Federation Fridays #3: Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon, SummerSlam 1995
The WrestleMania X ladder match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon is one of the most celebrated matches in WWF history. If you haven’t seen it, stop reading this and go watch it. It set the standard for what a ladder match could be in a WWF context, and it made both men bigger stars coming out of it. I didn’t see that one live. I found out who won before I got to watch it, which took some of the air out of the balloon.
SummerSlam 1995 I got to watch live. And that changes everything.
The rematch got made without much of a buildup. Michaels was the Intercontinental Champion, both guys were faces, and the original plan was actually for Shawn to wrestle Sycho Sid at the show. That fell apart and they booked the ladder rematch instead to try and boost ticket sales, which in retrospect was the right call even if it didn’t feel like a deeply meaningful feud on paper. Two friends throwing down for a title. Sometimes, that’s enough for a compelling wrestling match story.
As a kid, the face vs. face dynamic made the whole thing feel bigger to me somehow. Nobody to boo. Nobody to root against really. You just got to enjoy two of the best in the company going at it and not worry about the moral math of it. Shawn was my guy, had been since I first started watching, so I wanted him to win. But I liked Razor too and would’ve been okay with it going either way. That’s a rare thing to be able to say watching a title match.
The match itself holds up. The WrestleMania X ladder match will always be talked about first because it was first, and Shawn himself acknowledged that in interviews over the years. You only get one first time, and that one had the Madison Square Garden mystique behind it and of course the fact that it happened on a big WrestleMania stage. But the SummerSlam rematch doesn’t get enough credit for what it actually accomplished. Razor worked the match more like a heel this time around, spending long stretches targeting Shawn’s left knee, wrapping it in the ladder, dropping weight on it, trying to eliminate HBK’s ability to climb or use Sweet Chin Music. That gave the match a clear story in a way that ladder matches don’t always manage to have.
Michaels selling through it, fighting back on a leg that was clearly done, and still finding a way to climb that ladder and bring down the belt was compelling television. There was a moment near the end where his hand slipped reaching for the title and he fell, and as a kid invested in his winning at this point I didn’t know if he was going to be able to make one more climb. He did.
In the end, Razor came back in after Michaels won, presented him with the belt, and shook his hand. Two friends. That’s how it ended. After twenty-five minutes of beating each other with a ladder, they shook hands. That kind of thing doesn’t happen much anymore because everyone needs an angle, everyone needs a next chapter, or a beat down from a swerve. Sometimes the chapter closes and two guys just shake hands and walk out together and remain friends.
People look back on 1995 WWF like it was unwatchable, and I get why. Some of it was rough. King Mabel was in the main event of this show for the WWF Championship, which tells you something about where the company was creatively, but WWF had actually done a rather of good job of building Mabel up. He was large, of course, and that instantly made him a threat. But his heel turn and becoming King made him vicious in a way you didn’t see in Men on a Mission. So even as a kid, I didn’t hate that Mabel was elevated to the main event for a little bit.
But Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon were holding the whole midcard on their backs and delivering matches that would hold up against anything produced today. And of course Jeff Jarrett, Bret Hart, Diesel and others were all doing compelling work. The New Generation era doesn’t get the credit it deserves, and a big part of the reason it should get any credit at all is because of nights like August 27th, 1995 in Pittsburgh.
Two friends. One ladder. Still worth watching over thirty years later. And not just this match, I enjoyed the whole event. Still do.
Agree, disagree, or think I got it completely wrong? Say so in the comments or over at the Vortex Effect forums.=
