Great build, terrible match

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Did Undertaker and Austin ever have good matches? They always seemed to disappoint. I remember the whole thing with Austin and Hogan, and Austin didnt think the match was a good fit. In that Hogan liked to sell basic offence and match a big comeback, where as Austin liked to do full tilt with the fists and running the ropes. Seemed similar with Taker and Austin. Their styles werent what you'd want out of a good match from either man.

Their matches in 2001, when both Taker and Austin were healed up from his injuries and starting to have good matches again, they were dull as fuck.

[Onyx2]

Good shout, none of Taker / Austin matches are worth bothering with. But the build was mad as fuck. That single SummerSlam 1998 Highway to Hell video is top drawer.

 

The match? Eh. 

[SpursRiot2012]

God damn, what an awesome video. Everyone always talks about "My Way", but that has to be up there too. And it isn't even really telling a story - it's Austin on the highway to hell and Undertaker. Great stuff.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

I heard somewhere (I think it was Kevin Kelly's shoot DVD) that Taker and Austin were dreaming of that shit for about a year. Like they were genuinely convinced the SummerSlam match was going to be the best match in company history. That's why they spent so much on the build with the Highway to Hell video and the whole Kane and Taker alliance. It was meant to be a classic, with Taker doing, possbily his first ever clean pinfall loss (had to be right?) And then the match died on its arse. It didnt really matter in fairness, because match quality was hardly what people were bothering with during that era, but it was definitely disappointing.

Was it the SummerSlam 98 VHS release where Austin was interviewed afterwards for the extra footage and he was like "I didnt put in the performance I wanted and was lucky to get out of there with the title." It was a weird kayfabe/shoot mix, and you could tell he was pissed off.

But yeah, fantastic build and video. Even though they were killing WCW for a few months, that Highway to Hell video was when you went "yeah, they aren't coming back from this." It made WCW, Hogan, Nash and Piper and the nWo gimmick look like really old men. WWF was at its coolest that month.

[air_raid]

38 minutes ago, IANdrewDiceClay said:

 

Was it the SummerSlam 98 VHS release where Austin was interviewed afterwards for the extra footage and he was like "I didnt put in the performance I wanted and was lucky to get out of there with the title." It was a weird kayfabe/shoot mix, and you could tell he was pissed off.

 

There was also a Rock promo - which you can see on the Network upload - where they follow Rock straight through the curtain after the ladder match and he takes a seat, ignoring the doctor wanting to patch him up, and cuts a fully in character promo 100% riding that "cusp of turning" line where he's still an arrogant prick but begrudgingly accepts that Hunter beat him. But the real intrigue is that as you follow Rocky down the corridor you can hear Vince barking instructions from Gorilla including "Do we have Taker? I need Taker!" as they're preparing to send out the main event.

As an aside, while I pointed out earlier the big deal that never really seemed to come across of Austin pinning the Undertaker clean, what DID resonate hard for me was when Rock pinned him after a Rock Bottom in the handicap match the night after Breakdown. Between that and Rock pinning Kane between SummerSlam and Breakdown, they were totally balls out of the barrel on making Rocky someone else to believe in so quickly after a big loss on PPV. The Rock pinning The Undertaker clean during a fairly throwaway 2 on 3 match on Raw as an example of "this is the guys level" was actually bigger to me than Stone Cold as WWF Champion going over at SummerSlam. I think that speaks volumes about something not quite working between Steve and Taker on the night.

[Onyx2]

Steve always says he got concussed very early on when Taker whipped his head up and caught him flush in the jaw. 

[stefan]

Jake Roberts vs Randy Savage back in 1991/92. Maybe matches could have been good if given more time, but the two televised ones were both short and anticlimatic. Build is tremendous, even the post match angle at This Tuesday in Texas although the match was disappointing.  

[Supremo]

It was more due to the build up to the show rather than the match itself, but I remember being really excited for Benoit vs. Guerrero at One Night Stand, expecting it to be the best match on the card...only for it to be a complete pile of shit.