All 27 WWE SummerSlam Opening Matches - Ranked

13. Kane Vs. Finlay - 2007

kurt angle vs rey mysterio
WWE.com

Just over halfway through the list and we find something of a sleeper if I’m honest. Kane vs. Finlay might not be the most thrilling of matches on paper, but it showed exactly why Finlay was such a valuable cog in the WWE wheel during the mid to late 2000s. He might have been a smaller guy than the monsters, but his mindset and viciousness meant he was a legitimate threat to them, and allowed him to have some great brawls with the big men.

This is no exception. Kane’s taped ribs help the match, another wrestling trope that I so dearly miss. Finlay attacks the injured ribs in a variety of inventive ways, to the point where Kane is unable to hit any of his big moves. He is, however, able to hit a pretty sweet enziguri. Both kids really pull out all the stops during this match, which helps it no end. Hornswoggle gets involved at the end however, but his interference isn’t enough for the Irishman to pull out the W. Kane chokeslams Finlay, Kane wins.

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.