Shawn Michaels Looks Back On Iconic WWE SummerSlam '95 Ladder Match With Scott Hall

WWE SummerSlam has offered some of the biggest moments, even when the company as a whole wasn't exactly firing on all cylinders. 1995 is often seen as a low point in WWE history for a variety of reasons, to the point where that year's SummerSlam card was looking so lackluster, they had to emergency parachute a sequel to Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon's historic WrestleMania 10 ladder match on to the show to get fans interested. The match itself has gone down in history as one of the greatest SummerSlam matches ever, and during a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Michaels recalled not being overly thrilled about doing a rematch so soon after WrestleMania 10. 

"It's funny. Scott and I were coming off that amazing match at WrestleMania," Michaels said. "By then, it had started to sink in that we'd created something special. We just wanted it to sit there and let the aura rise from it. Of course, we were told, 'Let's do another one!'" 

By this point, Michaels and Ramon were both babyfaces, and the fact that Michaels was meant to face Sycho Sid at the event made the build even more difficult. 

"This one was very different. The whole story going into it was different and very challenging. I will say this, Scott and I did everything we could to make it epic. I think it was," Michaels said, explaining that he walked away victorious in a match that, while widely praised, still lives in the shadow of its predecessor. 

"Sequels are always tough, but this is one I think that doesn't quite get the recognition it deserves," Michaels professed. "There's a simple reason for why, it's number two. Number one is always first. That's when the moment shifts. There's only one first time."

Please credit the original source when using quotes from this article, and thanks to Sports Illustrated for the transcription.