4. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (1994) - Steel Cage Match For WWE Championship
Unquestionably, Mr. Summerslam was Bret Hart. He was as obvious a choice as HBK was for Mr. WrestleMania. The Hitmans Summerslam resume is full of classic matches at every level that the WWE offers championships. Perhaps the finest of those classics is the Summerslam 94 Cage match with Owen Hart, which continued the rivalry that had initially culminated in a breathtaking blueprint for future generations to follow at WrestleMania X. This go-round, Bret was the WWE Champion and Owen was getting his only PPV World title match of his career. Inside the old school blue cage, Bret and Owen put together a unique match that is not universally accepted. Some people loved it, while others found it to be lacking in elements that had traditionally been the cornerstones of the gimmick. Even though it did not feature blood and violence, it made up for it with an unmatched psychology toward winning the match. The entire bout was based around outwitting the opponent to escape the cage via the door or over the top. There was no wasted motion and every little thing mattered. For thirty brilliant minutes, Bret and Owen worked on the turnbuckles, the side of the cage, near the door, and at the top of the cage. Unlike most cage matches, the ratio between attempting to get out of the cage to the content contested on the mat was heavily skewed toward the former. In one of the more dramatic finishing sequences you will see in a match of this type, Bret dropped to the floor off the outside wall of the blue steel as Owen, right beside him, got his foot hung up in one of the cage squares.
"The Doc" Chad Matthews has written wrestling columns for over a decade. A physician by trade, Matthews began writing about wrestling as a hobby, but it became a passion. After 30 years as a wrestling fan, "The Doc" gives an unmatched analytical perspective on pro wrestling in the modern era. He is a long-time columnist for Lordsofpain.net and hosts a weekly podcast on the LOP Radio Network called "The Doc Says." His first book - The WrestleMania Era: The Book of Sports Entertainment - ranks the Top 90 wrestlers from 1983 to present day, was originally published in December 2013, and is now in its third edition.
Matthews lives in North Carolina with his wife, two kids, and two dogs.
