10 Best WWE SummerSlam Main Events Ever - According To Dave Meltzer
7. SummerSlam 1996 - Shawn Michaels Vs Vader (****)
Shawn Michaels could carry the proverbial wrestling broomstick to three stars in 1996, so it's unsurprising his clash with the super-working super-heavyweight Vader managed one better, even with the WWE Champion throwing an almighty strop halfway through.
Vader had pinned Shawn one month earlier in the six-man main event of July's In Your House: International Incident, piling the pressure on the white mean babyface titleholder after he'd decisively dispatched fellow Camp Cornette member Davey Boy Smith just one month earlier.
Truthfully, the contest was great in spite of itself, with WWE unwilling to fully commit to the formula Vader had with Sting in WCW that propelled him to North American superstardom. Those matches called for Vader to utterly decimate Sting, notably at the Great American Bash 1992, where 'The Stinger' took a 17 minute hammering en route to losing his WCW World Heavyweight Title.
This contest teased a similar chemistry, but was instead truncated by two false finishes (one countout, one disqualification) that were chalked off ostensibly to make Michaels look like an all conquering hero. As magnificent as Michaels was at times during the contest, his less-than-heroic tantrum following Vader's failure to adhere to a complex elbow drop spot became one of the bout's major takeaways.