We follow what is an extremely underrated Summerslam in ‘94 with Summerslam ‘95 headlined by Diesel and King Mabel. So at this point the top two Summerslam’s have to be ‘88 and ‘94 for me at this time. Remember at the end of this I will list the top five Summerslams in order as well as the top five matches in Summerslam history. This is the first Summerslam that opens with the “The World Wrestling Federation for over fifty years the revolutionary voice is sports and entertainment”. That statement rings straight to my childhood. We get an opening video package that shows clips and voice overs of the top feuds for tonight’s show. Oh boy we have Stridex as the official sponsor of Summerslam and Vince lets us know they have a record crowd in attendance. We have a promo to start off Summerslam which is Dean Douglas at the chalkboard and a stupid laugh. We kickoff Summerslam with a singles match uh oh… i’m having flashbacks to Summerslam ‘93.
123 Kid vs. Hakushi: I’m very interested in this match as Hakushi and the Kid are both very good workers. Watching Hakushi enter and all I see is where they got the idea for Mordacai’s entrance attire. Hakushi has a very elaborate entrance and also Vince puts him over as the modern day kamikaze. A small section of fan’s start a USA chant, so see I guess ‘95 isn’t so much different than ‘17. Kind of a slow match between these two as I expected this to be alot more fast paced. Instead we have Hakushi working over the leg’s of the Kid so that he can’t use the majority of his offense. The crowd isn’t very much into his even though the Kid is trying to get them hyped up. Hakushi gets a reversal and a slam for the finish and there are some guys in the front row cheering. Other than that we get some boo’s but not extremely audible.
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Bob Holly: We have our first HHH sighting at Summerslam and his facial expressions are great as he enters. I love the logo in the ring of his “family crest” it’s fantastic. The ladies go crazy as HHH removes his shirt and in the background Vince and Lawler are discussing Kentucky Fried Quail. You can tell in HHH’s mannerisms that he took alot from Regal when they were a team together in WCW. HHH is very aggressive in the ring and throws really good punches. Again this match isn’t fantastic by any stretch of the imagination however its a really good match. HHH scores an awesome reversal into a pedigree. Two singles matches in a row to start off this Summerslam, and two solid matches so far enjoying the show.
Jacob and Eli Blue vs. The Smoking Guns: Neither get an entrance into the ring however the Smoking Guns do get music. Kind of weird actually. The Blue Brothers are huge and Billy Gunn is starting this match selling everything for Jacob Blue. How Billy Gunn wrestles in tight jeans and cowboy boots i’ll never understand. Both teams utilizing quick tags and double team moves in this match which is fun to see. This crowd has been cheering the heels pretty heavy so far especially the group with white shirts in the front. Billy makes a late hot tag to Bart gunn who comes in with punches and slams for everyone. Bart throws one Blue into another Blue and then they hit there awesome double team finisher for the victory. Another entertaining match that I didn’t dislike and I’m kind of surprised. The Smoking Guns are certainly missing something and are in need of a manager.
Barry Horowitz vs. Skip: This match is based completely off of Horowitz finally getting his first win against Skip and then going to a time limit draw with him. Wow they just said it’s time for Skip to “Stridex out that imperfection”. Suny is out and we can already see the charisma that she has and also why she was AOL’s most downloaded person. Barry Horowitz comes out WITH THEME MUSIC that you would hear at a bar mitzvah. Horowitz comes out on fire with offense that Skip can’t do anything about. A great story being told between these two with Skip being the over confident superior athlete and Horowitz being the lovable underdog. Hakushi comes to the ringside area and distracts Sunny and Skip and jumps onto the apron and over Skip. Horowitz rolls Skip up in a small package FOR THE WIN! Barry Horowitz can say he has a Summerslam PPV win on his resume.
Bertha Faye vs. Alundra Blayze: Faye has Harvey Whippleman as a manager and I firmly believe whenever they wanted to make a superstar look bigger than they are they put them with Whipplemen. Blayze has an elaborate entrance with pyro and a flashing sign for her name. I’m looking forward to this match especially after what I got at the prior years Summerslam. I have no idea what Bertha is wearing but if you remember yerple the clown from the attitude era it looks like something it would have picked out. Lawler and Vince continue to talk about Faye’s weight and Lawler said she has buns like cinnamon and not steel. Quite a few botches early in this match however its not ruined for me yet. These two don’t have the chemistry that Blayze and Nakano had. Whipplemen gets involved and Blayze chases Whipplemen around the ring and Whipplemen takes a tumble HA!. Blayze hits a pretty impressive frankensteiner on Faye. WOW Faye gets the win out of no where with a Powerbomb we have a new champion. HA! Whipplemen jumps into Faye’s arms. This isn’t anywhere near as good as the women’s match from the prior year.
Kama Mustafa vs. The Undertaker (Casket Match): Before the match Undertaker cuts a promo and tells Kama that he will Rest In Peace. This is the loudest i’ve heard the crowd yet for the Undertaker’s entrance. You better believe Vince and other officials noticed this. Kama is a big guy, bigger than I remember as a kid. Kama plays up being scared of the casket, as i’m assuming any sane person would be. Undertaker just hit a big splash in the corner and that was very cool to see. The crowd is eating up everything the Undertaker does right now. They have a casket camera which is pretty cool. Kama moves pretty well for a big guy and ends up in the casket but before Undertaker can close it he distracts him with the chain. I believe the chain was originally the urn and they melted down into a chain. Both men at one point end up standing on top of the casket and you can see the lid bending and it wobbling around. The crowd is going CRAZY for the Undertaker chanting Rest In Peace who would have thought? Kama goes for a pin and the referees are like uh.. Kama the casket is over here bro. The Undertaker signals for a tombstone and again the crowd is absolutely electric. This is by far the loudest the crowd has been yet for this PPV. Undertaker begins to roll Kama into the casket and shut the lid and we have a winner The Undertaker. I would love to know what the conversation was like backstage after this match with the crowd reaction to Undertaker. Vince sips in a New Generation comment on commentary here.
Bret Hart vs. Isaac Yankem DDS: We get a video package to show how this feud began. Of course this is a spin off of the feud with Jerry Lawler that started over two years ago. The thoughts that Lawler couldn’t defeat Hart so he went and got an evil dentist is the most ‘95 thing on this show. Yankem’s theme music is just a high pitch drill and he’ comes out in full dental attire. OH MY at the amount of dental puns and we haven’t even completed the entrances of both competitors. I remember as a kid how cool it was to have a pair of Bret Hart sunglasses and that little kid that received him looks like he didn’t care that much. Yankem is a large human being and this match instantly becomes more interesting if you change the names to Bret Hart vs. Kane. Bret takes a bump into the corner from Yankem that looks like it made the entire ring move. Bret is selling his ass off for Yankem in this match. We get a couple of near falls and Yankem takes over this match using his strength. The referee counts to five with a Yankem choking Bret Hart on the ropes and doesn’t disqualify him. Instead he grabs Yankem by the hair and pulls him away. Yankem is having a good showing here in this match, granted he’s facing one of the greatest of all time he’s still holding his own in a lengthy match. Hart signals to the audience that he’s going for the sharpshooter and the crowd goes insane. Lawler gets involved and helps Yankem get to the ropes for the rope break. Hart is really selling the power of Yankem in this match he just took a stiff shot into the stairs. Hart ties Yankems feet around the turnbuckle post with cable found around ringside. He then gets back into the ring and puts the boots to Yankem before Lawler decides to interfere. This leads to Hart and Lawler brawling outside and YANKEM GOING OFF THE TOP ROPE TO THE OUTSIDE with a double axe handle. Bret gets his head caught in the ropes and Lawler and Yankem start pulling on Hart’s legs as he’s trapped between the ropes. The bell rings and Hart has won via disqualification.
Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels (Intercontinental Title Ladder Match): This is certainly not the one people reference when talking about ladder matches. Razor Ramon gets a good reaction when he comes out and McMahon references the Wrestlemania X ladder match. Ramon’s pyro is something that as a kid I thought was so damn cool. If you think Ramon go a good reaction when he entered it was certainly topped when Shawn Michaels made his way down to the ring. He’s wearing the series one Jakks wrestling figure attire in this match. The ladies are going absolutely wild for Shawn Michaels during his entrance. You know this is a small thing however I like how Shawn entered with the title and they attached it to the cable after entrances. Doc Hendrix has taken over commentary duties for Jerry Lawler who left with Yankem after the previous match. Ramon and Shawn are complaining how high the title is which it is really high in the air. Hendrix makes an observation that the IC title has switched hands at every Summerslam except ‘93. NINETY THREE! Its amazing the chemistry these two men have and how each man knows each other so well in the ring. Michaels takes a pretty rough looking ladder fall and now Razor is using the ladder as a weapon. While this match certainly doesn’t have the high spots as ladder matches post TLC the psychology in this match is really well done. Razor is working over Michaels leg so that he can’t use Sweet Chin Music or climb the ladder. So much intensity in this match and they just got from one move to the next with little wasted movements or resting. Michaels climbs almost to the top of the ladder and connects with a moonsault onto Razor Ramon. Then goes back to the top of the ladder immediately after and misses a big splash. Both men are down and out at this point after beating the hell out of each other. Now both Michaels and Ramon have dragged themselves up the ladder and they take a fall off it at the same time with Michaels getting racked on the top rope Again both men are now down and I think I have a new favorite Summerslam match. Michaels takes a rough shot to the face with the ladder trying to smash Razor with it and Razor pulling the ropes down. Ramon and Michaels now both have ladders and it’s truly a first of its kind. Both men now climbing their respective ladders and it’s a race for the title Razor falls however Michaels is too far away from the title and makes a jump for it and misses taking a hard bump.Michaels reverses the Razors edge by dumping Razor over the top rope to the outside and he climbs the ladder and grabs the title but falls. He has a bit of a tantrum with the ladders and this time he climbs the ladder and retrieves the title. Post match Ramon hands Michaels the title out of respect and we get pyro to celebrate the victory of the Heart Break Kid. Hands down not close match of the night and certainly my favorite to this point in Summerslam History.
King Mabel vs. Diesel (WWF Title Match): Much like their Summerslam’s good luck with the main event trying to follow the match that happened just before it. We have guys who are carrying Mabel to the ring and one guy seems to be struggling a bit. I believe Mable just screamed “I’m going to be the first black champion” which would be a true statement. These are two large human beings and Diesel actually does a dive over the top rope to the floor taking abel down. The fans are clearly behind Diesel in this match and its good to see that the crowd isn’t completely dead after the IC title match. Mabel just knocked the referee out of the ring and then missed a big splash on Diesel. Mo has now entered the ring and he and Mabel try and double team Diesel. This brings out Lex Luger and he chases off MO but not before damage can be done to Diesel. Mabel goes for the pin and you can feel the crowd hope that he’s not actually going to win. Diesel hits a clothesline off the middle rope and gets the pin. Still WWF champion Diesel in not a very good main event.
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This PPV is actually a pretty easy and fun watch. If you can get past names like Hakushi, 123 Kid, Bob Holly, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Skip and Barry Horowitz being in the majority of the undercard and just watch the action you should enjoy it. I believe this is also the first Summerslam with just one tag team match. The main event is not very good however the last three matches are all actually worth the watch. While I find it to be a fun watch I wouldn’t put it ahead of the prior years or ‘88. The match of the night is Shawn MIchaels vs. Razor Ramon its thirty glorious minutes of ladder match brilliance. Until Summerslam ‘96 be awesome.
