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WrestleMania, without a doubt, is the biggest wrestling show of the year. It is that time of the year when the WWE bring out some of the best product that it has to offer. It is not just an annual show, it is a whole festival in its own right and there's only one other PPV which comes close to 'Mania in terms of fan interest. Ever since it was first produced back in 1988, SummerSlam has often served as a right second fiddle to 'Mania.
Often credited as The Biggest Show of the Summer, just like WrestleMania, SummerSlam often features the conclusion of marquee feuds that were the feature of WWE programming all throughout Summer. While it is often considered as a smaller show when compared with WrestleMania, SummerSlam has always featured matches and feuds that were on the same level as WrestleMania from that year.
Hence, a comparison between the two shows from the same year seems inevident. At few instances, such as the years 2001 and 2015, featured stunning outings from both shows while others, like 1995, featured two terrible shows.
Usually it is WrestleMania that edges past Summerslam as a better show due to mammoth attendance and the grandeur, but there have been years when Summerslam emerged as a better show. Here are the six times when WWE Biggest Party of the Summer had a better outing than The Grandest Stage of them All.
#6 Summerslam 1993
You can compare any pay-per-view in the history of WWE with WrestleMania IX, and it is a guarantee you will eventually end up liking the former. This is how far below the average WrestleMania IX was.
That, however, doesn't mean that SummerSlam 1993 was also a bad show. When compared to WrestleMania IX, it was a gem of a show. Yes, SummerSlam 1993 had a match between Giant Gonzalez and The Undertaker, but every other match was better than the best of teh bookings from 'Mania IX matchcard.
The Tag team match between the Steiner Brothers and The Heavenly Bodies is one of the best tag matches in the history of Summerslam, while Mr Perfect made a Superstar out of Shawn Michaels in their Intercontinental Match.
The night, however, belonged to Bret Hart, who wrestled both Doink the Clown and Jerry Lawler in consecutive matches which And who can forget the memorable celebration of Lex Luger after the main event. In comparison with Hogan winning the title again, that is just pure gold.
#5 Summerslam 2000
The first half of 2000 was a weird year for WWF. With main event stars like Steve Austin and The Undertaker out due to injuries, the likes of Triple H and Big Show emerged as main event players during the WrestleMania period, and this is what ended up hurting the event.
What should have been a grudge encounter between Triple H and The Rock at 'Mania 2000 ended up being a Fatal-4-Way to accommodate all members of McMahon family on the grand stage. To add to the misery, instead of having The Rock emerge victoriously, WWE decided the end the night on a sour note by having Triple H, a heel, win the main event.
Apart from the main event and the Triple-threat tag team ladder match, all the remaining matches, none of which was a standard one-on-one match, ended up sinking the 'Mania. SummerSlam that year, however, was a whole different show that featured the beginning of one of the most prominent rivalries in WWE history.
While Rock and Triple again wrestled in a multi-man match and the Triple threat ladder match was changed TLC match, they were several notches above the 'Mania clash. TLC match, in specific, has a ton of historic significance as it ushered a new era of tag wrestling. The Rock won the main event, Undertaker and Kane tore each other apart, and how can we forget Shane McMahon fall of death. WrestleMania 2000 might have had the big show feel, but its baby brother certainly was the superior show that year.
#4 SummerSlam 2002
WrestleMania X-8 was 'good'. Yes, that's the best can describe that mega show in Toronto. Even though the show featured the critically acclaimed dream match between Hulk Hogan and The Rock, the rest of the show was average at best. Despite the plethora of talent that was involved in the show, it could not live up to the hype around it.
Apart from the Icon v Icon clash between Hogan and Rock, the only other match which was actually good was the No DQ match between The Undertaker and Ric Flair. The main event was a big bust, Austin-Hall match was surprisingly short and all the other matches were just not worthy of being on a pay per view like 'Mania. It was clearly a big fall from Mania X-Seven.
Fast Forward 5 months and the whole scenario of the WWE had changed big time. Stone Cold left the WWE on a sour note. The NWO was now a thing from the past as well as Raw and SmackDown now had separate rosters. The biggest changes, however, were the in-ring return of Shawn Michaels and The rise of Brock Lesnar, and these are what played a big hand in making SummerSlam 2002 a memorable show.
With The Rock taking a sabbatical, his reign as the WWE Champion was ended by Brock Lesnar in a stunning main event. In the penultimate match, Shawn Michaels had a dream return match with the recently turned heel in Triple H that was as brutal as it could have been. Add to that the best opening match in SummerSlam history along with a ladder match, and you had a show that easily bettered Mania X-8 on all parameters.
#3 SummerSlam 2011
WrestleMania XXVII was, well, it's hard to actually decode. The build-up to the show featured the mega return of The Rock, who became involved in a verbal rivalry with both WWE Champion The Miz and John Cena, and, despite being the Host of the Show, it became evidently clear that it would impact the main event in one way or the other.
And it did! The WWE Champion match can easily be deemed as one of the worst main events in WrestleMania history. Making his presence felt, The Rock interfered in the main event by assisting The Miz to retain the title and then knocking him down to make it all about himself.
Even three fantastic matches featuring the likes of Triple H, The Undertaker, Edge, CM Punk and Randy Orton could not prevent this 'Mania from being labelled as a set up for next year's show. Enter The Summer of Punk, and the whole landscape of the WWE changed once again in a matter of months. CM Punk became the centre of focus of WWE programming and became the biggest Superstar of the company after Money in the Bank.
His match against John Cena in the main event, albeit not on the level of their MITB encounter, was still levels above the Mania main event. The highest point, however, was the culmination of one of the best World Title rivalries in recent times when Randy Orton and Christian brought the house down in a stunning No Holds Barred Match. With a solid undercard and a surprise MITB cash in tor close the show, WWE successfully made amends for the blunders of WrestleMania at Summerslam.
# SummerSlam 2013
SummerSlam 2013 was a perfect show! So it is impossible to even compare it with any other PPV, even if it is WrestleMania. With three marquee matches that delivered big time, it was a show that will be remembered by the fans for years and years to come.
Even though WrestleMania 30 is considered as the pinnacle of Daniel Bryan's WWE career, it was actually his critically acclaimed match against John Cena here that initiated that sensational period. In the other World Title match, Christian and Alberto Del Rio wrestled inarguably the most underrated match in SummerSlam history. However, it was the third match that turned out to be the biggest difference between SummerSlam and 'Mania.
In one of the most compelling and physical matches of the last decade, Brock Lesnar and CM Punk, two pure Paul Heyman guys, brought the house down and tore each other down. Now, that's three certified classics for Summerslam. What exactly did WrestleMania 29 have? John Cena vs The Rock rematch?
WrestleMania in 2013 was in no way a compelling show. Yes, it had the Undertaker fight CM Punk in arguably the best match of his streak, but what about the rest of the card. The undercard was a big flop, Triple H v Brock Lesnar was a boring affair marred by the length of the rivalry, and the main event was nothing compared the previous year's encounter. To sum it up, WrestleMania 29 doesn't even deserve to be compared with Summerslam 2013.
#1 SummerSlam 2016
First of all, I want to make something very clear - Summerslam 2016 was not a great show by any means. In fact, Summerslam was a pretty average show that is easily the worst Summerslam in the last 5 years. However, the fact that WrestleMania 32 was a big, fat blunder means that even an average show like SS 2016 looks like a raw gem in front of it.
While an argument can be made that WWE was marred by a really bad injury phase during the WrestleMania period, the fact that there was only one match on the card that was considered great and all the marquee matches failed big times did not bode well for the overall. Plus, Summerslam had that one match, that one dream match that turned out to be the biggest difference between the show.
As has been the case with all WrestleMania's since, well, eternity, the night in Arlington ended with the first ailed coronation of Roman Reigns when he wrestled a horrible match with Triple H. Brock Lesnar's laziness turned a highly hyped fight with Dean Ambrose into a glorified squash and ,somehow, WWE felt that putting two 45+ competitors inside a Hell in a Cell for 30 minutes would be stunning idea. Well, it wasn't. It sucked.
Summerslam, on the whole, was just marginally above Summerslam. Lesnar's dream match with Randy Orton turned out to be another glorified squash, Ambrose's WWE Title defense surprisingly fell flat after a stunning build and an enraged crowd turned a fantastic match between Rollins and Balor into a average affair. It all came down to AJ Styles and John Cena to save the day in Brooklyn, who wrestled one of the best Summerslam encounters of all time to give the show an edge over its Big Brother in 2016.
