WWF Summerslam 1998 (Retro Review)

Good morning ladies and gents, I am your Local Hero, your Review Guy, Cameron McDonley and it's time for another retro review! With just 48 Hours away until this Sunday's festivities, I bring you a review and retrospective of the most profitable and some say, greatest Summerslam of all time. That's right, we are reviewing Summerslam 1998: The Highway To Hell, which emanates from the hallowed halls of the world famous Madison Square Garden in New York City. So without further ado, let's inject Rest Hold Party with a lethal dose of Attitude!

To kickoff this action-packed event on a hot summer night in late August of 1998, D' Lo Brown defends his European Championship against one of the most memorable characters in the WWF at the time, Val Venis. This was a very even, back and forth matchup between two men who wanted nothing more than to be the European Champion on this night. Over the course of this contest there were a lot of high impact moves and spots. Val Venis at one point in the match jumped off the top rope and got caught by the champion who proceeded to execute a sit-out spinebuster type of maneuver on the challenger only to get a near-fall. Val Venis would go for a T-Bone Suplex as well as a few other moves, but the most devastating part of the match was when D' Lo had him in position for a powerbomb, picked him up and in a very grotesque fashion, dropped the challenger on his neck.

The match would end in a disqualification when Val ripped D' Lo's chest protector off of him, proceeded to go to the top rope where the referee would try to stop him (and succeeded) by accidentally crotching him on the post. Venis would retaliate later by pushing the referee down which would cost him. However not all's lost as the Big Valbowski would scoop slam the ref on the canvas, go to the top rope and execute a devastating Money Shot. Overall an entertaining opener minus the frightening powerbomb. Good way to start the show.

Match Rating: 3/5 

Now this next match was not a competitive affair, nor was it advertised to be. It was a match of comedic proportions between a team accompanied to the ring by Insane Clown Posse known as The Oddities and another all-Japanese team that went by the name of Kai En Tai, who were famous for trying to cut off a certain part of Val's anatomy earlier on in the year. Most of this match as you would expect was mainly Taka Michinoku and Dick Togo bumping around like crazy for these tall, huge behemoths that stand between them and victory. It was not a terribly long match either as after 10 minutes or so it ended in a very quick and painless fashion (for the fans watching at least) as Golga stacked every member of the team on top of each other and pinned them all at once for the win. Not much else to say here, as it was certainly far from the best match on this otherwise stacked to the hills card.

Match Rating: 2.5/5 

As dull as the last match was, this next battle surely made up for it as it was a rather entertaining affair. It was also a very personal one, as it was billed to be a Hair vs Hair match between Jeff Jarrett and DX Member X-Pac. Earlier on in the night Double J committed a despicable and heinous act in the words of Jim Ross as Jarrett and Southern Justice shaved Howard Finkel's head unrtil he was completely bald. Now I don't know how much hair he had left on his head, but it apparently meant a lot to these people in MSG as they booed JJ and chanted "Jarrett Sucks" for the rest of the segment on Heat.

Now on to the actual PPV match, this one was highly competitive and both men did whatever they could to avoid getting their hair shaved. The future founder of TNA Wrestling tried to cheat his way to victory, but to no avail as it backfired. X-Pac ended up grabbing his all-important guitar, smashed it over his head while the referee could not visibly see what was going on, and ended up getting the three count. You'd think that meant that Jarrett had to suck it up, buttercup and get his head shaved, but nope! In hilarious fashion, the clippers botched and gave out in the middle of cutting his hair so they had to resort to shears to cut whatever they could before taking him to the back to finish the job. Long story short he's not bald, he just has short hair. Fun match I must say.

Match Rating: 3/5

This tag match involving Sable and her opponents Marc Mero & Jacqueline was looking to be a Handicap match as she had not yet revealed who her opponent was, but much to everyone's surprise and the chagrin of her adversaries, she did find a partner, but in the unlikely form of the Rated R SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPERSTARRRRRRRRR (not yet sadly, just barely debuting), EDGE!

Now this match was another short one as it only went 8-10 minutes (a staple of this very romanticized era in wrestling), but it did feature a memorable spot of sorts as Edge leapt over the top rope onto both Mero & Jacqueline before Sable would end it with a TKO to obtain the victory. Edge and Sable also had a really awkward staring contest in the middle of the ring before Edge ran off into the crowd. I guess you could say that on that day, he saw clearly.

Very much a quick and painless match, but not dull in the slightest.

Match Rating: 2.7/5

This next contest was sure to be a knock-down, drag-out war, as Owen Hart and Ken Shamrock were gonna face off in a Lion's Den Match. And sure enough, it was everything it was billed to be as this match was nothing like what anybody was used to seeing in the WWF, even at that time. Instead of a match with a bunch of weapons or brawling into the backstage area, this match was a shoot-style type of affair. Very heavy strikes, brutal moves and using the opponent's head as a battering ram into the beams of the cage were all present in this match, or should I say fight.

I enjoy matches that feel real, and this one definitely felt like a real shoot fight between two wrestlers who honestly probably could've handled themselves rather well had this been an actual shoot. With Ken being a former UFC Superfight Champion and the late Owen Hart being a graduate of the famed Hart Dungeon in Calgary, this was certainly believable and if shown to a non-wrestling fan, I'm sure 85% of it could be seen as legitimate. All in all a great contest and one of the finest outings on this entire PPV.

Match Rating: 3.5/5

Mankind was scheduled to team up with the "Big Red Machine" Kane in this next match with the New Age Outlaws, but Kane refused to team with Mrs. Foley's baby boy, therefore effectively making this a handicap match. This match was a good match for something that's not necessarily a good stipulation. It was still very much engaging as there was a few hope spots in there for the lone tag team champion, but in the end all resistance to defeat proved to be futile, as Road Dogg and Billy Gunn ended up becoming the new WWF TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS OF THE WORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRLD.

After the match the New Age Outlaws proceeded to place Mankind in the dumpster where alas, Kane was indeed waiting. He popped out of the dumpster with a sledgehammer in hand, and basically committed attempted murder on Mankind with the sledgehammer. Sounds like that feud is far from over. Overall a good match.

Match Rating: 3/5 

After all the great action MSG had seen on August 30th, 1998, it was time for the two main events. The first of which was a Ladder Match for the very historically prestigious Intercontinental Championship between two men who would eventually become two of the biggest stars this business has ever seen. Those men were Triple H and The Rock. And what a matchup this turned out to be.

This long and grueling match started off slow, but as time went on it picked up a lot of steam. Both men vigorously laid into each other, not at all letting up the punishment. Many times the ladder was in play as a weapon, including a spot in the match where The Rock sandwiched HHH's leg in between the ladder and then used a chair in the most vile way possible, further destroying his rival's leg in the process so that way he could not stop Rock from climbing up the ladder and grabbing what he feels is rightfully his. However HHH persevered and continued fighting, even giving The Brahma Bull a dropkick to the face while he was holding the ladder on the outside, giving him a very bloody reciprocal for his callous actions. At the end of the night, the man standing atop of all the carnage and violence was one man, The Game himself. The People's Champion was not the IC Champion anymore.

Not much more to say other than this was certainly Match Of the Night.

Match Rating: 4.5/5

Here we go ladies and gentlemen, this is your main event of the evening! The final stop on the Highway To Hell has finally arrived, and these two megastars will finally collide for the World Wrestling Federation Championship. At the height of the Attitude Era, this was your main event for the highest bought Summerslam of all time. 700,000 buys and it was all for this one match right here.

While this may not have been the best match of the night in many fans' eyes, it was certainly the biggest match you could do on this night. It certainly did not lack in firepower either, as both Stone Cold and the Undertaker came swinging out of the gate and drama was very high for most of this match, including fighting in the crowd and a very memorable spot in the match where The Undertaker placed Austin on the announce table, went to the top rope and landed the biggest legdrop known to man onto Austin. Crazy enough that table did not break, and I'm not sure how their bodies didn't break given the almighty force of that spot. Easily the biggest OMG moment of the night.

After all of those spots and high-drama action points included a thwarted appearance by Kane, the match finally ended when Austin hit the Stunner on the Undertaker, got the pinfall victory and celebrated what was for sure a big win for the champion on this night. When it looked like 'Taker was gonna attack him at the close of the show with title in hand, he decided not to and handed the rightful champion his title belt, walking away and leaving the ring to the Texas Rattlesnake to close the PPV.

Overall a very phenomenal match.

Match Rating: 4/5

Overall Show Rating: 4.5/5
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Well that's it for this review for what was for sure a great show and in my opinion the best Summerslam of All Time.

I am the Local Hero, your Review Guy himself Cameron McDonley and I will see you all again very, very soon!

BREAKING NEWS: Triple H confirms Women's Wrestling Tournament

Ladies and gentlemen, this women's wrestling revolution continues! It has been confirmed that this summer on the WWE Network, World Wrestling Entertainment will orchestrate a women's wrestling tournament! Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion and current head of NXT himself Triple H confirmed this on the FOX Sports Wrestling Compadres Slamcast. Thanks to Wrestling Inc, here's the excerpt where The Game verified this news:

DALE RUTLEDGE: Last time on the show, [Stephanie McMahon] mentioned an idea for the women's talent that you were working on. Has there been any further development on that?

TRIPLE H: So, that's another one of my big, big kind of passions, is to go do that, a women's tournament. And we're down the road a bit of — the harder thing now, in a changing landscape, I feel like sometimes in WWE, like, you know, Tuesday, I'm like, "Okay, so this is where we're going, right? No changing it? Yes!" On Wednesday morning, you have to call, it's like, "We're not doing that anymore."

So you look at the landscape and how much it's changed in the last year. NXT Takeovers now are attached to our "Big Four" pay-per-views. Raw and SmackDown have split brands and have pay-per-views of their own, but there's more pay-per-views. When you look at the big calendar of where do you stick an event, that's changed. And you have to look for the space where you go like, "Do it here! … no, that's not good, you have a holiday." Right?

So it's really just been a process with the women of us finding the right time and space. This one worked out great with the little gap before Rumble here, to fit this tournament in and doing it in a shorter time frame, doing it live.

The women, we're probably going to do this summer, is what I'm hoping, and a lot of women performers just [reacted] when I said that, but that's the plan anyway. And you know, again, much like cruisers, it's to go scour the globe and maybe find the girls that are out there doing this that no one's heard of, that no one has seen, that are like these diamonds waiting, and bring them up. And let's see what they can do, and entertain people with the tournament, and let them be exposed to this new talent. And at the same time, just massively increase the opportunity and the talent pool for us, and for everyone, really. 

So, there you have it. Be on the lookout for a WWE Women's Tournament sometime in the summer of 2017! Rest Hold Party will have more on this breaking story as it develops...

No Greater Passion: The Story of The Greatest Performance at Survivor Series

Stakes were high. Jobs and careers on the line. The tension and excitement for the main event of Survivor Series 2014 was the most I've ever seen for a match since John Cena vs. CM Punk at Money In The Bank 2011. Everyone in the crowd, the fans watching at home, the locker room in the back, to the competitors in the ring knew what was at stake. A chance to take out the Authority, or lose their job trying. The result and the end of the match turned out to be one of the most historic moments in WWE's history.

Dolph Ziggler, in the year 2014, was being strong in matches, but weakly booked, just terrible choices for a guy who has a lot of fans behind him, who was in big matches, but couldn't seem to pull them out in the W column. But all of that started to change in the middle of 2014. Fans were supporting him more than ever, and he was having great times as the Intercontinental Champion, defeating the likes of The Miz and Cesaro. Near the end of October, John Cena started recruiting for his Survivor Series team, against Team Authority. Ziggler joined the team, and he was set for a history making result.

As the time towards the match progressed, stakes and stipulations were on the line. Said by Vince McMahon, if Team Cena defeated Team Authority, The Authority would be out of power. However, if Team Cena was defeated by Team Authority, everyone on Team Cena (not including Cena himself for some reason) would be fired from the WWE. This made scouting for Team Cena almost impossible for the man, as many people didn't want to risk their jobs. However, after attacks and lots of scouting, Team Cena was filled. Led by Cena himself, Team Cena was also made by Ryback, Dolph Ziggler, Big Show and Erick Rowan. They would go into war against Team Authority, with Team Captain Seth Rollins, Rusev, Mark Henry, Luke Harper and Kane. 

A week before Survivor Series however, Ziggler's momentum was halted. Ziggler was forced to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Luke Harper, which was fair enough, but what was not fair, unfortunately for Ziggler, was that he was blindsided Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury (J & J Security), and Mr. Money In The Bank, Seth Rollins, who attacked Ziggler with his briefcase. This weakened Ziggler before his match, giving him little to no time to recover from the assault. Even with the brutal attack showing effects on Ziggler, he went on and created a classic with Harper, which resulted in Harper winning the title, and the attack was too much on Ziggler. So, 6 days before the event, Ziggler couldn't arrive to the arena with his title. A momentum killer? That's for sure.

Survivor Series comes, and on a night of Nikki Bella becoming Divas Champion, the main event of Survivor Series had come. It was time for some of the most nail biting moments in Survivor Series history. The match started off with a bang, as Big Show hit Mark Henry with a KO Punch, eliminating him. Big momentum for Team Cena, and the match goes along with big spots, and eliminations. Ryback is eliminated after a Curb Stomp and a running Superkick. Rusev is looking to pretty much punish Ziggler, as he puts him on the announce table, and looking to splash him through the table. Luckily, Ziggler moves out of the way, and gets back into the ring at the count of 9, and Rusev cannot, resulting in his elimination, so technically, Ziggler eliminated Rusev. Erick Rowan has a good showing, until he gets hit by Rollins, and a clothesline by Luke Harper, eliminating Rowan, cutting the match down to 3-3. 

However, as Big Show enters the ring, he turns on Team Cena, a huge pivotal moment in the match, giving Cena a knockout punch, eliminating him. Big Show then shakes his hand with Triple H, signaling his heel turn, and voluntarily counts himself out, leaving Dolph Ziggler as the only remaining member of Team Cena, against 3 of Team Authority, Rollins, Harper and Kane. However, Ziggler fights back with passion and soul, not willing to give up. While many, including myself guessed that Ziggler was done for, Ziggler continued to prove us wrong. He pinned Kane with a Superkick and a Zig Zag, making it 2-1. In comes Luke Harper, and in sweet fashion, Ziggler eliminates him with a roll-up, after a couple of close calls, that could've resulted in the match ending. But now it was the closest it could ever get. It was 1 vs, 1. 

By this time, many of the doubters that didn't think Ziggler would get this far were on the edge of the seat. Could the hero somehow find a way to pull out the victory, or would his neck get stomped into the ground, ending his chances? Close fall after close fall, Rollins and Ziggler put on a tremendous clinic. No one knew who was going to win. Just as it seemed Ziggler had the win in his grasp, with a Zig-Zag, Triple H was too nervous to see what would happen, and pulled the referee out of the ring, and knocked him out. This caused a second referee to enter the matchup, and Ziggler hits another Zig-Zag on Rollins. The ref counts, but is also pulled out of the ring by Triple H, who is now beating down Ziggler in the ring. He hits a Pedigree, and brings out another referee. What referee? Scott Armstrong, who he fired for not doing the job right. Triple H puts Rollins on top of Ziggler, and Armstrong counts. 1,2, lights go out.

The sound of a crow is heard throughout the arena. Black and white. And on the titantron, is the face that was biggest man ever in WCW, The Icon, Sting! He made his way out to the ring, to the huge cheers of the crowd, and stared down Triple H in the ring. Triple H swung at Sting, but Sting hit HHH with a gut kick, and then the Scorpion Death Drop. Sting then put Ziggler on top of Rollins, and the referee came back into the match. 1,2,3. Team Cena wins the match, to the loud cheers of the crowd, in just an epic match and huge moment that is hard to forget. Ziggler single-handedly, except for the help of Sting, took out Team Authority, in what has no debate to be considered the greatest performance in the history of Survivor Series. Ziggler's resilience to not lose, his selling ability and making it look like the match was going to end so many times are abilities not many people could have. The match made Ziggler in huge way, and is still defining his career to this day. The man saved Team Cena, his job, and his career to create such a one of a kind performance, one that can never be replicated. 

After Survivor Series, Ziggler went on to reclaim his Intercontinental Championship from Luke Harper at TLC, in a hellish but great ladder match. However, SS 2014 was the obvious match of his career up to that point. His heart and soul, as well as work ethic created a performance pretty much impossible to forget. Without a doubt in my mind, Ziggler put on the best performance Survivor Series has ever had, and that's a fact.

Don't agree with me? Let me know who you think had the best performance at Survivor Series.

If you would like to watch the entire match, click here.