10 WWE SummerSlam Secrets You Need To Know About

7. Close To Nature

Roman Reigns
WWE.com

Just as he'd done with the inaugral WrestleMania, Vince McMahon picked his favourite location for the first ever edition of SummerSlam. Mindful that this venture into a third annual pay-per-view needed to carry the heft of the events that had preceded it, he stacked the Madison Square Garden with another spinoff of the biggest main event he'd ever sold.

Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant joined Randy Savage and Ted Dibiase respectively for a blockbuster doubles main event between 'The Mega Powers' and 'The Mega Bucks', but McMahon almost delivered a main event he'd ultimately have to wait another four years for.

As Flair put it himself in an interview with Sports Illustrated in 2017, he said; “I was on my way to work for Vince McMahon and wrestle Randy Savage at the Garden. My contract was up and Vince McMahon had been in touch with me. But I decided my best move was to remain in the NWA because I was so attached to my friends in the Four Horsemen. I thanked McMahon for the offer. I just couldn’t get myself to leave. I was too attached to my friends down there and too loyal to the NWA. Ultimately, it worked out, and I ended up working for Vince later. I respected Vince so much for asking me, but at that point, I just could not find a way to leave.”

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 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 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, 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