Wikipedia
SummerSlam is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event, produced annually in August by professional wrestling promotion WWE. Dubbed as "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is one of the original "Big Four" pay-per-view events of WWE (along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble and Survivor Series). The inaugural SummerSlam took place on August 29, 1988 at Madison Square Garden in New York City and was broadcast via pay-per-view. SummerSlam has been touted by WWE as their second biggest event of the year after WrestleMania. From 2009 to 2014, SummerSlam remained exclusive to Staples Center in Los Angeles. In 2015, the event took place in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, where it will return for the next two years.
SummerSlam 1988 was the first annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event. It was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and took place on August 29, 1988, in Madison Square Garden, located in New York City, New York. The pay-per-view was created to help the company compete against rival promotion World Championship Wrestling (formerly Jim Crockett Promotions). It was one of the first four annual pay-per-view events produced by the WWF, along with WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series.
The event consisted of ten professional wrestling matches. The preliminary matches included a title defense by Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man against a surprise challenger, who turned out to be The Ultimate Warrior. The Ultimate Warrior won the match in approximately thirty seconds to end the longest Intercontinental Championship reign. The main event was a match pitting The Mega Powers ( Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage) against their long-time rivals, The Mega Bucks ( Ted DiBiase and André the Giant). Hogan and Savage won the match after Miss Elizabeth, Savage's manager, distracted the André and DiBiase, by removing her skirt to reveal a bikini bottom.
SummerSlam (2007) was the twentieth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was presented by THQ's Stuntman Ignition. It took place on August 26, 2007, at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey and featured talent from each of WWE's three brands: Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW. Tickets for SummerSlam went on sale December 30 and sold out in forty minutes.
The main feud, a staged rivalry between wrestlers, heading into the event from the Raw brand was between John Cena and Randy Orton. On the July 23 episode of Raw, Jonathan Coachman announced Orton as the number one contender to the WWE Championship. Over the proceeding weeks, Orton provoked Cena by interfering and attacking him during his matches. From SmackDown, the predominant feud was between The Great Khali and Batista. After Khali defeated Batista and Kane in a Triple Threat match, a match between three wrestlers contested under standard rules, Theodore Long booked Khali to defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Batista at SummerSlam. The primary feud from ECW was between John Morrison and CM Punk. By defeating Morrison in a 15 Minutes of Fame match, Punk became the number one contender to the ECW Championship at SummerSlam.
Several of the existing feuds carried on after the event. Notably, CM Punk continued to face John Morrison, defeating him for the ECW Championship the following month on ECW on Sci Fi. The day after SummerSlam, Orton, as part of the scripted events, interfered in a match between Cena and King Booker and intensified the feud by attacking Cena's father. Khali and Batista faced each other at Unforgiven, the following pay-per-view, as part of a Triple Threat match; Batista was victorious in this match and won the World Heavyweight Championship.
SummerSlam (1996) was the ninth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It was presented by Stridex. It took place on August 18, 1996, at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
SummerSlam (1997) was the tenth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and the third presented by Stridex. It took place on August 3, 1997, at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
SummerSlam (1999) was the twelfth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It was presented by Chef Boyardee. It took place on August 22, 1999, at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
SummerSlam (2010) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and presented by 7-Eleven and Slim Jim, that took place on August 15, 2010, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California for the second consecutive year. It was the twenty-third annual SummerSlam event and six matches took place.
SummerSlam received 350,000 pay-per-view buys, a decrease on the 369,000 buys garnered by SummerSlam (2009).
SummerSlam (2006) was the nineteenth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It took place on August 20, 2006, at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, and featured performers from the Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brands. This marked the first inter-brand pay-per-view to feature the ECW brand.
The main match on the Raw brand was Edge versus John Cena for the WWE Championship, which Edge won by pinfall after hitting Cena in the back of the head with a pair of brass knuckles. The featured match on the SmackDown! brand was King Booker versus Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Batista won by disqualification following interference from Queen Sharmell. The primary match on the ECW brand was The Big Show versus Sabu in an Extreme rules match for the ECW World Championship. Big Show won the match and retained the title after pinning Sabu following a chokeslam through a table. The featured matches on the undercard included D-Generation X ( Triple H and Shawn Michaels) versus Vince and Shane McMahon) and Hulk Hogan versus Randy Orton.
Several of the existing feuds carried on after the event. D-Generation X continued feuding with The McMahons, defeating them and The Big Show in a Hell in a Cell match the following month. The feud between Batista and King Booker also continued, with the two facing off as part of a Fatal Four-Way match at No Mercy, which Booker won. The following month, at Unforgiven, John Cena defeated Edge in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match to win the WWE Championship and conclude their storyline.
SummerSlam 1989 was the second annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on August 28, 1989, in the Meadowlands Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
The main event was a tag team match between the team of WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan and Brutus Beefcake (who would later be known as The Mega-Maniacs in the 1990s) and the team of Randy Savage and Zeus. The main matches on the undercard were Ted DiBiase versus Jimmy Snuka, Ultimate Warrior versus Rick Rude for the WWF Intercontinental Championship and Jim Duggan and Demolition ( Ax and Smash) versus André the Giant and The Twin Towers ( Akeem and Big Boss Man).
SummerSlam (1990) was the third annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on August 27, 1990, at The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The card featured ten televised matches, including two main events. The Ultimate Warrior successfully defended his WWF World Heavyweight Championship against Rick Rude in a steel cage match, and Hulk Hogan defeated Earthquake by countout.
The pay-per-view also included two other title matches. Mr. Perfect lost his WWF Intercontinental Championship to the Texas Tornado, who was a substitute for Brutus Beefcake, who had been injured in a real-life accident. The Hart Foundation won the WWF Tag Team Championship from Demolition in a two out of three falls match. Each of the matches was built up through feuds scripted by the WWF's writers, and the matches that took place at the event had pre-determined outcomes that had been decided by the WWF.
SummerSlam (2012) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE that took place on August 19, 2012 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. It was the twenty-fifth annual SummerSlam, and the fourth consecutive one to be held at Staples Center.
SummerSlam (2013) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE that took place on August 18, 2013 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. It was the twenty-sixth annual SummerSlam, and the fifth consecutive one held at the Staples Center. The event received 296,909 buys, down from last year's event of 358,000.
SummerSlam (2016) is an upcoming professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE. It will take place on August 21, 2016 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. It will be the twenty-ninth event under the SummerSlam chronology, the second consecutive SummerSlam at this particular venue and the first event under the new WWE brand extension. The event will also determine the inaugural WWE Universal Champion.
SummerSlam (1991) was the fourth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on August 26, 1991, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
SummerSlam 1991 is remembered for the on-screen wedding of Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth, dubbed "A Match Made in Heaven" by announcer Gene Okerlund. Savage and Elizabeth had been married in real life since December 1984. WWF personalities shown at the reception afterward included Bobby Heenan, Gene Okerlund, J.J. Dillon, The Undertaker, and Jake Roberts. The last two were uninvited guests. Roberts proceeded to frighten Elizabeth with his snake while Undertaker attacked Savage with an urn.
This was contrasted with "A Match Made in Hell", the main event of the show, which was a handicap tag team match between WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior against Sgt. Slaughter, General Adnan and Colonel Mustafa. It was Slaughter's final on-screen appearance as an Iraqi sympathizer, a storyline fueled by the Gulf War.
Among the other on-screen highlights of the event was The Legion of Doom defeating The Nasty Boys to win the WWF Tag Team Championship. The team became the only tag team in wrestling history to have held the WWF Tag Team Championship, the NWA World Tag Team Championship, and the AWA World Tag Team Championship. Another highlight was Bret Hart winning his first singles championship in the WWF when he defeated Mr. Perfect for the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship. After winning the match, Hart climbed into the stands to hug his parents Stu and Helen Hart.
SummerSlam (1992) was the fifth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on August 29, 1992, at Wembley Stadium, London, England but was aired in the United States on August 31. The buildup to the pay-per-view consisted of feuds scripted by the WWF's writers. To date it is the only major WWF pay-per-view to take place outside North America.
The pay-per-view featured two main-event matches. In the first, The Ultimate Warrior challenged Randy Savage for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. The Warrior won the match by countout but did not win the title. In the other main event, The "British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith pinned Bret Hart to win the WWF Intercontinental Championship. The WWF Tag Team Championship was also defended, as The Natural Disasters retained the championship belts in their match against the Beverly Brothers. One of the heavily promoted matches on the undercard was between Shawn Michaels and Rick Martel. The match, which had a special stipulation that the wrestlers could not hit each other in the face, ended in a double countout.
The WWE considers the crowd to be the fourth largest live audience ever to attend a WWF/E event, with 80,355 in attendance; WrestleMania 29 in 2013 is reported as having 80,676 fans in attendance, WrestleMania III in 1987 is reported as having 93,173 fans in attendance and WrestleMania 32 in 2016 is reported as having 101,763 fans in attendance. Some writers believe that the WWF inflated the attendance figure for WrestleMania III, however, and that SummerSlam 1992 had a larger crowd. Between ticket prices and merchandise sales, the WWF made over $3,650,000 in revenue. Reviews of the event are almost all positive, and the Smith-Hart match has been rated the best match in SummerSlam history.
SummerSlam (1993) was the sixth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It took place on August 30, 1993, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
All three championships were defended at SummerSlam. The Steiner Brothers defended the WWF Tag Team Championship against The Heavenly Bodies, and Shawn Michaels defended the WWF Intercontinental Championship against Mr. Perfect. The main event saw Lex Luger challenge Yokozuna for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. In addition to the title matches, Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler were scheduled to wrestle to settle their feud and determine who would be named "Undisputed King of the World Wrestling Federation."
History of Wrestling gave the event a rating of 54/100 in The Complete WWF Video Guide Volume 3
SummerSlam (1994) was the seventh annual SummerSlam, a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) on August 29, 1994, at the newly opened United Center in Chicago, Illinois, which had opened eleven days earlier.
The pay-per-view had two main events. The first pitted Owen Hart against his brother Bret Hart in a steel cage match. Bret won the match, but the storyline feud escalated after Owen and his brother-in-law Jim Neidhart attacked Bret after the match. The other main event was a match between the real Undertaker (portrayed by Mark Calaway) and an impostor Undertaker (portrayed by Brian Lee). The real Undertaker won the match, and the impostor did not appear in the WWF again.
The undercard included a match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship between Diesel and Razor Ramon, which Ramon won to regain the title. The other major angle going into SummerSlam was a feud in which Tatanka accused Lex Luger of joining the Million Dollar Corporation, a stable of heel wrestlers. This storyline turned out to be a swerve, as Tatanka was revealed to have secretly joined the corporation.
SummerSlam (1995) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It was the eighth annual SummerSlam event on August 27, 1995, at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The main event that was for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship competed between Diesel and King Mabel. Diesel retained the championship, pinning Mabel after performing a clothesline off the second rope. There were three matches on the undercard that had more build-up than other matches: The Undertaker defeated Kama in a Casket match; Bret Hart defeated Isaac Yankem by disqualification after Yankem and Jerry Lawler attacked Hart while Hart was in the " hangman" position. The third match on the undercard that had significant build-up was Shawn Michaels versus Razor Ramon in a feud for the WWF Intercontinental Championship. The two faced off in a Ladder match, with Michaels retaining the title.
The pay-per-view received a 0.9 buyrate, equivalent to approximately 205,000 buys in 1995 (1.0 equated to roughly 230,000 homes in the domestic market that year). Although this was up on the buyrate for the In Your House 2 pay-per-view which took place the previous month, the buyrate was down on the 1994 SummerSlam event, which received a 1.3 buyrate.
SummerSlam (1998) was the eleventh annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and the fourth presented by Stridex. It took place on August 30, 1998, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
The main event a Singles match for the WWF Championship between Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker. Austin won the match via pinfall after a Stunner to retain the WWF Championship. The main match on the undercard featured a ladder match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship between Triple H and The Rock, which Triple H won to win the Intercontinental Championship.
SummerSlam (2000) was the thirteenth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The event was presented by Chef Boyardee and took place on August 27, 2000, at the Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The main event was a Triple Threat match for the WWF Championship involving champion The Rock, Triple H, and Kurt Angle. The Rock won the match and retained the title after pinning Triple H following a People's Elbow. One of the predominant matches on the undercard was Kane versus The Undertaker, which ended in a no contest after Undertaker unmasked Kane. Another featured match on the undercard was the first Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match for the Tag Team Championship involving champions Edge and Christian, The Hardy Boyz ( Matt and Jeff), and The Dudley Boyz ( Bubba Ray and D-Von). Edge and Christian won the match by retrieving the belts suspended above the ring.
SummerSlam (2001) was the fourteenth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and for the third time it was presented by Chef Boyardee. It took place on August 19, 2001, at the Compaq Center at San Jose in San Jose, California.
In the main event, The Rock defeated Booker T for the WCW Championship, after executing a Rock Bottom. The other two main matches on the card were Steve Austin versus Kurt Angle for the WWF Championship, which Angle won, after Austin was disqualified for attacking referees, and Rob Van Dam defeated Jeff Hardy in a ladder match for the WWF Hardcore Championship. This became the final Summerslam event to be produced under the WWF banner.
The other main match on the undercard in this event was included the Steel cage match between WCW Tag Team Champions Undertaker and Kane and WWF Tag Team Champions Diamond Dallas Page and Kanyon, which Undertaker and Kane won, after Undertaker executed the Last Ride and pinned Page.
SummerSlam (2002) was the fifteenth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was presented by Foot Locker. It took place on August 25, 2002, at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. With this event, SummerSlam became the first pay-per-view to have events in the three major indoor venues in the New York metropolitan area. Madison Square Garden hosted the event in 1988, 1991, and 1998. The Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey hosted the event in 1989, 1997, and later in 2007.
The main match on the SmackDown! brand was for the WWE Undisputed Championship between The Rock and Brock Lesnar. Lesnar won the match and the championship after pinning Rock following an F-5. The main match on the Raw brand featured an Unsanctioned Street Fight between the returning Shawn Michaels and Triple H, which Michaels won after pinning Triple H by reversing Triple H's Pedigree attempt into a jackknife roll-up. There was also an interpromotional match for the Intercontinental Championship between Rob Van Dam from Raw and Chris Benoit from SmackDown!, which Van Dam won by pinfall after performing a Five-Star Frog Splash. The other matches on the undercard included The Undertaker versus Test and Kurt Angle versus Rey Mysterio.
SummerSlam (2003) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and presented by Stacker 2's YJ Stinger. It took place on August 24, 2003, at the America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. It was the 16th annual SummerSlam event and starred wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown! brands.
Nine professional wrestling matches were set on the event's supercard, a scheduling of multiple high-level matches. The first main event was an Elimination Chamber match, in which World Heavyweight Champion Triple H defeated Chris Jericho, Goldberg, Kevin Nash, Randy Orton, and Shawn Michaels to retain his championship. In the other main event, defending WWE Champion Kurt Angle defeated Brock Lesnar in a standard wrestling match. The undercard included Kane defeating Rob Van Dam in a No Holds Barred match, and Eddie Guerrero defending his United States Championship against Chris Benoit, Rhyno and Tajiri.
The event marked the second time the Elimination Chamber format was used by WWE; the first was at Survivor Series 2002. SummerSlam (2003) grossed over $715,000 ticket sales from an attendance of 16,113 and received about 415,000 pay-per-view buys, more than the following year's event. This event helped WWE increase its pay-per-view revenue by $6.2 million from the previous year.
SummerSlam (2004) was the seventeenth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was presented by Stacker 2's YJ Stinger and took place on August 15, 2004, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario and featured talent from the Raw and SmackDown! brands.
The main match on the Raw brand was Chris Benoit versus Randy Orton for the World Heavyweight Championship, which Orton won by pinfall after performing an RKO. The predominant match on the SmackDown! brand was John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) versus The Undertaker for the WWE Championship, which JBL won after Undertaker was disqualified. The featured matches on the undercard included Kurt Angle versus Eddie Guerrero and Triple H versus Eugene.
SummerSlam (2005) was the eighteenth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was presented by THQ's WWE Day of Reckoning 2 and took place on August 21, 2005, at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. featured talent from the Raw and SmackDown! brands.
The main match on the Raw brand was Hulk Hogan versus Shawn Michaels, which Hogan won by pinfall after executing a leg drop. The predominant match on the SmackDown brand was a No Holds Barred match for the World Heavyweight Championship between Batista and John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), which Batista won by pinfall after executing two Batista Bombs, with the second on the steel ring steps. Another primary match on the Raw brand was for the WWE Championship between John Cena and Chris Jericho, which Cena won by pinfall after performing an FU. The main match on the undercard featured a Ladder match for the custody of Rey Mysterio's son Dominick between Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero, which Mysterio won by retrieving the briefcase suspended above the ring.
SummerSlam (2008) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which took place on August 17, 2008, at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Presented by Fox Searchlight Pictures' Street Kings, it was the 21st annual SummerSlam event and starred wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands.
Seven professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card. The event featured a supercard, a scheduling of more than one main event. The first, featuring wrestlers from the SmackDown brand, saw The Undertaker defeat Edge in a Hell in a Cell match, a match that saw both men fight in a ring surrounded by a roofed steel cell. The other main event featured wrestlers from the Raw brand, in which Batista defeated John Cena in a standard wrestling match. Three featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard. In a standard match from SmackDown, WWE Champion Triple H defeated challenger The Great Khali to retain his title. Another was a standard match involving wrestlers the Raw brand, where World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defeated challenger John "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL) to retain his title. The ECW brand's sole contribution to the card saw Matt Hardy defeat ECW Champion Mark Henry by disqualification, as a result of WWE regulations, Hardy did not win the title as they can only be won via pinfall or submission.
SummerSlam (2009) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which took place on August 23, 2009, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California and was the first of six consecutive annual SummerSlam events to take place at the arena. It was presented by 7-Eleven. It was the twenty-second annual SummerSlam event and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. Eight matches were contested on the event's card.
The show was what is known as a supercard, which featured more than one main event match. The main events of the evening included: CM Punk defeating Jeff Hardy in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match to win the World Heavyweight Championship for a third time, Randy Orton retaining the WWE Championship against John Cena after the match was restarted multiple times, Christian retaining the ECW Championship against William Regal, and D-Generation X's Triple H and Shawn Michaels defeating The Legacy's Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase. Other matches featured on the show were WWE Intercontinental Champion Rey Mysterio versus Dolph Ziggler, Montel Vontavious Porter (MVP) against Jack Swagger, Chris Jericho and The Big Show defending the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship against Cryme Tyme (Shad Gaspard and JTG), and Kane facing The Great Khali. The event received 369,000 buys, down from the SummerSlam 2008 figure of 477,000 buys.
SummerSlam (2011) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by WWE that took place on August 14, 2011. It was the twenty-fourth annual SummerSlam event and the third consecutive SummerSlam at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. This was also the last WWE pay-per-view where Raw and Smackdown would be brands. Six matches were scheduled for the event, with a seventh was added during the show when Alberto Del Rio cashed in his "Money in the Bank" briefcase and defeated CM Punk. SummerSlam attracted a sellout crowd of 17,404 fans at Staples Center in Los Angeles, grossing more than $1 million, marking the highest grossing SummerSlam held at Staples Center. The event garnered 296,000 pay-per-view buys, down from 350,000 buys the previous year.
SummerSlam (2014) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on August 17, 2014 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. It was the twenty-seventh annual SummerSlam, and the sixth and final consecutive one held at Staples Center. This was also the first WWE pay-per-view to use the new WWE logo.
Eight professional wrestling matches were scheduled on the event's main card and one match took place on the pre-show, which was streamed on the WWE Network. The main event saw Brock Lesnar defeat John Cena to become a four-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The event had 147,000 buys (excluding WWE Network views), down from the previous year's 296,000 buys.
SummerSlam (2015) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It took place on August 23, 2015, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The twenty-eighth event under the SummerSlam chronology, this was the first since 2008 to be held outside of Los Angeles as Staples Center was the exclusive home for SummerSlam from 2009 to 2014, and the eighth SummerSlam to be held in the New York metropolitan area. The Izod Center was originally supposed to host SummerSlam, but due to its closure in April 2015, the event was moved to Barclays Center. The event was the first in the SummerSlam chronology to be four hours in length, a length previously reserved only for WrestleMania.
The event was the second night of what was billed as a WWE "triple-header" at Barclays Center, with NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn having taken place the previous night, and Raw the following night. Ten matches were contested at the event, with no pre-show. In the main event, The Undertaker defeated Brock Lesnar in controversial fashion; Lesnar put Undertaker in his Kimura lock and the timekeeper rang the bell after seeing the Undertaker supposedly indicating submission; since the referee hadn't seen a submission and never stopped the match, the match continued. The confusion allowed Undertaker to surprise Lesnar with a low blow before trapping him in the Hell's Gate submission hold, which caused Lesnar to pass out and gave Undertaker the win .