Mr. SummerSlam

[The Brain]

Several years ago Shawn Michaels gave himself the nickname Mr. WrestleMania. He earned that moniker despite having a poor win loss record at the event by putting on so many memorable performances win or lose. Since we have a Mr. WrestleMania I think it’s appropriate that we crown a Mr. SummerSlam.

Who better than Mr. WrestleMania’s greatest rival to have the title of Mr. SummerSlam? Of course I’m speaking of Bret Hart. For the first ten years of its existence no one put on as good a show as the Hitman at SummerSlam. Whether it was a tag team, IC, or main event match Bret always shined on Summer’s biggest stage. Here’s a quick review.

1988: vs. Demolition: great tag title match that had the crowd on the edge of their seats.

1989: vs. Brain Busters: often overlooked this was a terrific match between two of the greatest teams in wrestling history.

1990: vs. Demolition: The Harts were challenging for the titles again, this time against three Demolition members. It was two out of three falls and the Harts finally reclaimed the gold in one of my all time favorite tag matches.

1991: vs. Mr. Perfect: This was a fantastic IC title match. This one really put Bret on the map as a singles star and is one of my favorite matches to watch.

1992: vs. Davey Boy Smith: This is possibly Bret’s most famous match. I haven’t seen anyone say this was anything less than awesome. This launched Bret to the main event.

1993: vs. Doink & Jerry Lawler: This was more about angle than match but the unscheduled match against Doink was pretty good followed by a nice beat down on the hated Lawler.

1994: vs. Owen Hart: An awesome cage match for the world title that went over 30 minutes. Classic.

1995: vs. Isaac Yankem: Not a technical masterpiece by any means but Bret did a nice job working with a very green Big Red Machine.

1997: vs. Undertaker: After years of working with behemoths Taker got a chance to work with someone who could give him a different kind of challenge. Bret gave Taker what was probably his best match to date at the time.

So there you have it. They may not all be classics but they’re pretty damn close. I’d say his matches in 1991, 1992, and 1994 are probably three of the top four matches in SummerSlam history. That’s pretty good for one guy. Add that to the great tag matches during the early years of the event and it’s obvious to me Bret Hart is Mr. SummerSlam.

So am I right? Is Bret Hart Mr. SummerSlam? If not, who is?

 

[The Dragon Saga]

Personally Brain before I even opened the topic I knew Bret Hart was going to be the person labeled with this monicker. Hart had six great matches, six years in a row at SummerSlam, his greatest being with Davey in Wembley in the Summer of '92. But due to arguements sake, and to not give one option although I believe you've hit the nail on the head, one other person could make a case.

That person is "Mr. WrestleMania" Shawn Michaels.

In '92 at Wembly Shawn had a match with Rick Martel that wasn't great but when you take into account that neither man was permitted to punch the other in the face it turned out pretty damn good. Before that he had a couple good, solid tag team matches alongside Jannetty. One I remember being very good, against Paul Roma and Hercules.

In '93 he faced Mr. Perfect which was a great match. It ended in count-out and Shawn was stripped of the title but the match itself was back-and-forth and very solid.

SummerSlam '95 saw Ramon vs. Michaels II in a Ladder match for the "uncrowned" IC Championship. Some say this was better than their WrestleMania match. I remember they even broke the ladder throwing it over one another. Michaels won this one, and it was another great match.

At SummerSlam the following year he faced Vader for the WWE Championship. It wasn't one of the best matches but it was still a good solid match, if anything its probably he least impressive SummerSlam match but that isn't like you should sell it short. A good match.

Shawn officiated the match between Taker and Bret, he wasn't in the match physically asides from the chair shot but again, it's a memorable SummerSlam moment and his face was in the thick of it. He didn't wrestle at it again until 2002 but when he did it was a match against Triple H which everyone who has seen remembers. Michaels and Hunter feuded for two years after it! But this match was violent as shit.

The Elimination Chamber in '03 was... decent, but it involved all heavy hitters. Shawn didn't win the match but if I remember he performed an Elbow Drop which was pretty awesome. And then you got Michaels vs. Hogan... Once again, not the best of matches because of the over-sells but the atmosphere was crazy.

Bret Hart is ultimately the person who should be labeled "Mr. SummerSlam", but if anything I've just gave a challenger or at least the case for second place.

 

[Dr. Mantis Toboggan, M.D.]

I was going to go with The Rock because of his matches with Angle, Triple H, Brock, and Booker T.. but I'm going to have to go with The Brain on this one. Although I haven't watched the Doink match or the two tag team matches, but I have seen all the others, and they are GREAT. Perfect v. Bret is a masterpiece, Bret v. Bull Dog is also a masterpiece. Those two matches prove you don't need to have a spot fest match. Pure wrestling at it's finest.

 

[mrbrownstone]

It is definitely Bret in my opinion, just looking at that list I cant think if anyone who has as many great matches at Summerslam as Hart has.

Three great tag title matches to start that list off, especially the 1990 match vs Demolition which is an all time classic. The '91 and '92 matches are some of the greatest matches of all time in my opinion and in the opinion of many others. The '93 match wasn't much but then again it wasn't really supposed to be, however it did advance a great angle in Bret vs Lawler so there is that. The '94 cage match is yet another classic, it is in fact one of only 4 matches in WWE history to receive ***** from Meltzer so that gives an indication of just how good it was. The '95 match was solid, Bret managed to carry a green Kane to a good match which is impressive. The '97 match was another extremely good match, not sure if I would go as far as saying an all time classic but it is certainly a damn good match.

Just looking over that list, Bret has 3 ('91, '92, '94) of at very worst the Top 10 matches in Summerslam history if not Top 5 with at least one or two of those of them being Top 3. Not a bad effort for one guy.