Ranking WWE's 2016 Pay-Per-View Endings From Worst To Best

13. SummerSlam

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WWE.com

What happened: Like WrestleMania, SummerSlam was an excessively long show, so good (even excellent) bouts like Styles-Cena and Balor-Rollins were lost in the shuffle. The main event - a first-time ever dream match between Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton - immediately showed that it couldn't live up to the build, with the men showing little chemistry and Lesnar looking like he was there just to collect a check. For the finish, WWE wanted Brock to bust Orton open with an elbow that led to a stoppage. Unfortunately, the elbow was a little too hard, and Orton was left a bloody, concussed mess.

Why it sucked: For starters, Vince McMahon - and whomever else was part of the decision - knowingly put an employee's health at risk, and the result was a concussion (which the company subsequently tried to cover up). What could have - and probably should have, given pending litigation - been a public relations nightmare for the company ended up largely glossed over, with only Orton the worse for wear. On top of all that, the finish was crafted to make fans think it was "real," which is always a recipe for disaster.

Contributor
Contributor

Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013