10 Best WWE SummerSlams Ever - According To Dave Meltzer

5. SummerSlam 2013 (3.27)

daniel bryan john cena summerslam 2013
WWE.com

With a pair of scintillating matches both falling merely half a point short of Dave Meltzer's full monty, SummerSlam 2013 is best remembered for two explosive encounters featuring inarguably the four biggest stars on the roster at the time.

CM Punk had prematurely returned from a much-needed hiatus at June's Payback pay-per-view, and was promptly repositioned as a babyface to furnish the collapse of relations between the former WWE Champion and Brock Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman. Their split set the stage for a ferocious No Disqualification match between 'The Best' and 'The Beast' that would have ordinarily stole any show it was a part of.

On this night, it was only an accoutrement to the evening's main course.

Built as little more than the 'right' man for the spot, Daniel Bryan was handpicked by Cena himself for their show-closing WWE Title bout, and delivered in spades as the future brothers-in-law assembled a contest just about as good as any ever fought over the iconic championship.

Remembered more for the guest referee Triple H swerve-turning on Bryan in the post-match to gift a cash-in victory to Randy Orton and unofficially create 'The Authority', the contest stands up to countless rewatches, with Cena effortlessly able to remind fans yet again how he can stake a claim for being one of the very best of all time and Bryan emerging for the first time at WWE main event level as so much more than just a beard and a catchphrase.

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Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 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 62,000,000 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 covered milestone events in New York, 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. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett