It's not much of a controversial take to say that 1995 was the worst year in wrestling history, especially at the highest level. WCW had managed to score the signature of Hulk Hogan the previous year, but the Hulkster's arrival had failed to turn business around in Atlanta. Kevin Sullivan got the book, and went to work creating the Dungeon of Doom, often regarded as one of the worst factions ever. Meanwhile in the WWF, everything was falling apart. A lack of drawing power in the main event scene led to the cancellation of scores of house shows and lower attendances and buyrates. Diesel had been given the reigns late in '94 as WWF Champion, but was perhaps too green to make anything out of the sorriest group of challengers any champion has had the misfortune of facing. Vince McMahon completely jumped the shark during the much maligned King of the Ring '95, crowning Mabel as King in spite of the fact that the big man could barely move, let alone work a top tier main event program. With momentum in the toilet, could the company turn things around at SummerSlam?
- Vince and Jerry Lawler are again on the call here, for most of the show, at least. Poor Jim Ross is just stuck doing interviews on this night, one of the many idiotic decisions made here. The buyrate for this show did eclipse the second In Your House pay-per-view from the previous month, but is down dramatically from last year, a sign of just how bad the times are.
- Our opening contest sees Hakushi(Jinsei Shinzaki of Michinoku Pro) take on The 1-2-3 Kid(the future X-Pac). I'm shocked this is the first time I'm covering one of Sean Waltman's matches, he was a staple of the mid 90s in the WWF, earning his moniker after picking up an upset win over Razor Ramon on Raw in 1993. This match is very, very good, as both men wrestle at an extremely high pace, especially when compared to the rest of the card. Shinzaki gets in some great offense, including a handspring cartwheel suicide dive and a Bronco Buster, a move that Waltman would later make more famous. The crowd in the Pittsburgh Civic Arena gets really into this, reacting with astonishment at some of the moves these guys are pulling out. The finish is incredible, with the Kid going for the spinning crescent kick and getting caught into Hakushi's Nenbutsu Bomb, a combination side suplex/powerbomb move that looks devastating. What a way to start a show, these guys are both great, wrestling a match that honestly wouldn't look too out of place today. The only real negative is the lack of selling, as both guys are just getting in spots and not telling much of a story, and also the fact that this went on first, guaranteeing that the rest of the action to come would feel extremely underwhelming in comparison.
- Time to really dip into the cheesy 90s gimmick pool, as the Connecticut Blueblood, Hunter Hearst Helmsley takes on supposed NASCAR driver Bob "Spark Plug" Holly. Nothing special to be found here from two guys that are much well remembered for other characters in wrestling, though I did note that Triple H in particular looked very awkward and extremely green. The Pedigree keeps Hunter's undefeated record alive, but it seems pretty obvious that he's not going anywhere with this gimmick, maybe he should consider something a bit more serious.
- It's only getting better from here folks, as we've got tag team action up next featuring the Smoking Gunns and the Blu Brothers, a true who's who of who the f*** is that. The future 8-Ball and Skull of DOA are accompanied by Uncle Zebediah, Dutch Mantel, who looks like he would rather by anywhere else in the world. Billy Gunn is the only guy trying here, taking some big bumps and getting in the occasional smooth counter. Bart and Billy get the win with their Sidewinder finisher.
- Barry Horowitz was a longtime jobber in the WWF until just a few months prior to this show, where he picked up a shocking win over Skip of the Bodydonnas(Chris Candido). That loss enraged both Skip and manager Sunny, as the cocky health gurus are now on the warpath, and seeking revenge on this night. Seeing a guy like Horowitz get pushed is really quite something, as nothing about him really stands out, but he is tremendously over and the win over Skip is one of the best moments of the year. This match is nothing great, neither guy has a particularly interesting moveset, though Sunny and Skip are both really good at drawing heat and portraying their characters. After Horowitz makes a comeback and Sunny interferes, Hakushi makes his way to ringside. He distracts Skip by leaping over both men, allowing Horowitz to score another fluke victory with a roll-up. This match may not have been great but the story they're telling with Horowitz is clearly connecting with the fans and it's a shame his push didn't really get him that high up the card.
- In women's title action, new arrival Bertha Faye, accompanied by Harvey Wippleman, takes the strap from Alundra Blayze in just over 4 minutes. Not much to say about this one, Faye seems to be here just to be laughed at because she dared to not look like a model, and Blayze deserved far better than this quick defeat. The match is watchable enough, mostly thanks to the champion, but it's just so disappointing to see how far the women's division has fallen after the great match between Blayze and Bull Nakano the previous year.
- I have never been a fan of the casket match, it's a stipulation that generally proves to be extremely limiting and tends to result in some very boring matches. The casket match on this night between The Undertaker and Kama Mustafa, the future Godfather, was definitely no exception. Kama is nicknamed
"The Ultimate Fighting Machine", a gimmick inspired by early UFC fighter Kimo Leopoldo, and one that Charles Wright really struggles to pull off. His strikes look soft as all hell, and he's just so slow, as this match is fought at a glacial pace. In 16 minutes of wrestling, we get one semi-cool spot, as after both men go crashing into the casket, Kama emerges first before being caught by The Undertaker, who rises to his feet to a big pop. One Tombstone later and it's mercifully over, as Kama is tossed into the casket and we can finally move on to something, anything else.
- Ah yes, we now get one of the "highlights" of the WWF in 1995 with the debut of Isaac Yankem, D.D.S. The future Kane has aligned with Jerry Lawler in his feud with Bret Hart, taking the gimmick of an evil dentist who take pleasure in inflicting as much pain as possible on unsuspecting patients. Hart scored a win over Lawler at King of the Ring in a "Kiss My Foot" match, shoving both his foot and Lawler's own foot into Jerry's mouth, causing him to violently throw up several times. Yankem is here for revenge, and while this storyline and character may be one of the worst ever concocted, the match itself is actually pretty decent. Glenn Jacobs is very athletic when he wants to be and was clearly out to prove something to management, taking several opportunities to fly off the top rope. Bret, though likely frustrated to be stuck in this program, still gives it his all to make the match something good, selling well for Yankem's offense and even hitting a suicide dive, a very rare sight. After the Sharpshooter is applied, Lawler leaves commentary to get involved, leading to him and Yankem choking Bret in between the top and middle ropes in a genuinely terrifying looking spot. 16 minutes was definitely too long for this match, and the storyline is abysmal, but I still thought this was enjoyable enough.
- In a rematch of their absolute classic from WrestleMania 10, Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon meet again with Shawn's Intercontinental Championship on the line. I tend to not have the most scorching hot takes in these reviews, but I'm coming in with an absolutely nuclear one here: I thought this match was better than the one at 'Mania. Don't get me wrong, that match was great, but it was a bit too much of a spotfest for me, just Shawn having fun with a ladder for 18 minutes. This time around, the story is so much tighter and better told, as both men have shown respect for each other in the past but both are willing to do whatever it takes to win. After a more wrestling focused opening, we get the first big story point of the match, when Shawn is caught up in the ladder after Razor pushes it down, resulting in a scary looking bump that kayfabe injures his leg. Razor then works the leg with some great offense, including an Indian Deathlock and just straight up dropping the ladder on Shawn's leg, my favorite spot of the night. Razor is fantastic as the dastardly heel, and the crowd really gets into it, rallying behind Shawn in a big way. My only minor nitpick is after all this work Razor does damaging the leg, Shawn mostly just stops selling it down the stretch, which makes that portion of the match feel somewhat pointless. But I get why he stopped, as he needed to make his big comeback, which includes a moonsault off the ladder and missing his big splash, a nice callback to their first match. The ending is a little botched, as after Shawn counters a Razor's Edge by dumping Ramon to the floor, the ladder he's climbing collapses, and HBK throws a tantrum. Finally, he does get another ladder setup and unhooks the gold to remain champion, setting up a title defense against former bodyguard Sycho Sid in the near future. Razor and Shawn share a moment after the match, as Ramon hands over the title and raises the champion's arm. Even with the couple different issues I could find with this match, I would still consider this the best ladder match I've ever watched, a perfect story told between two of the best wrestlers in the company and a must-watch for any wrestling fan.
- Main event time, as Diesel defends the WWF Championship against King Mabel in what is generally considering one of the worst pay-per-view main events in company history. Honestly, I don't have a lot to say about this. Anyone with even a basic understanding of wrestling could've predicted this would be awful, and that's what it was. In this case, I do feel bad for Kevin Nash, who is put in the worst position possible, attempting to get anything out of Mabel whilst also still trying to appear like a true champion. He does try to inject some life into this match, but it's snuffed out after Mabel sits down on the champion's back, legitimately injuring Nash and giving him no chance to do much more here. The most damning aspect of all of this mess was the fact that most of the intrigue around it is centered around the British Bulldog, who turned heel on Diesel on the go-home Raw. Lex Luger, Davey Boy's partner in the Allied Powers tag team, interferes during the match and Diesel clotheslines him out of the ring, only for Lex to just double back later to help Diesel by sending Mo to the back. I suppose this could've been an interesting character moment, had Lex not just left for WCW the week later anyway. Diesel can't even hit the Jacknife Powerbomb on Mabel, possibly because of his back injury, so he just ends it with a very weak diving clothesline. Terrible, especially following that classic ladder match.
3/10
SummerSlam 1995 is a show of a few highs and a lot of lows that nearly put me to sleep several times. The casket match and the main event are the two most obvious lowlights, but there's just a feel surrounding this show, of a company on the verge of death. Very few people feel like genuine stars, and there's almost no heat to any of the action, which generally isn't good enough to stand by itself. You can watch this show for the opener and the ladder match, and maybe fool yourself into thinking it's much better than it's reputation suggest, but it's all a mirage. Vince McMahon was leading his company down a dark tunnel without even the slightest hint of light in sight, and it would be many years before the WWF could recover from the damage he had wrought.
Next time on Henry's Pay-Per-View Reviews: I don't want to quite leave the misery that was the WWF in 1995 just yet, as there is an actual good show from this year to cover, that being Survivor Series, which features a main event WWF title match between Diesel and Bret Hart. See you soon.
- Henry
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