10 Times WWE SummerSlam Was Better Than WrestleMania

3. SummerSlam 2011

Chris Jericho AJ Styles John Cena
WWE.com

SummerSlam 2011 probably should have been about CM Punk more than John Cena, Triple H, Kevin Nash, Alberto Del Rio and their involvement with CM Punk, but that rather dispiriting main event picture wasn't anywhere near as awful as the one painted at the 'Show Of Shows' earlier that year.

Cena and The Miz' main event was a total stinker in spite of (and slightly because of) the return of The Rock, but that wasn't even the worst thing on a total turkey of a WrestleMania.

In contrast, 'The Biggest Party Of The Summer' offered a surprisingly good Kelly Kelly/Beth Phoenix Divas Title match, Wade Barrett and Daniel Bryan making something out of almost nothing in the undercard, and a blinding Randy Orton/Chrisitian encounter for the World Championship.

The latter was the pick of the bunch, and it spoke to how much the company had cycled through with the 'Voice Of The Voiceless' in such a short space of time. Orton and Christian had lit up the Money In The Bank semi-main spot when Punk was the biggest f*cking thing in wrestling. It had only taken a month or so to butcher that buzz, but the SmackDown title challengers had almost never been better.

 
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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