Ranking the last 5 WWE SummerSlam PPVs
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.