34. The Undertaker vs. “The Undertaker” – SummerSlam 1994
Good grief what a place to start. In 1994, The Undertaker had disappeared and Leslie Nielsen was searching to bring him back.
At SummerSlam, he returned against a doppelganger. While some were happy to see Undertaker back, this match was just pitiful.
The fans didn’t know who to cheer for because the two participants looked practically identical. Also, before the Attitude Era, Undertaker matches were dreadfully slow.
This was no exception and this match crawled to its finish. Why this was the main event instead of the five-star Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart WWF Championship cage match we will never understand.
33. Diesel vs. King Mabel – SummerSlam 1995
There are reasons why the mid-90s were the worst period in wrestling history. For one thing, Diesel was WWF Champion all year.
Then the company decided to give a main event push to the 500-pound Mabel. Put those together and you have a wretched SummerSlam main event.
When you are relying on Diesel to be the agile one in your match, you have a massive problem.
Add in Mabel injuring Diesel’s abdomen by dropping his weight on Diesel’s back and you have the low point of a truly terrible 1995.
32. The Ultimate Warrior & Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter, General Adnan & Colonel Mustafa – SummerSlam 1991
So much more could be done with the SummerSlam main event in 1991.
In a bizarre twist, The Ultimate Warrior teamed with Hulk Hogan to take on the trio of Sgt. Slaughter, General Adnan, and Colonel Mustafa (AKA Iron Sheik).
This was a group of mostly immobile men. You can’t get hardly anything out of Colonel Mustafa at this point and this resulted in a slow and dreadful affair.
When you figure you could have had a rematch between Hogan and Warrior instead of this it makes it that much worse.
31. Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake vs. Randy Savage & Zeus – SummerSlam 1989
Why would you want to follow up on one of the biggest and best storylines you’ve ever done when you can promote an awful movie?
At SummerSlam 1989, Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake took on Randy Savage and Zeus. The problem? Zeus wasn’t a wrestler. He was an actor playing a wrestler.
As you would expect, the match was bad. All of this was to promote No Holds Barred which starred Hogan. This was a shame because Hogan could have taken on Randy Savage in a WrestleMania rematch.
30. The Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude – SummerSlam 1990
Props have to be given to Rick Rude for carrying this match. Rude was one of the best characters in the company at the time and The Ultimate Warrior needed a challenger for SummerSlam.
Together they had a cage match for the WWF Championship and it wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t very good either.
Warrior was always very limited in the ring and this match was no exception. The match was slow but fans were happy to see Warrior retain the title.
This is the part of the list where we move away from bad matches into passable ones.
29. Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna – SummerSlam 1993
Lex Luger’s push culminated at SummerSlam 1993. Now, Luger was never a particularly good bell to bell, and Yokozuna being his opponent didn’t help.
Yokozuna was incredibly agile for his size but being that big had its limitations.
This match would likely have been much better if it had a proper finish. Rather than getting a big pinfall or submission win in this CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH, Luger won by countout and celebrated as if he had won the title. It was a letdown and Luger’s push was never the same.
28. Braun Strowman vs. ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt – SummerSlam 2020
Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt had a rivalry that was about as bad as can be in 2020. This rivalry culminated in a Falls Count Anywhere match at SummerSlam 2020 and boy was it a stinker.
This match is only remembered now for the return of Roman Reigns, which took place after the match. During the match? No good.
Braun Strowman is not a super worker by any means and The Fiend needs a special kind of opponent to make his matches bearable. This was not a winning equation and as such we got this mess of a match and the less said about it the better.
27. Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar – SummerSlam 2018
By the time SummerSlam 2018 rolled around, fans were sick of Roman Reigns chasing the title. Fans had been told Reigns was going to dethrone Brock Lesnar for a year and a half and they wanted no part of it.
This was during a time when WWE was trying to viciously fight their fans and this was a perfect example of it. This match was not great to begin with but made worse by its presentation.
Braun Strowman was Mr. Money in the Bank and declared he was cashing in at the end of the match. This was done to keep fans from turning on the match. To an extent it worked.
Strowman was taken out before the end of the match and when Reigns won they immediately cut to black.
Once fans realized they weren’t getting a cash-in they were furious but the show was off the air by then. It was incredibly manipulative and continued to push fans from the product.
26. Mega Powers vs. Mega Bucks – SummerSlam 1988
The inaugural SummerSlam event had a big main event to go with it. The Mega Powers saw the two biggest stars in the company join forces as Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage took on Ted DiBiase and Andre the Giant.
This match had a big match feel, something that couldn’t be said for the next few years.
Hogan and Savage were incredibly popular and they pulled off a pretty decent match with their foes.
Everyone remembers Miss Elizabeth removing her skirt to distract the heels, although her bikini bottom would hardly turn heads in 2020. It was an entertaining ending to an entertaining match.
25. Mankind vs. Steve Austin vs. Triple H – SummerSlam 1999
The main event of SummerSlam 1999 was just kind of wonky. This was meant to be the coronation of Triple H as the new top heel but Steve Austin didn’t want to lose to him.
Instead, Mankind was added to the match to get the win before dropping the title to Triple H on Raw.
At this point, Austin was starting to feel his neck problems again and Mankind was heading towards retirement.
It was fine but there wasn’t the kind of impact that a singles match with Austin and Triple H would have had.
24. Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton – SummerSlam 2016
Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton was an interesting match. There was really no reason for them to be wrestling when the match was announced in 2016.
Lesnar didn’t have a title so Orton was only challenging him just to have a match. This meant the level of interest in this match wasn’t as high as others.
As a match, the only memorable part was the ending. The rest of the action was fine but not spectacular but eventually, Lesnar had enough.
Lesnar removed his gloves and teed off on Orton’s forehead slicing him wide open. This was a gruesome finish which made Lesnar look even more like a killer.
23. Bret Hart vs. The Undertaker – SummerSlam 1997
From a storytelling standpoint, 1997 was one of the best years in WWE history. SummerSlam saw one of the biggest storylines of the year culminate with a big WWF Championship match.
Undertaker was taking on Bret Hart with Shawn Michaels as the guest referee. Hart had declared if he lost he would never wrestle in the United States again.
They had a solid main event match before the finish. The finish was pro wrestling wackiness as Bret Hart spat on Michaels causing Michaels to swing a chair and accidentally hit Undertaker.
This allowed Hart to get the pin and win the title. Good match, deserving of their spot in the middle of this list.
22. The Rock vs. Booker T – SummerSlam 2001
When The Rock returned to the WWF in 2001, he set his sights on the WCW Championship. Booker T had brought the title over from WCW in the Invasion and they clashed at SummerSlam.
This match was fine albeit not terribly exciting. It suffered from having the excellent Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle match go on before it.
People still loved The Rock but this match capped off at being just fine. There wasn’t anything particularly wrong with it but it also never really got going.
21. Team WWE vs. Nexus – SummerSlam 2010
The Summer of 2010 was defined by this match between Team WWE and the Nexus. John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho, Daniel Bryan, Bret Hart, John Morrison and R-Truth joined forces to take on the black and yellow invaders.
The match itself was fine and the work was good but the finish was one of the biggest booking blunders in WWE history.
All signs pointed to Nexus getting the biggest win of the year and further establishing themselves as WWE’s new top heels. Except that didn’t happen.
Instead, John Cena insisted on winning the match and submitting Wade Barrett. It killed the group dead and everyone involved knew it was the wrong move.
20. Triple H vs. Goldberg vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Nash – SummerSlam 2003
From one booking blunder to another, SummerSlam 2003 was smack dab right in the middle of Triple H’s reign of terror.
2003 was the year that Triple H took down what remained of WCW. It started with Scott Steiner before he defeated Booker T, Kevin Nash, and finally, Goldberg.
As if this wasn’t frustrating enough, SummerSlam saw the reign of terror enter the Elimination Chamber.
The match was pretty standard to begin with and then Goldberg entered and eliminated Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho and Randy Orton in quick fashion.
This left only Triple H and Goldberg would be crowned World Heavyweight Champion. Except Triple H hit him with a sledgehammer and pinned him.
This was Goldberg’s time and instead they beat him and allowed him to get the win a month later.
19. CM Punk vs. John Cena – SummerSlam 2011
The middle of this list was hard to arrange because many of these matches were well-wrestled but just had bizarre choices. This was another one of them.
SummerSlam 2011 was right in the middle of the Summer of Punk and WWE had a chance to really get behind their next potential star. As would be the case for most of CM Punk’s run, they half-assed it.
Punk and John Cena had a solid match but didn’t come close to the heights of their Money in the Bank match. Punk managed to get the win even though Cena had his foot on the rope but that is when things got complicated.
Kevin Nash hit Punk with a Powerbomb and Alberto Del Rio cashed in his Money in the Bank contract to take the title from Punk.
This was one of the most overbooked main events in WWE history and was the first time WWE cut the legs off of Punk’s push.
18. Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels – SummerSlam 2005
While this wasn’t one of Shawn Michaels’ best matches, it was one of Hulk Hogan’s best performances. This was a match marred in politics.
Hogan and Michaels are two of the biggest politickers in wrestling history and putting them together was an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.
When it was determined that Hogan would be getting the win and not come back for a rematch Michaels decided he would do the job but he would completely sabotage the match in doing so.
Michaels oversold all of Hogan’s offense to a hilarious degree. It is worth going back and watching this match for Michaels’ selling but the backstage stories surrounding it were perhaps even more entertaining.
17. Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H – SummerSlam 2012
Brock Lesnar’s return in 2012 was bizarre. He was defeated immediately by John Cena and took on Triple H at SummerSlam.
Lesnar’s aura was almost non-existent after the Cena loss and this was an interesting way to try to get it back. This was a fairly standard Triple H match which may make it sound worse than it was.
This lacked the intensity of Lesnar’s match with Cena but as far as a main event wrestling match went it was pretty good.
Lesnar broke Triple H’s arm in kayfabe leading to a fake retirement, which is hilarious considering he is still wrestling to this day.
16. Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker – SummerSlam 1998
‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin was by far the hottest star in the WWF in 1998. He had become WWF Champion at WrestleMania and now he had to take down the company’s most loyal star, The Undertaker.
This made all the sense in the world to book this match for SummerSlam and they managed to have a very solid match.
This was before the workrate of the WWF started to swing back up but the main events were always a joy to watch.
In 1998, it didn’t get any bigger than Austin and Undertaker. Mr. McMahon wanted the title off Austin but this was instead the next step in cementing Austin’s spot atop the promotion.
15. The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar – SummerSlam 2002
In 2002, WWE was prepared to strap a rocket to the back of Brock Lesnar.
He had one of the fastest rises to the main event scene in WWE history and his ascent climaxed at SummerSlam. Here he faced The Rock for the Undisputed Championship.
The fans knew The Rock was about to take off for Hollywood again and were fed up with him. Therefore they embraced the young upstart Lesnar and cheered him to victory over the champion.
Lesnar showed experience beyond his years during his first WWE run and he completely fit in when placed opposite the company’s biggest stars. Together they had a good match culminating with a huge title change.
14. The Rock vs. Triple H vs. Kurt Angle – SummerSlam 2000
The year 2000 was an interesting one for WWE. With Steve Austin injured, The Rock, Triple H, and Kurt Angle were among those the company leaned on for support. At SummerSlam, the three clashed for the WWF Championship.
Much better than the Triple Threat match the year prior, these were three of the top guys in wrestling at the time and it showed with this match.
The Triple H, Kurt Angle, Stephanie McMahon love-triangle was an amazing storyline that unfortunately never saw an ending. That being said, it made this match that much more heated.
It was impressive they were able to pull off a match this good after Angle was knocked out by a botched Pedigree on the announce table.
In the end, The Rock was able to take advantage of the animosity between his opponents to retain the title.
13. Edge vs. John Cena – SummerSlam 2006
WWE has declined greatly in popularity by 2006. At this point, the most popular act in the promotion was John Cena. One of his greatest rivals was Edge and in 2006 they had the bulk of their rivalry.
This built to a SummerSlam main event in Cena’s hometown of Boston. This match had the stipulation that if Edge was disqualified he would lose the WWE Championship.
This led to much drama as Lita kept coming close to interfering only to be told no while Edge was in holds.
Eventually, Edge rolled the dice by using brass knuckles to defeat Cena. The match was good as these two brought the best out of each other but it sits just outside the top tier of SummerSlam main events.
12. John Cena vs. Randy Orton – SummerSlam 2007
Fans everywhere grew sick of seeing John Cena and Randy Orton wrestle but in 2007 this was a new match.
The SummerSlam main event was one of the better matches Orton and Cena had with one another. That still doesn’t mean it was an all-time classic, but it was a good match.
Watching this match through today’s eyes is difficult as this is anything but a fresh match now.
They don’t do anything spectacular here but everything they did looked good and connected with the crowd. 2007 was a very good year for John Cena who established himself as a very good WWE Champion.
11. Shawn Michaels vs. Vader – SummerSlam 1996
Aside from one moment of immaturity from Shawn Michaels, the SummerSlam 1996 main event was one of his best title defenses at WWF Champion.
Vader was a very talented and agile big man and he had good chemistry with Michaels even if Michaels didn’t like him.
Michaels had a blowup in the ring when Vader forgot a spot. Michaels went for something off the top rope, which Vader was supposed to dodge, but didn’t. The Heartbreak Kid landed on his feet and screamed at Vader as fans looked on befuddled.
This is what the match is most remembered for but the rest of the match was good. Michaels is one of the all-time greats and a great underdog and this was one of his best performances of the 90s.
10. The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar – SummerSlam 2015
The Undertaker returned in 2015 to get revenge on Brock Lesnar for breaking his WrestleMania streak. The first of their two rematches came at SummerSlam. Another match best remembered for its finish, this match had a ton to offer besides its wacky ending.
Undertaker proved he could still go in this match after his return at WrestleMania 31 fell a bit flat. Their match was heated and intense and featured one of the few times Undertaker ever tapped out in his career, even if we didn’t know it at the time.
The finish saw Undertaker locked in the Kimura when the bell started ringing. The referee alerted us he did not ask for the bell and in the meantime, Undertaker hit a low blow and locked Lesnar in the Hell’s Gate until he passed out.
What we were then shown is what the timekeeper saw. The referee was out of position and did not see Undertaker frantically tapping out while in the Kimura. This gave Undertaker his win back and protected Lesnar as much as possible.
9. Randy Orton vs. Chris Benoit – SummerSlam 2004
WWE does this funny thing where they can be the pettiest people on the planet sometimes. When Brock Lesnar left WWE in 2004, WWE was desperate to erase him from history, including any records he held.
This is why they turned to their nearest available young star in Randy Orton to break Lesnar’s record as the youngest world champion in company history.
Very little came from his reign but the match he won it in was quite great. At SummerSlam 2004, Orton ended the reign of Chris Benoit in a very good match.
It would be a while before Orton would join the main event scene properly but for a long time but until then he had this title win to tide him over.
8. Roman Reigns vs. John Cena – SummerSlam 2021
John Cena spent the “Summer of Cena” talking about how he just had to pin Roman Reigns 1-2-3 to become a 17-time World Champion. Well, sucks to be John Cena, all he has now is his millions of dollars, mansion, fame, and movie contracts. Wait, why does it suck to be John Cena?
Anyway, this match has been criticized for being too slow, which is a fair criticism. Reigns’ matches have been much slower since turning heel but this match built with Cena trying his best to keep Reigns down.
Multiple Attitude Adjustments and even one off the middle rope could not keep Reigns down. Despite Cena’s best efforts, Reigns was still too much for him. By the end, this was a classic SummerSlam main event with the fans going crazy for every nearfall.
7. Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena – SummerSlam 2014
Not a typical WWE main event match, Brock Lesnar had a squash match for 16 minutes. After breaking the streak at WrestleMania XXX, Lesnar became a killing machine and it started at SummerSlam.
After a decade of “Super-Cena”, fans were shocked when this match saw him get virtually no offense. Lesnar hit him with 16 suplexes and a number of F5s for the win.
This was not something WWE did at this time. To have Cena get squashed signified that Lesnar was something truly different and special, a feeling that WWE carried through for over two years.
6. Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar – SummerSlam 2019
This is an interesting one because of the crowd reaction. By SummerSlam 2019, fans were pretty tired of the often-recycled “who can conquer Brock Lesnar” storyline.
It had been done to death and more importantly, it had already been done by Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 35. The next problem was the fans weren’t as into Rollins as a babyface now as they were months earlier.
Rollins had done a poor job of making himself look like a cool top babyface on TV leading up to this match and had a string of horrible interactions online. By the time he made his entrance, he was booed pretty hard.
That being said, Rollins and Lesnar worked hard managed to get the desired reaction out of the Toronto crowd by the end. Rollins toppled Lesnar once again and the people left happy, a testament to how good a match they had together.
5. CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy – SummerSlam 2009
CM Punk and Jeff Hardy put a lot of work into their rivalry in 2009. Punk had taken shots at Hardy’s past with the Straightedge Superstar making light of Hardy’s substance abuse.
At SummerSlam, the two blew off their rivalry in a TLC match. They always had good chemistry but this just ramped up the intensity.
This was Punk’s first TLC match in WWE and he delivered a great deal of punishment to Hardy. The match built to Hardy doing a ludicrous Swanton Bomb through Punk and the announce table, a move that did more damage to Hardy than it did to Punk.
They managed to fight their way to the top of the ladder before Punk sent Hardy crashing to the mat. Punk captured the World Heavyweight Championship for a third time in a classic TLC match and a classic SummerSlam main event.
4. The Undertaker vs. Edge – SummerSlam 2008
Much like how SummerSlam 2009 blew off the Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk rivalry, SummerSlam 2008 did the same for The Undertaker’s rivalry with Edge.
Edge had been a thorn in Taker’s side for over a year and now they were going to clash inside Hell in a Cell. The story was Edge was inexperienced in Hell in a Cell so he relied on the use of tables, ladders and chairs.
It worked to a degree as Undertaker had to hang with him but at a point it became elementary. Undertaker paid Edge back for everything he had done to the ‘Deadman’ the prior 18 months and then some.
The match is one of the best Hell in a Cell matches ever and it put a cap on one of 2008’s best rivalries.
3. The British Bulldog vs. Bret Hart – SummerSlam 1992
There is perhaps no match more legendary from the early years of SummerSlam than this one. In 1992, Bret Hart defended the Intercontinental Championship against the British Bulldog at Wembly Stadium in England.
Bret often talks about Bulldog forgetting every spot in this match and Bret having to talk him through it.
Considering the match is 25 minutes, that is a hell of an accomplishment. The accomplishment is made that much more impressive when you look at how good this match is.
Bret’s matches hold up very well to this day and his classic with the Bulldog is no different.
2. Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena – SummerSlam 2013
SummerSlam 2013 saw a pair of excellent matches as two indie darlings took on two WWE homegrown stars.
In the semi-main event, CM Punk took on Brock Lesnar, and in the main event, Daniel Bryan challenged John Cena for the WWE Championship.
This was the first time Bryan had main evented a WWE pay per view and fans were solidly behind him.
Bryan had said in the build to this match that Cena wasn’t a wrestler like he was and that angered Cena.
While few will argue that Bryan is a much better worker than Cena, this was a good showing of what Cena could do in the ring.
This was the night the Authority started and while people quickly grew to hate this faction, on this night it made for a tremendous moment.
After Bryan defeated Cena clean, Triple H Pedirgreed Bryan and allowed Randy Orton to cash in Money in the Bank. A great ending to a great night.
1. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe – SummerSlam 2017
From one style of match to something completely different. Whereas Daniel Bryan vs. John Cena places high because of the technical display from both men, this one places high because it was a war.
Brock Lesnar made his fair share of enemies as Universal Champion and at SummerSlam 2017 he had to face three of them.
Samoa Joe, Roman Reigns, and Braun Strowman all challenged Lesnar for the Universal Championship and they had a fantastic battle.
Paul Heyman had a hand in putting this match together and you can tell as his style of match in recent years has relied on tons of finishing moves and big moments.
This was the best example of that as the four men involved beat the hell out of each other. They slammed each other through announce tables and the crowd was at a fever pitch throughout.
Eventually, Lesnar was able to retain his title but not before putting on the best SummerSlam main event ever.
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