Ranking 31 Years of WWE Summerslam Main Events (1988-2018)

#25-21

Warrior dominates Rude at Summerslam 1990

#25 1990 - Ultimate Warrior vs Rick Rude

WWF Champion Ultimate Warrior put his title on the line against his greatest in-ring opponent, Rick Rude.

However, the match lacked heat as no-one believed that Rude could win. Devoid of any drama, the match, therefore, was not a patch on the pair's previous classic encounters at Wrestlemania V and Summerslam 1989.

#24 1999 - Stone Cold Steve Austin vs Triple H vs Mankind

A match more famous for the backstage wrangling that took place before it. Stone Cold point blank refused to lose to Triple H as was the plan. Therefore, Mankind who was still recovering from injury was added to the match.

A barely mobile, Mankind and Austin unwilling to sell for Triple H made for an oddity of a match that wasn't good or memorable at all. Mankind inexplicably won, before losing to Triple H, the next night on Raw.

#23 2005 - Shawn Michaels vs Hulk Hogan

In 2005, one dream match that had never occurred was made a reality when Shawn Michaels went one on one with Hulk Hogan.

The match is good, no doubt. But again, it is an encounter ruined by backstage politics. The original idea was for Hogan to win the Summerslam match then lose a re-match at the subsequent pay-per-view, Unforgiven.

However, Hogan point blank refused to lose to Michaels. He was offered a cage match at Unforgiven wherein Michaels would win by escape, meaning Hogan wouldn't even need to lose by pinfall or submission. Much to Michaels chagrin, Hogan refused to lose to him under any circumstances.

Hogan also refused to play heel which meant Michaels had to, which went against his religious beliefs. So, infuriated was Michaels with Hogan that he embraced his 1997 non-religious self and cut scathing promo's on his opponent and oversold to a comical degree, Hogan's offence in the match. A missed opportunity.

#22 2018 - Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns

The latest Summerslam main event, in truth, was a calamity. Designed as a vehicle to ensure the WWE universe cheered for Roman Reigns, WWE pulled a blatant bait and switch before the match even began, teasing that Money in the Bank briefcase holder, Braun Strowman would make the match a triple threat.

That didn't happen. Instead, Strowman explained he would cash in after the match. Therefore the crowd didn't boo the encounter as they did at Wrestlemania, eagerly anticipating the Strowman cash-in.

However, that didn't occur either, as Lesnar beat up Strowman on the outside before succumbing to a Reign's spear. At just five minutes duration, it was also an insult of a main event attraction.

#21 2016 - Brock Lesnar vs Randy Orton

Another Lesnar main event, another disappointment. In a much-anticipated bout, the first time encounter before Lesnar and Orton was all too brief at 11 minutes in duration. It was decent enough but lacked crowd investment and the finish was unnecessarily brutal and in hindsight pointless as Lesnar elbowed Orton in the head for real in order to elicit hard way blood.

Lesnar won via TKO. But the finish meant nothing as it was never followed up on.