SummerSlam comes our way this weekend and, if history is anything to go by, we could be set for some more all-time classic memories.
Traditionally the company’s second biggest show of the entire year, the ultimate summer party sees WWE’s big hitters combine for a spectacular now enjoying a residency in Brooklyn, New York.
But as SummerSlam has toured the United States and the rest of the world over the years, it’s left in its wake some of the finest in-ring action of all time.
Here, Matty Paddock breaks down five of those classic bouts.
Bret Hart v Owen Hart (1994)
Bret Hart stood atop of WWE for much of 1994 after co-winning the Royal Rumble and, at Wrestlemania, landing the WWE championship.
His biggest feud of the year was with his very own brother, Owen. The two first met in a classic singles match at Mania – the same night Bret would claim gold – and Owen claimed one of the biggest upset victories in history.
It seemed only natural, then, that the two would collide for Bret’s title, and that meeting took place at SummerSlam in Chicago.
Locked inside a steel cage to ensure no outside interference from the likes of the late Jim Neidhart, the brothers put on another hard-hitting classic, with Bret eventually claiming the narrowest of victories after Owen became tangled in the bars of the cage.
AJ Styles v John Cena (2016)
There’s surely little surprise that AJ Styles features on our compilation somewhere but it’s perhaps a disservice to Cena’s legendary career that there were many who didn’t expect much from this bout given that his style and repertoire are so often derided.
The match delivered, though, and it was far from a case of Styles carrying Cena through it. At the climax, Styles reversed an AA into a Styles Clash and, ultimately, a Phenomenal Forearm for the all-important pinfall.
On commentary, JBL would declare it was “legacy affirmed… career defined” for Styles, and few could argue.
Mr Perfect v Bret Hart (1991)
The summer of 1991 was in many respects the first real run Bret Hart had as a singles competitor in WWE, having mostly worked tag team matches – albeit with stunning success – with the Hart Foundation up to then.
Here he met the self-styled Mr Perfect, easily one of the most accomplished and underrated talents in WWE history. 1991’s SummerSlam took place in Madison Square Garden in front of Bret’s parents, Stu and Helen – quite a fitting setting for one of the most iconic wins of his career, achieved thanks to a crunching sharpshooter.
Triple H v Shawn Michaels (2002)
WWE fans had feared that Shawn Michaels’ career had long since come to a close at around this time. His previous match – losing the WWE title to Stone Cold Steve Austin at Wrestlemania in 1998, some 1,609 days previously, saw him racked with the agony of a back injury that had looked to put paid to his career.
HBK would return, though, for another lengthy stint that originally began with just one match – the Unsanctioned Street Fight against his best pal, Triple H. The Game had ruthlessly turned his back on Michaels – a turn solidified when he left the Showstopper in a pool of his own blood in a vicious attack, ramming his head through a car window.
Michaels would seek vengeance on his former buddy, and clinched it in the most satisfying way possible – pinning Triple H for the win after a brutal affair. In his own trademark style, the Cerebral Assassin would have the last laugh as he delivered a post-match beat-down, but the match will always be remembered as Michaels’ sensational comeback.
Bret Hart v British Bulldog (1992)
Hart may appear for a third time on our list, but in truth no self-respecting Brit can compile a SummerSlam ‘Greatest Hits’ list without including the main event of the biggest WWE event ever to be held on these shores.
SummerSlam 1992 packed more than 80,000 fans into London’s Wembley Stadium – a feat that’s never come close to being matched ever since.
Quite rightly, WWE opted to put the home-town hero, Davey Boy Smith, in the main event as he tangled with brother-in-law Bret for the Intercontinental Championship.
Bret was far the more established singles competitor, going on to win the WWE championship a matter of months later, and so the Bulldog went into this one very much the underdog, even with home advantage.
He would, however, claim his first singles championship by pinning Bret in the centre of the ring to win what Vince McMahon heralded as “one of the greatest wrestling matches of all time”.
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