SummerSlam
SummerSlam | |
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The SummerSlam logo, since 2014. The SummerSlam logo used since 2012 | |
Promotions | WWE |
Brands | Raw (2002–2011; 2016–present) SmackDown (2002–2011; 2016–present) ECW (2006–2009) |
Nicknames | "The Biggest Party of the Summer" |
First event | SummerSlam (1988) |
SummerSlam is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, produced annually in August by professional wrestling promotion WWE. Dubbed as "The Biggest Party of the Summer",[1] it is one of the original "Big Four" pay-per-view events of WWE (along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series)[2] and is considered the WWE's second biggest event of the year, after WrestleMania[3][4][5]. The inaugural SummerSlam took place on August 29, 1988 at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was broadcast via pay-per-view. From 2009 to 2014, SummerSlam was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. From 2015 to 2018, the event took place at the Barclays Center in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.
History
In the 1980s, Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF)'s main competition in the professional wrestling industry was from the Charlotte based Jim Crockett Promotions who was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). McMahon countered Jim Crockett's successful Starrcade closed-circuit television event, which began airing in 1983, with the WrestleMania franchise in 1985 and eventually forced Crockett to sell his company to Ted Turner, who renamed it World Championship Wrestling (WCW).[6] The WWF continued to replace its closed circuit programming with pay-per-view programming and added more pay-per-views to the lineup to capitalize on the success of his previous events. In addition to WrestleMania in March and Survivor Series in November, McMahon added a third pay-per-view for August, which he named SummerSlam. To keep the WWF from having a pay-per-view market monopoly, WCW began airing monthly pay-per-views, and both companies began bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue.[2]
The first SummerSlam was held on August 29, 1988 in Madison Square Garden in New York City. SummerSlam became one of the WWF's (and later WWE's) most successful events and one of the "Big Four" pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, Survivor Series, and Royal Rumble.[7][8]
Dates and venues
# | Event | Date | City | Venue | Main Event |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | SummerSlam (1988) | August 29, 1988 | New York City, New York | Madison Square Garden | The Mega Powers (Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage) vs. The Mega Bucks (Ted DiBiase and André The Giant) with special guest referee Jesse Ventura |
2 | SummerSlam (1989) | August 28, 1989 | East Rutherford, New Jersey | Brendan Byrne Arena | Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake vs. Randy Savage and Zeus |
3 | SummerSlam (1990) | August 27, 1990 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Spectrum | The Ultimate Warrior (c) vs. Rick Rude in a Steel Cage match for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship |
4 | SummerSlam (1991) | August 26, 1991 | New York City, New York | Madison Square Garden | Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior vs. Sgt. Slaughter, General Adnan, and Colonel Mustafa in a Handicap elimination match with special guest referee Sid Justice |
5 | SummerSlam (1992) | August 29, 1992 | London, England | Wembley Stadium | Bret Hart (c) vs. The British Bulldog for the WWF Intercontinental Championship |
6 | SummerSlam (1993) | August 30, 1993 | Auburn Hills, Michigan | The Palace of Auburn Hills | Yokozuna (c) vs. Lex Luger for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship |
7 | SummerSlam (1994) | August 29, 1994 | Chicago, Illinois | United Center | The Undertaker vs. "The Undertaker" |
8 | SummerSlam (1995) | August 27, 1995 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Pittsburgh Civic Arena | Diesel (c) vs. King Mabel for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship |
9 | SummerSlam (1996) | August 18, 1996 | Cleveland, Ohio | Gund Arena | Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Vader for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship |
10 | SummerSlam (1997) | August 3, 1997 | East Rutherford, New Jersey | Continental Airlines Arena | The Undertaker (c) vs. Bret Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship with special guest referee Shawn Michaels |
11 | SummerSlam (1998) | August 30, 1998 | New York City, New York | Madison Square Garden | Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs. The Undertaker for the WWF Championship |
12 | SummerSlam (1999) | August 22, 1999 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Target Center | Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs. Triple H vs. Mankind in a Triple Threat match for the WWF Championship with special guest referee Jesse Ventura |
13 | SummerSlam (2000) | August 27, 2000 | Raleigh, North Carolina | Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena | The Rock (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. Triple H in a Triple Threat match for the WWF Championship |
14 | SummerSlam (2001) | August 19, 2001 | San Jose, California | Compaq Center at San Jose | Booker T (c) vs. The Rock for the WCW Championship |
15 | SummerSlam (2002) | August 25, 2002 | Uniondale, New York | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum | The Rock (c) vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE Undisputed Championship |
16 | SummerSlam (2003) | August 24, 2003 | Phoenix, Arizona | America West Arena | 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 |
17 | SummerSlam (2004) | August 15, 2004 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | Air Canada Centre | Chris Benoit (c) vs. Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship |
18 | SummerSlam (2005) | August 21, 2005 | Washington, D.C. | MCI Center | Hulk Hogan vs. Shawn Michaels |
19 | SummerSlam (2006) | August 20, 2006 | Boston, Massachusetts | TD Banknorth Garden | Edge (c) vs. John Cena for the WWE Championship |
20 | SummerSlam (2007) | August 26, 2007 | East Rutherford, New Jersey | Continental Airlines Arena | John Cena (c) vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship |
21 | SummerSlam (2008) | August 17, 2008 | Indianapolis, Indiana | Conseco Fieldhouse | The Undertaker vs. Edge in a Hell in a Cell match |
22 | SummerSlam (2009) | August 23, 2009[9] | Los Angeles, California | Staples Center[9] | Jeff Hardy (c) vs. CM Punk in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the World Heavyweight Championship |
23 | SummerSlam (2010) | August 15, 2010[10] | Team WWE (John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Edge, Chris Jericho, Bret Hart, R-Truth, and John Morrison) vs. The Nexus (Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel, Heath Slater, David Otunga, Skip Sheffield, Michael Tarver, and Darren Young) | ||
24 | SummerSlam (2011) | August 14, 2011 | CM Punk (c) vs. John Cena (c) for the Undisputed WWE Championship with special guest referee Triple H | ||
25 | SummerSlam (2012) | August 19, 2012 | Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H in a No Disqualification match | ||
26 | SummerSlam (2013) | August 18, 2013 | John Cena (c) vs. Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship with special guest referee Triple H | ||
27 | SummerSlam (2014) | August 17, 2014 | John Cena (c) vs. Brock Lesnar for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship | ||
28 | SummerSlam (2015) | August 23, 2015 | Brooklyn, New York | Barclays Center | The Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar |
29 | SummerSlam (2016) | August 21, 2016 | Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton | ||
30 | SummerSlam (2017) | August 20, 2017 | Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman for the WWE Universal Championship | ||
31 | SummerSlam (2018) | August 19, 2018 | Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Roman Reigns for the WWE Universal Championship | ||
32 | SummerSlam (2019) | August 11, 2019 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada[11] | Scotiabank Arena | TBD |
See also
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
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References
- ^ Dee, Louie (2006-05-17). "Let the Party Begin". WWE.com. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
- ^ a b Assael, Shaun. Sex, Lies, & Headlocks, 94–95.
- ^ "Could Brock Lesnar beat three men at SummerSlam to remain in the WWE?".
- ^ "=WWE SummerSlam's 30 main events ranked featuring Stone Cold, Triple H and Undertaker". 10 August 2018.
- ^ "WWE SummerSlam 2018 matches, card, location, date, start time, predictions PPV rumors".
- ^ Assael, Shaun. Sex, Lies, & Headlocks, 74–80.
- ^ Keith, Scott (2004). Wrestling's One Ring Circus: The Death of the World Wrestling Federation. Citadel Press. p. 160. ISBN 0-8065-2619-X.
- ^ Hamilton, Ian (2006). Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition. Lulu.com. p. 160. ISBN 1-4116-1210-8.
- ^ a b Martin, Adam (2008-11-20). "Reader Notes: Bret Hart, WWE in Elmira, 2009 PPVs". WrestleView. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
- ^ "SummerSlam". World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
- ^ "WWE SummerSlam heading to Toronto in August 2019 after a four-year run in Brooklyn". Retrieved 27 August 2018.