Last week we looked at the worst matches to ever slop onto our screens courtesy of the biggest trademark party trademark of the summer trademark, and it felt good to purge some poison, it’s only one side of the coin, and some other metaphors that I want to jam into this introductory blender.
Despite WWE often confounding us at SummerSlam with odd booking choices, uncomfortable moments and the occasional Jon Stewart, there have been some truly joyous matches in SummerSlam’s 33 year history, so sod it, let’s give you 20 instead of 10.
Hell, it’s the Summer Summer Summertime, you’ve earned it. I’m Adam hailing from partsFUNknown and here are the 20 Best Matches in SummerSlam History.
20. Seth Rollins vs. John Cena – 2015
Look, right. Yes. Jon Stewart, the funny man from the Daily Show, interfering in a match for both the WWE and US Championships, one of the highest stakes matches in SummerSlam, blows the fat one.
BUT, first of all, oh boy did the crowd like it through sheer overwhelming desire to see Seth Rollins succeed and second, the match that preceded it was 20 minutes of big match, fale-finish, crowd-baiting glory.
Arguably Rollins’ finest moment as champion, dodgy finish be damned, at least the crowd popped, as opposed to the confused annoyance that greeted the finish of Taker vs. Lesnar in the main event.
19. Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte – 2016
If her match next weekend delivers like we expect, Sasha Banks will be one of SummerSlam’s all-time MVPs.
Her match against Asuka in 2020 was match of the night, her match against Alexa in 2017 is very underrated and then there’s this, an admittedly messy match featuring a few heart-stopping botches, but featuring Sasha and Charlotte turning in a hugely compelling spectacle via the medium of repeatedly nearly killing the boss.
Wrestling shouldn’t necessarily feel this dangerous, but when it does, there’s electricity in the air. Please don’t die, Sasha.
18. Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk – 2013
One of the strongest cases that you should be excited to see the Second City Saint return, the best vs the beast was a huge amount of fun.
Heyman had just turned on Punk and was bringing his new/old boyfriend in to help sort out a clingy ex. What followed was an enjoyable brutal match, a proper David vs Goliath story and boy Punk did NOT mind getting the Pepsi whipped out of him.
Fast-paced, action-packed with lovely moments of storytelling peppered throughout.
17. Christian vs. Randy Orton – 2011
Christian and Randall had one of the best rivalries of 2011 and a legit contender for most underrated rivalry of all time.
They had like five straight matches in a row for the World title and while that seems like a goddamn nightmare, each match felt different, progressing a wonderful slow-burn heel turn from Captain Charisma, blowing off in this truly excellent No Holds Barred match.
A match stuffed with callbacks and featuring a closing spot that nearly killed both men dead, especially Randy, ooft ya poor heed.
16. Triple H vs. The Rock – 1998
God 1998 was a great year. Not only was WWE cruising with the best too face and top heel in the industry with Austin and McMahon, but they spent the year carefully two more top stars, just in case.
Step right up the flagships of DX and The Nation, Triple H and the Rock, duking it for the IC title in a ladder match at SummerSlam 1998.
A truly standout ladder match, not so much because it had a bunch of flippy dippy spots, but because it’s a match that, more than most, sold how much it would f**king hurt to be f**king hit with a f**king ladder.
Great matches elevate both the winner and the loser, exhibit A right here.
15. Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar- 2003
A.K.A. all of Adam’s Christmas presents come early. I love both these men, and 2003 represented the career peak for both.
You could make a case that Brock peaked in the 2010s but heck this amateur endurance hyper-violence is my JAM.
Everything their WrestleMania match could and should have been if nerves and necks hadn’t gotten in the way.
The match takes its time getting going, but the ideal heel/face alignments of Brock and Kurt keep the crowd super invested before it builds to an admittedly overbooked, but still raucous finish, featuring an all-time great kickout from Angle.
14. Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon – 1995
The best match on the worst SummerSlam card in history.
This rematch from WrestleMania 10 was basically parachuted onto the card in a panic, just to give the fans something, ANYTHING, to look forward to.
And it’s fucking gangbusters as well. It’s an early ladder match so the spots won’t pop your mind like they did the crowd watching back then, but the athleticism on display, especially from Michaels, is timeless.
The moonsault from the ladder still looks good, the superkick spot is still very cool just a shame the finish was slightly blown, with Michaels jumping and failing to bring down the title not once, but twice.
13. The Undertaker vs. Edge – 2008
Hey, you guys wanna see someone eat just a whole bunch of shit? Let me introduce you to this Hell in a Cell match which sees Edge loudly proclaim to not be afraid of Scary Sinclair, Frightner Extraordinaire, which is up there with his worst ever decisions including the spinner belt design and the sex thing.
Edge gets a few licks in but otherwise dies a thousand deaths in the most entertaining way possible, up to and including getting sent to Christian Hell after the match is over.
Silly bollocks, but wonderfully inventive violence, and speaking of…
12. CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy – 2009
The blow-off to the sleeper feud of 2009, Punk vs. Hardy in a tale as old as time, someone who’s wrong but cool vs. someone right but being a dick about it.
WWE may not have always done right by CM Punk World Heavyweight Champion, but they dedicate the main event of SummerSlam to his and hardy’s excellent work and they EARN IT.
The Swanton through the announce table is an all-time great TLC spot, and other spots like the superplex onto the ladder are equally brutal.
Hardy’s has an amazing legacy of Summerslam ladder matches, his bout against RVD in 2001 also rules, plus one more…that we’ll get to in a little bit.
11. Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect – 1991
The Intercontinental Title has an illustrious partnership with Summerslam.
The first-ever SummerSlam saw the shocking dethroning of the Honky Tonk Man by Ultimate Warrior, Rollins vs. Ziggler in 2018 was great, Triple H vs. The Rock, Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon, and then there’s this, only the second-best match for the summertime strap.
Hitman and Perfect put on a damn clinic, hugely athletic, much quicker than you remember old wrestling being, in front of a rabid crowd, with the final beautiful sharpshooter sequence cement Hart as the best technician of his generation
10. Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena – 2013
Big match, big feels. In 1993, the original plan was for Hulk Hogan to put over Bret Hart, but he refused to do the job. 20 years later, we finally got that passing of the torch, although it was immediately taken away because God is dead and Vince killed him.
A fast-paced, history-stuffed crowd-pleaser, obviously the goat is the story here, but all the credit in the world to John Cena for not only doing the job the Hulkster wouldn’t, but making Daniel Bryan look even inch his equal, down to the clean-as-a-sheet ending.
The post-match was predictable as hell, but the best kind of outrage swerve, providing a low to balance this match’s incredible high.
9. Kurt Angle vs. Steve Austin – 2001
How good does a match have to be to make a crappy DQ finish palatable? This good, friends.
An argument could be made that this is Austin’s best match to not feature a certain people’s champion.
Kurt’s a fucking warrior here, kicking out of multiple stunners, dragging Austin by his ankle into the ring, his face a crimson mask, hitting his beautiful moonsault, all called by JR and Heyman. Perfection.
The DQ finish is infuriating, by design, but at least Austin really had to work to get DQed, and that elevates it from a ‘wait, what it’s over’ outrage, to a story of a coward, unable to beat his competitor, taking the only way out that’s left to him. Joyous stuff.
8. Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio – 2002
I love Kurt Angle so much. So much, you guys. So much.
SummerSlam 2002 is the greatest Summerslam of all time, don’t you dare disagree, and the bar was set LUDICROUSLY high by the opening match, Angle vs. the pay-per-view debuting Rey Mysterio.
This match is so fast, so fun, so fluid, the two men have chemistry the likes of which most wrestlers can only dream of having, it’s the textbook example of how to elevate a star in defeat.
The energy of the match can’t be done justice by reeling off a list of spots, it’s a bell-to-bell must-watch.
7. TLC I – 2000
Oh, what a silly match. The first official Tender Loving Care match in WWE history, and a centerpiece to the greatest period of tag team wrestling that WWE’s ever seen.
The Dudleys, The Hardys and Edge & Christian battle in a match destined to be overlooked thanks to TLC II but exists as a perfectly formed exercise in breathless escalation and incredibly satisfying bumps, a chaotic carousel of carnage where everyone gets a chance to shine in the most eye-watering way possible.
Jeff crashes and burns, Bubba crashes and burns, Matt disappears into a pair of tables, just brilliant stuff, loudly embraced by a very lucky capacity crowd.
6. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe vs. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns – 2017
OH, WHAT A SILLY MATCH. A cube of hosses, going bollock for leather in a Saturday morning cartoon brawl that never stops never stopping.
It’s a high-concept match that lives up to its own looney tunes hype, reminding us why WWE is a batshit company for not currently having Braun Strowman in it, he’s a terrifying force a match made up entirely of terrifying forces.
At one point he just fucking beefs an announcers chair at the Samoan Joesm, when he’s not busying slamming Lesnar through announce tables. A huge amount of entertaining nonsense.
5. Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart – 1994
The only Meltzer-rated 5 star match in SummerSlam history, and while it might not be QUITE that good, it’s close and that’s saying something.
Owen and Bret made nothing but magic when they worked together, to the point that they could even draw giant reactions out of WWE’s rubbish who can escape first version of cage matches.
Turns out the key is speed, as Owen and Bret repeatedly hurl themselves at the cage door with the kind of urgency that can’t help but infect the crowd with energy.
4. AJ Styles vs. John Cena – 2016
2016’s SummerSlam will always have a special place in my heart as I was in the crowd for it, and man I cannot tell you how good this match was live.
It’s genuinely a match so good that it pretty much destroyed its own pay-per-view, nothing could really follow it, with the explosion of joy when the right guy won knocking us flatter than the earth might be, I’m just saying there’s some stuff about it that’s all.
It’s the best kind of big match, where the groundwork builds to the kickouts and the kickouts are really allowed to matter. Sheer excellence, and speaking of…
3. Bret Hart vs. The British Bulldog – 1992
A match that we brits truly hold precious. A diamond main event on a show filled with rough, Repo Man vs. Crush anyone? Anyone?
But when you have a match this good, in front of one of history’s loudest crowds, no other match on the card matters.
Well-paced, technically seamless, much is made of Hitman’s ability to walk Davey Boy through it, but Bulldog’s more than carries his end, the whole thing is crisp and as a new bill and that takes two, filled with bursts of energy, power and crowd-popping action.
It’s also one of Heenan’s best turns on commentary, wonderful stuff.
2. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels – 2002
No other match makes the point that Shawn Michaels was a wrestling genius.
His first match back after four years away from the ring, and it’s like he never missed a day, crafting a seamless, violent, creative and bloody masterpiece with best friend turned bitter enemy Triple H.
Nearly half an hour in length, and still not as long as half of the matches from the feud that ran off and on for the next two years, it’s a superb match.
Everyone was happy to see Shawn, everyone was happy to see that he could go better than ever, everyone hated Triple H, the two nailed pretty much every spot in a match that could have been filled with shortcuts to protect Michaels.
No shortcuts taken. We won’t forget you.
1. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar – 2014
Lol. Ok shut up, listen, this isn’t the greatest match in SummerSlam history, to anyone except me, but I wrote this bastard and it’s my rules.
I love this match so much. It is so shocking, it is so surprising, it’s essentially the beginning of John Cena’s departure to the midcard where, from 2015 onwards, he puts in one of the greatest wrestling runs of all time.
Watching big match john get f**king DRUBBED from bell to bell, every single equally unbelievable moment just made me laugh and clap until my hands were sore when I watched it.
It’s hard to describe it properly, but when this happened, suplex city wasn’t a thing, Cena was still the guy, this SHOULD NOT have happened, but it did and it’s one of those few, those desperately few times where the phrase ‘anything can happen in the WWE actually rings true.
I love it, I’m going to go watch it again. Bye.
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