10 Worst Booking Decisions In SummerSlam History
Dodgy finishes, unwelcome interference, and a lot of drama for The Undertaker...
Over the course of its near three-decade history, SummerSlam
has provided us with some pretty awesome moments.
Way back in 1992, we saw the British Bulldog win the Intercontinental title in front of a packed out Wembley Stadium. Then in 2002, Brock Lesnar shocked the world by defeating the Rock to become the youngest WWE Champion in company history. And you’d struggle to forget the borderline ridiculous—albeit entertaining—once in a lifetime clash between Shawn Michaels and Hulk Hogan from 2005.
But for each of those highlights, and considering all the notches on the SummerSlam belt, there have naturally also been a number of duds served up to us over the years—specifically in terms of the booking decisions.
Now, I’m not necessarily an expert in how to book a global pay-per-view wrestling event, but sometimes it doesn’t take a professional to identify certain decisions as poor ones.
From questionable match-making to dubious outcomes, as well as a few logistical issues, brace yourself as this article recounts some of the worst SummerSlam booking choices in WWE history.
10. Jon Stewart’s Interference
As far as celebrity appearances go, Jon Stewart’s wasn’t
necessarily a terrible one.
Initially, he’d been brought in as the guest host for SummerSlam 2015, which in itself wasn’t a bad decision. He actually did a pretty great job of ushering in the show and hyping up the Brooklyn crowd.
However, later in the evening, someone made the call to afford Stewart rather more responsibility, when he was inserted into the WWE and United States Championship unification bout between Seth Rollins and John Cena. From there, he struck Cena with a chair to gift the victory to Rollins, which was certainly a surprising development, but not a particularly welcome one.
Don’t get me wrong: there’s a time and a place for celebrity appearances. But a title unification match isn’t one of them. To get the fans invested in such a high-stakes contest, only to have the conclusion marred by such shenanigans is a bit of a slap in the face to everyone who paid to see the show.
Again, Stewart’s personal performance may not have been all that bad, but the decision to cast him in such a prominent role is what consigns him to a spot on this list.