Years Where WWE SummerSlam Outperformed WrestleMania

SummerSlam 2016

There isn’t much to brag about when discussing WrestleMania 32. It took place in front of a “record” crowd, but that was the only impressive stat. The night wasn’t great, and certainly not one that was deserving of the WrestleMania moniker.

WrestleMania 32 boasted an impressive card, on paper, but none of the matches were that great. The women’s triple threat match, featuring Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks, was admittedly fun, but that was it. Dean Ambrose vs Brock Lesnar, Shane McMahon vs The Undertaker, and Chris Jericho vs A.J. Styles didn’t live up to expectations.

Additionally, the coronation of Roman Reigns received too significant a backlash. WrestleMania 32 just didn’t work and was massively overshadowed by SummerSlam.

SummerSlam has its marquee matches, but in this instance, they delivered. Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks were fantastic. Dean Ambrose defending the WWE Championship was an underrated gem, and Finn Balor winning the inaugural Universal Championship was a fantastic moment.

Then there was the 5-star classic between John Cena and A. J. Styles, with a shocking clean victory by the Phenomenal One. SummerSlam went above and beyond in the year 2016.

SummerSlam 1992

WrestleMania 8 was nearing the end of WWE’s Golden Era, and it was not a show that the company brought out its best for. Which is a shame because they could put the two biggest stars in wrestling together, but balked.

Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan should have squared off and main-evented the evening, but it was all for not. Instead, Flair got into an admittedly great program with Randy Savage, and Hogan was thrust into a stinker with Sid Justice.

Outside of the two main events, the undercard was littered with matches that no one cared about. Roddy Piper and Bret Hart were a classic, yes, but the other matches fell flat.

They felt like filler against a great visual of the Hoosier Dome. WWE had the chance to go out with a bang, but the Golden Era WrestleManias ended with a whimper.

Luckily, SummerSlam 1992 was up to the task of picking up WrestleMania 8’s slack. It wasn’t a shutdown PLE, but it still contained a better card. The Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savages WWE Championship match was better than their WrestleMania 7 encounter.

Shawn Michaels and Rick Martel put on a fun match, and the various tag matches all had their entertainment value. Also, it included one of the best main events in company history, with The British Bulldog winning the IC strap from Bret Hart.

SummerSlam 2002

WrestleMania 18 saw a changing of the eras in WWE, and while there is one match that stands out, the rest of the card didn’t have much to hang its hat on. Hulk Hogan taking on The Rock was, arguably, the greatest WrestleMania match in history. Other than that, there isn’t anything memorable about the show.

Triple H and Chris Jericho fell flat, and the other matches were multi-person matches or title matches that no one cared about. It felt like, outside of a few matches, no effort was put into making the build work headed into WrestleMania.

When WWE moved into the later months, they produced one of the best PLEs of all time in SummerSlam. There isn’t a single match on that card that isn’t a fun watch. Kurt Angle and Rey Mysterio had a fantastic opener. That was followed by some fantastic undercard matches featuring Chris Jericho vs Ric Flair and Edge vs Eddie Guerrero.

Those set the table up for the two-headed monster that was HBK vs HHH and Brock Lesnar vs The Rock. Both tremendous main events and great bookends on a historic night of wrestling.

SummerSlam 2009

The 25^th Anniversary of WrestleMania should have been a night of celebration. It was the culmination of 25 years for the biggest show on the calendar, but outside of one match, it was a failure.

Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker was an instant classic, yes, but that is where the fun stops. Both World Championship matches suffered from poor booking, or the apathy of the audience. They were not matches that screamed WrestleMania.

Following that was an incredibly underwhelming undercard. The Money in the Bank match was one of the worst iterations of the gimmick, Chris Jericho’s battle against aging stars was a slog, and the Hardy brothers’ implosion was not nearly as fun as it should have been.

Most fans suffered from lingering disappointment months after this night was over. When WWE shifted gears into the summer, they made up for their lacklustre WrestleMania with a fantastic SummerSlam. To begin with, both World Championship matches were awesome.

Randy Orton and John Cena were a fun watch, while Jeff Hardy and CM Punk stole the show. The rest of the card was filled out with a ton of fun matches, seeing Rey Mysterio and Dolph Ziggler brawl out, and D-X and The Legacy put on a great tag match. There wasn’t a weak moment on the SummerSlam card, easily putting it ahead of WrestleMania 25.

SummerSlam 2000

As WWE moved into the new Millennium, hopes were high for WrestleMania. They had the talent to make it a great show, but the night was hampered by the barrage of multi-man matches. WWE tried to jam too many wrestlers onto the card, and the night suffered because of it.

The triangle ladder match was the only highlight of the night. It was a fantastic car crash of a match, but it was the only entertaining thing that took place. The other matches were a sensory overload that failed to capture any real drama.

The four-corner main event should have been Triple H one-on-one with The Rock. Adding Mick Foley and The Big Show diluted the match, and the McMahon drama took over the action. It was the perfect example of why WrestleMania 2000 was not a good PLE.

What was a great example of how things should work was how WWE booked SummerSlam that same year. The triple threat main event had a great build and was a very compelling match. It was a crowd-pleaser and had a great finish.

The Rock, Kurt Angle, and Triple H was a great match, but it was compounded by some other amazing contests. The first TLC match built on everything great that the Hardys, Edge & Christian, and The Dudleys had worked on.

Chris Jericho had a great two out of three falls match,  and the rest of the card was entertaining match after entertaining match. It was a vast improvement over what WrestleMania 2000 gave us earlier in the year.