10 Things Everybody Gets Wrong About WWE In 1995
5. The BIG Four
Back when both house show attendances and buyrates played a vital role in WWE's bottom line, pay-per-views were often deprived of a payoff to popular television rivalries in an effort to boost local ticket sales.
By 1995, the company was forced into trying to serve both masters equally. WCW had upped the number of events over the years to the point where Vince elected to expand his quartet first to five, then an entire 12.
With In Your House and King Of The Ring plugging gaps in the calendar between the four cornerstone shows, Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series were all able to shine brighter.
Curiously enough, a transparent grasp at the mainstream served to spoil WrestleMania somewhat, highlighting the potential of the others if great wrestlers were relied upon to supply great wrestling.
Shawn Michaels and Davey Boy Smith's bookending of the only ever 30-minute Royal Rumble match is done solely down to a dearth of believable winners on the roster at the time, but the breathtaking battle between the two is excellent as a result. The two tangle in Survivor Series' world class Wild Card elimination match. A first at the time, heels and babyfaces shared tag-ropes in a dynamic repurposing of an old format. SummerSlam is the sleeper hit of the year, with a 123 Kid/Hakushi opener lightyears ahead of its time, Barry Horowitz having the best night of his career against Chris 'Skip' Candido and Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon arguably bettering their WrestleMania 10 effort in another scintillating ladder match.
Comfortably fourth in a four horse race, WrestleMania only makes up the numbers when held to the standard of the three other standout supershows.