5 WWE SummerSlam moments that were not in the script
While last-minute changes are often made to WWE’s weekly RAW and SmackDown shows, the storylines and matches for big events like WrestleMania and SummerSlam are usually planned several months in advance.
No matter how much preparation goes into making a WWE show a success, it is ultimately up to the Superstars involved to entertain the WWE Universe and make sure that everything goes according to plan.
Plenty of unscripted moments have happened at WrestleMania over the years, including the WrestleMania 35 main-event botch and Shawn Michaels mouthing “I love you” to Ric Flair. But how about SummerSlam?
In this article, let’s take a look at five SummerSlam moments that were not supposed to happen.
#5 Steve Austin gets caught in the ropes (WWE SummerSlam 1999)
Mankind defeated Steve Austin and Triple H at WWE SummerSlam 1999 to win the WWE Championship. But the match is arguably best remembered for an incredible botch from Austin that forced Triple H to break character.
At one stage during the match, Shane McMahon raced down to the ring in an attempt to help Triple H. However, he soon found himself on the receiving end of a Stone Cold Stunner before Jesse Ventura – the special guest referee of the SummerSlam main event – threw him over the top rope.
Moments later, Austin stood on the bottom rope and tried to yell at McMahon. But he accidentally put too much weight on the rope and ended up getting his knee brace caught.
Triple H, who had to rescue his SummerSlam opponent, explained his side of the story on Austin’s WWE DVD.
“Steve is standing on the bottom rope of the ring, and Steve leans over the rope too far and he completely does a flip, and he’s hanging with his knee brace upside down by one leg, completely stuck! And I can see on his face that he cannot get out of this, so I have to run over there and try to pick his big 250-pound deadweight a**, which is very heavy, Steve, and try to get him back over the top rope.”
Triple H added that, despite being rivals in the main event of SummerSlam, they were “laughing like two little kids” throughout the unscripted incident.