10 BEST WWE SUMMERSLAM MATCHES OF ALL TIME

Jan 29, 2022; St. Louis, MO, USA; AJ Styles during the Royal Rumble The Dome at America's Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

WWE SummerSlam is right around the corner, and while there are a handful of matches on the card this year that could be fantastic, it’s going to take a lot to crack into the true all-time great category. Since 1988, there have been some true classics at SummerSlam across many different eras, so we’re going to run down the best matches in SummerSlam history.

10. Brock Lesnar(c) vs Roman Reigns vs Braun Strowman vs Samoa Joe – Universal Championship – SummerSlam 2017

Sometimes wrestling is just about watching a really entertaining car crash, and that’s exactly what this match was. This match is 20 minutes long, but it really doesn’t feel like it, as the four powerhouses featured here go all-out with the action and don’t let up for even a second. This was the peak of Strowman’s popularity in WWE too, and it features his classic carnage, whether he’s slamming Brock through the announce table and then burying him under the other announce table, or just launching a commentary chair right into Samoa Joe’s face; it is a tonne of fun.

9. John Cena(c) vs Cody Rhodes – WWE Championship – SummerSlam 2025

After the truly awful match between these two at WrestleMania 41, it’s fair to say expectations were low for this SummerSlam rematch, but in the end, these two blew us away in what is arguably the best match of John Cena’s retirement year. While there is some weirdness surrounding the sudden and complete dismissal of Cena’s heel turn right before the match, the action is so much fun to watch.

8. Bianca Belair(c) vs Becky Lynch – Raw Women’s Championship – SummerSlam 2022

This is another match that has the smell of redemption about it. The year before Becky Lynch had returned and beaten Bianca in 26 seconds in a move that everyone hated. Eventually it came back around, and the two had a barnburner at WrestleMania 38, and followed it up that summer with a similarly excellent opener. It was also a great statement to make, as this was the first major show following Vince McMahon’s exit from the company and Triple H taking over creative.

7. John Cena(c) vs Daniel Bryan – WWE Championship – SummerSlam 2013

One of the surprising things about SummerSlam is just how much John Cena loses there. He has one of the worst SummerSlam win-loss records ever, and this is arguably his most impactful loss at the event.

Daniel Bryan was the big star everyone wanted to break through, and on this night, Cena helped put him over in the biggest way possible, as the pair showcased how Bryan’s indie-rific style can mesh with the WWE main event style to create absolute magic, especially when the crowd is desperately hoping for the underdog to win.

While WWE never intended for this to be the start of Bryan’s rise to the WrestleMania 30 main event (no matter what Road Dogg says), we can look back on it now as a truly special moment.

6. Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio – SummerSlam 2002

If you need a match to put you on the map – as Mysterio did in his WWE pay-per-view debut – Kurt Angle is one of the best people you can have it against. This match is pure magic as these two bring fast-paced action. It’s an awful lot shorter than you probably remember, at just over 9 minutes, but Rey’s luchalibre mixes perfectly with Angle’s more technical style to create a match that is remembered more than two decades later.

5. Bret Hart(c) vs The British Bulldog – SummerSlam 1992

When it comes to iconic historical moments, there is perhaps no match on this list that tops it, though it loses points for one of the most memorable things about it being the fact that the British Bulldog was so out of it that he couldn’t remember the match at all. However, despite that, the excellence of execution led Bulldog through an all-time great match in front of one of WWE’s biggest crowds ever at Wembley Stadium, all culminating in the big win for the hometown Brit.

4. CM Punk vs Brock Lesnar – No Holds Barred – SummerSlam 2013

SummerSlam 2013 may be remembered as a two-match show (as there’s really nothing else on it worth going back to); however, what a pair of matches they are, and a great encapsulation of this era in WWE. In perhaps CM Punk’s last great match before he’d leave WWE for a decade, him and Brock Lesnar went all-out in a way that Brock doesn’t often do. Punk is the perfect ragdoll for Lesnar to throw around, but mounts a compelling comeback all the same, even if he doesn’t ultimately get the win.

3. Edge & Christian(c) vs The Hardy Boyz vs The Dudley Boyz WWF Tag Team Championships – TLC – SummerSlam 2000

The Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match is one of WWE’s more chaotic innovations. This right here was the very first, and they kicked it off in extremely memorable fashion. Much like the first ladder match several years earlier, this featured some incredible spots for the very first time that we almost take for granted today, featuring the very best of WWE’s extremely strong 2000s tag division in the best way possible.

2. Bret Hart(c) vs Owen Hart – WWF Championship – Steel Cage – SummerSlam 1994

Brother vs brother matches don’t have the best reputation in WWE. The Hardys and the Usos never really delivered, but WWE will keep trying them for one very good reason, and that’s Owen and Bret. Whenever these two got in the ring together, it was absolute magic. These two had already had an incredible clash in the opening match of WrestleMania 10, but they arguably one-upped themselves inside the Steel Cage here.

1. John Cena vs AJ Styles – SummerSlam 2016

Making the careers of fan-favourites at SummerSlam is a strange running theme of John Cena’s. We covered Daniel Bryan earlier; he also lost to CM Punk in a great match in 2011, but AJ Styles in 2016 is perhaps the one fans are most grateful for. As Styles himself has said, Vince McMahon brought him in to be a mid-card talent in the company, but it was his work with Cena that put him over the top.

This is arguably Cena’s best in-ring performance ever, and Styles does what he does best to put himself on the map, notching a huge win that would propel Mr TNA to become WWE Champion just one month later.

- Ryan Woodrow

CODY RHODES EXPLAINS WHY HE REFUSES TO TAKE EXTENDED BREAKS FROM WWE

 

Photo Credit: WWE

Cody Rhodes has opened up about why he continues to remain a constant presence on WWE television, even as several top stars opt for extended breaks to recover, reset, or pursue projects outside the ring.

Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, the WWE Champion addressed the growing conversation around whether he should step away for a while.

While acknowledging that many people have advised him to take time off, the Undisputed WWE Champion made it clear that he sees his role differently.

Cody Rhodes says WWE needs someone who is always there

Rhodes explained that he has no issue with wrestlers taking breaks and understands the benefits that come with stepping away.

“I think it’s safe to say from the outside, Cody should take a break. It’s been advised across the board, but also… there are guys who do take breaks, and I’m not mad at anyone who takes breaks,” Rhodes said.

He continued by outlining why those absences can be valuable.

“They get to go and get in incredible shape, or do a project, get healthy, whatever the heck it is that they’re doing. They get to do that, and they come back and they’re fresh, and they get that big reaction on the first night. But then it settles back into what it was.”

Rhodes then revealed that advice from Bobby Roode helped shape his mindset toward consistency.

“If others are doing that… well then it’s my job to be the guy who’s always here. Then it’s my job to be the one who doesn’t leave you.”

The comments arrive at a time when CM Punk has undertaken a planned hiatus from WWE programming following his World Heavyweight Championship loss to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 42. During his absence, Punk’s viral body transformation has drawn significant attention ahead of a reported SummerSlam-season return.

Cody Rhodes also acknowledged the downside of always being present.

“And if that means that things can get a bit expected, then that’s still a safe place to be. I need to be the one who’s here all the time until someone else steps into those boots.”

For now, while others recharge on the sidelines, Rhodes appears determined to keep carrying the ball — and the banner — as one of WWE’s most visible stars.

- VISHALBHAWANI

ROMAN REIGNS BEATS CM PUNK TO WIN WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE IN WRESTLEMANIA 42 MAIN EVENT

Roman Reigns stopped CM Punk in the WrestleMania 42 main event and left Las Vegas with the World Heavyweight title.

Roman Reigns - Image via @WWE X.com

Roman Reigns left WrestleMania 42 with the World Heavyweight Championship after beating CM Punk in the main event at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Punk came in as champion and carried the belt into the biggest match of the weekend against the man WWE has positioned as its top star for most of the last decade. Like other top-dog return stories we have tracked recently, including another major championship push built around star power, the company leaned hard on name value here. The feud had deeper roots than a normal title defense, with WWE framing it around bad blood that stretches back to Punk’s 2014 departure and everything that followed after. That gave the match a different kind of weight before the opening bell even rang.

Once it started, they worked a long main event with the kind of protection WWE usually saves for its biggest names. Both men survived signature offense, both took heavy damage outside the ring, and Punk was left bleeding as the match kept dragging into deeper water. A powerbomb through the announce table gave the fight its first major crash point, and Punk later answered with a flying elbow that drove Reigns through the other table.

Punk kept reaching for shortcuts once the title started slipping. He distracted the referee, landed a low blow, and still could not finish the job. He hit another GTS and followed later with one more after the elbow through the table, but by then he was too exhausted to turn it into the finish. Reigns recovered, blasted him with a Spear, then put him away with another once Punk got back to his knees.

Roman Reigns closes WrestleMania 42 with the belt again

That finish fit the story WWE told all the way through. Punk had more desperation, more chaos, and more empty-the-tank offense. Reigns had the cleaner closing stretch and the stronger final shot. In a match built around two stars with long histories and oversized egos, WWE chose the same answer it has picked over and over when the stage gets biggest.

For Reigns, the win puts a world title back around the waist of a wrestler whose entire modern run has been built around dominance, presentation, and main-event control. For Punk, it ends this title run with a loss that came only after he emptied everything he had, including the cheap shots. He was protected in defeat, but he still walked out without the championship.

WrestleMania 42 was sold around spectacle, but this match finally brought the scale the card needed. Reigns leaves Las Vegas as World Heavyweight Champion, and Punk leaves with a loss in a feud that had enough baggage to keep going if WWE wants another round. If you have been following how major-event headliners are being framed lately, the same championship-first logic has shown up across other recent marquee results.

- Jake Blend

ROMAN REIGNS' WWE SUMMERSLAM MATCH ALL BUT CONFIRMED AFTER HUGE BRAWL ON RAW

Roman Reigns’s WWE SummerSlam match was all but confirmed on the latest episode of WWE RAW.

Roman Reigns returned on last week’s episode of WWE RAW and got himself involved with Seth Rollins’ faction. The star has since been booked for the remaining episodes of RAW heading into the Biggest Party of the Summer with speculation rife as to who he will face owing to Seth Rollins’ injury. He was also offered to replace Rollins on the latest episode of RAW.

On the latest episode of WWE RAW, Reigns was involved in a huge brawl that clearly indicated his future.

Roman Reigns’s WWE SummerSlam plans took shape on RAW

Roman Reigns was involved in a huge brawl on RAW with the star first attacking Bron Breakker and then Bronson Reed. Just as the stars got the upper hand on Reigns as Breakker attacked him with a spear, Jey Uso came out to even things up.

Things then went on a downward spiral as all the stars involved got into a fight. The night closed out with The Bloodline members hitting a double spear on the Brons.

It seems that Reigns will be in a tag team match come WWE SummerSlam as he gets set to team up with Jey Uso to take on Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. Unless there are any new developments on the upcoming episode of RAW, it is the most plausible scenario coming out of WWE RAW.

- Debottam Saha

JOHN CENA MAKES WWE HISTORY AT WRESTLEMANIA

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John Cena has won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania for a record-breaking 17th time.

The wrestler, who announced he was going to retire at the end of 2025, has won more titles than anyone in WWE history, overtaking Ric Flair.

Cena beat Cody Rhodes with a bit of help from rapper Travis Scott at the 41st WrestleMania near Las Vegas, USA, this weekend.

John Cena who announced his retirement in July last year, has not been wasting his last months on the circuit.

He shocked fans with a 'heel turn' at the beginning of March ahead of his two UK appearances in Glasgow and London.

With 30 appearances planned in total before his retirement in December, WrestleMania, Vegas is the biggest.

As well as the thousands of fans watching from inside the arena, it was the first time WrestleMania has been shown live on Netflix.

This gave 300 million people a chance to watch as part of their subscription to the streaming platform.

What else happened at WrestleMania?

Becky Lynch made a triumphant return

Wrestlemania also saw a triumphant return for Becky Lynch, who hasn't wrestled since May 2024.

The former world champion stepped in as a tag partner for Lyra Valkyria.

The two won the Women's Tag Team Championships.

Seth Rollins seemed to form an alliance with Paul Heyman as the two defeated Roman Reigns and CM Punk on Saturday night.

And popular wrestler Jey Uso, also won his first ever title, the World Heavyweight Championship.

- CBBC

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