One MIND-BLOWING Secret For Every WWE SummerSlam
31. 1995 | Mythbuster
There’s a narrative that will forever cloak WWE: the promotion does not care about great wrestling matches.
WWE is all about storytelling and moments. The promotion has always fancied itself as something closer to cinema than pro wrestling, so much so that the term was once outright banned. A water-chomping Vince McMahon famously proclaimed “we make movies” on Beyond The Mat, whereas Triple H often describes his WWE as “a movie about a sport”. In a development few would have predicted, Triple H, the man who sucked up to the smarks as booker of NXT, seems to care even less about in-ring artistry than Vince McMahon in 2026. While this narrative in many ways is true, it’s also a load of bollocks.
WWE’s belief that it does elevated wrestling was always a PR strategy designed to position itself above tawdry wrasslin’, to which the TV industry and the sponsors that power it were always looked down upon. A report in the August 7, 1995 issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter busts this myth.
The original SummerSlam card looked shocking, even by the dire standards of 1995. Diesel Vs. Mabel was never going to be a five-star classic. Bret Hart could carry Tom Magee to a great effort, but Glenn Jacobs was a step too far. The third big planned attraction ended up being improbably great when Vince got ‘round to it over a year later - but Shawn Michaels Vs. Sid, planned as the Intercontinental title match for SummerSlam, was one potential stinker too many. Dave Meltzer wrote in the August 7, 1995 edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the match was “not etched in stone” because “apparently those in Titan realise how bad this show looks on paper when it comes to workrate and want to at least get a decent quality match or two added”.
And thus, the Shawn Michaels Vs. Razor Ramon IC Ladder match sequel got booked.