5 Best Wrestling Matches of 1995
WWE’s control over wrestling began to really falter in 1995. Unless your name was Bret Hart or Shawn Michaels, you were (with some exceptions) far behind everyone else in terms of big matches.
In Japan, both Mitsuharu Misawa and Kenta Kobashi each had five 5-star matches in 1995 alone, including arguably the best tag team match ever when they partnered together. Elsewhere, Rey Mysterio, Jr. was electrifying the wrestling world, putting on lucha libre matches the likes of which no one had ever seen before. If there was anyone that deserves everyone’s attention in 1995, it was Mysterio.
There was also another new company making a name for itself: Wrestle Association R (WAR), which became a launching pad of sorts for Chris Jericho’s career as an international star. It was also home to the 1995 Super J Cup which, like its predecessor from the year prior, was an outstanding night of incredible wrestling action.
But WWE wasn’t about to be out-done by a bunch of outsiders. They put on their own collection of great matches as well, especially with all of Shawn Michaels’ great matches.
So which matches stood head and shoulders above all the others? Keep ahead to find out…
5. Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon SummerSlam 1995
In 1994, Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon put on one of the greatest matches in WWE history. Over a year later, they had a rematch for the same title, and had another spectacle of a match together.
This match isn’t as ‘novel’ as the original Ladder Match between both men, but it feels like a more traditional wrestling match. There’s more grappling and reversals than the first WWE Ladder match, and the eponymous ladders don’t appear until much later in the match than in the first one.
However, what it lacks in novelty it more than makes up in storytelling and ring psychology, as Razor absolutely destroys HBK’s legs. This is perhaps the greatest example of wrestling psychology in action, which makes this match significantly better than it would’ve been without the leg attacking.
Not only did this make Shawn’s Superkick virtually useless, but it also made it harder for Shawn to climb the ladder. It was storytelling genius for its time.
While it might be relatively tame by today’s standard – WWE Ladder matches have become far more unpredictable and elaborate in the last fifteen years – this great match has some classic storytelling and ‘smart’ action that showcased why HBK and Razor were so good during the mid-1990s.