All 27 WWE SummerSlam Opening Matches - Ranked

15. Savio Vega Vs. Owen Hart - 1996

kurt angle vs rey mysterio
WWE

Owen Hart reminds me of Tim Donst for some reason, I have no idea why. I also really enjoyed Savio Vega as a kid, so I was looking forward to revisiting this. 1996 was the year of Owen Hart wearing a cast, another much-missed wrestling trope, and the cast was the major story throughout the match. It would come into play for the finish too, as Owen decked poor Savio with and locked in the Sharpshooter for the KO victory.

What is strange about the match (although not really so strange I suppose) is how into Owen the crowd was. He was a great heel, but you get the sense that the crowd really wanted to get behind as a babyface. Extra points go to this match for Clarence Mason’s weird stalker impression in the aisle, and the inset video of Vader and Jim Cornette warming up for the main event. Vader was ace. 

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.