Dusty’s blog: Top 15 WWE Summerslam matches

Ring the bell! Where's the guy that rings the bell? I gotta know where he is at all times!

So here is my list of the best Summerslam matches ever. This list is, obviously, not meant to be definitive in any way. When compiling my list, I came upon approximately 25-30 matches that could lay claim to having rights of being on this list. Narrowing it down was a difficult task. I find myself leaning towards the matches of my childhood, as opposed to those from my young adulthood, when in doubt. Which I suppose makes sense. Those memories are the fondest for me. In any event, here is my list.

1.) Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect, 1991
I think Eric put this one best in an MSN Messenger conversation. This one closely parallels the Steve Austin vs. Shawn Michaels match from WrestleMania 14. Perfect went into the match with a bad back. You can see him noticeably wincing at times. This, however, did not prevent him from taking bump after bump, going about things in typical business as usual fashion. Perfect’s bump taking obviously influenced Shawn Michaels’ bumping later in his career. Meanwhile, this match in effect served as the launching pad for Bret Hart’s career. From this point on, Bret is a credible singles act, a future World Heavyweight Champion. A simple but effective story told, which, when you think about it, is what wrestling should be all about.

2.) Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels, 1995
This one moved up my list upon second and third viewing in the process of compiling this list. I almost like this one better than their first ladder match, from WrestleMania 10. The crowd heat might be better, and they employ better psychology than in the first. As it will stand in the history books, this one is just slightly worse than the original, but being slightly worse than the best is nothing to sneeze at. And to think, this match almost didn’t take place at all. Thank God it did. (Or at least, thank Bill Watts.)

3.) Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog, 1992
I can definitely see where a person would have this ranked at number one on their list. It’s certainly a stellar match-up that is impossible to leave off any best of SummerSlam list. What downgrades it slightly for me is that for much of the match, it’s a one man dance. Thankfully that one man is the best dancer of the ’90s. Hart was able to carry Davey Boy to what was an awesome match that lived up to the spectacle of being in front of the largest crowd ever for a WWF show, even in spite of Bulldog’s steady summer diet of television watching and frying his brain cells.

Eric’s blog: Top 20 WWE Summerslam matches

"I think my smile's under there!"

During the recording of our Best of WWE Summerslam audio, I suggested the Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H match from Summerslam 2002 was the greatest match in Summerslam history. Dusty immediately said, “Well, one of them.” I immediately thought of three other great matches off the top of my head and many more that could qualify for top 10 matches of Summerslam past. So many, in fact, that I’ve stretched my list out to a top 20. Well, 18; I’m only throwing two of them a bone because some people seem to love them for reasons not to be explained by me. So here we go, in reverse order (with the two “honorable mentions” tacked on right away, and five personal favorites to follow), my top 20 matches in Summerslam history.

(20) Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart, Summerslam 1994. If you want to watch two grown men slowly climb a cage and slowly pull each other down for 30 straight minutes with practically no drama attached, watch this match. The best part is the end, when Jim Neidhart and a returning Davey Boy Smith get involved. Otherwise, yawn the night away.

(19) Rock vs. Triple H, ladder match, Summerslam 1998. If Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon revolutionized the ladder match in 1994 and topped themselves in 1995, this one sent the ladder match back to the Middle Ages. In their defense, both men were still coming into their own as workers. But while doing so, they cost me about 28 minutes of my life I’ll never get back.

(18) Chris Benoit vs. Orlando Jordan, Summerslam 2005. Oh, come on, this was funny. OJ looked like a punk bitch, and Benoit drank his coffee all the way to the bank. And eventually Hell.

Summerslam Preview Audio

End of Summer bash mother truckers.

Check it out people, it’s the Stunt Granny Summerslam Preview hosted by Kevin and Jeremy. The guys cover the WWE’s third biggest show of the year in the same fashion you have come to expect. They gush about the prospects and actual intrigue of the CM Punk/ Jeff hardy TLC match. They throw out different scenarios for a match that seems to have in inevitable outcome and how it will shape Smackdown for the foreseeable future. They discuss how the Legacy/DX match can be a positive if executed correctly. They somehow during the show they break down in to a discussion of Mike Knox and Finlay. Not only that, Kevin channels 1999 and goes man crush on K-Qwick.  So if that doesn’t get you to listen, other than so much more, well, I give up.
So listen.

Summerslam 2009 preview