Summerslam 96 Review

McMahon, JR and Mr Perfect are on commentary tonight. Michaels Vs Vader, and the boiler room brawl are the big matches tonight.


Match #1

Singles Match

Owen Hart Vs Savio Vega


Cornette is busy preparing Vader for the main event so Owen is soloing. But Owen is still doing his Bob Orton routine so the cast will probably come into play tonight. Pretty good, back and forth fight. Owen hits a missle dropkick but Savio still manages to kick out. Hart climbs up top but gets crotched and super belly to backed off the top rope, but Savio almost ko's himself because when he hit the mat Owen had his cast arm behind Savio's head. The ref is busy jerking off so Owen has time to completely pull his cast off and pop him with it then slaps on the sharpshooter and Savio loses by KO at 13:17. Decent opener 2 stars. Bradshaw shows up postmatch and beats on Savio.


Todd Pettengill interviews Mankind in the boiler room.

Match #2

World Tag Team Title Elimination Match

The Smokin Gunns w Sunny Vs The Godwinns w Hillbilly Jim Vs The Bodydonnas Vs The New Rockers


Last ppv for the Donnas. Skip's got a neckbrace on so they probably won't win. New Rockers could of been alot better if not booked like total jackasses. Billy Gunn also has a cast on his hand, alot of injured people here tonight, plus Ahmed Johnson recently vacated the IC title due to injury. The Donnas go down just about 3 minutes into the thing after Zip gets tripped up and pinned by Bart Gunn. New Rockers try forming an alliance with the Gunns but things go awry eventually. Henry hits Marty with the slop drop and pins him around the 7 minute mark. The finish happens when Phineos goes to pin Billy and Bart jumps off the top rope nailing Phineos and Billy gets the pin to retains the gold after 12 minutes. Sunny says the arena looks bad so she unveils a giant poster of herself to make it better. This was back when people gave a **** about her. 2 stars.


Match #3


Singles Match

The British Bulldog Daveyboy Smith Vs Psycho Sid


Pretty short match. Bulldog knocks Sid outside and won't let him back in. Davey suplexes him back in but drops him accross the ropes, 2 count for Bulldog. Bulldog hits the running powerslam but is distracted by Cornette fighting with Clarence Mason and Sid capitolizes with a chokeslam, powerbomb goodnight at 6 minutes. Sid wins. 2 stars.


Match #4

Singles Match

Goldust w Marlena Vs Marc Mero w Sable


GD controls most of the first half of the match. Mankind hobbles out to ringside and starts calling Sable "mommy" she's justifiably freaked out. Mero fights back. Wildman knocks GD out of the ring than hits the tootie fruitie, Back inside guilotine legdrop and Mero up top. Marlena distracts the ref and Mero hits the Wild Thing which JR says is a brand new move even though he's used it for YEARS in WCW. GD catches Mero with a suprise curtain call and pins him at 10:56. 2 1/2 stars. While Sable tends to Mero GD crawls over and starts doing a routine reminiscient of Jake Roberts/Elizabeth in Tuesday In Texas. Mero beats the **** out of him.

We get a package of why Ahmed was put out of competition. It was spun that newcomer Faarooq caused him kidney damage. Ahmed really did need surgery and was sidelined and the IC title was vacated.


Match #5

Singles Match

Jake The Snake Roberts Vs Jerry The King Lawler


I really hate this match. Jake is made out to look like a joke, the bookers had a great time taking shots at his past drug problems, and Lawler is going full tilt with the insults. Lawler brings a bag to ringside and reveals a giant bottle of wine. Jake hands him his ass for nearly all of 5 minutes until Lawler jabs a Jack Daniels bottle into Jake's throat and pins him. Postmatch Lawler dumps the booze in Jake's mouth and just humiliates him until guest commentator Mark Henry makes the save. What a horrible night for Jake Roberts. I had hope for his 96 return, but they turned him into a bible thumping preacher and had Lawler kick him with his substance problem. 1/2 star.


Sunny and Faarooq (in goofy gladiator gear) have a segment

Match #6

Boiler Room Brawl

The Undertaker Vs Mankind

Paul Bearer waits in the ring, and both guys start in the boiler room. The winner must claim the urn. Taker enters the room and starts searching. Sneak attack by Mankind and they start hitting eachother with all kinds of ****. Eventually they fight out into the hallways where the WWF roster cheers them on. Mankind throws hot coffee on Taker and they continue the battle down the entranceway. Mankind pulls up the padding around the ring then piledrives Taker on the floor. Mankind tries getting the urn but Taker stops him and splats him on the floor. Taker goes to get the urn but Bearer turns away and Mankind beats down Taker!!!! Paul Bearer joins in on attacking The Undertaker!!! Big WCW swerve there!! Bearer cracks Taker accross the forehead and gives the urn to Mankind after 26 minutes. They celebrate and leave. Then if things couldn't get any more fkd up the druids show up and carry The Undertaker away. Im going 3 stars.

Match #7

World Championship Match

Shawn Michaels w Jose Lothario Vs Vader w Jim Cornette

This match is a clusterfk. I used to like it but once people started pointing out Shawns hissy fits for Vader missing some spots it drags the points down. Shawn Michaels uses his speed and takes Vader down early on. Shawn victory rolls Vader out of the ring onto the floor but then Vader splats him on the floor. Eventually Vader overpowers him and beats him up in bigman fashion. Aside from Shawn being a pain in the ass this match gets really screwy when Vader drops Shawen accross the guardrail outside the ring and wins by countout. But he doesn't get the title! So Cornette demands the match be restarted. So the ref agrees and the fans cheer. A few minutes Later Shawn gets ahold of Cornettes tennis racket and beats Vader silly drawing a dq. AGAIN Cornette calls for a rematch saying Shawn's did it intentionally to save his title. Shawn agrees and finally beats Vader with a moonsault 22 minutes into the fight. Im going 3 stars.


Overall Opinion: The championship match and the boiler room brawl are what people remember about this one. It's a good ppv. Probably one of the top 5 WWF ppvs for 96.

Final Score: Aside from Jake/Lawler everything scored atleast a 2 star rating on my dud-5 stars scale. Im gonna go with an even 6.