Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted July 28, 2015 Author Awards Moderator Share Posted July 28, 2015 Thanks for the extra contextual info, raid. It's always great for helping me fill in the gaps. Wembley time… It's Summerslam 1992, also known as The Show That's Probably Had More UKFF Threads About It Than Any Other Show, Except Maybe WrestleXpress. I can't go with anything other than Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog for this one. The match: I've started the Network playback with the pre-match Diana Hart interview. I'd rather have had Matilda. Diana's going to be watching the match. Lennox Lewis! I had completely forgotten he was involved in this! Wembley's pretty happy to see the Bulldog. It'd be lovely to have one of the current crop of Brits built to the level where they'd get this sort of reaction on a UK show. Union flags all over the place. Bulldog does his thumbs-up to the camera, another of those moments burned into my memory through the 'Lonely Road of Faith video' and then Bret Hart's music hits. He looks confident, and doesn't seem put off by the jeers of the audience. This is clearly the impression I'm supposed to get because Vince on commentary has all but said it himself. Diana update: She just opened her mouth slightly and closed it again. Bret kisses the Intercontinental belt, and Bobby Heenan wonders if he's kissing it goodbye. After a fantastic crowd shot, we get a staredown, and a hard shove from Davey Boy before the first lockup. Crowd is massively on Davey's side, and this match feels absolutely huge because of it. Lovely piece of chain wrestling ended with Davey shoulder-shoving Bret out of the ring. He's got the power advantage, here, certainly. Airhorns aplenty at Wembley. Some more lovely chain wrestling before Bret grounds Bulldog and rolls him up for a series of pin attempts. The power vs. technical skills thing I've just mentioned is, again, clearly what I'm supposed to notice, because Vince just said what I was thinking again. Bulldog did a fantastic counter to an armlock just now, reversing it into one of his own. Diana update: She licked her lips and then breathed out dramatically. That was worth cutting to her for. Bring back Matilda. Davey attempts a pin, and then back to the armlock on Bret. 80,000 people are in the palm of their hands. Diana update: She gets a corner screen to herself! Oof! Bret just got the advantage back by kneeing Bulldog right in the gut, then hitting a leg drop. Chinlock applied, Davey gets up, Bret takes him down again and drops a forearm. Heenan points out that they're both taking their time here because they know the match is going to go on for a while before either of them's beaten down enough to be, well, beaten. The pace picks up again for a nice little exchange ending with Davey monkey flipping Bret and whipping him into various turnbuckles. That all ends with Bret viciously kicking him in the face. That's the most brutal looking version of that 'put your foot up to stop them running into you' counter I've ever seen, but because it's Bret doing it, I have to assume it only looked nasty and actually wasn't at all. Advantage once again with Hart. The crowd haven't quietened down all match. It's amazing. Oof again! Bret dives over the top rope to the floor and takes Davey down, and again, that looked vicious. Diana update: Slightly furrowed brow. Bret whips Bulldog into a turnbuckle, and once again, I have to say, it looks vicious. This is the Excellence of Execution in absolute full flow. He continues to prove it with a series of European uppercuts, punches, and a dropkick. Did Vince just namedrop Razor Ruddock!? Ruddockmania, brother. Bret continues his domination of Bulldog, he's really got Bulldog reeling, and doesn't care how much the crowd dislikes him for it. Between beatings he keeps going back to that chinlock. Diana update: She shook her head slightly. Now we get a sleeper hold, but Bulldog got to the ropes. Bret locks it back in, and I don't know whether it's the summaries of this chapter in Bret's book that are influencing this opinion, but this has been all Bret on pretty much every level so far, Bulldog has done very, very little up to now. He tries something once he's broken out of the sleeper, though, going for a gorilla press, but Bret lands quite awkwardly on the ropes. Oof, but not in a good way. A few clotheslines later, he does it again, and hits a press slam this time. Stalling suplex, which creates a great visual with the massive crowd behind it. Chest-first turnbuckle bump for Bret, and we're in Bulldog comeback mode. He takes Bret up for the powerslam, and I thought it'd be countered because Davey Boy took forever and ever to set it up, but he hits it! And Bret kicks out! SUPLEX CITY! Not really, but that's what now runs through my head every time I see a German Suplex, which is what Bret just hit for a two count. Diana's not been featured in a while, I think they've realised they're not getting much out of her and should have just brought Matilda and her podium in for a one-night comeback. Back in the match, a double clothesline knocks both men down, but Bret's got more of his wits about him and locks in the Sharpshooter from a lying-down position! That was a wonderful piece of manoeuvring, and Bulldog's in real trouble now. Diana update: Oh wait, there she is. She clapped her hands a couple of times and opened and closed her mouth. I'm not sure if she's worried or happy. Sunset flip… countered… THREE COUNT! Bulldog won it! Quite a surprising and sudden end to the match there. Even having seen it before, it took me unawares, and I had to rewind a few seconds because I missed it. Davey, now with Intercontinental belt, extends a hand to Bret. Diana is crying out of concern/happiness/sadness/who knows. Bret gives Davey a hug and raises his hand. There's your feel-good ending. Diana joins them in the ring and gives them both a hug. That's nice. She raises both their hands. Extra feel good ending. And fireworks fill Wembley Stadium! Super extra feel good ending! But I can't help but think… you know who'd really have made it a feel good ending... My thoughts: Great match - but it's the event that makes the match rather than the other way round here. In the Wembley environment, with that crowd, with those wrestlers, at that point in the show, everything came together to make that a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. That wouldn't have meant quite as much, or be as fondly remembered, without all those factors, great match or not. Bret Hart put a huge amount of work into it for the majority of the match, but it had to be Bulldog who came out on top, it just had to be, even if it came from a rollup counter rather than a finisher. I could quite happily see that match again and again. I preferred their 1995 PPV match as a match, but this one's just a good watch. And the Diana stuff wasn't bad at all - though it's arguably not vital to the story of the match (they only reference the 'tearing the family apart' thing when they cut to her anyway) it's actually quite effective. A worthy main event, with an atmosphere we're unlikely to ever see repeated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I watched Bret/Bulldog the other week and I was soon googling 'WWF Summerslam Razor Ruddock' but couldn't find anything really - what was that all about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I second that you've got to check out Hakushi/123 Kid for '95. what a stick-out pairing for that era Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.PeterVenkman Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 I watched Bret/Bulldog the other week and I was soon googling 'WWF Summerslam Razor Ruddock' but couldn't find anything really - what was that all about? I imagine he was talking about the boxer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted July 29, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted July 29, 2015 Yeah it was the boxer Donovan 'Razor' Ruddock he was on about. I watched Bret/Bulldog the other week and I was soon googling 'WWF Summerslam Razor Ruddock' but couldn't find anything really - what was that all about? They were just giving Lennox Lewis' next fight a little plug. I loved Heenan's reaction to Vince mentioning it... McMahon - Lennox Lewis will be fighting Razor Ruddock on... Heenan - RAZOR RAMON IS FIGHTING LENNOX LEWIS?! McMahon - Razor Ruddock!! HG - love these reviews. And all these Matilda updates and that gif have confirmed I'm actually going to get a bulldog. I've wanted one for ages but this thread was the tipping point. So your thread's going to cost me about £1,500-£2,000. And my missus will probably batter me when she finds out how much bulldogs cost. Better get doing some overtime. Thanks. Oh and I'd do Kid vs Hakushi from 1995. I actually liked that better than the Shawn/Razor ladder rematch myself, although that was great as well. Kid vs Hakushi is the one. Unless you really want to watch Taker vs Kama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator HarmonicGenerator Posted July 29, 2015 Author Awards Moderator Share Posted July 29, 2015 Thanks wand - I'm pleased to hear how influential I am! Bulldogs may be expensive but I'm sure you won't regret it. Just please, please, please name her Matilda. And post photos (and updates, naturally) in the Pets thread. Others - Hakushi/Kid is definitely the way I'm veering for '95! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted July 29, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted July 29, 2015 Thanks wand - I'm pleased to hear how influential I am! Bulldogs may be expensive but I'm sure you won't regret it. Just please, please, please name her Matilda. And post photos (and updates, naturally) in the Pets thread. Naturally, I'm a UKFFer after all. Matilda if it's a girl, Winston if it's a boy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators PowerButchi Posted July 29, 2015 Moderators Share Posted July 29, 2015 Summerslam 95 has surely got to be Barry Horowitz vs Skip just for the all kinds of awesome story of Barry Horowitz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam O'Rourke Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 You just reminded me how excited I was for babyface Hakushi as a kid, and how disappointed I was when he was gone so soon afterwards... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ElCece Posted July 29, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted July 29, 2015 You just reminded me how excited I was for babyface Hakushi as a kid, and how disappointed I was when he was gone so soon afterwards... I had never seen anyone quote like Hakushi at the time. I absolutely loved him. Wore the tape out on that 1-2-3 Kid match Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted July 29, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted July 29, 2015 It's Summerslam 1992, also known as The Show That's Probably Had More UKFF Threads About It Than Any Other Show, Except Maybe WrestleXpress. "23 years ago today" You just reminded me how excited I was for babyface Hakushi as a kid, and how disappointed I was when he was gone so soon afterwards... I dunno, I'd have been happy with heel Hakushi just getting more of a go. He had two superb televised matches with the Hitman, and then knocked everyone's socks off against the Kid... then effectively turned babyface later the same night. I wanted to see him fly around Razor and especially have a match with Shawn on Superstars or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ElCece Posted July 29, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted July 29, 2015 I think Shawn vs Hakushi in 95 would result in me creaming my chinos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lenin Posted July 29, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted July 29, 2015 Summerslam 08 with Edge and Undertaker is really good. Nothing else above average on that card just re-watched Summerslam 07 and that was guff. Would personally recommended reviewing Punk vs Morriston for the ECW title for that one. And 09 had a few good matches with DX vs Legacy and Mysterio vs Ziggler are both really good but Jeff Hardy and Punk is a top notch showing. Definitely one of the most under-rated matches of recent memory. They opened the show? Both Punk & Morrison put on a show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ElCece Posted July 29, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted July 29, 2015 No they where middle of the card. Really was the only match on the card worth rewatching Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lenin Posted July 29, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted July 29, 2015 I'm maybe thinking of the Mania match then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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