Ranking Edge's WWE SummerSlam Matches From Worst To Best

9. vs Matt Hardy (2005)

In 2005, the Edge/Matt Hardy/Lita love triangle was the hottest angle in wrestling. Stemming from real-life infidelity, the friends turned foes Edge and Hardy had nuclear heat, and the super popular Matt could have carried that righteous indignation into a vicious match with Edge at the year’s second-biggest PPV.

Instead, we got an under-five minute brawl which ended by ref stoppage after Edge beat the returning hero into a pulp. Ah. It was clear from the off that WWE’s eggs were in Edge’s basket, with Hardy, the wronged party in the affair, fired before being reinstated. But once it became clear how scorching an angle they had here, surely they should have gone the other way in the booking.

Using real-life stories is always shaky ground, but it would have been understandable had Matt been given a chance at revenge. Instead, at the very peak of public interest, he essentially got squashed, bested once again by his personal and professional rival.

Between Hogan/Michaels and the Dominick ladder match, 2005 is a particularly strange SummerSlam, but this one’s just baffling.