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As the last of the Big Four WWE pay-per-views to debut, there have been times where SummerSlam has been left without an identity. Royal Rumble and Survivor Series both have their respective gimmick matches to look forward to every year, while WrestleMania is the biggest annual event in all of pro wrestling.
However, recent years have seen WWE build the SummerSlam brand up to levels higher than ever. The show's length was extended by an hour and various festivities were set in place for SummerSlam weekend. This helped make the event feel more like the "WrestleMania of the summer," especially with NXT TakeOver events taking place one night earlier.
Having New York as the home of SummerSlam also helped, with Brooklyn's Barclays Center providing the perfect setting for the Biggest Party of the Summer and all the shows surrounding it, from 2015 to 2018.
The general quality of SummerSlam, in its larger form, has been largely consistent. The shows have felt bigger than before and a larger emphasis on the overall card has helped a couple of them stand out among the best WWE events in their respective years.
Here are the last five SummerSlam events ranked, from worst to best.
#5 WWE SummerSlam 2016
While not entirely terrible, SummerSlam 2016 was the worst of the past five years. It had the makings of an excellent pay-per-view, being the first one since the second brand split truly began. However, following a good start, SummerSlam somewhat fell off a cliff.
Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens solidified their friendship with a victory in the opener over Enzo and Cass, while Charlotte Flair won the RAW Women's Championship in a titanic tussle with Sasha Banks. The Legit Boss took some scary-looking bumps, raising concerns for her health.
SummerSlam 2016 peaked with AJ Styles and John Cena, as the two had an incredible back-and-forth match. The ending made Styles a megastar, as he rallied to defeat Cena clean as a whistle. Nothing could follow this classic, including a dull WWE Championship match between Dean Ambrose and Dolph Ziggler.
The first-ever Universal Championship match was hijacked by the Brooklyn crowd, who were displeased with the design of the new title. Finn Balor, as the "Demon," defeated Seth Rollins in a good match, despite Balor dislocating his shoulder midway through. In a more positive moment, Nikki Bella returned from her career-threatening neck surgery in a six-woman tag team match.
The main event, though, left a bad taste in everyone's mouths. Brock Lesnar literally beat Randy Orton to a bloody pulp, winning their marquee match by Technical Knockout. SummerSlam 2016 was let down by a largely lousy second half after the majority of the first few matches delivered as advertised.
#4 WWE SummerSlam 2015
The first one to last four hours in length, SummerSlam 2015 saw WWE make an active attempt in making the August pay-per-view a bigger deal going forward. And to an extent, they succeeded. While pretty solid, it would have been much more fondly remembered if there wasn't a historically significant TakeOver event one night earlier and if the two biggest matches actually had decent finishes.
SummerSlam was headlined by Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker, in a rematch of their shocking showdown at WrestleMania 30. The match was a vast improvement from their Streak-ending clash in New Orleans. However, it was let down by a confusing finish which saw the bell being rung despite the referee not calling for it, as well as Undertaker's uncharacteristic heelish tactics. At least he avenged the end of the Streak.
He low-blowed The Beast and made him pass out in the Hell's Gate. One of the highlights of the match was the image of Lesnar and Undertaker laughing in each other's faces, probably about Jon Stewart's involvement in the title-for-title match between Seth Rollins and John Cena.
The former Daily Show host helped Rollins win the United States Championship from Cena while retaining his WWE Title, in an ill-advised ending. Regardless, the preceding 20 minutes of action were still excellent. Several other matches and moments caught the eye at the first SummerSlam to take place at the Barclays Center.
Randy Orton vs. Sheamus and Kevin Owens vs. Cesaro were both solid bouts, while Stephen Amell from the television show Arrow had a successful outing alongside Neville against Stardust and King Barrett. SummerSlam 2015 also sparked the beginning of The New Day's historic 483-day Tag Team Championship reign.
#3 WWE SummerSlam 2017
If not for a dire first half, SummerSlam 2017 would have likely gone further up this list. This truly was a show of two halves. With obvious exceptions, like Jinder Mahal unconvincingly defeating Shinsuke Nakamura and a pair of Women's Championship matches, SummerSlam's second half was as good as the first half was bad.
John Cena defeated Baron Corbin in a joke of an opening match and Randy Orton squashed Rusev in seconds, while Big Cass and The Big Show shared a slow and boring contest. Natalya and Sasha Banks helped boost the event, both of them winning titles in solid matches against Naomi and Alexa Bliss, respectively.
SummerSlam picked up some steam, as we saw the "Demon" Finn Balor face and defeat Bray Wyatt. One of the highlights of the night was Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose reuniting to beat the RAW Tag Team Champions, Sheamus and Cesaro, in a match nearly as good as the sensational New Day vs. Usos Kickoff Show main event.
AJ Styles defeated Kevin Owens in a United States title match filled with great action and shenanigans aplenty, as Shane McMahon was the guest referee. Then came the two World title matches, both of them completely different. The aforementioned Mahal vs. Nakamura match was followed by a SummerSlam main event for the ages.
Four of WWE's greatest heavyweight stars destroyed each other in a magnificent Universal Championship match. Brock Lesnar defended the big red belt against Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns. All four men put on excellent performances, capping off an inconsistent SummerSlam with the perfect headliner. Lesnar ended the war on top, barely surviving three of his toughest challengers.
#2 WWE SummerSlam 2018
The 2018 edition of SummerSlam was a very good show, featuring some great wrestling, cohesive storytelling and satisfying moments. The RAW and SmackDown sides of SummerSlam 2018 each had a theme, with the Blue brand presenting long matches used to further respective storylines and the Red brand's matches mostly being the culmination of various feuds.
There were a couple of squash matches, including Braun Strowman vs. Kevin Owens, Finn Balor bringing out the Demon to silence Baron Corbin, and Ronda Rousey's quick RAW Women's Championship victory over Alexa Bliss. There was great action in abundance as well.
Seth Rollins won the Intercontinental Championship from Dolph Ziggler in the night's opener, while The Miz earned a sneaky victory in his much-awaited showdown with Daniel Bryan. AJ Styles and Samoa Joe's rivalry heated up, with a disqualification following their intense WWE Championship match.
One of the most significant moments of this SummerSlam came when Becky Lynch "turned heel" on Charlotte Flair, but you wouldn't know it listening to the crowd. Despite the Queen winning the SmackDown Women's Championship, this was the start of Lynch's rise to the pinnacle of sports entertainment.
Meanwhile, Roman Reigns reached that pinnacle following a show-closing victory, three years in the making. The Big Dog finally defeated Brock Lesnar to win the Universal Championship and the SummerSlam crowd cheered. They did so because it seemed like Strowman would cash in his Money in the Bank contract, but he didn't.
This was a clever way to end a great show. Pretty much every match at SummerSlam 2018 either had solid action, a satisfying conclusion, or both.
#1 WWE SummerSlam 2019
2019 was a difficult year for WWE, especially with viewership falling after a series of ill-advised creative decisions. But in the midst of the messy Wildcard Rule used to drum the television ratings up, the company produced a very enjoyable SummerSlam event. It was concise and steady throughout the night, with a variety of great matches and unforgettable moments.
SummerSlam 2019 opened with a very good Submission Match between Becky Lynch and Natalya for the RAW Women's Championship before we saw Goldberg earn a convincing squash victory over Dolph Ziggler. Not every match was a smash hit though, as AJ Styles vs. Ricochet failed to live up to its high expectations. It was still a solid effort from both men, regardless.
Bayley's SmackDown Women's Title match against Ember Moon was a disappointment, especially when compared to the non-title women's match on at SummerSlam. Charlotte Flair defeated Trish Stratus in a fantastic contest, one that was worthy of being the Toronto-native's final WWE outing.
Kevin Owens defeated Shane McMahon in satisfying fashion, while Kofi Kingston and Randy Orton fought to a double count-out in their WWE Championship match. It was an anticlimactic end to the match, but the angle still remained burning hot. That was exactly what the final two matches were.
Before we saw Seth Rollins overcome the odds and turn the Toronto crowd around en route to defeating Brock Lesnar clean, Bray Wyatt wowed us all. The Fiend wrestled for the first time at SummerSlam 2019, taking Finn Balor out with ease. The entire presentation of Wyatt's monstrous alter-ego was spectacular.
Overall, last year's edition of the Biggest Party of the Summer was a great show. There was a bit of everything on it, from excellent technical wrestling and blasts from the past to the horror of the Fiend and a popular ending, in Rollins' victory. The best part about SummerSlam 2019 was that it only lasted three and a half hours, and managed to not exhaust the crowd.
