a0 Sadly, neither the Demolition vs Road Warriors or Hart Foundation vs The Rockers feuds after this show would live up to their potential.<\/p>\n

6.\u00a0 Bret Hart vs The British Bulldog
\nIntercontinental Title, Summerslam ’92<\/em><\/h2>\n

\"bretbulldog\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The biggest crowd to witness a Summerslam<\/em> event was Wembley stadium in 1992 where over 80,000 people witnessed the British Bulldog defeat Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Title.\u00a0 I absolutely loved that match as a kid.\u00a0 It’s a great face vs face encounter where Bret gradually gets frustrated with Davey Boy and begins working some subtle heel mannerisms to antagonize the crowd.\u00a0 Years later, wrestling fans would read and learn about how Bulldog was gassed within five minutes of the match and scrutinizing it with a more critical eye you can see just how many times Bulldog’s nerves get the best of him.\u00a0 He drops Bret unceremoniously onto the concrete floor early on, dumps him painfully crotch first onto the top turnbuckle and slips and throws him dangerously into the ropes when doing a gorilla press slam.\u00a0 Basically the British Bulldog inflicted some serious hurting on the Hitman who remains a consumate professional and holds the match together so it is never anything less than enthralling.\u00a0 Probably one of the best examples of how one man can carry another to greatness.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0 Chris Benoit vs Chris Jericho
\nBest 2 out of 3 Falls, Summerslam ’00<\/em><\/h2>\n

\"y2jbenny\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Canadian Chrises had a fantastic run of matches during their feud in the early 2000s and their Best 2 out of 3 falls match at Summerslam 2000<\/em> was my pick of the bunch.\u00a0 For a straight up, no-nonsense wrestling encounter between two dudes who know one another really well and really hate each other, it doesn’t get much better than this.\u00a0 The work rate is intense, both men are in their primes and delivering a scintillating combination of mat grappling, aerial maneuvers and awesome submission holds and counter holds.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0 Edge & Christian vs The Hardy Boys vs The Dudley Boys
\nWWF Tag Team Titles, Summerslam ’00<\/em><\/h2>\n

\"tlc1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For my money, the first TLC match between Edge and Christian, the Hardys and the Dudleys is still probably my favourite.\u00a0 Sure we had an inkling of what these teams could do based on their Wrestlemania 2000<\/em> ladder match and the Royal Rumble 2000<\/em> tables match but I will never forget watching this match for the first time as all six wrestlers busted out jaw dropping bump after jaw dropping bump.\u00a0 Some famous JR catchphrases were born out of this encounter.\u00a0 In some ways, they set a new standard that could and probably shouldn’t ever be topped when it comes to this type of match.\u00a0 The spectacle in this type of match deliver so much carnage and unrelenting action that I’m not surprised that this is one of the most commonly used matches by diehard fans to introduce casuals into the WWE.\u00a0 All three tag teams were magnificent on this night.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0 Brock Lesnar vs The Rock
\nWWE Title, Summerslam 02<\/em><\/h2>\n

\"rockbrock\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When it comes to wrestling as a spectacle that blends athleticism with charisma, this match is one of the finest examples you can witness.\u00a0 Brock vs Rock at Summerslam 2002<\/em> was the star-making match up that marked the arrival of Brock Lesnar as a main event player.\u00a0 3 years after this match, both men would outgrow the industry with Brock leaving to UFC to win his first MMA Heavyweight title and The Rock would finally go to Hollywood full time and reinvent himself as a Hollywood blockbuster movie star.\u00a0 I love this match for the pure power and athleticism that both wrestlers exhibit.\u00a0 The match has a great blend of power moves and wrestling holds as both men throw everything at one another.\u00a0 The Rock does everything right to make Brock look like a million bucks to credit to him, Lesnar more than holds his own also.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0 Daniel Bryan vs John Cena
\nWWE Title, Summerslam ’13<\/em><\/h2>\n

\"bryancena\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The modern day version of HBK vs Vader is Daniel Bryan vs John Cena and although time will tell what sort of longevity and significance Bryan’s career will have, no one was hotter in the professional wrestling than Daniel Bryan in 2013.\u00a0 His name and catch phrase was chanted at deafening levels in show after show, often in matches he wasn’t involved in and sometimes in entire shows where he was not performing.\u00a0 The people wanted to see one thing and that was Daniel Bryan conquer the odds and win the title.\u00a0 He would get that opportunity against the face of the company, John Cena, at Summerslam 2013.\u00a0 In that match, the two of them put on a thrilling match as Cena used his brute strength and size advantage to impose his will on Daniel Bryan.\u00a0 But Bryan would not be denied and after launching comeback after comeback, he would finally blunt Cena’s offence with a flying knee which has since become his trademark finishing move.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0 CM Punk vs Brock Lesnar
\nSummerslam ’13<\/em><\/h2>\n

\"lesnarpunk\"<\/a><\/p>\n

CM Punk held the WWE title for over 400 days in a record breaking title reign that took place mostly in 2012.\u00a0 However, he was constantly overshadowed by John Cena who retained a higher billing on the card.\u00a0 So after Punk lost the title to The Rock, it almost felt like he still had a point to prove and he accomplished this by having another year of show-stealing matches.\u00a0 First against The Undertaker at Wrestlemania 29<\/em> and then again at Summerslam 2013<\/em> when he had, in my opinion, the best match in the history of the event.\u00a0 Punk and Lesnar had an absorbing encounter where both men incorporated MMA holds and submissions alongside conventional wrestling holds.\u00a0 Both men played their roles to perfection, Lesnar as the physically dominant bully and Punk as the angry and scrappy underdog who doesn’t know when to quit.\u00a0 This is one of those near-perfect matches for me where every move is hit perfectly, the intensity never lets up and it always holds my attention from the opening bell to the final pin fall.\u00a0 I wouldn’t change a thing about this match.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There have been over 200 matches at Summerslam. These are ten of the best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":16224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2065,93,1010,1854],"class_list":["post-16223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tv","tag-summerslam","tag-wrestling","tag-wwe","tag-wwf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16223"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16238,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16223\/revisions\/16238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/16224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}