10 Times WWE SummerSlam Was Better Than WrestleMania

7. SummerSlam 1995

1995 as the commercial nadir for WWE undermines the quality of their work across most of the Big Four pay-per-views that year. Most, because WrestleMania XI was a dud. Shawn Michaels and Diesel would do better, Bret Hart would literally never do worse, and Bam Bam Bigelow's worthy effort with Lawrence Taylor was only as good as the lone professional wrestler in the ring could make it.

Carried by some extremely strong in-ring (that, as was par for the course, just didn't draw) SummerSlam 1995's undercard trumps any criticism of the listless main event between 'Big Daddy Cool' and his miscast opponent Mabel.

Bret Hart works miracles with the inexperienced Issac Yankem DDS in a match booked without a finish, Skip and Barry Horowitz' fantastic chemistry is on show in yet another big win for the underdog, and Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon assemble an Intercontinental Title ladder match that equals/surpasses their WrestleMania X classic despite being ordered by Vince McMahon to not use the implement as a weapon.

As a show, it's the year's strengths and weaknesses bottled. Some bad booking is overcome by excellent wrestling, all being consumed by an audience so small that it none of it mattered enough.