The Top 5 WWE SummerSlam Events In History

WWE SummerSlam is an event with a lot of rich history. Traditionally the second biggest event of the year for WWE, the show’s past is full of memorable matches and moments.

SummerSlam was launched in 1988. Of the traditional “Big Four” shows for WWE, SummerSlam was the final one conceived. WrestleMania was the first, in 1985. Survivor Series was launched in 1987 to try to end NWA’s stranglehold on the wrestling market over Thanksgiving (and to try to force it off of PPV). The Royal Rumble, also coming in 1988, was first aired on free television (USA Network) to counter the NWA’s Bunkhouse Stampede PPV show. So even though SummerSlam was the fourth of these shows created, it was actually the third to air on PPV.

The early SummerSlam shows usually focused on big tag team matches in the main event. In fact, the 1988, 1989, and 1991 shows were all headlined by tag team bouts (1990 had Ultimate Warrior taking on Rick Rude).

The 2017 edition will be the 30th edition of SummerSlam. So when we look tat the previous 29 editions, narrowing the shows down to a top five is a difficult task. Never to shy away from a challenge, that is what we have attempted to do here.

Without further delay, here are the top five SummerSlam shows, from top to bottom, in WWE history. Get ready to fire up the WWE Network and relive some of these classics.

5. SummerSlam 2000

2000 was a transitional year for WWE. Steve Austin missed most of the year due to neck surgery. There was the arrival of the Radicalz from WCW. Chris Jericho was still fresh from his 1999 arrival. Triple H and The Rock were coming into their own as the full time main eventers, carrying the ship until Austin would return, though “Stone Cold” would never regain his level of majesty that he had prior to 2000. 

SummerSlam 2000 was an awesome card featuring perhaps the greatest match in SummerSlam history: the iconic TLC Ladder Match between Edge and Christian, The Hardy Boyz, and The Dudley Boyz. In an era of great tag team wrestling, this was quite possibly the ultimate tag team performance.

Elsewhere on the card, Chris Benoit wrestled Chris Jericho in a very good match and The Rock, Triple H, and Kurt Angle had a standout main event match for the WWE title. 

This was the WWE in the twilight years of the Attitude Era. A change was on the horizon. 

4. SummerSlam 2014

Even if the storylines in recent years have left something to be desired at many points, the wrestling has been off the charts for some time now. We’ve been enjoying the most stacked roster in WWE history for the last five years or so, and the 2014 edition of SummerSlam certainly demonstrates that fact. 

Brock Lesnar defeated John Cena for the WWE title in a tremendous main event. While the term “Suplex City” had yet to be born, Brock hit John with 16 German suplexes in this match. At this point, it was fresh and not a tired gimmick that Brock brings out in every match. In his entire run as a main eventer, John Cena had never taken a beating like he did in this bout. It was something so unique, so memorable, like nothing we had never seen before. 

The main event was preceded by Roman Reigns taking on Randy Orton in another four star match. This was also the summer that The Shield split, and we also witnessed Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose in a really good brawl earlier on the show.

 

3. SummerSlam 2013

Several of the recent editions of SummerSlam have been more than stellar. The 2015 and 2016 editions of the show also nearly cracked this list. Were in the midst of a four or five year run like we’ve never seen before as far as great SummerSlams go. However, the 2013 summer classic had two bouts that were legitimate match of the year contenders.

Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk was a dream match of that time period. It could have headlined WrestleMania. Instead, this SummerSlam drew a less than stellar PPV buy rate (the last SummerSlam to air exclusively on PPV prior to the WWE Network), and rumor has it that Vince pinned much of that blame on Punk. It’s perhaps why he wasn’t slated to headline WrestleMania XXX the following spring, which of course resulted in Punk walking out of the company in frustration after the Royal Rumble in January 2014. 

None of that should take away from what, in the end, was an excellent match. Punk got one of Brock’s best matches out of him since his return to pro wrestling in 2012. It’s better than the 2014 bout against John Cena, too.

Later in the show, we were treated to Daniel Bryan taking on John Cena. If only we knew at the time that we had less than a year left of enjoying Bryan’s work. The match itself saw Bryan defeat John for the WWE championship, but the joy didn’t last very long. Out came Randy Orton, who immediately cashed in his Money In The Bank contract and defeated Bryan for the belt. 

 

2. SummerSlam 1998

You could make the argument that no show in WWE history has ever been built up as successfully as SummerSlam 1998.

The Steve Austin vs. Undertaker storyline that was the focal point for WWE throughout that summer produced the memorable “Highway To Hell” promos (see above) that will probably never be topped as WWE promotional material. 

WWE was riding at one of their highest points ever at this point. There were MTV specials focusing on pro wrestling, post shows on the Home Shopping Network, and you couldn’t go to a local mall without seeing an Austin 3:16 shirt. Even though WrestleMania XIV earlier in the year had Mike Tyson, SummerSlam in 1998 actually seemed like a bigger show when it came down to it.

Also, the poster. Tell me this isn’t one of the most bad ass event posters you have ever seen.

Outside of Undertaker vs. Austin, the show also featured an iconic Intercontinental title ladder match between The Rock and Triple H which really put them on the map as future main eventers.

The rest of the card was highlighted by Ken Shamrock vs. Owen Hart “Lion’s Den Match” (held at the nearby MSG Theatre), Edge and Sable vs. Marc Mero and Jacqueline, and Xpac vs. Jeff Jarrett, among others.

Though a couple of the other shows on this list might have had more highly rated matches, the greatness of the top two bouts on this card and the fantastic build to the event itself puts it over the top and close to the top of our list.

1. SummerSlam 2002

SummerSlam 2002 is by far the most stacked card in the history of the event. For that matter, it’s one of the best cards in company history. The top two matches featured Brock vs. Rock and the return of HBK. The rest of the card?

Oh, it only had: Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero, Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio, Ric Flair vs. Chris Jericho, and RVD vs. Chris Benoit.

Wheew. Oh yeah, and those first two matches.

If you watched pro wrestling from 1998-2002, you know that nobody ever thought that we would see Shawn Michaels wrestle for WWE ever again. Let alone get a second run from him that would last from 2002 until 2010. In fact, this return by Shawn was supposed to only be a one-time thing, with Shawn possibly open to doing special occasion matches here and there if everything went alright. It turns out it went more than okay and Shawn ended up working a full time schedule for most of the next eight years. 

This was just completely nuts. HBK came back and gave us a match of the year candidate in his first WWE performance in 4 1/2 years. It was and still is uncanny. I can’t think of any parallels to it in wrestling history. It was like he hadn’t missed a second of time in the ring. 

Plus, the slow build to the match and the dissension that built between Shawn and Hunter in the preceding weeks was so perfectly done. Both men deserve a lot of credit for what transpired at SummerSlam. 

Rock vs. Brock for the Undisputed title felt like a big time, real fight. The videos WWE produced were like what you would see for a heavily hyped boxing or UFC fight. Some of the best WWE produced pre-match videos ever, you got to see both guys training hard for the big title match. 

At this point, Rock was transitioning into a full time movie career and Brock Lesnar was the new big thing in pro wrestling. Rock passed the torch on this night and Brock became the youngest world champion in WWE history.