Review: WWF/WWE Summerslam 1993 DVD

Brett Mix ‘s- WWF Summerslam 1993 Review:

 

“This building is falling apart. Just like America is falling apart. Lex, you are proud of this? You stick up….FOR THIS!?” – Ludvig Borga (on a video package looking at a trashy place in the States)

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-WWF Summerslam 1993 took place on Sunday, August 30th, 1993 at the The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The sold out arena in Suburban Detroit had over 23, 000 screaming WWF fans.

-The tagline for the event was “Fat Chance; Somebody HAS to Stop Him!”

-Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan do commentary for the event.

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-Now onto the PPV……

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1) Opening Contest- “The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase vs “The Bad Guy” Razor Ramon

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This is the final match in the WWF career of Ted Dibiase due to back injuries.
He goes out in style here putting over Razor Ramon. However at the start of the match he doesen’t even wait for the Bad Guy to take off his jacket and viciously jumps on him from behind as the bell rings. Razor in a vulnerable position to start this match with Dibiase the oppertunist pounding away in a sneak attack in the early going here. Heenan says that Razor shouldn’t of expected anything different, even with the VEST still on Razor performs a back body drop on Dibiase and then a hard right hand that sends him to the outside. Once back in the ring Dibiase overpowers Hall for a brief instant until Razor then hit him with some right hands and then a clothesline over the top rope to the outside and Ramon looks on fire as The Bad Guy does his trademark stomp and the crowd cheer on in approval. Dibiase on the ring apron and Razor swings the ropes and he flies over the top back inside the ring.

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Dibiase is begging for no more but as the crowd chant Razor Dibiase outsmarts Razor out and he goes into the corner. Ted Dibiase then chokes out Ramon for a bit and this is the first time he’s been in control but Bobby Heenan hillariously says he’s been in control the entire match. The Million Dollar Man-Ted Dibiase with a back breaker and then he sends him for the ride and then comes off with a clothesline to Razor Ramon but only gets a near fall with the two count.

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After the near fall attempt he gives him an inside headlock, a choke hold on the throat of Razor. Razor Ramon was in control for the first bit, Dibiase outsmarted Hall then has been in control ever since and while Ramon is in the sleeper hold the fans chanted for Hall to get back in the match. While Ramon tried to get out of the sleeper he took a knee to the gut, then a back breaker followed by a neck braker then a vertical suplex as The Million Dollar Man sets up for the Million Dollar Dream. He took his time and that looked to be his downfall as Razor swung at him and then took down Dibiase with a clothesline. Both men down in a hard fought opener. Dibiase sends Razor to the turnbuckle and then he falls to the mat on the outside.

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While the ref is counting out Razor, Ted Dibiase undoes the top turnbuckle pad, it backfires as once back in the ring Razor Ramon slams Ted’s head on the exposed turnbuckle and the fans go crazy. At 7:32 Razor hit a nice looking Razor’s Edge and that’s all she wrote for The Million Dollar Man. Ted Dibiase is an all time legend and this is a fine match to go out to, a Hall of Famer one day for being one of the best and IMO the best heel OF ALL TIME. It’s just a matter of time. Razor picks up the victory in a very nice opener, very standard stuff!

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** 1/4

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2) The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) (c) vs The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) (with Jim Cornette) for the WWF Tag Team Championship
This was a GREAT TAG TEAM ATTRACTION!

The Steiners were in there hometown in front of Sisters and Mom but they showed here why they were one of the greatest tag teams in WWF history, or the history of Professional Wrestling for that matter. Speaking of other promotions or Pro-Wrestling as a whole, this match really had that NWA type feel. Where the crowd was loud, fast moves, frequent tags, smart strategic tag wrestling with a ton of double team moves and top notch chemistry. An annoying Jim Cornette at ringside. Yup, it looked just like one and The Steiners went back and forth to Crocket/Turner promotions so it’s only natural for it to feel like one. The Heavenly Bodies started the match by attacking The Steiners early but for the next 5-6 minutes the Steiners completely dominated the match with there amazing offense that was just so fun to watch. It’s refreshing seeing Scotty Steiner hit a suplex on someone without going “HUH!?” after each one.

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This was when The Steiners were in there prime, in 1993. The Heavenly Bodies did get back in the match so it wasn’t a squash which made for some good back and forth wrestling exchanges but The Steiners still carried the bulk of the match. Not sure why The Heavenly Bodies weren’t taken more seriously after such a great outing here at a big time event like Summerslam, but that’s life.s At 9:28, The Steiners retained the WWF tag team titles with a pin over The Heavenly Bodies. Awesome, Awesome fast paced tag team title match.

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*** 1/4

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3) “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels (c) (W/Diesel) vs Mr. Perfect for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Perfect got an amazing pop as he usually did as a babyface in 1993. Michaels was an up and comer and you could see the potential greatness. Michaels and Perfect’s styles mixed very well together and Diesel the Giant bodyguard of HBK was on the outside looking on. The two locked up in the beginning and both just strictly tried to out wrestle the other man. Perfect went for Michaels and he ducked under after a slide and after a collision it seems both didn’t know who got the worst of that exchange but the beginning of the sequence looked nice enough so it made up for any confusion. Perfect got the BETTER of it and hit HBK with a standing hammer lock, HBK countered with a head scissors but Perfect would have none of that and he got out of that predicament.

HBK and Perfect then circled around each other as the two had there moments thus far of out wrestling the other man. Michaels punded on Hennig in the corner but Hennig reversed it with a chop into the corner and then Michaels got sent to the corner by Hennig but he reversed it in a moonsault attempt, Perfect moved out of the way they hit HBK with a clothesline but only got a two. Nice reversals, counters in this match up. Michaels got caught in an arm bar by Hennig again. Once Shawn Michaels went to the top trying to escape the arm bar, Mr. Perfect hit a brilliant arm drag take down from the top rope! Once grounded again the arm bar, the left arm to be specific of Shawn Michaels was locked in by Perfect. HBK then went for a drop kick but Perfect sent him over the top to the outside of the ring and the fans roar. Heenan can’t believe it and Mr. Perfect has been in complete control of the match. Michaels while on the outside took advantage of Perfect taking his time and hit him in the jaw. Michaels jumped off the top of the ropes to the outside with a double axe handle. Michaels relentlessly attacked Perfect’s lower back with elbow drops and blows once inside the ring. Heenan points out the arrogance and confidence of Michaels as he whipped Hennig into the buckle and McMahon intelligently points out as Hennig’s back sustained more damage with the pressure of the turnbuckle padding hitting his back. Michaels then did it again and this time only harder. McMahon questioned if the official might stop the match at this point while Michaels stomped on back using the top rope for leverage. Michaels then hit a back breaker and while Shawn had him in a stretch, Heenan said “SNAP HIM LIKE A SLIM JIM!”

Oh, that’s too funny. Perfect though, sore back and all and Mr. Perfect had a history of sore backs so this was good smart, psychology by Michaels battled out of Michaels holds and Hennig hit an upper cut and leap fogged over Michaels then hit him with a solid drop kick! Perfect reached deep down and hit a back body drop to Michaels out of desperation still selling the back. Michaels then got hit with an atomic drop and Hennig’s knee into Michaels but he only got a two. Perfect with an unbelievable right hand after those sequence of moves but only gets a two count. Michaels went for a hip toss but Perfect rolled him over and went for a backslide but the two stand there in the middle of the ring looking to over power the other. Michaels then got caught and Mr. Perfect hit the Perfectplex but Diesel pulled Shawn to the ropes and the ref didn’t see it. Hennig then fought Diesel on the outside of the ring. Shawn rolled into the ref and the official Earl Hebner fell down. In the end at 11:20 of the match, Michaels retained the IC Title when he won by countout after Diesel threw Mr. Perfect into the steel steps. Was nice for HBK to have this kind of inssuarance with Big Daddy Cool there at ringside to bail him out of a potential loss and this helped Shawn’s character at the time. This was one fine match but with a bit more time, less sloppiness and a better ending could of been a classic at the pace they were going. Not enough time for a great story to be told but I liked Shawn’s gameplan, Perfect’s selling and the chemistry mixed in with solid wrestling inbetween.

Great match.

***

 

4) Irwin R. Schyster vs The 1-2-3 Kid
The kid looks about 12 years old here. He calls IRS one of the best wrestlers in the WWF today….to Rotunda’s credit he was a great worker but not so much as IRS. This was Waltman’s PPV debut but on Raw and other shows he had been getting upset victories or as Heenan would say, he’s a “FLUKE!” the most noteable one over Razor Ramon back when Hall was still a heel. IRS dominated the Kid Early but when The 123 Kid hit a dropkick, McMahon would do his usual “1….2….HE GOT HIM! No he didn’t” because of Waltman’s usual upsets it had him overly excited and jumping the gun more so then usual. After some mid-match success by Waltman, IRS then slapped on an abdominal stretch on Waltman and held the ropes for additional leverage and the ref told him to back off, Heenan said he needed it for balance. Hillarious. IRS methodically broke down Waltman after that with a snap take down followed by a headlock. Fans chanted “1…2…3” and it must have helped as he smashed Irwin’s head on the top turnbuckle. The Kid went to the top rope and hit a moonsault on IRS but only got a two. IRS kicked out just barely after two pinning attempts. The 123 Kid then hit a spinning heel kick to IRS. Another near fall. IRS then caught the rookie with a hard clothesline and at 5:44 that was all she wrote for Waltman. I’m glad the Kid didn’t go over everyone and veterans like Rotunda didn’t have to get buried. This was a good match for over 5 minutes.

Pretty decent anyway and no where near bad, especially considering the two great matches it had to follow.

* 1/2

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5) Bret “Hitman” Hart vs Doink the Clown (with Jerry “The King” Lawler)

Owen and Bruce Hart then in suits at ringside talking about how sick they are of The King. Bret Hart the 1993 King of the Ring’s music hits and after a long delay he comes out to a nice response. Hart had the look on his face that says he is all business. Back when Bret Hart won the King of the Ring he was attacked by The King. All this after putting on three classics, one of them 5 stars vs Perfect. Here he took on Doink first in back to back matches and this was Matt Borne’s (the first guy to be Doink) last match as a HEEL. Jerry Lawler came out first though on crutches and no one bought it. God I loved The King’s character around this time. He cuts a good promo about an old lady who ruined The King’s lady and Heenan says “It was Helen Hart.” :lmao that was gold. The King says that The Doctor’s said he can’t compete, AND HE was going to let someone else give Bret the beating he deserved. Doink comes out to his evil clown music which owned. Doink sprayed water on Bruce Hart and before Owen could hop the rail Bret attacked Doink outside the ring. He is in a bad mood as you’d suspect he would be says McMahon and he gave Doink a few more rights outside the ring before putting him back INSIDE the ring and continued hammering away on the Clown. Bret irish whipped Doink to the buckle and as Doink lifted his leg Bret spinned him around and Doink fell to the outside. The King hopped over to Doink on the outside to give him words of wisdom.

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Doink slapped bret from the ring apron but Bret caught Doink on the top turnbuckle. Bret then picked up Doink and dropped him from the rop rope face first to the canvas floor. The Hitman gave Doink a boot to the face and then elbowed Doink in the head. The Hitman offered for King to come in the ring as well sitting on the middle rope and as Doink gets up McMahon says he is considered one of the greats in technical skill, and he actually was back then regardless of the gimmick, and had Doink been a terrible wrestler I don’t know if the gimmick would of worked so well. I mean here you have Doink wrestling Bret Hart at SUMMERSLAM for crying out loud. Ya know? The same event Bret just put on a **** 1/2 match with Hennig, and a **** 3/4 match with Davey Boy the last two years. That’s not to mention all the classic tag matches with The Anvil vs Demolition and The Brain Busters. Hart was truely a Professional at this event. Doink then targetted the leg of Bret Hart. Doink in control now took Bret’s leg from outside the ring and whacked it into the ring post, you hear Lawler screaming “BREAK HIS LEG!” which was quite funny. Doink then inside the ring locks on an STF and the fans chant “GO BRET GO!” Doink then with a sleeper hold on The Hitman. This has been quite the match so far and it has, Bret coming off the side ropes, Doink then hit Bret in the mid-section then dropped an elbow on Bret Hart. Doink The Clown with a handfull of hair and a unique submission/pinning combo but he has his hand on the ropes and The King is outside the ring cheering on Doink’s cheating. 20 Seconds later the official realizes Doink has been cheating with using his hands on the ropes for leverage which Heenan still refers to as balance, as Doink kicks Hart in the head once more then scoops him up and slams him to the canvas. Doink from the top rope then tries to land on Hart but he catches Brett’s knees up in the air into the groin Section! Vince says, “Now that’s funny!” Bret then taking control of this turn in momentum and hits Doink in the mid-section and then comes off with a neck braker! Bret then with his signature move off the top rope and drives the elbow into the sternum of Doink. Bret Hart goes for the Sharpshooter and he’s looking at Lawler the entire time.

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Then at 9:05 The King Jerry Lawler exposes he has faked his injury and smacks Bret in the head with his crutch. This was all apart of his plan. Owen, Bruce try to get in the ring to protect Bret. The King as a typical HEEL is smiling as he just delivered Bret a devistating blow. McMahon says he’s never seen a RIPOFF like this ever to the Hitman. Just wait a few years Vince. President Jack comes to the ring and since Lawler is healthy and people payed to see him wrestle he ordes The King to wrestle. Bret wins the match over Doink by DQ. This was a GREAT back and forth match for what it was.

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6) “Who is the King?” Jerry “The King” Lawler vs “The King of The Ring” Bret “Hitman” Hart

The King will be banned from the WWF for life if he does not go to the ring and get it on with Bret. Bret is hurt and tired and Lawler is scared and this one is personal as Hart is biting on King’s head while his head on the side ropes is in a sleeper. Bret with a back body drop and then goes for a Sharpshooter or so it would look but instead drops the head into the groin region of Lawler. Hart then levels King down. Owen then yells “Show him who the true King of the Ring is. The Excellence of Execution! YEAH!” Haha, how ironic that would be just a year later at this event.

With Lawler on the outside of the ring he used the crutches on Bret and The Hitman is on the outside hurt. Lawler then choked out Bret with a crutch outside the ring apron and when the official looked over he threw the crutch and said nothing is in my hand. Funny stuff. The King then on the outside drags a tired Bret to the ring post, the same one Doink smashed his legs on the post, and The King pulls Bret’s legs in towards him so his groin smashes against the post! The King talks trash to the Hart bro’s on the outside while the Hitman is limping to his feet and both guys are in the ring again. Jerry punched away at Bret then slammed his head into the top turnbuckle. Once Bret looked to get back in the match, Lawler surprisingly wanted to shake hands with Bret which was funny. The Hitman regained control of the match. The Hitman then used The King’s move as he would say and smacked a piledriver onto The King. He then goes up to the top and hits an elbow into The King. He then locks on a sharpshooter and we’ll see if it gets broken up…THIS TIME.

At 6:32 Jerry Lawler looked to lose the match as the bell rang when the Sharpshooter was locked in. The ref rang the bell six million times but Bret wouldn’t let go. The King then won by DQ as Bret didn’t let go of the hold as they reversed the decision. They had many creative outcomes at there PPV’s back then. Carried on a HEATED feud. Watching The King being beaten on by Bruce and Bret while being taken out on a stretcher was to funny.
**

 

 

7) Ludvig Borga vs Marty Jannetty

Ludvig Borga is dead now (who isn’t?) but he was undefeated to this point. (Which rookie heel doesen’t go on a mini-undefeated streak when they first come?) Marty was over but most knew this would likely be a squash match. Bobby Heenan says if he was Marty Jannetty he’d just give up. Ludvig then with hard shots to Marty and as he slammed him down he gave him a big shot as he was falling down. His offense was brutally slow. Marty Jannetty got some blows in but of course whenever it’s against a big man like this he wont sell a move so it was pointless and it didn’t take long for Ludvig to get back in control. In the end at 5:15 Ludvig Borga defeated Marty Jannetty when gave up in Ludvig’s torture rack. Oh but Jannetty is a former IC Champion so this must give him some credibility. Yawn, moving on……The only terrible match of the night to this point.

1/2*

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8 ) Rest In Peace Match: The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) vs Giant Gonzalez (with Harvey Wippleman)

Okay, I said one terrible match TO THIS POINT. Unfortunately I forgot about this one. It’s a good thing this show hasn’t had many bad matches or any at all up until the last one. We all know these matches are god awful so I’m not going to go on for hours explaining why. In a Rest in Peace match there is NO DQ, No Count Out but there will be a decisive winner and those are the rules. Taker hit Gonzalez with karate thrusts in the corner and then he clibmed up on top of him for leverage and Wippleman didn’t like it which bought The Giant some time and he hit Taker with a boot to the kisser.
The Giant then hits a head butt on Taker.

Taker hit a clothesline off the ropes to The Giant but he did not go down. Giant knocked him down and Taker sits up. Heenan’s saying “DO you think when Taker gets his wakeup call in the morning he rises up like that?” THAT was pretty funny. Giant Gonzalez on the outside slammed Taker’s head into the steps. There is no rules in the match and he grabbed a steel chair and hit Taker over the head with it outside the ring. Giant Gonzalez then irish whipped Taker right into the steel steps again this time with his whole body crashing into them. Giant Gonzalez posed in the ring for a bit while Taker slowly rose to his feet on the outside. Giant Gonzalez took it to Taker outside the ring until throwing him back inside the ring. Taker slowly crawled to the Urn in the corner of the ring as if he was going towards a tag team partnet.

Giant Gonzalez and Taker exchanged hard right hands and then Giant Gonzalez threw Taker into the turnbuckle after some confusion. I think he was looking to hit his legs and then he dropped them. This Just In: It doesen’t look like Giant Gonzalez is a good in ring worker. Either way The Giant stayed in control and smacked Taker a few times in the corner. Paul Bearer then brought a black reef towards the ring and Wippleman took off his jacket but cought a clothesline from Paul Bearer. Bearer then got back posession of the Urn and the place popped, Heenan was hillarious saying “OH MY GOD NO!” Giant Gonzalez in control but since Bearer got back the Urn and Wippleman was still out Taker then sit up while Giant Gonzalez’s back was turned and the fans cheered. Taker hit Giant Gonzalez with a chop, punches then two clotheslines that don’t bring him to his back. A third doesen’t either. Taker then goes for a fourth and that doesen’t as Giant Gonzalez rocks in the ring and toggles back and forth like a fatigued wrestler in a video game. Taker then went to the top rope and hit a flying clothesline to Giant Gonzalez from the top and covered him for the three at 8:04 making him REST IN PEACE apparently. Ya know, I always thought this was a DUD but it told a good enough story surprisingly even if a little long to get a quarter of a star. But that’s IT. I also don’t think that’s to much of a compliment either.

 

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9) 6 Man Tag: Tatanka and The Smokin’ Gunns (Billy and Bart) vs Bam Bam Bigelow and The Headshrinkers (Fatu and Samu) (with Afa and Luna Vachon)

After the first two poor matches of the night we get some tag wrestling before The Main Event.
Bam Bam and Tatanks with a good back and forth exchange and Tatanka hit Bam Bam with a back body drop. Bam Bam sent Tatanka to the ride and it was a collision course when the two went to give the other a cross body. Billy Gunn and Fatu better known as Rikishi were battling it out until Fatu hit Billy with a kick to the face and it sounds like he might be missing some teeth after that kick.

Billy Gunn with a reverse bulldog from the top to Fatu. Fatu though battled back and tagged in his partner Samu.
Samu then took it to Billy and an ugly drop as he tagged back in Fatu.
Afa then took it to Billy Gunn on the outside behind the officials back.
Fatu with a kick to Billy until Bart came in and attacked Samu who was now in the ring and he hit a back body press followed by an arm drag takedown. Samu then got back in control not before long on Bart Gunn and slammed his face into the mat! After a few minutes of Team Heel in control Bam Bam missed a charge and hit his head on the corner and Tatanka came in and chopped away at Bam Bam. He then scooped up the big man and hit him with a slam followed bt a DDT! Tatanka went to the top rope and came off with a cross body! Bam Bam gets a shoulder up. All of the sudden The Headshrinkers and Bam Bam all went up to the top and each one of them missed a splash from the top and hit the canvas.

At 11:15 the team of Tatanka and The Gunns were victorious when Tatanka hit a roll-up on Samu and got the pinfall!

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** 1/2

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10) Main Event- Lex Luger vs Yokozuna (c) (with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) for the World Wrestling Federation Championship
They announce THE MACHO MAN RANDY SAVAGE as the master of ceremonies as he gets an amazing pop. He was the veteran of the WWF after all with no Hulk Hogan, Vince points out that he’s done it all in the WWF. Yeah, so fucking induct him already Vince….. Savage waved an american flag in the middle of the ring as he did a couple of “OOOOH YEAAAH’S” and the American National Anthem was sung The two had a stare down and it was on! Lex Luger and Yokozuna square off here for there countries pride and for themselves as the most prestigious title is on the line. Lex had never before became the WWF Champion. During the staredown Fuji came from behind but Lex wasn’t distracted as he hammered away into Yokozuna into the corner and then came off with a reverse elbow. Luger then tried to catch him from behind but Yoko hit him with an elbow and then missed a leg drop.

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Luger then kicked the leg of Yokozuna and he keeps on with those kicks to that Area of the big thigh of Yokozuna. He finally gets him down on his back and drives an elbow into the chest of Yokozuma. It legitmately looks like Lex Luger; The Lex Express will be the one to put out Yoko and take the strap off of him. Lex Luger continued to stomp away on Yokozuna and grabbed him by the hair driving him head first into the top turnbuckle. He then irish whipped him hard into the buckle and met him with a big splash! Luger then went on top of Yoko in the corner and punched away as the crowd chanted to 10 with his blows but he only got to 5 until the ref got him down and Yoko then shopped Lex in the chest. A devistating blow can change the tide in any Yokozuna match McMahon says. Vince admits to not having any idea to Yoko’s actual weight but whatever it is he can use it well. Nice. Hall of Fame Manager Mr. Fuji then sprayed powder and missed Luger. Lex then wears down Yoko with blows and he tried to body slam Yokozuna but he couldn’t successfully do it and Yoko kicks him down. Yoko kicks Luger to the outside after choking him on the rope.

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Final Rating for WWF Summerslam 1993 = 6.5/10

This show is an interesting one to rate because on one hand it features a lot of gems like Michaels-Perfect, Heavenly Bodies-Steiners, Ramon-Dibiase, The Hart matches among others, then on the other hand it has those ridiculous gimmicks on the show and some strange matches, and of course the main event that kind of leaves a sour taste in your mouth. The show had 10 matches overall and it felt like it had a little of everything on it so it’s definitely a good Summerslam, but it’s more along the likes of “Good but not going to bring it up in a Best Summerslam ever” type way.