MCNEILL'S TAKE VIP - MCNEILL FACTOR: Twenty Years of Summerslam, part two Jul 30, 2008 - 2:23:45 PM

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By Pat McNeill, Torch columnist

Our look back at SummerSlam continues with the mid-1990s.

1993: The summer of 1993 began with a big departure, as Hulk Hogan left the World Wrestling Federation after losing the title to Yokozuna at King of the Ring. The promotion needed a new standard bearer. On July 4th, Lex Luger turned babyface and bodyslammed the massive champion during a publicity event aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid. Luger received a megapush including a new red, white and blue outfit and a massive "Lex Express" bus tour across the nation, a predecessor to the "Straight Talk Express" bus used in 2008 by American presidential candidate John McCain.

On August 30, 1993, SummerSlam came to the Palace of Auburn Hills in suburban Detroit. The heavily anticipated undercard produced a few battles which didn't quite measure up to expectations. "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig failed to win the Intercontinental Title from Shawn Michaels. The Steiner Brothers defeated Jim Cornette's Heavenly Bodies in a match that never quite reahced its potential. Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler put in a long and entertaining battle that was designed, in part, to protect Lawler's status as the top babyface in the USWA territory. 

Weeks before SummerSlam, new WWF manager Jim Cornette told Torch editor Wade Keller "If it was me, I would put the thing on Luger because he's going to look like a plate full of piss if he doesn't win it." But WWF owner Vince McMahon didn't have a deep heel roster at the time, so the promotion decided to drag out Lex's title chase for as long as poosible. Luger defeated Yokozuna by countout after using his loaded forearm. The chase continued for several months, but Luger lost steam. Bret Hart captured the WWF title at WrestleMania X, and Luger left the promotion in 1995 without ever having been on top of the World Wrestling Federation. 

1994: The 1994 edition of SummerSlam could have been a classic. It was the first show at the new United Center arena in Chicago, and the main event was to feature Bret Hart defending the World Wrestling Federation title against his brother, defending King of the Ring Owen Hart, inside a steel cage. That, combined with the surprise return of "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith, should have worked wonders. For some reason, the match didn't catch fire. Torch columnist Chris Zavisa blamed it on the arcane WWF cage rules, where you could only win by exiting the cage. The Hart Family put forth a good effort, but it wasn't the classic many fans were hoping for. Also on the show, one of the most famous sports figures in Chicago history, the late NFL Hall of Famer Walter Payton, worked Razor Ramon's corner as he defeated Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Title.

Incredibly, neither of those title matches headlined the show. The final match featured the battle of two Undertakers. With Mark Calloway on hiatus through most of the year, "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase brought in Brian Lee in an identical costume, claiming to have purchased The Undertaker. Paul Bearer, 'Taker's longtime manager, told fans that he would be bringing the real Undertaker to SummerSlam to wrestle DiBiase's man. The insider wrestling press wasn't nearly as big in 1994, so most fans had no idea what they were going to see. WWF aired a series of skits with "Naked Gun" stars Leslie Nielsen and George Kennedy to hype the Undertaker mystery.   

The spectacle of the initial staredown between Calloway and Lee got over huge. The ensuing ten minute match, with both wrestlers working in the laborious style of the original Undertaker gimmick, didn't get over at all. The Brian Lee version of the Undertaker disappeared for good, and the World Wrestling Federation didn't have an answer for the Hulk Hogan versus Ric Flair feud that drew well in WCW in the summer of '94.     

1995: Going into SummerSlam 1995, it looked as though the World Wrestling Federation would be putting on their weakest major show in years. This was especially true when Mabel (now Big Daddy V) earned the spot as the main event challenger to champion Kevin "Diesel" Nash. In the weeks leading up to the show, Vince McMahon countered the challenge of rival World Championship Wrestling by removing "Psycho" Sid Vicious from the Intercontinental title match and instead

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