WWE: SummerSlam 1992 - 30th Anniversary Edition [Blu-ray]

Please note, this review is of the blu-ray version of SummerSlam '92: 30th Anniversary Edition and it contains match SPOILERS.As with many things, the memory of something is often better than the reality. Such is the case with Summerslam '92 - an event so etched in the minds of fans that we often forget one ineluctable reality - that it simply wasn't very good. Of course that was nothing new for the standards of the day, when entire PPVs were built around two, or sometimes just one match, with the rest proving filler. Such is the case here. Still, I'll give my honest, objective review of the show on a match by match basis. However, let's first look at the blu-ray itself.It's a single disc release, with two versions of the show; the 'Broadcast Edition' and the 'Live Event Edition'. The only difference is that the former contains the event as it would have been seen on television. The latter contains several dark matches that the live audience would have seen, but that were edited out of the broadcast version. These matches can be watched seamlessly as part of the whole show, or on an individual basis in the extras menu. Also contained on the disc is the Summerslam 'pre-show' - just pre-recorded snippets hosted by Sean Mooney, and three complete episodes of Superstars from the weeks preceding SummerSlam. It is the Live Event version that I'll review here.Okay, let's crack on.The Mountie and the Nasty Boys vs. 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan and the Bushwhackers.This six man tag is brief and inoffensive. It's marred slightly by a match on an episode of Superstars (included here) which serves as a 'dry run' for this bout (it's practically move for move) but it shouldn't spoil it too much. Duggan the Bushwhackers win via pinfall. Match rating: 3/10.'El Matador' Tito Santana vs. Papa Shango.This was relegated to dark match status but is actually better than most of what made it on to the main card. The immensely talented Santana, who'd been reduced to jobber status by this point in his WWE career, does a terrific job of making the lumbering, useless Shango look like an absolute monster. A perfectly acceptable match by the standards of the day. Papa Shango gets the clean pin. Match rating: 5/10.Legion of Doom vs. Money Incorporated.The popularity of LoD always mystified me. They no sold their opponents regularly and rarely put anyone over. Furthermore, they were very, very limited performers. Conversely, IRS was a very underappreciated heel and Ted DiBiase was one of the best workers in the history of the game. The gulf in class is painfully obvious here, but IRS and DiBiase do an incredible job of putting over their opponents. LoD pick up the clean pin. Match rating: 3/10.Nailz vs. Virgil.Jobber extraordinaire Virgil serves as mere fodder for the beyond useless Nailz. Still, the match achieved its goal, which was to continue pushing Nailz as an absolute monster. That is, until he was trounced emphatically by the Big Boss Man a few months later. Nailz picks up the clean win. Match rating: 2/10.'The Model' Rick Martel vs. Shawn Michaels.This match is an absolute oddity. It's played for laughs but still somehow manages to be the third best bout of the night. Back in the day, WWE characters were more clearly defined than they are now. You were a good guy or you were a bad guy, and whichever you were, you wrestled the other exclusively. Face vs. face or heel vs. heel matches were not unprecedented, but they were such a rarity that when they happened, they drew attention. Bizarrely, SummerSlam '92 boasts not one, not two, but THREE such matches.This match was built around two heels, both handsome chaps, fighting over the affections of 'Sensational' Sherri, who damn near steals the show from beneath the two belligerents. Shawn Michaels was still relatively green as a singles performer, but already better than 90% of the roster. Rick Martel was a master worker who unfortunately never rose above the midcard in WWE, but you see flashes of his versatility and wrestling acumen here. The match had the stipulation that neither man would hit the other in the face (you can guess how long that was adhered to) lest poor Sherri have a heart attack.The crowd doesn't quite know how to respond to this amusing affair, which has hurt the bouts legacy (there were accusations that the crowd was disinterested, but that clearly wasn't true - just watch the audience). However, Rick and Shawn provide plenty of entertainment value and the commentary is hilarious. Vince McMahon (who is terrible on the rest of the broadcast) declares "Both individuals are cheating as much as they possibly can!" and "This is bordering on the absurd!" Indeed.Special mention goes to Sherri once again, for taking some fairly heavy bumps here.As mentioned, the match is played for laughs and despite the double count out finish, it's one of the highlights of the card. Match rating: 6/10.The Natural Disasters vs. The Beverly Brothers.Another poor match on a card stacked with poor matches. The Natural Disasters just didn't work as a face team, and each match followed the same basic formula that we see here; Typhoon flopping about like a beached whale while getting stomped on by his opponents with Earthquake (the only man in this match who could actually work) waiting on the apron to make the save. The only 'highlight' of the match is a bad one. Blake Beverly performs his signature diving headbutt on Typhoon, who raised his shoulder unexpectedly before BB could tuck his chin. The result is a hard to watch moment of Blake's head snapping back. That could have been so much worse. The Disasters get the clean pin. Match rating: 3/10.Crush vs. Repo Man.Oh. My. Word. How this match ever made the main card is beyond me. Crush, one of the worst workers in the history of the industry looked 'flamboyant' to say the least and Repo Man, skulking about giggling in his little mask, looking like Zorro's big gay daddy was beyond embarrassing. Proceedings are brief, but definitely not painless. Crush gets the submission win. Match rating: 1/10.'Macho Man' Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior.This match, for the WWE title, was actually miles better than their overrated WrestleMania VII clash and is the best bout of Warrior's career, hands down.The fact that Savage could get a match this good out of UW - a man notorious for being reckless, selfish and caring about nothing but getting himself over stands as testament to how good he truly was. Saying that, we actually see a slightly different side to the Warrior here. For the first (only?) time, we see him vulnerable, consistently selling a neck injury and actually giving as well as taking. It actually looked like he just might put Savage over clean.The match itself was built magnificently and interwoven into a much bigger story, which would pay off a few nights later when Savage dropped the title to Ric Flair. Here, tension is built because we're told that somebody - either Savage or Warrior - has sold out and paid to have Flair and Mr. Perfect in his corner. Turns out that's not the case and neither man is in league with the heels.The match itself has a face vs. face dynamic, but the pro-Warrior UK crowd effectively turn Savage heel, especially as the match goes on and the response to him gets more hostile. Both men sell their injuries beautifully (selling mattered back then) and the fact that we see a very believable pinfall off a basic suplex stands as testament to the booking and structure of the bout.Both men sport migraine inducing outfits, but even that can't detract from the quality of what's on offer. This is a rare occasion where a screwy finish actually adds to a bout, rather than detracts from it. Warrior wins by count out in the second best match of the night. Match rating: 8/10.The Undertaker vs. Kamala.A complete waste of time. WWE's version of Kamala was always played for laughs and at no point do you consider him a credible threat to Taker. The entrances last longer than the 'match' which Undertaker wins via DQ. Match rating: 1/10.Tatanka vs. The Berzerker.An absolute stinker. Tatanka was green as hell and the Berzerker was utterly useless. Hot garbage, but at least it's brief. Tatanka picks up the clean win. Match rating: 2/10.British Bulldog vs. Bret 'Hitman' Hart.This belter for the Intercontinental title went on last and has a reputation as one of the best WWE wrestling matches ever. While that's a bit grandiose (the two men had an even better encounter at In Your House some years later) it is perhaps fair to say that it was the best match in WWE history up to that point. It holds up extremely well and wouldn't seem out of place on a WrestleMania card today.Bulldog, surely one of if not the best to never hold the WWE title was apparently 'out of it' for the duration of this classic and Hart pompously took all the credit for himself. Either way, the match is a bona-fide masterclass and deserves its place in history. Made all the more poignant by the emotion and home field support of the fans, Bulldog gets the clean pin to close the show in our second face vs. face contest. Match rating: 10/10.So, that's SummerSlam '92 in a nutshell. The (inflated) attendance was quoted as over 80'000, but 68-71 seems like a more realistic figure, from credible reports.This show was important in that it was the first big event sans Hulk Hogan - proving that WWE didn't need the Hulkster. But as an overall event? It's pretty mediocre. As one would expect, Bobby Heenan is a hoot on commentary and Vince McMahon. . .isn't. He keeps tripping over his words and misnaming moves - calling an inverted atomic drop a 'reverse piledriver' on more than one occasion. Also, the patronising 'British' references (Buckingham Palace, tea & crumpets etc) get old VERY quickly.Still, I'm glad Fremantle released this. There's definitely still a market for hard media in the UK, so let's hope that SummerSlam '92 is the first of many such releases.

We need more of the WWF era titles like this on Blu-ray. I mean I don't have any interest in the current era of the company. I grew up watching the WWF era. That's where my money will always go. The WWF era of WWE is the most entertaining period of the company in my opinion. It always will be. I like WWF from the mid 80s to around the mid 90s. I could watch the matches and events from this period over and over and never tire of them. A lot of people like the Attitude Era. To me the Golden Era is about 1985 to and including 1994. Not everyone is into streaming. You need a net connection for that. You also don't get to watch what you want when you want. Because they can remove or replace a TV show or Movie or Album at their own discretion and you've got NO SAY on it. Whereas physical media like this. You buy it. You own it. You can watch it when you want. As often as you want. No net connection required.We NEED the Survivor Series 1987 to 1991 on Blu-ray. There is no available copies of these in the UK. The only copies are of old Silver Vision titles. They go for £40 and more each title. No damned way am I paying that for DVD's. PLEASE bring out the first 5 Survivor Series events on Blu-ray. Either as a set or single editions. I don't care which just as long as they come out so I can buy them. I know many others will buy them as well. The Golden Era of WWE (aka WWF) it is worth investing in. The nostalgia for it is unbeatable. Thank you for releasing SummerSlam 92. I look forward to Survivor Series 1987 to 1991 soon :)

As someone who attended Summerslam 92 thirty years ago (had to mention it), I was excited to see it being commemorated on this new DVD/Blu Ray release. Whilst the event had its shortcomings, it truly was a unique moment in WWF history both at the time and in retrospect. To UK fans in particular, it was a huge moment and many of us who love wrestling nostalgia would have welcomed this attempt to preserve it.Unfortunately, this DVD misses the mark in hugely disappointing fashion. The presentation of the event is no different to that on the WWE Tagged Classics release in terms of picture quality or content, despite claims that it has been "remastered".The only actually 'special' feature is the Summerslam Countdown show, which is simply a re-hash of the build-up to the main matches hosted by Sean Mooney. It was likely shot in an afternoon at Stamford and aired on WWF programming in the week leading up to the event. There are no new interviews or footage included in it.In short, virtually no effort whatsoever has gone into this release. The dark matches are presented as special bonus features, as if they were never before available, which is not the case. There is nothing from behind the scenes. There is no footage of the pre-show legends parade, which must surely exist somewhere.Perhaps most disappointingly, a huge opportunity has been missed to provide insight into some of the now-legendary incidents surrounding the show that involved the likes of Road Warrior Hawk and Davey Boy Smith. Considering the amount of interviews that WWE conducts with past wrestlers these days, would it have killed them to cover some of that stuff with Bret Hart and a few others to make up a 30-45 minute documentary? It didn't have to be warts-and-all, shoot interviews but some background and context would have been nice.As much as it pains me to say it, this release is actually quite cynical. It certainly suckered me in to paying for something which I already owned both on the tagged Classics DVD and had access to on WWE Network.If this DVD is the only way you would be able to watch this historic event, then go for it. But if you already have it in other formats, steer clear.

PLEASE IGNORE THE HATERS .It’s a £10 blu ray that’s simply nostalgic. Is it perfect no , is it bad no . It’s a lot better then dvd quality I can tell you that . YOU HAVE BRET HEART , macho man , ULTIMATE WORRIOR,,, OLD SCHOOL WWE , , WHAT DO YOU HATERS WANT ITS £10 COME ON !!!!!