10 Worst WWE SummerSlams Ever - According To Dave Meltzer
1. SummerSlam 1988 (1.64)
First really is the worst then, as SummerSlam '88's parade of meaningless matches fail to inspire Meltzer beyond **3/4 for any one bout. Even that's predominantly for the superlative showmanship of Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ted Dibiase and Andre The Giant in a main event that served only to squeeze the last droplets of juice from the Hogan/Andre conflict whilst tacitly continuing the growing discord between the babyface superpowers.
As with many early pay-per-views, it's of course unfair to judge the pairings against modern conventions. Though the medium was becoming a firmly profitable venture for the company, WWE was still predominantly a live event industry at the time, with the weekly television still more focussed on filling arenas nationwide than inflating a buyrate for a quarterly mega event.
Over the course of several years, the two priorities would naturally merge before swapping places altogether, but the lack of decisive feud-ending encounters on the ten match card make the show quite the slog.
It would be unfair to discredit its place in history though. As a successful venture, it became an integral part of the WWE's supershow calendar, and as an individual event, it at least provided a stage for The Ultimate Warrior's 31 second decimation of The Honky Tonk Man.
Liberating the Intercontinental Title from the Elvis wannabe marked Warrior's first giant leap towards superstardom, and for many still remains the highlight of his tumultuous tenure.