SummerSlam’s Hidden Gems

In this week’s edition of The Wrestling Estate Roundtable, John Corrigan, Steven Jackson and Editor in Chief Jack Goodwillie look at some of most unheralded matches in SummerSlam history you need to check out before this Sunday!

Steven Jackson’s Hidden SummerSlam Gems

1-2-3 Kid vs. Hakushi (1995)

1995 was arguably the “worst” year in mainstream wrestling history. WWF and WCW were, let’s face it, pretty awful. But there was certain matches which deserve more love than they get. 123 Kid vs Hakushi from Summerslam 1995 is one such match.

The two wrestlers had faced each other during WWF’s 1994 tour of Japan, and had fantastic chemistry. This match is no different! A wonderful match which is not given nearly enough attention as it deserves.

Rob Van Dam vs. Jeff Hardy (2001)

During the height of the inVasion angle, there was plenty of fantastic matches. I didn’t enjoy the storyline but watching select matches in silo, you realise how many hidden gems there are! RVD and Jeff Hardy had a tremendous ladder war. It didn’t revolutionise the genre. But it featured crazy bumps and nail-biting drama, only these two could think up!

Rey Mysterio vs. Dolph Ziggler (2009)

Rey Mysterio and Dolph Ziggler were made for Intercontinental Championship. Both wrestlers are two of the best technicians to lace up a pair of boots. So, putting them as the opener to Summerslam 2009 was just how you want to start your PPV off!

This match doesn’t get nearly enough praise or attention that it deserves. Again, it didn’t revolutionize the industry or create a history-defining moment, but is a damn great wrestling match.

Jack Goodwillie’s Hidden SummerSlam Gems

Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio (2002)

Can the opener to the greatest SummerSlam in event history – and by the transitive property, one of the greatest pro wrestling shows of all time – really be a match that is overlooked? I think so.

It doesn’t get much better than SummerSlam 2002. Talent is littered throughout the entire show. There is a little something for everybody, and really, Kurt Angle and Rey Mysterio only gave a small sampling of what they could be capable of doing in this match, but they managed to tell a phenomenal story of how the SmackDown newcomer, Mysterio, could overcome the odds, frustrate the Olympic Hero, and take him to his absolute limit. The character work from Angle really shines through.

The match checks in at just under 10 minutes in length. If you haven’t caught it yet, what’s your excuse?

Alberto Del Rio vs. Christian (2013)

The words “Christian” (in a wrestling sense) and “underrated” seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly. Booker T even just told Chris Van Vliet how Christian was his favorite opponent to work, even though they only wrestled a handful of times. So it should come as no surprise his match with Alberto Del Rio at SummerSlam 2013 is one that is criminally overlooked.

When people think of Christian and the World Heavyweight Championship during this era of WWE, they’ll probably think of his feud with Randy Orton. After all, Christian and Orton did meet at SummerSlam 2012 in one of the best matches they ever had together. But for as unlikeable as Alberto Del Rio may be as a person, he really had a way of making music between the ropes. By this point, both wrestlers had recently turned, and Christian’s in-ring career was winding down, but that did not stop these two from stealing the show in 2013. This is a crisp, technical match, and one that is definitely worth your time.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit vs. Rhyno vs. Tajiri (2003)

SummerSlam 2003 was not the follow-up to the all-time great 2002 pay-per-view, but it was not without its high points. The show did, after all, take place during the absolute peak of Paul Heyman’s SmackDown and during the formative months of the brand-spankin’ new United States Championship. The fancy new championship drove a wedge between frenemies Benoit and Guerrero, and future tag team partners and ECW mainstays Rhyno and Tajiri also got involved. However, it was the breakups of Guerrero’s short-lived tag team with Tajiri and Benoit’s formation with Rhyno that ultimately led to this match getting made.

The match itself is a quick-tempo, fun-sized Fatal-Four-Way offering. These matches are not for everyone – Guerrero even wrote in his book about how much he disdained multi-man matches as a singles competitor. But as far as these matches go, this is one hidden gem of SummerSlam you’ll want to check out between four quality bell-to-bell wrestlers.

John Corrigan’s Hidden SummerSlam Gems

The Steiners vs. The Heavenly Bodies (1993)

In the Steiners’ home state of Michigan, the brothers get a hero’s welcome as they collide with Smokey Mountain Wrestling’s hottest duo. In what was a down period for tag team wrestling, this match was a hybrid of old-school style mixed with a frenetic pace and innovative moves. While Brock Lesnar was still eating his Wheaties, Scott Steiner was building Suplex City.

Batista vs. John Cena (2008)

In their first-time encounter on WWE TV, the two biggest stars of the 2000s finally collided in a heavyweight superfight. As these two fan favorites traded knockout blows, the crowd remained loud for the entire clash. The finish was surprising as Super Cena had rarely taken a clean loss at the time.

Test vs. Shane McMahon (1999)

Love her or leave her was the stipulation because Shane O’Mac didn’t feel that Test was worthy of his little sister. So, he proceeded to recruit the Mean Street Posse and go to war with the big man in a brutal street fight. Sure, there is plenty of smoke and mirrors, but that’s the fun of pro wrestling. A rookie and a non-wrestler went out there and had the best match of either’s career.

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