10 Worst WWE SummerSlams Ever - According To Dave Meltzer

'The Biggest Party Of The Summer' has, not without an uphill struggle, become a WWE institution on par with WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble and the Survivor Series, despite not sharing a discernible gimmick or hook to grab curiosity eyes or fans of the wrestling novelty.

What SummerSlam has supplied for thirty years has been a feast of exciting encounters where mere in-ring is king.

As paragon of virtue for all that happens within the matches themselves, Wrestling Observer creator Dave Meltzer is bastion of the bell-to-bell. His ratings have ensured that certain SummerSlam cards are considered amongst the finest supercards in the history of the industry, but the even-handed journalist isn't shy of reducing a show's status to rubble if the card fails to inspire.

With certain incarnations of the supercard either lacking one true blockbuster match, or regrettably circling the drain throughout, the average rating of a show often shines a harsh light on underperformance in the extreme.

A long way short of a reputation that precedes them, these editions of the August classic threatened to destroy the 'SummerSlam' brand long before it became an iconic staple of the WWE calendar.

The public fight for wrestling industry supremacy between WCW and WWE reached something of a zenith in mid-1998, with Vince McMahon's organisation on an unbelievable upswing during a period where things at least appeared rosy for the internally unravelling Atlanta outfit.

Eric Bischoff's decision to run a monster first meeting of Bill Goldberg and Hulk Hogan for free on Monday Nitro instead of drawing a potentially huge buyrate on pay-per-view reeked of desperation, but for one week at least reminded the audience at large that WCW could still be a force with the right product. Unfortunately for 'Easy E', across summer, WWE were proving it time and time again.

Driven by style over substance and the increasing influence of Vince Russo, less attention was paid to match quality in place of high octane segments and riotous promos. And it worked.

Though little shone bell-to-bell on this explosive edition of the Summer spectacular, Madison Square Garden was white hot for virtually every contest thanks to a deep emotional investment in every character on the roster. Whilst Steve Austin, The Undertaker, the New Age Outlaws, Mankind, X-Pac and Jeff Jarrett didn't move mountains in matches, fans still rose in awe for every little move they made.

Triple H and The Rock dragged the average up with an absorbing ladder match. Foreshadowing their eventual successes in the company, the two had perhaps their finest ever battle, with the reaction for Triple H's victory even louder than Stone Cold's later that night.