Very rarely does WWE SummerSlam disappoint. In fact, more often than not, it surpasses WrestleMania in being the best show all year, and that could very well be the case with this year's installment as well.
On paper, SummerSlam 2016 has the potential to be an absolute blockbuster with what's on tap. From Seth Rollins and Finn Balor colliding for the first time ever for the WWE Universal Championship to the marquee match of Randy Orton vs. Brock Lesnar, the event should be nothing short of sensational at four hours in length.
But even some of the greatest SummerSlams of all-time had had lackluster endings, including the following five installments. Whether the conclusions confused fans or simply left them frustrated, they earned the right of being labeled the worst endings in the event's history.
5. WWE conquers WCW, again (2001)
It has been well-established that the WCW Invasion angle in 2001 was botched by WWE beyond belief, especially after the atrocious one night only Invasion pay-per-view that July. SummerSlam was next up in August, and although it was entertaining on the whole, it did nothing to establish The Alliance as a threat whatsoever.
Granted, Kurt Angle came close to capturing the WWE Championship from Stone Cold Steve Austin in an instant classic, but the bout ended in a disappointing disqualification. However, even that would have sufficed as the SummerSlam main event over what we received instead.
The final match on the card saw The Rock overcome Booker T to win the WCW Championship, essentially putting the final nail in the coffin of The Alliance in the process. A mediocre match at best, it had no reason to close out the event, nor did it do WCW any favors.
4. The Brooklyn Screwjob (2015)
The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2015 was touted as the rematch that was too big for WrestleMania. It was rare to see Undertaker around at a time that wasn't WrestleMania season, and his epic brawl with The Beast on Raw alone was enough to make fans excited for the encounter.
Truth be told, the match was actually pretty good, and far better than the brutal bout they contested a year and a half earlier at WrestleMania 30. They wasted no time in taking the fight to each other and the Brooklyn crowd was invested in the action the entire time.
But then came the fluky finish. Lesnar seemingly had the match won when he had Undertaker locked in the Kimura, but then the bell rang for no reason. A confused Lesnar was on the receiving end of a low blow from Undertaker, leading to the match being restarted and The Deadman forcing Lesnar to tap out.
I could explain in detail what actually happened and why, but the bottom line is that fans left the Barclays Center that night fairly frustrated with what they had just witnessed. And who can blame them?
3. Goldberg runs into Triple H's mighty sledgehammer (2003)
There wasn't anyone hotter in 2003 than Goldberg, who arrived on the WWE scene immediately following WrestleMania 19 and ran rampant over the entire Raw roster. After annihilating the likes of The Rock and Chris Jericho, it was only logical that taking the World Heavyweight Championship was his next goal.
Instead of contending for the gold against Triple H one-on-one at SummerSlam, which would have been the money match, they shared the ring with four other Superstars inside an Elimination Chamber. It was quite honestly one of the worst Chamber matches of all-time, and the abysmal ending made it that much worse.
Goldberg went on an absolute tear, eliminating everyone in sight before it came down to him and The Game across the ring from each other. Needless to say, that would have been the moment to put the belt on Goldberg, but WWE had other plans.
HHH took out the one man wrecking crew with ease via a sledgehammer shot to the skull to retain his title. Yes, Goldberg would win the world title the very next month at Unforgiven, but it just wasn't the same as it would have been at SummerSlam.
2. Lex Luger wins the match but not the title (1993)
The conclusion to SummerSlam 2003 was almost as underwhelming as the ending to the biggest party of the summer exactly a decade earlier. Lex Luger had been riding a wave of momentum in the months that preceded SummerSlam 1993 and was ready to take the WWE Championship from Yokozuna.
Yokozuna had been built up to be an evil foreign champion, so it made sense to have him drop the strap to the all-American Luger, who was immensely over with the audience at that time. Luger, did in fact, win the matchup that night... but not the title, as he was deemed the victor via count-out.
Despite not being crowned the new champion, the roster as well as the live crowd celebrated with Luger, anyway. What's worse is that he never did wind up winning the belt, rendering this SummerSlam ending pointless.
1. John Cena annihilates The Nexus (2010)
There's a ton of “what if” scenarios WWE fans like to entertain, but there have been few bigger screw-ups in recent years than that of The Nexus. They debuted in June 2010 and instantly shook WWE to its very core with their violent attacks on John Cena, Mr.McMahon, and others.
Cena put together an army of WWE Superstars to rival The Nexus at SummerSlam, even rounding out his team with a returning Daniel Bryan. The seven-on-seven elimination tag team main event had all the makings to be remarkable, but it ultimately fell flat in a major way.
To be fair, the match itself wasn't awful, but fans are still questioning the asinine ending to this very day. Wade Barrett had a two-on-one advantage over Cena in the final few minutes of the matchup, going so far as to lay Cena out on the concrete with a DDT.
Yet Cena battled back, pinned Justin Gabriel clean to eliminate him from the equation before quickly forcing Barrett to tap out. And just like that, The Nexus were dead in the water, never to be taken seriously again.
