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Once upon a time, Madison Square Garden was the WWE's home. It was the venue for countless special moments over the years, both on television and on pay-per-views. The first ever WrestleMania happened there, along with the tenth and the twentieth editions. Both of them were stellar, some of the finest ones in the history of the event.
However, at the turn of this decade, WWE started using the building lesser and lesser for televised events. Costs for running TV were as high as ever and WWE searched for an alternative in New York.
In 2012, the Barclays Center was opened in Brooklyn. The first WWE event there, the TLC pay-per-view, was a massive hit. It seemed that they had finally received an alternative. Since then, WWE hasn't run a single televised event at the Garden, only using the legendary building for big house shows.
The first real sign of Brooklyn becoming WWE's new home in the Big Apple was the deal they had for SummerSlam. For four consecutive years, WWE has run a weekend's worth of shows at the Barclays Center in the second half of August with the objective to make SummerSlam a big deal again.
They have managed to do that through this four year run in Brooklyn, with the introduction of NXT Takeover events on the night before 'Big Four' pay-per-views. With them, every such weekend feels special. Whether it is SummerSlam, or WrestleMania, or any of the others, you will be guaranteed to have a weekend filled with great action and memorable moments.
And since the brand split was put into action in 2016, WWE's best pay-per-views annually have more or less been the 'Big Four'. Three years after the first mega-weekend of shows in WWE, this concept lives on and is getting more and more successful with every such weekend. This past weekend marked the fourth consecutive and final time, for now at least, that the festivities of SummerSlam weekend were in Brooklyn.
As fun as all of them were, here are the four SummerSlam weekends, from Takeover to SummerSlam, to the next night or two, in Brooklyn ranked from worst to best.
#4 2016
NXT TAKEOVER: The second Takeover events in Brooklyn was a solid one, albeit lacking a little lustre from the other shows of its kind. The first half of matches on this show was all about getting relatively new talent over. Austin Aries, Bobby Roode and Ember Moon all gained impressive victories, earning momentum for the future.
The second half of the show ranged from exciting to excessively exhilarating. The Japanese invasion was in full swing as Asuka and Shinsuke Nakamura left Brooklyn with NXT's two major championships, beating Bayley and Samoa Joe to do so.
But the night was stolen by the NXT Tag Team Championship match, as DIY came extremely close to dethroning The Revival in a classic tag team encounter between good and evil. It was an excellent first instalment of the greatest tag team feud in NXT history.
SUMMERSLAM: The first pay-per-view of the second brand split in WWE, SummerSlam 2016 had a host of possibilities. There were exciting matches on the card, including Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor for the newly sanctioned Universal Championship and the rubber match between AJ Styles and John Cena.
The show started off well, with a surprising Women's title victory for Charlotte Flair over Sasha Banks and the show-stealer between Cena and Styles. However, that was when the show peaked. The night devolved into madness shortly after, with a weird Tag Team Championship match, a cancelled United States Championship match and the unveiling of the Universal Championship.
The ugly red colour distracted the fans from witnessing Finn Balor reach the top of the mountain within a month on the main roster. The main event was even more bizarre, if that is even possible, as Brock Lesnar literally elbowed Randy Orton's head wide open. A weird finish to a weird show.
OTHER HAPPENINGS: The post-SummerSlam edition of Raw would build towards the future of the red brand, under the most unfortunate of circumstances. Following a shoulder injury at SummerSlam, Finn Balor was forced to relinquish his newly won Universal title.
A sad moment, but the show must go on. We got matches building to a Fatal-4-way for the vacant title on the next Raw, including some fun bouts like Chris Jericho vs Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins vs Sami Zayn.
Also on this Raw, the Dudley Boyz retired from WWE in-ring competition and were wiped out by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. However, the high point of the night after SummerSlam 2016 was the much-anticipated main roster debut of Bayley.
This show would be a come-down from the surprise-heavy show that took place the previous year, as we will see. A decent episode of Monday Night Raw, but a bit disappointing given that it immediately followed the second biggest show of the year.
#3 2017
NXT TAKEOVER: This was an excellent Takeover show filled with great matches, cool title changes, and an epic debut at the end. The night started off perfectly as Andrade 'Cien' Almas beat Johnny Gargano in a minor classic, a sign of things to come for both men. After that, SAnitY won the NXT Tag Team Championships from the Authors of Pain and Aleister Black kicked Hideo Itami's head off.
However, the match of the night might probably go to the women. Asuka and Ember Moon constructed a fantastic championship bout, one which was as good as anything else on the weekend. The Empress Of Tomorrow looked untouchable as she extinguished the threat of Ember Moon and the Eclipse with a sweet victory, her last in NXT before moving to Raw. It is worth viewing for the main roster-exclusive fans who don't know how good Asuka really is.
While Asuka and Ember had the best match, the best moment would come at the end. Following a hard-fought NXT Championship victory for Drew McIntyre over Bobby Roode, Adam Cole would run from the stands to attack him.
He was accompanied by the former ROH duo Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly, as a stable was born that night in Brooklyn. It was here, where the Undisputed ERA was born. Another tough act to follow for the main card.
SUMMERSLAM: The first few matches on this show were mainly poor including wonderful gems such as Big Cass vs The Big Show and the 8-second farce between Randy Orton and Rusev. The only saving graces from the first half of matches were the pair Women's title changes, as Natalya and Sasha Banks picked up gold by beating Naomi and Alexa Bliss respectively.
After the dire start, the show got better as Bray Wyatt faced Demon Finn Balor in a fun little match. But the show was stolen by the Raw Tag Team Championship match as Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose reunited to capture gold by beating Sheamus and Cesaro.
It was the ultimate feel-good moment that SummerSlam 2017 desperately needed. A fun US Title match followed as there were shenanigans galore when Shane McMahon officiated AJ Styles' victory over Kevin Owens.
Then came the two world championship matches. The contrast could not be any higher. On the Raw side, the Universal Championship was defended in a four-way brawl between the top four heavyweights in the company and on the Smackdown side, Jinder Mahal successfully defended the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura.
No prizes for guessing which match was better received. Brock Lesnar survived the chaos and retained his Universal title against Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns.
OTHER HAPPENINGS: The Barclays Center did get a few great moments on Raw and Smackdown, although they would all prove underwhelming over time.
Braun Strowman staked his claim for a one-on-one Universal Championship match against Brock Lesnar, in the aftermath of the fatal-four-way, by laying the Beast out. John Cena joined the Raw roster and would have a fun segment alongside Roman Reigns, The Miz and Samoa Joe on this show.
The best match on the show though would be between the new tag team champions Rollins and Ambrose, and the Hardy Boyz. This was also the night when Big Cass injured his knee during a Street Fight with Enzo Amore.
The post-SummerSlam Smackdown had the main narrative focusing on the United States Championship, as AJ Styles closed out his feud with Kevin Owens with a victory in a match officiated by Baron Corbin. We got a return and a debut on this show as well, with Shelton Benjamin joining the blue brand.
However, the moment of the night and possibly over both Raw and Smackdown belonged to the Glorious One. Bobby Roode made his main roster debut, three nights after losing his NXT title, to begin what would become the most average and uninspiring run from any former NXT Champion in the last three to four years. But hey, at least his debut was good.
#2 2015
NXT TAKEOVER: This was a groundbreaking show, the first NXT Takeover show to take place in an arena instead of Full Sail. It was a resounding success for a variety of reasons, prompting WWE to hold such shows in like fashion from there on. The one-time appearance from Japanese wrestling legend Jushin 'Thunder' Liger was an extremely cool moment, as he beat Tyler Breeze in the show's opener.
The card was filled with a host of fun matches and moments. They ranged from Samoa Joe choking Baron Corbin out to the Vaudevillains' Tag Team Championship victory, to the main event ladder match between Finn Balor and Kevin Owens for the NXT Championship. It was an excellent match which was certainly a good fit to main event a show of this importance and magnitude.
However, the night, as well as the entire weekend, was stolen by the blockbuster Women's Championship match between Sasha Banks and Bayley. Much has already been said about this match, but you cannot credit it enough for the role it played in making the change we have seen for the women in WWE. Bayley won after over 20 minutes of supreme storytelling and breathtaking action. This truly was the moment of the weekend, if not the year.
SUMMERSLAM: 2015 gave us the first ever four-hour SummerSlam, showing us what was in store for us and our sleep on future pay-per-view Sundays. There were quite a few moments of note, including Arrow's Stephen Amell teaming with Neville to beat Stardust and King Barrett and the start of the record-breaking 483-day Tag Team Championship reign for The New Day, as they won a four-way tag team match. The undercard certainly had its moments but the big guns were out for this show.
A recurring theme in the biggest matches on this card was that the finishes were inconclusive, confusing and unsatisfying. That is what somewhat ruined the experience of these matches for many viewers. John Cena and Seth Rollins put both their championships on the line in a title-for-title Winner Take All match.
Rollins would capture Cena's United States Championship, and retain his WWE title, with the help of SummerSlam host Jon Stewart. An underwhelming end to a brilliant match.
The chaos continued in the main event, where The Undertaker vowed to avenge the end of his WrestleMania winning streak at the hands of Brock Lesnar. The two heavyweight legends fought a classic battle, leagues ahead of their clash at 'Mania the previous year.
However, the finish was baffling as the bell rang despite the referee never calling for it. As Lesnar was distracted, the Deadman took advantage and low-blowed the Beast, before locking in Hell's Gate to leave SummerSlam victorious.
OTHER HAPPENINGS: While the SummerSlam show did not reach the aspired levels of a WrestleMania, the next night certainly helped its cause. There was some follow-up on the events from the pay-per-view and closing confusing cases like the finish of the Rollins vs Cena match. The Cenation Leader would give Jon Stewart an Attitude Adjustment after he tried to reason out his interference. We also saw Brock Lesnar take out his SummerSlam frustrations on poor Bo Dallas.
The main reason why this Raw felt like the Raw after WrestleMania was the surprise returns and debut. The August 24th, 2015 edition of Raw saw the debut of a one Braun Strowman as part of the Wyatt Family. Literally nobody would have predicted him to become one of the most over babyfaces in the company within three years. Hell, people would hardly have believed that he would be in WWE three years after his debut. It has been an incredible transformation from the Monster Among Men.
However, the biggest moments of the show came in the form of surprise returns. The Dudley Boyz returned to WWE after over ten years and attacked the new Tag Team Champions. The last segment was scheduled to be the unveiling of a statue of Seth Rollins but in place of the statue was Sting, last seen shaking Triple H's hand at WrestleMania.
He went straight after the dual-champion to stake his claim for a WWE Championship match. This would be the final stretch of his legendary career after injuring his neck in the resulting title match.
#1 2018
NXT TAKEOVER: Honestly, the latest Takeover show could possibly be one the greatest in the history of NXT. A show filled with great action, feel-good title wins and a shocking ending is bound to receive a lot of praise from wrestling fans and critics alike.
It has also continued the stellar run of Takeovers NXT has been on for over a year now. A big reason for such rave reviews was the opening tag title match between Moustache Mountain and the Undisputed Era. The action was frantic and fast-paced, threatening to steal the entire show before they had any chance at all.
EC3 and Velveteen Dream had a decent match which was by far the worst of the night through no clear fault of the wrestlers. The rest of the show was just brilliant.
Ricochet and Kairi Sane won the North American and Women's Championships respectively in two stunning bouts. Adam Cole and Shayna Baszler were excellent as well, keeping the momentum of the show high. This was already a Show Of The Year candidate before we even got the main event.
Tommaso Ciampa defended his NXT Championship against Johnny Gargano in a Last Man Standing match, a compromise due to Aleister Black's groin injury. They did make the most of this, as the former tag team partners went all-out in a typically brutal affair.
The fact that they had three hardcore main event matches on three separate Takeover shows and all of them felt different is the ultimate testament to Gargano and Ciampa as performers. Johnny Wrestling cost himself the match and the title, as he focused more on hurting Ciampa than winning the match. Due to that, Ciampa reigned supreme at the end to close the third chapter of this incredible storied war.
SUMMERSLAM: There hasn't been a better pay-per-view event on the main roster for the entire year than SummerSlam. It was an incredible show, one which played out in the best possible way. It is incredibly hard to construct a consistently enjoyable four-hour show, but WWE managed to do it.
The booking was logical throughout as some feuds came to a conclusive end, while the others were just getting started. That was the contrasting theme for Raw and Smackdown respectively.
We did get some inconclusive finishes on the show, but they did make sense. The other matches gave us a tease of what to expect on the blue brand. The Miz cheated to beat Daniel Bryan in their hotly-anticipated clash, the first of what is going to be a long and storied rivalry.
AJ Styles and the Bludgeon Brothers retained their championships via disqualifications against Samoa Joe and The New Day respectively, but recent developments have indicated that they were for the better. But the most noteworthy moment from the Smackdown side of things was the apparent heel turn by Becky Lynch.
You wouldn't know because the crowd was so vocal in cheering for her. All in all, SummerSlam built to an extremely exciting future for Smackdown, heading into the all
As for Raw, their matches all focused on ending current storylines at the show, doing so effectively. We got three squash matches which ranged from damaging to brilliant. While the handling of Kevin Owens was an issue, the surprise appearance of the Demon and Ronda Rousey's dominant Women's Championship victory were both highly popular late into the show. The night opened and closed with significant title changes as Seth Rollins, with Dean Ambrose in his corner, beat Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship before Roman Reigns finally captured the Universal Championship.
However, WWE did manage to get the fans to cheer for the Big Dog's victory by promising them that Braun Strowman would be cashing in his Money in the Bank contract after the match between Reigns and Brock Lesnar.
It was a genius move to end a SummerSlam which genuinely looked like the creative team put in a real effort to make this show a good one. Here's to hoping that we get more shows like this in the future, well-structured and well-booked.
OTHER HAPPENINGS: The post-SummerSlam editions of Raw and Smackdown were both really eventful, completing a weekend of glorious wrestling with some more glorious wrestling. Over these two shows, we got some solid wrestling, a pull-apart brawl, two big main event title matches, a shocking tag team reunion and a feel-good title change.
They certainly put the cherry on top of the delicious sundae that was SummerSlam weekend, making this year the best overall weekend WWE has produced in Brooklyn for SummerSlam without a doubt.
The Raw after SummerSlam gave us a Universal Championship match between new champion Roman Reigns and Finn Balor. Following a great and competitive match, Reigns retained his title. However, the real story came after the match. Braun Strowman again tried to cash in his briefcase but before he could do so, Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose came out to help their Shield buddy.
Ambrose, who wrestled his first match back from a long injury earlier in the show against Dolph Ziggler, and Rollins came down to the ring in their Shield gear and prevented the Monster from taking the Universal title from Reigns. The Hounds Of Justice proceeded to triple powerbomb Strowman through the announce table to end Raw on a major cliffhanger.
Similarly, Smackdown got us intrigued and excited for the future. Bryan and Miz continued their feud as their wives were inserted in it, with a Mixed Tag Team match scheduled for September's Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. On a more personal note, Samoa Joe followed up his comments about AJ Styles' family by doing so again and putting the WWE Champion to sleep.
Jeff Hardy continued to jump from high places and Becky Lynch cut the promo of her life, despite the crowd still strongly favouring the heel. But the night, and the weekend, was capped off with a No Disqualification Smackdown Tag Team Championship match between the Bludgeon Brothers and The New Day.
After an incredible and brutal war, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods persevered to become five-time tag team champions. A truly fantastic way to conclude the events in Brooklyn.
While every year has seen various different moments happen over SummerSlam weekend, 2018 has been the best one because all four of the shows produced ranged from good to epic.
This has been one of the most consistent and successful weekends in WWE's history of holding such festivities.
