On Sunday night, Aug. 17 the WWE presents SummerSlam live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the main event will be Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. There have been a lot of great main events throughout the years for the WWE's second biggest event of the year, but not every closing match at the biggest show of the summer is a scorcher. We will take a look at the Top 5 worst main events in SummerSlam history.
SummerSlam 1991: Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior vs. The Triangle of Terror:
This match was nicknamed the "Match Made In Hell" to counter the "Match Made In Heaven," which was the "wedding" of Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth, and the match lived up to the hype of being made in hell at Madison Square Garden. While it was cool to see Hogan and the late Ultimate Warrior team up, the match wasn't exactly a five-star classic as the team of Sgt. Slaughter, General Adnan and Col. Mustafa (The Iron Sheik) didn't exactly live up to main event standards. The match is mostly remembered for Warrior being fired by Vince McMahon after the show for holding him up for money prior to the main event, which for those who care, was won by the babyfaces.
SummerSlam 1993: Lex Luger vs. Yokozuna for the WWE Championship:
With Hulk Hogan departed from the company, the WWE had a void to fill for an American hero and decided to ditch the promising "Narcissist" Lex Luger gimmick by turning him face on July 4 and having him be the first to be able to slam Yokozuna after coming onto the USS Intrepid via helicopter. This led to a SummerSlam match at the Palace of Auburn Hills with a stipulation that if Luger didn't beat Yokozuna, he wouldn't get a re-match. Luger laid out Yokozuna with the flying forearm, but the mammoth fell out of the ring and was counted out. Luger celebrated as though he had actually won the title, waving the American flag as balloons rained down from the ceiling, however titles don't change hands on countout and the ending was one of the worst finishes to SummerSlam ever.
SummerSlam 1989: Hulk Hogan and Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Zeus:
The WWE took Hogan and Zeus' on-screen feud in the movie No Holds Barred and insulted everyone's intelligence by turning it into a wrestling angle, leading to this tag team match at the Continental Airlines Arena in the summer of 1989 on the heels of Hogan defeating Randy Savage for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania V. Hogan and Savage did their best to help carry Beefcake and a non-wrestler in Zeus to a decent match, but it was mostly forgettable soon after Hogan hit Zeus with a leg drop and got the pin and the win for the babyfaces.
SummerSlam 1995: Diesel vs. Mabel for the WWE Championship:
For some reason, the WWE decided to have Mabel win the King of the Ring in 1995 and even despite him not getting over the company opted to give him a title match with Diesel at SummerSlam 1995. The match was brutal to watch and could go down as the worst main event in WWE history, as 1995 can very well be the darkest year in the entire run of the company. In the end, Diesel left the Pittsburgh Civic Arena that summer night with the WWE Championship as a terrible year for the WWE marched on.
SummerSlam 1994: The Undertaker vs. The Undertaker:
No, that is not a typo, the good Undertaker, managed by Paul Bearer, made his return after "dying" at the 1994 Royal Rumble to take on Ted Dibiase's charge, the evil Undertaker. Perhaps the worst part about this being the main event is that it made the Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart Steel Cage Match for the WWE Championship take a back seat. After a lackluster match in front of a crowd that was less alive than the two characters in the ring at the United Center in Chicago, Paul Bearer's Undertaker got the win, but it was just the beginning of his dealings with The Million Dollar Corporation.
Lesnar and Cena have a chance to deliver a match worthy of being a classic SummerSlam main event this year and the two better bring their best stuff to avoid ending up on this list when they hit the ring on Aug. 17 live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
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