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The WWE Championship is one of the most prestigious prizes in professional wrestling history. Many of the all-time greats of the industry have held this gold, including Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and The Undertaker. The championship also has a wonderful history in terms of matches. Classics such as Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels, CM Punk vs John Cena, and The Rock vs Steve Austin have been fought with the belt on the line. However, not every match is a hit, and the bout between Diesel and Mabel may be the very worst of them all.
Diesel’s WWE Championship Reign Was Lackluster
Diesel did his best during his time as WWE Champion, having a dominant run with the gold. However, interest in WWE reached a low at the time with him at the top of the mountain, due to his reign not being overly impressive overall. After dethroning Bob Backlund for the WWE Title, the big man went on a near year-long run of 358 days, defending the gold against the likes of Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, and Sid Vicious.
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However, not every opponent he came up against was a great competitor or former champion. There were some poor matches during his time as the champ, with a disappointing match against The British Bulldog at In Your House 4, and a bang average and uninspired bout against Bam Bam Bigelow. His worst challenger came in the form of King Mabel, who did battle with Diesel in the main event of SummerSlam 1995, in quite possibly the worst main event in history.
King Mabel Was Given A Terribly Received Monster Push
Prior to winning the King of the Ring tournament, Mabel was a part of the Men on a Mission tag team, who were mostly a lower card act who didn’t offer too much promise in terms of match quality or drawing power. However, they were a handy duo who added depth to the division, with even a Tag Team Title reign to their name. Mabel and Mo would turn heel out of pretty much nowhere, taking out the Smoking Gunns. From here, Mabel received a singles push as a heel.
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Despite having a huge frame and impressive size, Mabel wasn’t really a full package performer, with him rarely having anything more than an average match, and not offering much in terms of charisma as a convincing heel. In what felt like the quickest push of all time, Mabel jumped to the top of the line after he won the King of the Ring tournament in 1995 - with this tournament being often considered one of the worst of all time, as the PPV flopped.
Heading into the event, nobody really considered Mabel to be a main eventer. That is of no surprise at all, as he had barely even been a big deal in the tag team division. His matches were uninspiring, plodding, and basic, the exact formula which carried over to this main event match against Diesel. It may have only lasted for 9 minutes or so, but it felt like it dragged for much longer. Whilst WWE was struggling for star power at the time, there were plenty of better choices than Mabel for one of the company’s marquee events.
KIng Mabel Vs Diesel Was A Poor Match For The WWE Title
Diesel legitimately got hurt mid-way through the match, as Mabel landed hard on his back. Even then, Diesel was still the quicker, more agile performer, and given how wooden Diesel could be due to injuries and his size, the fact that he was better than Mabel is saying something. During the match, there were some decent slams and some okay action, but overall it just wasn’t good, especially when considering the WWE Championship was on the line. The match rating on cagematch.net is indicative of just how awful it was. Diesel even pulled out some big dives from the ropes, but that couldn’t save the match.
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The finish of the match was odd too, with some meaningless run-ins from the likes of Mo, who offered nothing to proceedings. There was a confusing interference from Lex Luger, as Diesel hit him for some reason, despite the pair seemingly being on the same side. It wasn’t made clear if this was a botch or not, but the booking felt all over the place. Diesel would win the match in just under 10 minutes, putting an end to what was a hard one to sit through. From an in-ring standpoint there have certainly been terrible matches over time, but with this taking place in the main event of SummerSlam, with the top prize in wrestling on the line, it made things ten times more disappointing.
