With SummerSlam reaching it’s 30th Anniversary it seems the perfect time for it to become the final one of the WWE’s “Big Four” to get its own dedicated celebratory DVD release. Courtesy of WWE Home Video, Matthew Roberts takes a look to see whether it does the history of the show justice.
Unlike previous releases on WrestleMania and the Royal Rumble, there is no documentary on this new set. If that is disappointing, at least this does not follow the format of last year’s “30 Years of Survivor Series” release in which the supposed 30 “best moments” in Survivors history were counted down. Instead this is a fairly straightforward run through of what is presumably meant to represent 18 of the greatest SummerSlam matches in its history. Many will no doubt lament one, or more, of their own particular favourites being missed off but given the usual consideration of wrestling politics and the need to not overload such a set with the same faces most will concede that this chronological set does at least deliver up some classics.
And we do get one bonus throughout the presentation; the return of the “SummerSlam Report” segments, hosted by none other than “Mean” Gene Okerlund himself. For those who sat through Superstars waiting for the run-down of the upcoming PPV card this will be a welcome blast of nostalgia. Even better it does add context to some of the bouts that we subsequently see.
We start off with something that is anything but a classic “wrestling” match, but remains one of the most talked about and remembered moments of the show’s history. Ultimate Warrior’s 30 second destruction of Honky Tonk Man from the inaugural 1988 show. No SummerSlam collection would be complete without it.
Match quality takes a distinct upturn as Disc 1 continues. The two out of three falls World Tag Team Titles match between Demolition and the challengers The Hart Foundation (1990) is a satisfying mix of old school tag team wrestling and WWE shenanigans played out in front of a white-hot crowd. This of course pales into insignificance to the next match, the 1992 main event of Bret Hart defending his Intercontinental Title against brother-in-law Davey Boy Smith in front of the challengers rabid home crowd at Wembley Stadium. Davey’s finest hour, in all senses, and even though Bret has since broken the illusion, pointing out that a “drugged up” Smith had to be led through the match it still remains a fantastic match and arguably the peak of the WWE on UK soil. The 1994 Steel Cage match where Bret Hart defends his World Title against brother Owen Hart can’t quite live up to that, but it’s another fantastic match and has a big claim to be the greatest ever “blue bar” cage match the WWE ever presented.
The Boiler Room brawl between The Undertaker and Mankind (1996) is a fun “attitude era before the attitude era” bout with a stunning ending, all things considered. Disc one ends with the Triple H and Rock Ladder match (1998) that was arguably a big moment in cementing both men as true headliners-in-waiting. Perhaps twenty years on it seems a little clunky compared to modern-day Ladder matches and neither man were ever anyone’s idea of high-flying, high-risk bump takers but it’s still a match that entertains today.
Disc 2 does start off with people’s idea of high-flying, high-risk bump takers as Jeff Hardy and Rob Van Dam clash in an exhilarating stunt-fest that has just as much action as any modern-day ladder match. We get a double dose of action from 2001 as we also get Stone Cold Steve Austin and Kurt Angle’s match for the World Title from that show. It’s a fantastic match, let down only by its DQ finish which whilst not lessening the supreme effort that both men put into it does leave things on a sour note. 2002 pulls double duty on the set too, but once again it’s with good reason. 2002 is up there as one of the best event in the show’s history and we’re certainly treated well by the two match choices. After four years out of the ring, Shawn Michaels returns to the ring for an “Unsanctioned Match” with Triple H…and within the space of half an hour he proves he’s as good as he ever was. Set-up beautifully as a feud, the match follows suit with inch-perfect psychology and timing. And to think that this was just the start of the “second career” of Michaels; as unlikely as it seemed at the time the second half of his career would turn out to be even better than his first in the ring. Brock Lesnar’s first crack at the Undisputed Title against the Rock can’t hope to match that, but it comes pretty close. Hyped at the time by a very “sports” orientated feel this was a strong, solid match and was perhaps the first proof that hitching the WWE rocket to Lesnar would pay dividends…even if hindsight suggests something different.
We go from the sublime to the ridiculous next as 2005’s clash between Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan hits our screens. Michaels’ heel work leading up to this bout were some of my favourite promo’s of all time but once Hulk Hogan had refused to fight HBK (and lose) in a rematch the match here went into infamy. Michaels’ ridiculous over-selling is funny to watch, and many will enjoy Hogan’s ego being pricked, but it loses its charm on repeat viewings. Disc 2 rounds off with 2007’s Randy Orton vs John Cena. The show was pretty average, at best, and saying this was perhaps the best match on the card says more about the card as a whole than it does about the match. If you’ve seen on Orton / Cena match, you’ve seen this one.
Disc 3 starts with the TLC match between CM Punk and Jeff Hardy (2009). I could make an argument that this feud was the artistic highlight of Punk’s entire WWE run and this (almost) feud ender is a great work of art. It perhaps doesn’t have the sheer amount of big spots that other matches of its type have given us but at the same time it makes up for that with storyline and psychology. 2012’s show opener of Chris Jericho vs Dolph Ziggler seems to be here for political reasons. It’s a good match, maybe even very good, and plays out in front of a hot crowd. But even allowing for the restraints of this feature, is it really amongst the top 20 or so matches or moments in SummerSlam history?
John Cena against Daniel Bryan (2013) certainly is though; I’d go as far as to say it’s a worthy five-star classic, from a show that featured another one (Lesnar/Punk). The latter would have been a better choice for this collection than 2014’s Lesnar/Cena match. It’s fun to watch Lesnar absolutely destroy Cena in what, at times, is little more than an extended squash and this comes from a time when it wasn’t Brock’s only modus operandi. But again, one of the biggest matches or moments in SummerSlam history? Not really. Similarly, you know why Charlotte Vs Sasha Banks (2016) is on here, the WWE’s women’s revolution demands it, but whilst it’s a solid match and arguably the best women’s match you could choose from SummerSlam that doesn’t mean that it’s all that great. Still, the WWE had to put it on here, didn’t they? The disc, and collection as a whole, ends with last year’s Fatal Four Way between Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns, Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman. It’s historical importance is debateable but it’s a high octane battle that was the match of the night at the event by some distance.
As mentioned at the top this collection will not represent everyone’s idea of the best of SummerSlam, even taking into account the usual WWE political bias prevalent in all such DVD sets. And yet even if some of my own personal favourite matches failed to make the cut (1995’s Shawn/Razor, 1997’s Bret/Taker, 2013’s Lesnar/Punk to name but three) what remains is a good collection of matches that go some way to summing up what has made SummerSlam a success over the years.
Format reviewed: DVD
Photos courtesy of Fetch and WWE.
Thank you to our partners, WWEDVD.co.uk and Fetch for providing our review copy of Thirty Years of SummerSlam, which is out on DVD Monday 20 August. You can buy your copy from WWEDVD.co.uk now by clicking here