‘The Biggest Party of the Summer.’ ‘The second biggest pay-per-view of the year.’ ‘That one thing that happens in August that isn’t my birthday.’ WWE SummerSlam goes by many names, and some of them are ones I don’t make up. The grand event is always rife with fun matches, big moments and great competition, and nothing should encapsulate that more than the main event. The final match on the card is crucial in determining a show’s success, often making or breaking the event. With that in mind, join me as we take a look back at the ten most recent SummerSlam main events and see what transpired.
2008: The Undertaker vs Edge – Hell in a Cell
We kick off this list with an amazingly hardcore, brutal contest between The Undertaker and Edge inside Hell in a Cell. The build for this match was pretty convoluted so I’ll just keep it simple and brief.
Edge and Vickie Guerrero were dating, and Edge beat The Undertaker to have him ‘banished from WWE.’ During Guerrero and Edge’s wedding reception (yep, that was a thing that happened), it was revealed that Edge had been cheating on Vickie, so Vickie reinstated The Undertaker and made a match between the two at SummerSlam. There were many, many more unnecessary wrinkles in that story, but we don’t need to talk about those.
The match itself was crazy. Despite WWE just becoming a PG product the month prior, some parts of the product took a while to catch up, such as this bout. There were chair shots to the head, blood, tables, ladders, ring steps, a Spear through the cell wall, a Spear through an announce table, a Chokeslam through two tables stacked on top of each other, it was insane.
Despite Edge looking very strong during the match, Undertaker had a convincing victory with a Spear, con-chair-to, Tombstone combination. After the match, it looked as if ‘The Deadman’ was done as he stood on the stage, but he came back down to the ring, set up two ladders and stood on one as he Chokeslammed Edge off the other, sending him through the ring. He then set the hole on fire using his demon powers, because he’s The Undertaker, I guess. This was fun.
What we learnt: WWE has changed a ton in the last ten years, and probably for the better for the competitors’ health.
2009: CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy – TLC
Speaking of brutal matches. Here we are with CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy in a TLC match. These two had a heated blood feud heading into this and boy did it pay off for this match. Straight edge vs…well, not straight edge. All over the World Heavyweight Championship.
You could absolutely feel the sheer amount of vitriol these two shared with every punch, every chair shot, every move. It felt… ‘real.’ You felt the anger. It’s not something that’s easily done and it’s something that’s lacking in recent times.
There, of course, were countless high spots in this match including but not limited to, Punk absolutely going to town with chairs, a cringe-inducing superplex from the top rope onto a ladder, a Jeff Hardy Special™ where he delivered a Swanton Bomb to CM Punk through the announce table off a giant ladder, and loads more. These two brutalized each other.
CM Punk was the eventual winner, and as he stood above a prone Hardy holding the title aloft, a familiar gong struck and darkness hit. But after the lights came back up, Undertaker was nowhere to be found. Or was he? In a very clever subversion of expectations, Hardy had been replaced with ‘The Deadman’ as he sat up and delivered a Chokeslam to the new champion. A fun ending to a fun match.
What we learnt: CM Punk and Jeff Hardy hate each other. Like, for realsies. Ladders are scary. Undertaker is also cool.
2010: Team Nexus vs Team WWE
This is possibly the most infamous SummerSlam main event of all time, and for good reason. The Nexus were an invading group that originated on NXT (the old, bad version) made up of leader Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, David Otunga, Heath Slater, Michael Tarver, Darren Young and Skip Sheffield (who would go on to become Ryback).
They were white hot heading into the event. They’d destroyed the ring and surrounding area on their debut, beaten up legends, and generally caused chaos on every show they were on. The Nexus were the reason I started watching wrestling again. That’s how popular they were. What they really needed was a big win to solidify themselves on the main roster of WWE.
So who stood in their way? A ragtag team of John Cena, Edge, Chris Jericho – the latter two of whom were heels at the time – R-Truth, John Morrison, Bret Hart (for some reason) and a mystery partner. It was built perfectly with Team WWE made to join forces with people they usually wouldn’t in order to take down the bigger threat of The Nexus.
So what happened? Team WWE’s mystery partner was revealed to be Daniel Bryan, fresh off his re-signing and out for vengeance against the Nexus for kicking him out of the group (that’s not exactly what happened in real terms but explaining the story of his firing would take too long. (Watch this video instead). The invading group’s advantage had always been numbers, but now the numbers were even. How would they fare? What everyone wanted was for them to beat Team WWE, despite being the heels. But you’re forgetting the most crucial part: the time period that this took place.
This was during Cena’s superman phase of never losing. So guess what? Cena won. After taking a DDT to the concrete on the outside of the ring, he came back to best a 2-on-1 advantage to be the sole survivor of Team WWE in one of the most openly hated main events ever.
What we learnt: Cena wins LOL.
2011: CM Punk vs John Cena – Triple H as Special Guest Referee
In an alternate timeline, this match would have kicked off one the most entertaining and successful periods in WWE history. In the real timeline, it… didn’t.
This match took place one month after the amazingly successful, critically acclaimed pay-per-view that was Money in the Bank 2011 featuring the star-making match of John Cena against CM Punk. CM Punk left with the WWE Championship and returned to the company 8 whole days later. That in itself was a terrible decision but even so, people were still very much looking forward to their rematch as it would determine the Undisputed WWE Champion. Oh did I forget to mention? In the 8 days CM Punk was gone, John Cena was crowned the new WWE Champion by beating Rey Mysterio who had just won a tournament fair and square. Classic Cena.
Triple H was inserted as the Special Guest Referee because… reasons? He’s Triple H I guess? The match itself was a fun affair, with Cena doing the ‘Big Match John’ thing of unveiling moves he doesn’t normally use. Now, CM Punk was the most popular thing the company had seen in quite some time, so you’d think logic would dictate he’d beat Cena clean and go on to defend the WWE Title at the top of the card right? No.
The finish of the match came after Punk hit Cena with a GTS and picked up a 3-count, but John-boy’s foot was on the bottom rope that Triple H didn’t see. So Punk looked worse for not being able to beat Cena clean, Cena was protected, like he needs that, Triple H looked stupid for not seeing the foot on the rope, and then…THEN.
While Punk was celebrating, in to the ring came Kevin Nash. Kevin Nash? Crazy right? He clotheslined and Jackknife Powerbombed Punk and while Triple H looked on, mildly confused, out came ‘Mr. Money in the Bank,’ Alberto Del Rio. He nailed Punk with an Enzuigiri and pinned him to become the new WWE Champion.
What we learnt: Cena needs to be protected at all costs, even when he loses. Punk can never be a star. Great.
2012: Brock Lesnar vs Triple H – No DQ
‘The Perfect Storm.’ What a terrible name. Even so, the build to this match was quite something, so I’ll try and sum it up briefly.
Brock ‘broke Triple H’s arm’ in April of that year because he wanted extra clauses in his contract and Triple H said no. Hunter came back at No Way Out later that year in June and challenged Lesnar to a match at SummerSlam and also said that there were lawsuits Paul Heyman had made (for some reason) and asked for them to be dropped in exchange for Lesnar’s acceptance of the match. Paul Heyman then declined the match in June, Triple H beat him up, then Lesnar was advertised for the July 2 show to officially respond to Triple H’s challenge, even though…Heyman just officially responded for him. But come July 2, Lesnar was then advertised for Raw 1000 on July 23. Nice. At that show, the match was again declined by Heyman, but after Stephanie McMahon came out and slapped him, he accepted the match on Lesnar’s behalf. If that sounds confusing, that’s because it was.
Despite that though, Brock Lesnar vs Triple H still sounds like a nice prospect. And it was a fun match. Lots of suplexes, F5s, Pedigrees, all the good stuff. The finish of the match came when Triple H planted Lesnar with a Pedigree, went for the cover but as he did, Lesnar rolled through and applied the Kimura Lock, ‘breaking Triple H’s arm’ again, as an unusual sight occured: Triple H tapped out. After the match, Triple H took the slow walk to the back while the commentators did their ‘quiet, serious voice’ to ponder if Hunter was retiring. He wasn’t. Spoilers.
What we learnt: Brock is a big boy. Triple H likes taking the main event spot away from CM Punk, the WWE Champion.
2013: John Cena vs Daniel Bryan – Triple H as Special Guest Referee
Now we’re getting to the good stuff. In the lead up to this match, Daniel Bryan was the hottest thing in the company without a shadow of a doubt. Fans had been hijacking shows and Bryan was on course for superstardom. In kayfabe, Cena was allowed to choose his SummerSlam opponent, and because he’s a good boy sometimes, he chose Daniel Bryan. People were anxious and eager to see Bryan win his first WWE Championship. What could possibly go wrong?
Triple H was inserted yet again as the Special Guest Referee because… again I have no idea. Just because. But this time, it was actually for a reason that became clear later on.
The match itself was a fun one, lots of reversals with Cena attempting to match Bryan’s technical prowess but coming up short on several occasions. The finish of the match came when Bryan debuted his new finisher, the running knee (which still doesn’t have a proper name to this day. I’ll make one. The…Bryaknee? Nevermind. Running knee is fine). Bryan picked up a three-count in the center of the ring, as clean as…something that’s really clean. Like, spotless clean. The crowd went crazy, Bryan went crazy, everyone was happy, confetti rained from the ceiling, pyro went off, it was a great time.
But hold on now, because here comes the party-pooper, Mr. Money in the Bank, Randy Orton. He walked down to the ring, glared a little bit, turned to walk away and glanced back at the ring over his shoulder. As he did, the seemingly unthinkable at the time happened. Triple H attacked Bryan, delivering a Pedigree to the new champ. Orton slid in to the ring, cashed in the briefcase and became the new WWE Champion.
What we learnt: Cena can be good sometimes. Bryan is insanely popular. Orton is a poopybutt. This was a great ending to the show, albeit disappointing to not see Bryan leave as the champ.
2014: Brock Lesnar vs John Cena
2014 begins a streak we’ll refer to again later. Lesnar, fresh off of ending The Undertaker’s WrestleMania undefeated streak earlier in the year, was looking to take John Cena’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship (oh yeah, we’re in that time where the title had a crazy long name).
The match itself was memorable for being so one-sided. The ‘Beast’ absolutely manhandled the champion, with Cena managing to get in one desperation AA as well as one STF which lasted for about ten seconds. Every other move in the match was Lesnar’s. Knees, punches, F5s, and suplexes. So, so many suplexes. Brock won with an F5 to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
What we learnt: Brock is a scary man. Also, Cena is starting to wane from his throne. This was a shocking and pleasant end to the show.
2015: Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker
Brock is back again, this time facing off against The Undertaker in a WrestleMania 30 rematch. Boy oh boy was this stupid. The match itself was great, lots of stuff you’d expect from this caliber of match. There was an F5 through the announce table, tombstones, chokeslams, suplexes, all that good stuff. However, the match was ruined because of the finish. The finish was just horrendous.
Brock Lesnar had Taker in the Kimura Lock, and while the referee was checking Lesnar’s shoulders to make sure ‘The Deadman’ didn’t have an accidental pinning combination, the bell rang. Everyone was very confused, including the referee, who could audibly be heard yelling to the timekeepers that it was a count of 1 and that he didn’t call for the bell. In the confusion, Undertaker hit Lesnar with a low-blow, and followed it up with a Hell’s Gate. Lesnar flipped Taker the bird while the hold was still applied, and passed out, with Taker being called the winner. So why did the bell ring? Well…
Replays started being shown from another angle that showed when Lesnar applied the Kimura Lock, Undertaker tapped very quickly and very slyly, so the timekeeper took it upon himself to ring the bell to end the match because he could see ‘The Phenom’ tapping. So from Undertaker’s perspective, you lose a match, then punch someone in the nuts and apply a submission on to them? What a sore loser he is. Also Paul Heyman hopped on the mic after the match and declared the ‘true’ winner of the match to be Brock Lesnar, but the Undertaker still technically won so…nobody wins? What was the point of this match again?
What we learnt: Trying to protect both competitors in a match normally ends in a really confusing, overbooked and sloppy mess. Stop that.
2016: Brock Lesnar vs Randy Orton
Look who it is, it’s your favourite suplex-man, once again. This time he’s facing a returning Randy Orton, who had been out with a dislocated shoulder. There wasn’t really much build to this match other than ‘hey guys this match is happening so they’ll trade finishers on shows in the build-up’ and that was about it.
Still, the match was good fun. The usual stuff from Lesnar, which at this point was starting to lose the effect it once did, while Orton actually managed some decent offense, including an RKO to the announce table, followed up with a rope-hung DDT and another RKO inside the ring for a near-fall. ‘The Viper’ lined up for the Punt but ‘The Beast’ countered into an F5 for another near-fall. Then came the finish. Oh man, the finish.
Lesnar took off his gloves, (figuratively and literally), un-taped his fists and proceeded to beat the ever-loving hell out of Orton. A legitimate stiff elbow to the head caused the former ‘Legend Killer’ to bleed profusely, leaving a pool of blood in the ring. The match was called off as Orton seemed to be genuinely knocked out for a second. Lesnar then threw off referees and medical personnel in order to continue the beat-down, which brought out SmackDown General Manager Shane McMahon. He attempted to look after Orton but Lesnar stood in his way and when he refused to move, McMahon tried to walk past but was nailed with an F5 for his troubles as the big scary spooky suplexy man walked off.
What we learnt: Don’t mess with Lesnar. He will knock you out.
2017: Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman vs Samoa Joe
We’re here at last year’s SummerSlam main event. A memorable one for many, and a very enjoyable affair which saw Brock Lesnar defend his Universal Championship against challengers Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman and Samoa Joe. Something that was very interesting to note was there was no true babyface in this match as Strowman and Joe at this time were clear cut heels (albeit while Strowman was gaining babyface popularity), Lesnar and Reigns had shades of grey and neither were true faces either. But did it matter? Not at all.
What an amazingly fun car-crash of a match this was. The pace was at max speed for the majority of the bout with crazy spots and moves all over the match with them coming one after another after another. As soon as the bell rang, Lesnar and Joe brawled, as did Strowman and Reigns, which was a nice touch seeing as these two pairs had been feuding at the previous pay-per-view, Great Balls of Fire (RIP best show name ever, you will be missed). After that initial brawl-out, hell broke loose.
There are too many spots to go through them all here, but as a quick recap:
- Strowman Powerslammed Lesnar through two announce tables and threw an announcer’s chair at Roman and Joe.
- Joe was choking out Lesnar and in the same moment, Reigns Speared the champ through the barricade into the timekeepers’ area.
- Lesnar was stretchered out after being crushed by another announce table.
- Joe dived on to people and looked awesome.
- Strowman almost got a pinfall on Joe if it weren’t for Lesnar pulling the referee out of the ring.
- After Lesnar came back out he killed everybody.
- Lesnar picked up the pinfall victory on Reigns after an F5.
What we learnt: Fast-paced car-crash spot-fests can sometimes be fun as hell. Especially when some of the competitors are the most popular acts in the company at the time.
All this leads to…
2018: Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns
This year. That streak that started in 2014? Brock Lesnar being in the SummerSlam main event. If the reported match so far will be the main event (I can’t envision a scenario in which it wouldn’t be), this will be his fifth one in a row and his sixth in seven years; he’s lost only one of those encounters, and that was with a wonky finish in which he had the visual victory so…he hasn’t really lost at all in that time. In 2013 when he wasn’t in the main event, he was beating CM Punk. SummerSlam is Lesnar’s home, much like WrestleMania was to The Undertaker.
Bearing that in mind, do you think Reigns can beat him? On Lesnar’s home turf? Only time will tell. But if we’ve learnt one thing from these last 10 years, it’s that SummerSlam can put on some absolute classics. Fingers crossed this year’s main event holds that lofty title.
SummerSlam 2018 will be broadcast live on the WWE Network, from the Staples Center in Brooklyn, NY on August 19.
Are you looking forward to SummerSlam this year? Do you think Reigns and Lesnar even have a chance of putting on a successful match that isn’t hijacked by fans? Let us know in the comments, on Twitter or on Discord today!
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