10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE SummerSlam

9. The Original Plan For 1988

Chris Jericho IWGP Intercontinental Title WWE SummerSlam
WWE.com

The first SummerSlam show rocked Madison Square Garden with a huge main event pitting The Mega-Powers (Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage) vs. The Mega-Bucks (Ted DiBiase and Andre The Giant). It was massive, but things could've been even better; at least from an in-ring/pure wrestling standpoint.

Ric Flair was originally earmarked to jump over from the NWA for a match vs. Savage on the card. That was Vince McMahon plan up until the eleventh hour, but Flair got cold feet on the idea and decided to stay put in Atlanta. So, the WWF pivoted back to that aforementioned tag bout.

Seeing Ric, the face of Jim Crockett Promotions and the NWA generally, work a match on WWF pay-per-view inside the hallowed halls of MSG would've been incredible. To put that into perspective, it'd be sort of like Roman Reigns suddenly leaping over to AEW for a show in Jacksonville or Chicago.

The 'Nature Boy' ultimately backed out though.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.