FanPost

SummerSlam 1994 Review: Hart Family Values

Event: SummerSlam 1994

Date: August 29, 1994

Place: United Center, Chicago, Illinois

Attendance: 23,000

The 1994 edition of SummerSlam was an interesting animal. It was the first major event to be held in the brand new United Center in Chicago, which had opened only eleven days prior. It was also hyped for two major reasons: Bret Hart vs Owen Hart in an iconic Steel Cage match, and Undertaker vs Undertaker (yes, you read that right). Overall, it was a pretty good show that could have been perfect...but it was not, as we will soon find out.

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Irwin R. Schyster and Bam Bam Bigelow (with Ted DiBiase) defeat The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu) (with Afa and Lou Albano) by DQ

This was a fairly good tag match to open this SummerSlam with. However, the ending was a mess due to everyone (including the managers) getting involved in this match, leading to the DQ.

Alundra Blayze defeats Bull Nakano (with Luna Vachon) to retain the WWF Women's Championship

This was a great match with good back-and-forth offense. Both Bull and Alundra showed why there were both great in-ring performers in this match. Honestly, I was surprised at how much of a hoss Bull Nakano was (this was the first time I've ever seen her perform). However, just after seeing one match with Nakano and Blayze, you could tell how much of an influence they were to Paige today.

Razor Ramon (with Walter Payton) defeats Diesel (with Shawn Michaels) to gain the WWF Intercontinental Championship

This match was just average, and it went on for five minutes longer than it should have. There was also a lot of interference from Michaels, which got annoying very quickly. The ending (with Michaels hitting Diesel with Sweet Chin Music by mistake) was a pretty good surprise though.

Tatanka defeats Lex Luger

This was a decent match that served more to turn Tatanka heel due to him selling-out to Ted DiBiase to join the Million Dollar Corporation. Nothing more to say here.

Jeff Jarrett defeats Mabel (with Oscar)

I highly dislike Jeff Jarrett. I really, really dislike him.

Oh right, there was a match here, and it sucked.

Bret Hart defeats Owen Hart in a Steel Cage match to retain the WWF Championship

If you've either seen WrestleMania X or have read my review of it, then you would know that I considered the opening match between Owen and Bret to be "the best opening match to a wrestling pay-per-view ever", and for good reason (the action was technical and told a great story). However, this match, believe it or not, was much better. The action was not as technical as it was at WrestleMania X; instead, it was much more like a brawl. This different approach not only fit this particular match better, but it also served to tell an excellent story between the two feuding brothers. This is quite a long match at a little over 32 minutes, but it is one of those rare matches where it keeps you engaged for the full duration, and even after the match.

If you remember my SummerSlam 1991 review, then you noticed that I called the match between Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect "beyond excellent." However, this match is FAR beyond "beyond excellent." In fact, this match is not only the greatest cage match of all time, but it is also in my top ten list of best WWF/WWE matches of all-time. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter gave this match five stars, which is an incredibly rare accolade for an non-Japanese match. If you have about 45 minutes to spare, and you've never seen this match before, then watch it.

The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeats The Undertaker (with Ted DiBiase)

So after the iconic cage match between Bret and Owen Hart, we get this terrible main event. After Paul Bearer's Undertaker is defeated in an overbooked Casket match at Royal Rumble 1994 (write-off so he could nurse a back injury), Ted DiBiase claims that he brought Undertaker back. After some time, however, everyone notices that DiBiase's Undertaker (played by Brian Lee of ECW fame) is a fake because he responded to a money offer from DiBiase. Stuff leads to stuff, and eventually the real Undertaker returns (believe me, the story leading to this match is as convoluted as it looks here).

As for the match, it was terrible. The crowd was completely dead for this, and the action in the ring was plain terrible. I will never know how this match main-evented this show, especially after the classic cage match that preceded this one.

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SummerSlam 1994 was an interesting show that is very difficult to grade. On one hand, there are some very good matches, including the incredible Owen/Bret cage match. On the other hand, there are some very underwhelming matches, including the shitty main event. If the main event were better, then this would be a show with an A grade. However, it was not meant to be, which is one of the main issues of the Transitional Era that this show took place in.

Grade: B

Tune in tomorrow for SummerSlam 1995!

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Cageside Seats readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cageside Seats editors or staff.