10 Greatest WWE SummerSlam PPVs Ever

Plenty of standout candidates, as we take a trip down memory lane...

By Elliott Binks / August 8, 2016

SummerSlam is often touted as being the 'biggest party of the summer'.

Although I had been under the impression that Project X took place in the summer, and that blowout at the end of American Pie 2 was a pretty huge one, too. I also seem to remember the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June 2012 being a rather big shindig as well.

So perhaps SummerSlam isn’t quite worthy of such a title but, still, that kind of bravado means that WWE usually goes all-in on their efforts to try and make it one of the most enjoyable pay-per-views of the entire year. Big stars return, big matches are booked and big surprises are reserved for the event.

But of all the shows in SummerSlam’s near three-decade history, which have been the absolute best?

This article looks to answer that question, as I look back at each of the PPV’s 28 instalments, considering the strength of the overall card, the quality of the actual matches themselves, as well as the memorable moments that were spawned by the shows and whittle the list down to the 10 greatest SummerSlam PPVs ever.

10. 2011

A fairly recent entry to kick things off, as we cast our minds back to the 2011 edition of SummerSlam, which was in fact the final PPV of the previous brand split era.

WWE marked the occasion with a fitting swansong, as the PPV’s success was based largely on the strong showing in the two main event matches; one from the Raw brand and the other on behalf of SmackDown.

The SmackDown offering saw Christian and Randy Orton write the penultimate chapter in their excellent feud, as they contested a No Holds Barred match for Christian’s World Heavyweight Championship. While over on Raw, we saw the culmination to the Summer of Punk angle, as The Straight-Edge Superstar faced John Cena in a bid to crown the undisputed WWE Champion.

As well as those two great matches there was the added surprise of a Money in the Bank cash-in courtesy of Alberto Del Rio, though not before we saw an even more unexpected Kevin Nash run-in.

Still, while that final point might be viewed as something of a blemish, the preceding action was enough to make 2011 one of the better SummerSlams in memory.