SummerSlam is one of WWE's most famous and long-running pay-per-view events, and one of the "Big Five"; the four others are WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, and the more recently added Money in the Bank. Much like 'Mania, it is considered a major "transition" PPV as major feuds and storylines tend to begin, end, or otherwise have a major element added to them at SummerSlam. Notable as being the only one of the "Big Five" PPVs to have taken place outside North America; SummerSlam 1992 took place at Wembley Stadium in London, England. It also has the distinction of having been held in the same location several times; between 2009 and 2014, SummerSlam was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California; and from 2015 to 2018, the event took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Has recently been billed as the "WrestleMania of the summer" with matches frequently being part of the big storylines of the season, such as Team WWE's clash with The Nexus in 2010 and the second John Cena vs. CM Punk bout in 2011.
The Biggest Tropes of the Summer:
- Alliterative Title: SummerSlam.
- And Now You Must Marry Me: Kane won a "Till Death Do Us Part" match with Matt Hardy in 2004 and Lita had to marry him as a result.
- The Bad Guy Wins:
- A notable aversion from SummerSlam 1991, as far as the championships go; Bret Hart beat Mr. Perfect for the Intercontinental Championship, and the Legion of Doom beat the Nasty Boys for the tag titles. The WWF Championship, then held by Hulk Hogan, wasn't even defended, resulting in all the titles being held by faces by the time the event ended, a rarity for WWF's PPVs.
- 2002 edition: The Un-Americans defeated Booker T and Goldust to retain the WWE tag team Championship, Kurt Angle defeated Rey Mysterio, and Brock Lesnar defeated the Rock to win the WWE Championship.
- 2003 edition: La Resistance defeated The Dudley Boys to retain the World tag team Championship, Eddie Guerrero defeated Chris Benoit, Rhyno and Tajiri to retain the U.S. Championship, Kane defeated Rob Van Dam, and Triple H defeated Goldberg, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash, Chris Jericho and Randy Orton to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.
- 2004 edition: Kane defeated Matt Hardy, Kurt Angle defeated Eddie Guerrero, Triple H defeated Eugene, JBL defeated The Undertaker to retain the WWE Championship and Randy Orton defeated Chris Benoit to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
- 2009 edition: Jeri-Show defeated Cyme Tyme to retain the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship, Randy Orton defeated John Cena to retain the WWE Championship and CM Punk defeated Jeff Hardy to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
- 2013 edition: Randy Orton cashes in his Money in the Bank contract to defeat Daniel Bryan to win the WWE Championship, resulting in the creation of The Authority which would go on to cause huge amounts of trouble for three whole years. Bray Wyatt defeated Kane, Alberto Del Rio defeated Christian and retain the World Heavyweight Championship. Brock Lesnar defeated CM Punk.
- 2014 edition: Paige defeated A.J. Lee to regain the Diva's Championship, Rusev defeated Jack Swagger, Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose, Bray Wyatt defeated Chris Jericho, Stephanie McMahon defeated Brie Bella and Brock Lesnar defeated John Cena to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
- 2015 edition: Sheamus defeated Randy Orton, The New Day defeated Prime Time Players, Los Matadors and Lucha Dragons and Seth Rollins defeated John Cena to become both the WWE and U.S. Champion.
- 2016 edition: Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho defeated Enzo and Cass, Charlotte Flair defeated Sasha Banks, AJ Styles defeated John Cena, Nikki Bella, Natalya and Alexa Bliss defeated Becky Lynch, Naomi and Carmella and Brock Lesnar defeated Randy Orton.
- 2017 edition: The Miz and The Miztourage defeated The Hardy Boyz and Jason Jordan, Neville defeated Akira Tozawa, Natalya defeated Naomi to win the SmackDown Women's Championship, Big Cass defeated Big Show, Jinder Mahal defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the WWE Championship and Brock Lesnar defeated Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns to retain the Universal Championship.
- 2018 edition: Andrade "Cien" Almas and Zelina Vega defeated Rusev and Lana, The Miz defeated Daniel Bryan and Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Jeff Hardy.
- 2019 edition: AJ Styles defeated Ricochet, Charlotte Flair defeated Trish Stratus and The Fiend Bray Wyatt defeated Finn Balor.
- 2020 edition: Bayley defeated Asuka to retain the SmackDown Women's Championship, Seth Rollins defeated Dominik Mysterio and The Fiend Bray Wyatt defeated Braun Strowman to win the Universal Championship.
- 2021 edition: The Usos defeated Rey and Dominik Mysterio, Charlotte Flair defeated Nikki A.S.H and Rhea Ripley to regain the raw Women's Championship, Bobby Lashley defeated Goldberg to retain the WWE Championship and Roman Reigns defeated John Cena to retain the Universal Championship.
- 2022 edition: The Usos defeated the Street Profits to retain the Undisputed Tag Team Championship and Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar to retain the Undisputed Universal Championship.
- 2023 edition: Gunther defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the Intercontinental Championship, IYO SKY cashes in her Money in the Bank contract to defeat Bianca Belair to win the WWE Women's Championship, and Roman Reigns defeated Jey Uso to retain the Undisputed Universal Championship and recognition of Tribal Chief of the Anoa'i family.
- Batman Gambit: Bret Hart knew that Shawn Michaels had to be impartial as the Guest Referee in his 1997 title match with The Undertaker. He just had to anger Shawn enough to swing the steel chair at him, get out of the way so Undertaker was hit, and cover him while Michaels was forced to count.
- Big Damn Heroes: The 2001 edition had two of these moments in the same match. Ivory, Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson were set to face Lita and Jacqueline. The Alliance girls ambushed Lita backstage, leaving Jacqueline alone in the match. Molly Holly ran down to team with her, and Lita came down to the ring at the end to even the odds.
- Birthday Episode:
- The 2003 event was held on Vince McMahon's 58th birthday. After the event, the entire locker room celebrated with him in the middle of the ring.
- At the 2014 event, Paige won her second Divas Championship on her 22nd birthday.
- Black Comedy Rape: Implied to be what happened when The Mountie was put in jail for the night after his 1991 loss to the Big Boss Man.
- The Chew Toy:
- Booker T and Jeff Hardy have never won at SummerSlam.
- John Cena lost six straight matches from 2011-2016. Before that he also lost back-to-back matches in 2008 and 2009, incidentally against the former "Young Guns" of Evolution, Batista and Randy Orton.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- In 1988, the Ultimate Warrior defeated the Honky Tonk Man in 31 seconds to capture the Intercontinental title for the first time, ending the latter's 14 month reign.
- In 2005, Chris Benoit defeated Orlando Jordan in 25 seconds. And bragged about it for the next couple months.
- Brock Lesnar's victory over John Cena at the 2014 event was basically Lesnar giving one long beating to Cena, with the latter only being able to give very little offense, a rarity for his matches.
- The 2018 iteration had three of these:
- Braun Strowman, who had his Money in the Bank contract on the line, easily squashed Kevin Owens in less than 2 minutes.
- Baron Corbin thought his match with Finn Balor would be a walk in the park... but, to his surprise, Finn brought out his "demon" persona and easily defeated Corbin, also in less than 2 minutes.
- Ronda Rousey was easily the favorite in her match against Alexa Bliss, who spent most of the match running away. Ronda even let her opponent take a free shot at her, but to no avail, as Bliss was put away with an armbar.
- In 2021, Becky Lynch returns after her 15-month absence, defeated Bianca Belair in 26 seconds to win her fourth SmackDown women's title.
- David Versus Goliath: Brutally inverted in The Oddities' victory over Kaientai in 1998.
- Dramatic Irony: In the 2017 event, Dean Ambrose becomes the first (former) member of The Shield to become a Triple Crown and Grand Slam Champion by winning the Raw Tag Team Championship for the first time. His Tag Team partner? The man who broke up the Shield, Seth Rollins.
- Drives Like Crazy: The 2022 edition sees Brock Lesnar using a tractor in his match against Roman Reigns.
- Enemy Mine: Team WWE which included heels Edge and Chris Jericho on a team led by John Cena against The Nexus in 2010.
- Et Tu, Brute?:
- In the 1996 event, Paul Bearer turned his back on The Undertaker and sided with Mankind, ending his initial six-year tenure as Undertaker's manager.
- At the 2014 event, Nikki Bella turned heel on Brie and helped Stephanie McMahon beat her.
- Final Battle:
- In 2008, the Hell in a Cell match between Edge and The Undertaker was the culmination of their feud that begun in late 2007.
- The 2022 edition had the Undisputed Champion Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar battle in a Last Man Standing Match which was the last match for the two who had feuded since 2015.
- Game-Breaking Injury: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin's infamous neck injury happened in the 1997 event due to Owen Hart's botched tombstone piledriver.
- Good Versus Good: The 2008 event had the match between John Cena and Batista who were two of the top stars of the WWE of that time period.
- Graceful Loser:
- Chris Benoit shook Randy Orton's hand after the latter defeated him for his World Heavyweight title during the 2004 main event.
- Cody Rhodes defeat Brock Lesnar in a rubber match at the 2023 event. Following the match, Lesnar shook Cody's hand in respect.
- History Repeats:
- The youngest WWE (Brock Lesnar in 2002) and World Heavyweight Champions (Randy Orton in 2004) were both crowned at this event. The two faced each other at the 2016 event.
- John Cena and Randy Orton fought each other for the WWE title at this event twice (2007 and 2009).
- Randy Orton won the World Heavyweight title at this event thrice (2004, 2011, and 2013note ). He has also been in the main event four times (2003, 2004, 2007, and 2013note ).
- Ultimate Warrior captured the Intercontinental title at this event twice (1988 and 1989).
- Charlotte Flair captured the Women's title in a triple-threat match at this event twice (2018 and 2021).
- The event has occasionally featured rematches from WrestleMania. Examples include are Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon in a Ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship in 1995 (a rematch from the previous year's WrestleMania), Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar for the WWE Title in 2003, Kurt Angle vs Eddie Guerrero in 2004, The Undertaker vs Randy Orton from 2005, Brock Lesnar vs Roman Reigns in 2018 and 2022, Brock Lesnar vs Seth Rollins in 2019, and Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair in 2022 (both of whom also faced each other at the previous year's event).
- Improvised Weapon: Jerry Lawler won his 2000 match with Tazz after Jim Ross got involved
, breaking a glass candy jar over Tazz's head. - Irony: In the 2017 event, the African-American Smackdown Women's champion with dyed hair loses her belt to a blonde with dyed tips by submission, only for the blonde Raw Women's champion with dyed tips to lose her belt to an African-American with dyed hair by submission.
- Kick the Dog: After beating Tori at the 1999 event, Ivory decided to rip her top off For the Evulz.
- Literal Ass-Kissing: What happened to Mr. Ass at the end of his match with The Rock in 1999.
- Loser Leaves Town: The 2020 event has two former best friends, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville in a "Loser Leaves WWE" match, where Mandy emerged the victor.*
- Manly Tears: Chris Benoit and Randy Orton during the 2004 main event due to the latter beating the former for the World Heavyweight title.
- Mirror Match: Undertaker vs "Underfaker" at the 1994 event, where the real Undertaker defeated Ted DiBiase's fake one.
- Not in the Face!: A stipulation placed in the match between Shawn Michaels and Rick "The Model" Martel in 1992.
- Plot Parallel: The 2017 event is notable for this. It saw both brands' Women's titles changing hands via submission, both brands' Tag Team titles changing hands, and both brands' World titles being retained.
- Rule of Sexy: The posters for the 2003 and 2008 events. The former has Sable essentially naked and covered by the logo, while the latter has Maria Kanellis in a Stripperiffic outfit. For the girls, it could be argued that every poster featuring Mr. Fanservice wrestlers who are essentially a Walking Shirtless Scene.
- Scenery Censor: The poster for the 2003 event has (a naked) Sable's privates being covered by the logo.
- Series Mascot: In no particular order, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, The Undertaker, The Rock, Brock Lesnar, "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, Triple H, John Cena, and Randy Orton are the most featured wrestlers on the event's posters.
- Serious Business: While this trope always applies to Professional Wrestling, special mention goes to the 2005 Custody of Dominick match between Eddie Guerrero and Rey Mysterio.
- Squash Match: Two memorable high-profile ones:
- The inaugural SummerSlam saw Intercontinental Champion the Honky Tonk Man without an opponent after his scheduled opponent, Brutus Beefcake, was "injured." Honky practically demanded a match against anyone...and then that anyone showed up and plowed him down in 30 seconds to win the title.
- SummerSlam 2014, where Brock Lesnar laid out John Cena to win the WWE World Championship. Unlike most squashes, which last less than two minutes, this one went 16 minutes, thanks in part to Lesnar just wanting to permanently injure Cena and show his superiority – he used 16 German suplexes to practically lay out "The Champ" and threw in a second F-5 fireman's carry for good measure – but also because of Cena's stubborn pride, risking permanent injury in the futile hope that Lesnar would make a mistake that would cost him the match. Cena's offensive flurries were, at best, ineffective, the mark of most squash matches back in the day.
- Tempting FateHonky Tonk Man: Get me somebody out here to wrestle, I don't care who it is![the Ultimate Warrior's theme begins to play]
- There Can Only Be One:
- The main event of the 2011 event featuring WWE Champion CM Punk and Interim WWE Champion John Cena squaring off to determine the sole WWE Champion (the former won).
- The main event of the 2003 event featuring the second Elimination Chamber match in history for the World Heavyweight championship. Triple H retained the title.
- We Used to Be Friends: Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins' storyline in the 2017 event is how the former is still reeling from the latter's betrayal of The Shield three years prior.
