5 unforgettable WWE SummerSlam main event conclusions

It is less than a week before SummerSlam marks its 32nd year when it goes to Toronto, Canada. With nine scheduled matches already on the card, the WWE Universe will already be looking forward to a number of high-quality matches with Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins’ ongoing feud most likely being the main event of what promises to be another memorable night.

Throughout the years, SummerSlam has given us many classic matches that have gone down as some of the best the WWE Universe has ever seen. Some classic examples include Bret Hart and Owen Hart in a Steel Cage match in 1994, Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels in a Ladder match in 1995, and the first-ever Tables, Ladders and Chairs match being contested at SummerSlam 2000.

Whilst these are just a few of a plethora of high-quality matches that have featured at SummerSlam over the years, another thing that is noteworthy at SummerSlam is how the events usually conclude.

Some of the conclusions of SummerSlam pay-per-view events have been solid, some of them below average, but a handful of them have been simply unforgettable.

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#5 CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy – Tables, Ladders and Chairs Match (Summerslam 2009)

When CM Punk cashed in his Money in the Bank Contract against Edge back in 2008, the WWE Universe completely erupted. It was an element of karma for Edge after cashing his contract against an unsuspecting John Cena in 2006 and then The Undertaker the following year.

However, when CM Punk cashed it against Jeff Hardy, who had won a brutal ladder match at Extreme Rules, it left a sour taste to many Jeff Hardy fans who had just captured his second premier Championship. The two feuded for the next few months after which Hardy managed to win back the World Heavyweight Championship.

This culminated in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match at SummerSlam between the two. Taking into account CM Punk had won the last two Money in the Bank Ladder matches, whilst Jeff Hardy was one of the original participants in the first TLC match nine years earlier, this match was going to be a treat for all WWE fans.

Some of the highlights in this brutal match included Punk delivering a superplex to Hardy onto a ladder, Hardy throwing Punk out of the ring onto a table and Hardy’s Swanton Bomb off a high ladder onto the announcement table.

This match ended up becoming Hardy’s penultimate match in the WWE before he went back to TNA, and whilst his seven-and-a-half-year absence was felt by the WWE, he left one more historical match to savor.

However, the WWE Universe witnessed one more twist to the night, because even though CM Punk managed to re-capture the World Heavyweight Championship, the night concluded when Undertaker was lying where Jeff Hardy was and gave CM Punk a chokeslam.

As far as high adrenaline action goes, this match was a visual treat to watch. High spots were sprinkled throughout the encounter and this will indeed go down as one of the most brutal and exciting fixtures in SummerSlam history.

#4 British Bulldog vs. Bret Hart (SummerSlam 1992)

The British Bulldog captured his first and only Intercontinental Championship in England.

The 1992 edition of SummerSlam was the first (and to date only) pay-per-view held outside out of North America, where the main event pitted Bret Hart against The British Bulldog for the Intercontinental Championship. Even though the Heavyweight Championship was also contested at the pay-per-view between The Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage, the primary Championship was most likely on the undercard to a secondary Championship purely based on the fact that The British Bulldog was competing in his home country.

The two were brothers-in-law in real life, which was integrated into the storyline of them having family problems, with some of Bret’s brothers on opposite sides with Diana Hart being torn between her husband, The British Bulldog and her brother Bret Hart.

This match was very evenly fought throughout the match with both wrestlers using each other’s signature moves against each other to get an important victory. Hart’s technical wrestling wore the British Bulldog down towards the end of the match, but British Bulldog’s converting Hart’s sunset flip secured his first and only Intercontinental Championship in his decorated career in the WWF.

After the match, the British Bulldog tried to shake Hart’s hand, which was originally refused but ended up changing his mind and also hugging his sister, Diana.

The British Bulldog's victory also marked the first-ever British champion to capture the Intercontinental Championship and the fact that he won it in his home country made one of the loudest and most unforgettable conclusions to SummerSlam’s illustrious history.

As far as family feuds go, this one takes the cake for how emotionally charged it was.

#3 The Undertaker Vs. Edge – Hell in a Cell Match (SummerSlam 2008)

Undertaker delivering a Tombstone piledrive to Edge.

Prior to SummerSlam 2008, these two wrestlers had an on-off feud for over 15 months, which all started when Edge cashed in his Money in the Bank contract against The Undertaker. Six months later, Edge attacked The Undertaker again, costing him the World Heavyweight Championship. Despite The Undertaker managing to win the World Heavyweight Championship off Edge four months later at WrestleMania XXIV, it appeared the Ultimate Opportunist had the last laugh when he won a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match, forcing the Deadman to leave the WWE.

After cheating on his fiance (and also SmackDown general manager) Vickie Guerrero, Edge’s nightmares came flooding back when Guerrero decided to punish him by reinstating The Undertaker and making them fight each other in a Hell in a Cell match. Taking into consideration that The Undertaker had fought in seven previous Hell in a Cell matches, whilst Edge hadn’t fought in any, the match on the surface seemed like it would be one-sided.

However, Edge spearing Undertaker out of the cell and also onto an announce table proved that his sadistic persona more than made up for his lack of experience in this match. In the end, after a brutal match, a combination of a con-chair-to and a Tombstone Piledriver was enough to beat Edge.

But, as The Undertaker was leaving the ring, he still saw Edge moving, which angered the Deadman who then came back into the ring and chokeslammed Edge off a ladder through the ring and the canvas. Flames then surrounded the canvas where Edge was, finally ending the feud between the two juggernauts and giving the WWE a memorable conclusion at SummerSlam.

The Hell in a Cell match has been one of The Undertakers' favorite yards. Many WWE legends have faced the wrath of the Deadman inside the steel structure and Edge was dished out a similar treatment.

The concluding angle of the match where the Undertaker made his trademark pose accompanied by purple lights as Edge's body was half way through the ring, makes for an eerie view.

#2 Brock Lesnar vs. Braun Strowman vs. Roman Reigns vs. Samoa Joe (SummerSlam 2017)

Lesnar's victory confirmed he was going to stay in the WWE.

When Kurt Angle had to decide who was going to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam 2017, there were a number of wrestlers who made a worthy contender against the Beast Incarnate. However, after struggling to make a decision, Angle ended up choosing three opponents, Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe to face Brock Lesnar in a fatal four-way match for the Universal Championship. If you take into account that all four of these wrestlers are as destructive as they come, it already looked that this main event was going to be an eventful one.

In the first ten minutes, the WWE Universe witnessed Reigns spearing Lesnar through a barricade, Strowman throwing a swivel chair at Samoa Joe’s head, before putting Lesnar through two announce tables and then burying a third one on top of him. It wasn’t long after this match started before the WWE Universe showed their acknowledgement with ‘This is Awesome’ chants.

Prior to the match, Paul Heyman vowed that if Lesnar didn’t walk away as Champion, he would leave the WWE. However, Strowman’s destruction made this a real possibility as Brock Lesnar was stretchered out of the ring but rejoined after refusing to lose his Universal Championship without a fight.

In the end, after 20 plus minutes of sheer brutality, Lesnar shocked the WWE Universe as he managed to survive the mammoth challenge with an F5 to Reigns and left the WWE a notable conclusion in SummerSlam history, as it was confirmed that Lesnar was here to stay in the WWE.

#1 Daniel Bryan Vs. John Cena (SummerSlam 2013)

Triple H attacked Daniel Bryan to gift Randy Orton's the WWE Championship with his Money in the Bank contract.

Unlike most matches in the WWE, the main event of SummerSlam 2013 was decided when Raw General Manager Brad Maddox said that John Cena could decide whoever his opponent would be at the Biggest Party of the Summer. Cena picked Daniel Bryan, to which Triple H eventually inserted himself as the special guest referee. The whole build-up to this match actually had very little physical confrontation between the two, but it didn’t stop what would become a SummerSlam classic.

On the night, the Staples Center was very partisan in Bryan’s favor throughout the entire match, with early chants of ‘You can’t wrestle’ directed at Cena. But as the match unraveled, those chants turned into "This is awesome."

This match was wrestling at its purest, which involved many near falls and near tap outs. At one stage, the match was so emotional that the two wrestlers started slapping each other, with the WWE Universe hanging on every moment.

It would take nearly 30 minutes of wrestling and a running knee before Bryan finally captured his first WWE Championship. The night didn’t end there as Randy Orton appeared with his Money in the Bank contract. However, Bryan didn’t appear to be phased in, and Orton appeared to have second thoughts about cashing in but when Triple H then attacked an unsuspecting Bryan, Orton’s Money in the Bank cash-in became a certainty.

Even though Daniel Bryan’s first WWE Championship victory proved to be bittersweet, as Orton walked away as Champion the same night, this match was of a very high quality, and eventually delivered arguably one of the most unforgettable conclusions in SummerSlam’s 30 plus year history.