10 WWE SummerSlam Secrets You Need To Know About

3. Nash (Builds) Bridges

Diesel Mabel
WWE Network

SummerSlam 1995 was the zenith and nadir in the career of Nelson 'King Mabel' Frazier.

Though wrestlers backstage were calling him Barney the Dinosaur and fans on the other side of the curtain clearly couldn't see what Vince McMahon briefly could, the Men On A Mission star was bizarrely programmed with WWE Champion Diesel for the second biggest main event of the year, reaching the level he'd never ascend to again as a result of the pair's utter stinker.

Nash tried hard, deploying his lesser-spotted plancha (!) along with a flying forearm from the second rope to replace his Jackknife Powerbomb as the finish. That he pulled off the latter after Mabel nearly broke his back was even more remarkable.

After being specifically told by Nash to go easy, the King of the Ring... didn't. He dropped his entire weight on Nash's lower back in a botch so bad he was almost fired for it. McMahon and Nash were both furious with the state of the main event after the show went off the air, but 'Big Sexy' managed to talk The Chairman down from firing him on the spot. Mabel was done as a headliner from that night, but he managed several more stints with WWE thanks to Big Kev's big intervention.

Contributor
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for 10 years. Alongside the production of daily written, audio and video content covering WWE and AEW, he also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot on the UK's wrestling podcast charts with over 10,000 episodes and 70,000,000 total downloads. He also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House!, Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast, and has guested on long-running Sunderland AFC podcast Wise Men Say. With WhatCulture, he has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. He has also been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana, 411Mania and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in music and culture magazines The Crack, Pilot as well as Sunderland AFC's premiere fanzine A Love Supreme. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it every other Saturday at the Stadium Of Light, and at Cribs gigs nationwide.