Summerslam 1996: A Retrospective Look

[Dagger Dias]

This summer I'll be looking back on each of the previous Summerslam events, one by one. Every few days I will submit a new topic until we reach 2014's edition of the 2nd biggest brand in WWE.

This thread will be for discussing.... Summerslam 1996!

Summerslam 1996 took place on August 18, 1996. It was held at Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Here are the results of the matches from this show:




0. Stone Cold Steve Austin defeated Yokozuna in a singles match as part of Free for All (01:52)

1. Owen Hart defeated Savio Vega in a singles match (13:23)

2. The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) (with Sunny) (c) defeated The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip), The New Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Leif Cassidy) and The Godwinns (Henry and Phineas) (with Hillbilly Jim) in a Four-way tag team elimination match for the WWF Tag Team Championship (12:18)

3. Sycho Sid defeated The British Bulldog in a singles match (06:24)

4. Goldust (with Marlena) defeated Marc Mero (with Sable) in a singles match (11:01)

5. Jerry Lawler defeated Jake Roberts in a singles match (04:07)

6. Mankind defeated The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) in a Boiler Room Brawl (26:40)

7. Shawn Michaels (c) (with Jose Lothario) defeated Vader (with Jim Cornette) in a singles match for the WWF Championship (28:59)





Now, here are some discussion questions concerning the event:

What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

If you could change a few things about Summerslam 1996, what would it be and why?

You may only use wrestlers who were available at the roster at that time or make changes that could have realistically taken place in August 1996. Please keep in mind the situations going into the show such as who could actually have been pushed into a title match, or what songs existed back then if you wanted to change the show's theme music, and so forth.

You may only discuss Summerslam 1996 in this thread. The remaining Summerslam events will be getting their own retrospective threads, any posts regarding other events will be considered spam and you risk getting an infraction.

Discuss!

 

[The Brain]

SummerSlam 96 was kind of the New Generation of the New Generation. Gone were Diesel and Razor Ramon. Bret Hart was on hiatus. Shawn Michaels was leading the way and there were a lot of familiar faces to wrestling fans but new faces to the WWF at this event. It felt like the beginning of something new as some of the stars of the Attitude Era were starting to get their feet wet before the transformation.

The Boiler Room Brawl between The Undertaker and Mankind was unique. It was definitely better than I thought it would be. Paul Bearer turning on the Undertaker was a shocking moment that everyone remembers. For as much as I was pleasently surprised by the match I wouldn't call it my favorite. My favortie match on that show was the main event title match between Shawn Michaels and Vader. I loved Vader and was just happy to see him finally in the WWF. HBK vs. Vader felt like a big main event. It was a classic case of power vs. speed and they did it well. I wasn't to crazy about the multiple finishes but I suppose it served a purpose in giving Vader an excuse for losing. The problem was Vader never got the rematch that seemed to be set up and he was never quite the same threat throughout the rest of his WWF career. Despite that it was a very good main event and enjoyable match.

My least favorite match was Jake Roberts vs. Jerry Lawler. It was a good feud and Lawler was good with drawing heat like he did so much during that time. The match itself wasn't very good at all. I think more about the story than the actual match but if I had to pick a least favorite it would be this.

I don't have a lot that I would change about this card. I would have liked to have seen Steve Austin on the ppv. He wrestled Yokozuna in a dark match that lasted barely over a minute but that wasn't a good spot for the guy that just won King of the Ring. The problem is I can't really think of a good opponent for him. That's probably why he was left off. I think I would have just done Austin vs. Roberts building off the KOTR final. The Lawler feud was fine but getting Austin on the card should have been more of a priority. I would have also liked for Hunter Hearst Helmsley to be on the show. He was serving his MSG punishment at the time but I didn't know that in 1996 and really wanted him on that ppv. I guess it was ok to leave him off since there wasn't any decent opponent for him anyway. Maybe HHH vs. Savio Vega and Owen Hart vs. Yokozuna in a quick match since they were former partners.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Here's where things started to pick up again talent and booking wise but there were still major flaws.

Frankly it still amazes me they didn't let Davey go into Summerslam as the Champ and job it back to Shawn or face Bret for the title... It stuns me Vader jobbed but Sid won the belt at Survivor Series... it stuns me Austin wasn't put higher on the card when every other KOTR winner had wrestled for the title at Summerslam.

2 things screwed this card, Bret's hiatus and Shawn's dickish behaviour as champion. They KNEW Shawn was bombing and they were getting their ass handed to them by the new NWO angle. I can see why plans were made to "shock" with a title change at Survivor Series but Summerslam was the time to really deliver something special.

Many will say I harp on about Davey but this really was his peak in terms of ring ability and the heel persona was working well. Had Bret not gone away then I think we'd have gotten that rematch and he'd have gotten his reign, albiet a short one but without the Bret match on the cards it made no sense in Vince's mind and Sid was positioned instead.

Vader was never going to get a fair crack as a "non-Vince" creation...or more to the point, someone who had turned WWE down early in his career for WCW and his Japan deal. Vince wanted him but couldn't have him... and Vader became something without him... so he was never, however stupid it was going to get the title.

The other major factor that affected this booking was Brain Pillman. He had been signed early in the year with the intention of him feuding with Bret and being in the role Austin became... once his crash happened those plans were ruined. Pillman as KOTR with his abraisve personality would have been a perfect match for Shawn at Summerslam... Austin however was "plan b" for that character and as over as 3:16 had gotten it was not in the way Vince wanted initially... he was basically in the same boat Fandago and Ziggler were more recently... The fans wanted them high up the card but it took Bret coming back for the pieces to fit and Vince to be comfortable with Austin in the role.

In reality this show couldn't be worse than the year prior and was on a hiding to noithing cos the NWO had just exploded. It was a solid show but this was the point Vince seeming HAD the pieces but for the first time, no clear idea or at best a misguided idea of how to use them to their best.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Solid card with 2 real good main event matches. Really not much to change other than putting Austin (Who had just won the King of the Ring) on the main card. I'm not sure when Austin started calling out Bret but if it had already begun by this point than Owen would have been a good choice for Austin to face and defeat. Now Bret and Owen wouldn't be back together in terms of story line till the Hart Foundation reunion that happened about 9 months later, but they were past being bitter enemies for a little over a year by this point. So Austin makes his point to Bret by beating his brother and at some point later probably the Bulldog too.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

There were 3 notable matches. Stone Cold V Yokozuna.. notable as it was on the pre-show. And Stone Cold beat Yoko -a former monster heel.

The epic boiler room brawl- that was entertaining for its day - and one of the first to go back behind the scenes and fight. There had been ones in the past but this was intriguing; and as a little kid watching; I desperately wanted Undertaker to beat Mankind - who was a real bad ass at the time. The way Paul Bearer turned on Taker at the end was shocking at the time.

The HBK V Vader match was only notable because HBK screamed at Vader mid match for messing up.... it was a crap match.

I think Vader pinned HBK twice before HBK won?

 

[Catacomb]

There were 3 notable matches. Stone Cold V Yokozuna.. notable as it was on the pre-show. And Stone Cold beat Yoko -a former monster heel.

The epic boiler room brawl- that was entertaining for its day - and one of the first to go back behind the scenes and fight. There had been ones in the past but this was intriguing; and as a little kid watching; I desperately wanted Undertaker to beat Mankind - who was a real bad ass at the time. The way Paul Bearer turned on Taker at the end was shocking at the time.

The HBK V Vader match was only notable because HBK screamed at Vader mid match for messing up.... it was a crap match.

I think Vader pinned HBK twice before HBK won?

vader got a dq and countout

summerslam 1996 was the first summerslam i got on ppv. great memories. anyway according to cornette vader was supposed to win the title here and hold it until the 1997 rumble. i was a vader fan at the time and i really wanted vader to win the belt, too bad vaders career never rebounded after the loss to hbk. best match i agree was the taker mankind. i wouldnt really change anything about the ppv, except maybe putting austin yoko on the actual ppv. the match was only a few mins, im sure wwe couldve made room

 

[Pedigree1]

Like the brain said,this was the beginning of a new era! Gone were guys like Razor and Diesel,B Hart was on Hiatus and Poor Yoko was well past his prime.. I too would have liked to have seen SCSA on the PPV but he was a newbie at the time.. The Boiler Room brawl,was very good IMO.. Totally chaotic,and violent for its time.. Very good match and underrated still to this day..

HBK vs Vader was pretty good,at least Vader for a big man could work and he did actually quite a good job.. Again a meh PPV but not bad

 

[THTRobtaylor]

The biggest factor of this card I think was Vince and his reluctance to "go hard" in pushing WCW talents, having done so with Nash and Hall and losing them. The only ones who were really "getting the push" at this show were Dustin and Foley but as they was packaged as Goldust and Mankind, WWF creations this was more palatable for Vince but all of these guys were JR hires rather than Vince hires.... Vader, Austin, Mero, Hunter were all known for being WCW talents first and were using gimmicks not that far removed from their WCW counterparts. Meanwhile WCW were happily flaunting all their stars created elsewhere... every time an ex WWF guy came in they got rocket pushed by Bischoff cos it was a coup... Vince didn't see signings like Vader, Austin, Simmons and Foley as these level... only really Pillman who he did think was a steal, but fate ruined that one.

Vader debuted strong, he should have been that champion guy in the WWF he was in 1991-92 but Vince didn't want to push him and have him just leave as soon as his deal was up. Ironically had he pushed Vader then it would have lent itself to pushing other talent far quicker and perhaps countered the WCW ratings streak sooner.

Vader winning here opens up a match with Bret which would make people buy a PPV or tune into a RAW to see live. The sad thing is the WWF born talents were the ones with the issues... Bret was beginning his WCW flirtation/contract issues, Shawn was a prima donna who ended up vacating rather than dropping to Bret, Davey had his legal issues from defending his wife and Taker was basically in a "change up" from his prior booking as a monster into the "main eventer" he then became, this match here was a big part of that education. Vince needed to show a little more faith in the WCW guys but couldn't bring himself to... he never committed to any of them 100% other than Austin, when it became clear he couldn't stop it and Hunter, when he began banging his daughter... Foley doesn't really count as he was pretty much known more for being Mankind than Cactus by the time his title win came.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

If I remember correctly, King of the Ring 1996 ended with Shawn, Ahmed Johnson and Ultimate Warrior as the top three babyfaces celebrating together at the end. And obviously, neither Warrior or Ahmed were on this show. Shawn wasn't enough on his own, especially once the n.W.o. angle started in WCW. Much like Bret and Diesel before him, Shawn wasn't exactly booked as a strong babyface champion in his first run. He effectively lost to Davey at the IYH PPV and technically lost twice at SummerSlam here, before actually losing the title to Sid at Survivor Series.

I really liked the Boiler Room Brawl, and I'll probably give it the best match. Shawn/Vader is ruined for me by 1) Shawn breaking character and being a dick to Vader mid-match and 2) Vader not winning the title.

And that would be my main change to the PPV. Have Vader take the title from Shawn here, instead of Sid doing it at Survivor Series, even if just to drop it back to Shawn 3-5 months later. That, according to Cornette, was apparently the original plan but Shawn had his pull backstage and nixed it. Sid was pretty over for the time himself, so it's not like he was a bad choice, but I think Vader was a better one.

The other change, like most others have said, would be to have Austin on the main show. But the real reason this was on the pre-show was because they rigged the top rope to break for the finish. It was a unique, creative finish and I liked it a lot. You can see Austin avoiding the ropes earlier in the match, and there would have been no way to have a proper match before it, I suppose. If logistically it is possible to do Austin/Yoko on the main show, even exactly as it was, I don't know how that isn't considered a draw.

 

[Judah's Lion]

SummerSlam 96 was a definite step up from the year prior and really very enjoyable. there were some definite highlights but also a few head scratchers in my opinion.

for example, Stone Cold Steve Austin... winner of the King of the Ring and left off the main card?!?! in 95, we see the tournament winner face the WWF Champion in the main event, and one year later when the WWF actually has a bankable star win the KOTR tournament, they leave him off the ppv entirely. good choice. put Mabel in the main event and leave Austin out. i'm sure that won't haunt you for the rest of your life. dramatics aside, Austin needed a match on the show here. since Austin, though gaining in popularity since the infamous 3:16 speech, is still a heel, i'd pair him up with an ultra face. Ahmed Johnson gets my vote here. he kind of reminds me of a Big E. Langston in that he's a big guy but very light on his feet despite his size and strength. and Ahmed was mega over at the time. Austin vs. Ahmed, maybe even for the IC Title, happens at SummerSlam.

Jake the Snake vs. Jerry Lawler was such a well-told story and incredible feud. sadly, the ring entrances and promo work went about double to triple the length of the match. keep the feud as is but make the match either longer with the same finish or just a little bit longer with Jake destroying Lawler. i'm really okay with Lawler getting the win here, or Jake getting the win and Lawler getting the last laugh with the whiskey stunt he did after the match, but either way, this match simply needed to be better booked.

a couple of matches i'd keep the same: Goldust vs. Marc Mero was enjoyable. adding Marlena and Sable was icing on the cake. the Tag Team Titles match was not great but was good. nice to see four teams in contention as the WWF was doing a much better job in the tag division at this time.

i like the idea of Owen Hart vs. Yokozuna. they were former partners and champs so let them go at it here.

Boiler Room Brawl between Taker and Mankind was awesome and gets match of the night for me. they always had such good chemistry together, both in and out of the ring. amazing psychology.

the final two matches i'd switch up the opponents... i'd have Sid vs. Vader for a #1 Contender's Spot at Survivor Series and do Shawn vs. Bulldog for the World Title. the big monsters would have a decent-ish slugfest and i'd be okay with either winning the match and later the World Title at Survivor Series. as for HBK/Bulldog, they had great matches together and plenty of history, including the prior two years inside the Royal Rumble matches. let them go here. even though i absolutely love the Bulldog, probably let HBK retain on this night and lose the belt, as he did, to either Vader or Sid at Survivor Series.

on a semi-related note, props to THTRob for mentioning a huge difference between WWF and WCW. i never noticed it before you worded it so accurately. whenever WCW would get someone to jump ship from a different company, particularly the WWF, they'd announce it from the rooftops as a huge steal and major boost to the entire roster. whenever WWF got someone from a different company, it was like they were embarrassed to have them and determined to never mention their history, no matter how amazing it might be to the fans that knew them pre-WWF days. really interesting the way you pointed that out. i've known that for years, of course, just from watching the product for so many years, but you really did articulate that well, for me anyways. again, props to you, sir.

 

[Ace Amoeba]

Looking at this card it was pretty superstar packed. I mean you had Yoko and Stone Cold in the preshow! I liked the boiler room brawl and I got a chuckle out of Michaels being a jerk because of a blown spot. That being said they really mishandled Vader.

They did a good job bringing him in and having him attack Jim Ross the night after the Rumble, but decided to sissify him after that a he could have been so much more. This was a really good SummerSlam and Michaels was having a really good run.

Thanks for the post Dagger!

 

[Mac]

This was definitely a step up from the year before. This was an overall solid show. No great matches but it had a few memorable moments. This Summerslam left a bad taste in my mouth due to how the Shawn/Vader match was booked. My favorite match was Goldust/Marc Mero. I was a huge Goldust fan at the time and his character was awesome at the time. I liked Mero around this time as well. The Boiler Room match used to be my favorite but it didn't age well IMO. But it was a precursor to the attitude era. My least favorite match was Jake/Lawler. Not saying it was a bad match I was just uncomfortable with them using Jake's real life issues as a wrestling storyline.

There are a few minor tweaks id make to the card.

Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Jake The Snake Roberts

The KOTR winner SHOULD be on the main card, plus considering how their KOTR match ended they could've used that to kick start a program between the two.

Owen Hart vs Savio Vega
This stays as is. Pretty fun match btw.

Tag Championship Match- Smoking Gunns(c) vs Body Donnas vs Godwinns vs New Rockers
This was a decent match. This stays as is.

Sid vs British Bulldog
Solid big man match. This stays as is.


Goldust vs Marc Mero
Good match this stays as is.

Undertaker vs Mankind
Like I said before this was an awesome spectacle for its time. But it didn't age well. But with that said it stays as is.

WWF Championship Match- Shawn Michaels(c) vs Vader
I'd make a few changes to this. Firstly I'd get rid of the start and restarting of the match. And Vader goes over.