10 Times WWE SummerSlam Was Better Than WrestleMania

10. SummerSlam 1988

SummerSlam's maiden voyage was WWE's third supershow of 1988 after the inaugural Royal Rumble and WrestleMania IV, but it bettered both thanks to a couple of strong midcard moments backing up a mammoth main event.

Different in purpose and principle to what they are today, pay-per-views then were designed to pay off only a small selection of television feuds whilst merely featuring the rest of the roster. The rest of the angles on Superstars and Challenge were for the health of the house shows, meaning much of what simmered in early '88 never made it to the experimental Rumble or the tournament-driven 'Show Of Shows'.

SummerSlam offered a healthy blend of both. The Mega Powers/Mega Bucks main event was an exquisitely worked fireworks factory, with some of the biggest explosions saved for the babyface celebration at the end. Away from excellent tag matches from one of the best doubles divisions in WWE history, Ultimate Warrior's crushing of the Honky Tonk Man stole the undercard. A glorious and committed bit of booking ended the longest Intercontinental Title reign in the company history in just 31 seconds, with the Madison Square Garden faithful elated to be present for it.

Authored by Michael Hamflett

Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live.

Posted On: 21st Aug 2020