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SummerSlam

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File:SummerSlam 2009.png
The SummerSlam logo as of 2010

SummerSlam is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, produced every August by professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). The event was created in 1988, with its inaugural event taking place on August 29, 1988 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The event was a pay-per-view unlike the Royal Rumble of that year which was broadcast as a television special on USA Network. SummerSlam was created as a pay-per-view to help the company compete against rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (formerly Jim Crockett Promotions). The event has been dubbed as "The Biggest Event of the Summer."[1] Along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble and Survivor Series, the event is considered as one of the "Big Four", the original four annual WWE pay-per-views.[2]

History

Development

Madison Square Garden has hosted the inaugural event, SummerSlam (1988), SummerSlam (1991) and SummerSlam (1998); a total of three times.

In the late 1980s, Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF)'s main competition in the professional wrestling industry was from Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). McMahon countered Jim Crockett's successful Starrcade pay-per-view, which began airing in 1983, by making the WrestleMania franchise. After WrestleMania III, the most successful professional wrestling pay-per-view event in history, McMahon made the Survivor Series franchise, which aired the same day as Starrcade '87 in November 1987. After defeating Crockett in the ratings, McMahon made the Royal Rumble, an event airing for free on the USA Network in January 1988, which set a ratings record for the network with eight million households tuning in to watch the event. In retaliation, Crockett made the Clash of the Champions event, which aired simultaneously with WrestleMania IV. WrestleMania IV garnered higher ratings, and not long after, Crockett filed for bankruptcy and sold his company to Ted Turner, who renamed it World Championship Wrestling (WCW).[3]

As the WWF continued to replace its closed circuit programming with pay-per-view programming, McMahon added more pay-per-views to the lineup to capitalize on the success of his previous events. In addition to WrestleMania in March, the Royal Rumble in January, and Survivor Series in November, McMahon made an event for August, which he named SummerSlam. To keep the WWF from having a pay-per-view market monopoly, Turner began airing monthly WCW pay-per-views, and both companies began bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue.[2] SummerSlam became one of World Wrestling Federation (and later World Wrestling Entertainment)'s most successful events and one of the "Big Four" pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, Survivor Series, and the Royal Rumble.[4][5] Those four events, along with King of the Ring, are known as the "Classic Five".[6]

Brand extension

Further information: [[:WWE Brand Extension]]

The first SummerSlam was held on August 29, 1988 in Madison Square Garden in New York City. In 2002, WWE instituted a brand extension,where the roster was split and wrestlers and pay-per-views were made exclusive to the RAW and SmackDown! brands. As a result, SummerSlam, WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series were the only four events featuring wrestlers and matches from both brands.[7] The 2006 event was the first to also feature the newly made ECW brand.[8] In 2007, however, all pay-per-views began once again featuring talent from all three brands.[7]

Dates and venues

Event Date City Venue Main Event
SummerSlam (1988) August 29, 1988 New York, New York Madison Square Garden Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage vs. Ted DiBiase and André the Giant
SummerSlam (1989) August 28, 1989 East Rutherford, New Jersey Meadowlands Arena Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake vs. Randy Savage and Zeus
SummerSlam (1990) August 27, 1990 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The Spectrum Hulk Hogan vs. Earthquake
The Ultimate Warrior (c) vs. Rick Rude in a Steel Cage match for the WWF Championship
SummerSlam (1991) August 26, 1991 New York, New York Madison Square Garden Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior vs. Sgt. Slaughter, Colonel Mustafa, and General Adnan in a 2-on-3 Handicap match
SummerSlam (1992) August 29, 1992 London, England Wembley Stadium The Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage for the WWF Championship
The Undertaker vs. Kamala
Bret Hart (c) vs. The British Bulldog for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
SummerSlam (1993) August 30, 1993 Auburn Hills, Michigan The Palace of Auburn Hills Yokozuna (c) vs. Lex Luger for the WWF Championship
SummerSlam (1994) August 29, 1994 Chicago, Illinois United Center Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart in a Steel Cage match for the WWF Championship
The Undertaker vs. "The Undertaker"
SummerSlam (1995) August 27, 1995 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Civic Arena Diesel (c) vs. King Mabel for the WWF Championship
SummerSlam (1996) August 18, 1996 Cleveland, Ohio Gund Arena Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Vader for the WWF Championship
SummerSlam (1997) August 3, 1997 East Rutherford, New Jersey Continental Airlines Arena The Undertaker (c) vs. Bret Hart for the WWF Championship
SummerSlam (1998) August 30, 1998 New York, New York Madison Square Garden Steve Austin (c) vs. The Undertaker for the WWF Championship
SummerSlam (1999) August 22, 1999 Minneapolis, Minnesota Target Center Steve Austin (c) vs. Mankind vs. Triple H in a Triple Threat match for the WWF Championship
SummerSlam (2000) August 27, 2000 Raleigh, North Carolina Entertainment and Sports Arena The Rock (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. Triple H in a Triple Threat match for the WWF Championship
SummerSlam (2001) August 19, 2001 San Jose, California Compaq Center Booker T (c) vs. The Rock for the WCW Championship
SummerSlam (2002) August 25, 2002 Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum Chris Benoit (c) vs. Rob Van Dam for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
The Rock (c) vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Undisputed Championship
SummerSlam (2003) August 24, 2003 Phoenix, Arizona America West Arena Kane vs. Rob Van Dam in a No Holds Barred match
Triple H (c) vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Nash vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton vs. Goldberg in an Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship
SummerSlam (2004) August 15, 2004 Toronto, Ontario Air Canada Centre Chris Benoit (c) vs. Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship
SummerSlam (2005) August 21, 2005 Washington, D.C. MCI Center Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels
SummerSlam (2006) August 20, 2006 Boston, Massachusetts TD Banknorth Garden Edge (c) vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship
SummerSlam (2007) August 26, 2007 East Rutherford, New Jersey Continental Airlines Arena John Cena (c) vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship
SummerSlam (2008) August 17, 2008 Indianapolis, Indiana[9] Conseco Fieldhouse The Undertaker vs. Edge in a Hell in a Cell match
SummerSlam (2009) August 23, 2009[10] Los Angeles, California[10] Staples Center[10] Jeff Hardy (c) vs. CM Punk in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship
SummerSlam (2010) August 15, 2010[11] Los Angeles, CA [11] Staples Center [11] Team WWE (John Cena, John Morrison, R-Truth, Bret Hart, Edge and Chris Jericho) vs The Nexus (Wade Barrett, David Otunga, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, Darren Young, Skip Sheffield and Michael Tarver) 6-on-7 Elimination Tag Team Match
SummerSlam (2011) August 14, 2011[12] TBA TBA

DVD box set

WWE released a complete DVD box set entitled SummerSlam: The Complete Anthology, which showcases every SummerSlam event from 1988 to 2007 in its entirety, on August 5, 2008.[13]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Dee, Louie (2006-05-17). "Let the Party Begin". WWE.com. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
  2. ^ a b Assael, Shaun. Sex, Lies, & Headlocks, 94–95.
  3. ^ Assael, Shaun. Sex, Lies, & Headlocks, 74–80.
  4. ^ Keith, Scott (2004). Wrestling's One Ring Circus: The Death of the World Wrestling Federation. Citadel Press. p. 160. ISBN 080652619X.
  5. ^ Hamilton, Ian (2006). Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition. Lulu.com. p. 160. ISBN 1411612108.
  6. ^ Shields, Brian (4th Edition 2006). Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s. Pocket Books. p. 166. ISBN 9781416532576. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  7. ^ a b "WWE Pay-Per-Views To Follow WrestleMania Formula". WWE. 2007-03-14. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
  8. ^ Dale Plummer and Nick Tylwalk (2006-08-21). "Flair & Hogan top average SummerSlam". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
  9. ^ "Greatest Moments in Pay-Per-View History". WWE Magazine: 64–65. 2007. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  10. ^ a b c Martin, Adam (2008-11-20). "Reader Notes: Bret Hart, WWE in Elmira, 2009 PPVs". WrestleView. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
  11. ^ a b c "SummerSlam". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
  12. ^ Gerweck, Steve (2010-07-27). "Upcoming dates for WWE PPV events in 2011". WrestleView. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  13. ^ WWE: SummerSlam: The Complete Anthology (DVD). WWE Home Video. 2008.

References

General
Specific
  • Shaun Assael and Mike Mooneyham (2002). Sex, Lies, and Headlocks: The Real Story of Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Entertainment. Crown. ISBN 1400051436.
  • Shields, Brian (4th Edition 2006). Main Event: WWE in the Raging 80s. Pocket Books. ISBN 9781416532576. {{cite book}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
  • Hamilton, Ian (2006). Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition. Lulu.com. ISBN 1411612108.
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