WWE: Top 5 best SummerSlam matches of all time

5. Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon – Ladder Match – SummerSlam 1995

To loosely quote a J. Cole lyric, “1995, I arrived.” Well, as a matter of fact, I was born shortly after this match took place, so apparently, a lot of greatness happened around this timeframe. Okay, that’s irrelevant to anything I’m about to say. I just wanted to make a J. Cole reference. Not enough of those these days.

A year removed from their WrestleMania X classic, Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon were set for another Ladder Match. This time, with SummerSlam as their stage. I would argue that this match was a rare case where the sequel was even better than the original. While the first Ladder Match at WrestleMania is still great on its own terms, it was a feeling out process and, therefore, clunky as one of the first of its kind; the competitors were playing with ideas in front of our eyes.

For SummerSlam, the real life Kliq mates had perfected their understanding of not only each other as competitors, but polished their ideas for what to do with a ladder. We even get some neat callbacks to the previous ladder bout, where the competitors try out some of the same ladder tricks they used at Mania, only to get conquered. It’s like watching two smart characters learn from past mistakes, which is rare in wrestling these days.

Also rare is the use of psychology in ladder matches. Most of them tend to be glorified – albeit fun – spot fests, but this one is chock full of psychology. Particularly with Razor attacking HBK’s superkicking/climbing leg the whole match.

Not to mention, there was a fun change of dynamic compared to the previous ladder match, where The Heartbreak Kid worked as a heel and his opponent was the babyface. This time, while both men walked in as babyfaces, Razor was the de facto heel, and an excellent one at that.

Excellent match as a whole.