What's the greatest summer in professional wrestling history?

[jmt225]

I've heard plenty of wrestlers (mostly from the territory days) claim that the summer was the least drawing time of the year for the business. They claim it was too hot for people to bother to make the trip, plus the fact a lot of people went on family vacations and whatnot hurt business as well.

However, I think for kids who are pro wrestling fans (which I assume most of us were when we were kids), the summer was the best time to be a wrestling fan. You got to watch everything. There was no early bed time since there was no school, and if a show came to town, you had more of a chance of seeing it since like I said... school was out.

So, to me... summer is a huge deal for professional wrestling, and I would bet most of our childhood memories pertaining to pro wrestling happened during the summer.

Anyway, there came up a discussion in a TNA thread where I claimed that the summer of 2005 was by far and large the most entertaining three months in TNA's history, and it got me thinking.... shit, the whole summer of 2005 was fantastic. I then made the claim that the summer of 2005 was the greatest summer in pro wrestling history, period. Our great, residential G-Mod Xfearbefore (also known as Mr. Eko) begged to differ, claiming that 1989 had the greatest summer of all time pertaining to professional wrestling. Well, instead of continuing the conversation there, I decided to bring it here to the Old School section so not only can I and Xfear explain why we feel the way we feel in great length, but to also hear everyone else's opinion on the matter.

So, what, in your opinion, is the greatest, most memorable SUMMER professional wrestling has ever had?

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I've given this some thought since my post in the TNA thread, and I still have to say the summer of 2005 is the greatest.

Now, let's start with TNA and why I feel their product was awesome at this point. In May I believe, TNA lost their TV Deal with Fox Sports Net, and then went on to show Impact every Friday on a television channel called the Sunshine Network, which Direct TV carried so I was able to watch it weekly unlike most. They also aired the show on the internet, for those with the network.

By this time, Raven (who is in my top 3 in favorite wrestlers of all time, mind you) had been long overdue for a title run. He should have gotten it in early 2003, instead TNA decided that since Raven had a huge following on the internet, that it made the most sense to give him the belt since they were going to become an internet show for a little while. Not a bad idea.

Of course, at this point in his career, Raven wasn't in the best of shape, but let me tell you something... the man could still work. And while he had the title, he did work and did so very, very well. His run was absolutely fantastic, with great matches against Abyss, Rhino, and an absolutely superb tag match with he and Sabu vs. Jarrett and Rhino at Sacrifice 2005. It was basically Raven's last hoo-rah, and I enjoyed the hell out of it, as I'm sure every big Raven fan did.

But this wasn't the only good thing about TNA at this point. Oh no, the summer of 2005 was also the point Samoa Joe debuted for the company and started his year long undefeated run. And of course, it was the summer of 2005 where he put on a couple of TNA's greatest matches when he faced Styles at Sacrifice 2005, and then of course the unforgettable Triple Threat match that took place at Unbreakable 2005 between he, Styles and Christopher Daniels.

So, that's TNA during this period, and I loved every second of it as a huge fan of Raven, plus guys like Joe, Daniels and Styles. However, it wasn't just TNA putting on some great shit during this period, but WWE perhaps had the most unpredictable 3 months they ever have had that summer, with ECW's 'resurrection' happening, and the whole Edge/Lita/Matt Hardy ordeal going down.

One Night Stand 2005 ranks in my top 5, if not 3, favorite pay-per-views of all time, and it's definitely the absolute best pay-per-view I've ever watched live. As a huge fan of the original ECW, it was so, so, sooooo exciting to watch that night. You had no idea what was going to happen, who was going to show.... it was just an absolutely awesome, awesome show, and one I'll never forget watching that night. Moreover, the weeks leading up to it were pretty cool as well, with ECW getting so much praise and recognition that was long overdue if you ask me.

Then of course there was the Matt Hardy deal. Man, that was unbelievable. Overall, the feud wasn't that great, but at the time.... it was simply impossible not to enjoy what was going on, because you had no idea what to expect. Matt Hardy wrestles in ROH, Matt Hardy is going to show up in TNA, and then boom... Matt Hardy shows up on Raw, beats up Edge, and plugs ROH. It was shocking. You never thought WWE would do such a work-shoot, but they did and it was exciting as hell and made you actually anticipate the next week's Raw.

Also going on in WWE at this time was Christian getting the biggest pushed he's still to this day has ever gotten in the company, and man was that awesome to watch, too. The fans ate that shit up every single week. Why WWE never capitalized on Christian's popularity at this point, I'll never know, but for a couple of months there, I actually felt like Christian was about to break through that glass ceiling, which was just another reason to feel excited about the show.

Last but not least in WWE, Rey vs. Eddie was happening over on Smackdown, and I thought that was a terribly underrated feud. The passion within it, and the performances week in and week out by both wrestlers were just absolutely phenomenal. Not to mention the matches between the two, which of course were always excellent.

But it doesn't stop with WWE and TNA being unpredictable and exciting during this period. No, Ring of Honor was as well, as the summer of 2005 is now referred to as The Summer of Punk.

Yes, today's best, most entertaining WWE wrestler back then was still one of the best, most entertaining wrestler in the entire industry, even if you hadn't heard of him by that point.

For those who don't know the story, CM Punk signed with WWE early in the summer of 2005. The news broke out, and it was said that his last match was going to be at Death Before Dishonor 3, against ROH Champion Austin Aries. Well, after a FANTASTIC match that the crowd ate up every second of, CM Punk actually won the belt. The crowd went insane. Well, after the match, CM Punk grabbed the mic in what everyone was expecting to be a sweet, emotional speech, and while it started out that way, it didn't end like that. Nope, CM Punk went on to completely shit on the crowd and ROH, and claimed that he fooled all of us in one of the absolute best promos I've ever seen.

What followed this was every ROH show, not knowing whether or not it was CM Punk's last. It brought an excitement to each show that no one thought ROH was capable of, storyline wise (they also had Matt Hardy at this point in time, which added to that excitement, too). I remember during this time just anticipating each and every ROH show results on the internet with curiosity and excitement. It was perhaps ROH's finest hour.

But yeah... I have every ROH show during the Summer of Punk reign, and I have to say it's some of the greatest shit I've ever seen. The angles like Punk signing his WWE contract on the ROH Title, the matches like CM Punk vs. James Gibson, Christopher Daniels, etc... I'll never forget any of this stuff.

Or anything from the Summer of 2005 to be honest, because it was filled with excitement and unpredictability. Not since has there been anything close to making me feel that way about the product, week in and week out, especially pertaining to ALL 3 companies at one time. And I didn't even cover it all.... I didn't mention CM Punk's IWA Mid-South farewell run, or Samoa Joe vs. The Necro Butcher (which is one of my all time favorite matches), or the fact that NOAH was at its peak during this time, or the fact that Místico was reaching his prime around this time.... all of this, happened in the Summer of 2005. Please tell me, what in the World tops it?

 

[SickJames]

The best summer, thats easy. 2002! HBK's return beats out ANYTHING ELSE. His match with Triple H, talk about a huge pop for a return, PPL loved it. HBK coming back and showing he had more left, much more. They put on a hell of a bout kicking off the first of many matches in that great rivalry and Shawn went on to shock us all by winning the first ever Elimination Chamber to win his 4th World title (correct me if i'm wrong i believe it was the 4th)

So I think that match alone makes it 2002 easy, Summerslam definately must play a huge role in the decision, it's the number 2 PPV, 2nd best of the year, and it's The Biggest Party of the Summer



in 2nd place for best Summer- 2005, HBK/Hogan first time ever, nuff said

 

[The Phenomenal One]

For me personally, the summer of 98 in WWE is my favorite. The build to the Austin/Taker Summerslam 98 match was badass. I also loved the "Are Kane and Undertaker in cahoots" episodes of RAW. lol Austin and Undertaker were on the highway to hell that eventually got them to Summerslam in MSG. I also loved the HHH/Rock rivalry during the Summer of 98.

2nd place: The summer of 96 in WCW. Hogan turning heel and the NWO formation and take over of WCW was so awesome. That's also the summer that I started watching wrestling.

So many memories from those two summers.

 

[wbuqed]

if were talking WWE/F then definitely 1998 is the answer. Austin's feud with McMahon evolved from using Mick Foley to using Kane and Undertaker within a 3 month span with little or no loss of momentum. The mid card feuds were great with a plethera of tag teams going at it, unlike current WWE. HHH and The Rock were able to get huge pushes without even being in a main event, which of course includes one of the most amazing ladder matches that I would compare to any ladder match in WWF/E history.

 

[Midnite Express 2009]

I want to say 1987. 1st of all, it was one of the last GREAT years of the Jim Crockett Promotion and the introduction of both Jim Ross along side Tony Shavonie as well as The War Games/Match Beyond matches at The Great American Bash were instant classics that will always be remembered. Ric Flair really came into his own during the summer has he had great bouts with The Road Warriors (singles and in tag matches), Barry Windham, Dusty Rhodes, Jimmy and Ron Garvin and the way that the Four Horsemen were even though they had Lex Luger in the mix, was great. The tag team scene was dying off (as you could tell during The Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup tag team tourney wasn't all that great, as far as the overall teams) but mainstays like The Warriors, The Rock & Roll Express & even the New Look Midnight Express (which saw Stan Lane enter the mix) were still hot.

Also, powers from te UWF other than Ross came over in the merger of the NWA, basically solidifying the last of the big terriorities coming to an end. Dr. Death Steve Williams, Terry Taylor, Terry Gordy & Sting (A HUGE COUP) came over and the re-introduction of the Freebirds were great.

Over on the WWF's side, you saw newcomers in The Ultimate Warrior, Rick Rude, One Man Gang (Akeem), Big Bubba Rogers (The Big Bossman), Hacksaw Butch Reed & Hacksaw Jim Duggan come over during the summer. Randy Savage was starting his eventual face turn with The Honky Tonk Man defeating Ricky Steamboat for the I-C title and the WWF's tag team scene was super hot with The Hart Foundation & British Bulldogs staying on top during the summer.

I can go on and on, but 1987 was the GREATEST summer in wrestling, possibly one of the greatest years period.

 

[dman1373]

the summer of 96 because of the formation of the nwo, the very best title reign ever by shawn michaels, and just everything wa great except their was no bret. i would have liked to see bret.

 

[NumberOneWrestlingFan.]

<< just wanted to do that
it's the summer of 96
Hogans NWO heel turn at bash at the beach
that beats everything, but i'll keep going

how about Kurt Angle wins a Gold medal?
does that ring a bell?
well if it weren't for that who's to say
Kurt isn't still trying to get a Gold 4 years later
instead of Winning WWE titles
(Euro-continental Champion ring a bell?)

WWE- Boiler Room Brawl UnderTaker VS Mankind?
AWESOME!!

Shawn Michaels' Championship PUSH was going on
Sid, Vader, British Bulldog, Mankind.

on a side note:
In Your House 11
in october of 96
Steve Austin Vs Hunter Hurst Helmsley
Mr Perfect came out to steal Helmsleys Valet
gets into it with both guys.
nothing more to say than PERFECT

SUMMER OF 96,
HANDS DOWN

2005 is close

The ONE and ONLY
Darrin

 

[X]

In terms of sheer absolute quality of wrestling, as I said to JMT earlier, I firmly believe it doesn't get better than the summer of 1989. You had Flair and Funk having a legendary feud in WCW, one of if not THE greatest PPV show of all time in that summer's Great American Bash, not to mention all of the other great feuds in WCW at the time...Sting-Muta, Luger-Steamboat, the uprising of Brian Pillman and Jushin Liger who totally revolutionized junior heavyweight wrestling in the United States, and shit, that's just WCW I'm talking about here. It wasn't a great year for the WWF, that much is for sure, but there were some amazing MSG, Boston Garden and Houston megashows that summer that saw classic matches with the likes of Randy Savage, Tito Santana, Bret Hart, Mr. Perfect, etc. The real reason why I really think the summer of 1989 was so great though was because of what was going on in Japan at the time, specifically in AJPW with the banner year of Genichiro Tenryu finally getting his due and defeating his arch-rival Jumbo Tsuruta in a classic passing-of-the-torch scenario, as well as Misawa having his last classic battles under the Tiger Mask character and putting on great interpomotional matches against both the AWA and NWA champions of the time. Not to mention Kenta Kobashi rising up and starting to become more and more popular and noticed, leading to his legendary career.

The sumer of 1989, man, so many great matches that summer. Maybe it's not the best of all time, but it's definitely a fine candidate for that, if only because of Funk-Flair and the absolutely fucking amazing Tenryu-Tsuruta match in June of that year.

If we're talking pure nostalgia though, yeah, I'd probably agree with a few others here in picking 1998 or 1999 just because I don't think I ever loved wrestling as much as I did during those two years, watching Raw every Monday was like a fucking blockbuster mega event, even when nothing really happened. But in terms of wrestling quality, 1989 was just an amazing summer.

2005 was a damn good choice too though JMT.

 

[Big Sexy]

There have been a few posters who have said 1996 and while I agree I think everyone is missing one of the biggest reasons why. Obviously the Outsiders coming to WCW and Hulk Hogan's heel turn at Bash at the Beach were huge. Then there was the feud between Mankind and Taker with the Boiler Room Brawl at Summerslam. There was also Shawn Michaels first title run and although it wasn't successful ratings wise, it was entertaining. He had some good matches with Bulldog and Vader. But another huge reason people are forgetting that makes the summer of '96 the biggest was the beginning of Stone Cold Steve Austin.

In June of '96 at the King of the Ring Austin was victorious in the tournament and Stone Cold was officially born. Between Hogan's heel turn and Stone Cold winning the King of the Ring the summer of '96 shaped wrestling as we know it today. It may not have been the best wrestling wise but in terms of importance the summer of '96 was the best.

 

[ashe draven]

The above poster makes very good points. The birth of the nwo & austin's win at kotr set the ball rollin in a historic run 4 pro wrestling. I also enjoyed jmt's case 4 2005, well done. For my choice it has to be '92. filling wembley stadium for a spectacle of a summerslam. Thrusting Bret Hart to main event status in the only i.c. main event at a ppv in my knowledge & the greatest i.c. match imo.