For nearly three decades, WWE SummerSlam has been a marquee annual event that is now rich in history and one of the most highly-anticipated events on the calendar.
Best SummerSlam Moments From 1988-92
It has been revealed that Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker will headline this year's event on Aug. 23 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in a rematch of their epic clash at WrestleMania XXX.
The Beast vs. The Deadman will undoubtedly be yet another great match etched in SummerSlam lore as the WWE's annual summer spectacle has provided the backdrop to some of the greatest moments in the history of sports entertainment.
Greatest SummerSlam Moments From 1993-97
We've reached Part 3 of our series where we take a look back at the greatest moment from every SummerSlam and rank them.
For this edition, we've combed through SummerSlams 1998-2002 and picked the best moment from each edition before ranking each moment up against each other.
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Here are our five best moments from each edition:
5) The Whole F'n Show, SummerSlam 2001
Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy clashed in an epic Ladder Match for the Hardcore Championship at SummerSlam live from the Compaq Center in San Jose, Calif. on Aug. 19, 2001.
Both men pulled out all the stops in a death-defying matchup, but in the end it was Alliance representative RVD, barely able to move from all the punishment, unhooking the Hardcore Championship to get his first taste of gold in the WWE at the end of an awesome match.
4) Have a Nice Day, For All Mankind, SummerSlam 1999
In another stunning SummerSlam moment, Mrs. Foley's baby boy won the richest prize in the game at The Biggest Party of the Summer live from the Target Center in Minneapolis on Aug. 22, 1999.
Mick Foley (working as Mankind) battled "Stone Cold" Steve Austin and Triple H in a Triple Threat Match with wrestler-turned-politician and Minnesota native Jesse "The Body" Ventura serving as special guest referee.
After disrupting a count on Triple H and another on Austin, Mankind hit the Texas Rattlesnake with a double-arm DDT and pinned him for the count of three, resulting in a huge moment and a big surprise to end SummerSlam as he captured the WWE Championship for the third and final time.
The reign was short-lived, however, as Triple H won the gold the next night on RAW.
3) A Stone Cold Summer, SummerSlam 1998
At the height of one of the most iconic eras in WWE history, two of the biggest names in the industry clashed at The World's Most Famous Arena when Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker went head-to-head at Madison Square Garden in New York City during the Attitude Era.
Austin and 'Taker knocked each other from pillar to post in the main event of a classic event on Aug. 30, 1998.
In the end, after a memorable melee, The Texas Rattlesnake stood tall after hitting his infamous Stone Cold Stunner to pin The Deadman and retain his championship.
Honorable Mention: Triple H vs. The Rock in a Ladder Match.
2) Tables, Ladders and Chairs...Oh My!, SummerSlam 2000
The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & Devon), The Hardy Boyz (Matt & Jeff Hardy) and Edge & Christian were changing the landscape of tag team wrestling in 2000, but after their memorable Triangle Ladder Match at WrestleMania 2000, they upped the ante at SummerSlam.
The event took place at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Raleigh, N.C. on Aug. 27, 2000.
The trio of teams each took their specialty, tables for the Dudley's, ladders for the Hardy's and chairs for Edge and Christian, and combined them all into one terrific match, TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs.
The first ever TLC encounter was epic as all six men put their bodies on the line with pulse-pounding spots and non-stop action using all three of these different weapons.
When the bell sounded for the final time and the bodies piled up, Edge and Christian stood tall and won the war for the WWE Tag Team Championships. The success of the first TLC match led to many more and it even received its own pay-per-view years later.
1) The Beast Is Born, SummerSlam 2002
Brock Lesnar was billed as The Next Big Thing upon his arrival to the WWE in 2002, but he quickly morphed into The Beast at SummerSlam live from the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island on Aug. 25, 2002.
Lesnar battled The Rock for the Undisputed Championship in a pass-the-torch moment that helped cement Lesnar in WWE lore as a force to be reckoned with.
After winning the King of the Ring to earn his shot, the future UFC star battled the soon-to-be movie star in a great back-and-forth bout for sports entertainment's richest prize.
In the end, Lesnar hit a thunderous F-5 and The People's Champion was champion no more as Lesnar earned his first ever World Championship.
Honorable Mention: The return of HBK.
BONUS RANKING
Now that we've picked the best moments out of each one of these five events, here is our ranking of each of the five SummerSlam events:
1) SummerSlam 2002: Lesnar's big moment, Shawn Michaels returning to defeat Triple H and a great card up-and-down makes this one of the greatest events of all-time. This is the best out of these five events.
2) SummerSlam 1998: Taking place at the height of the Attitude Era, the Austin-Taker bout and the Triple H-The Rock Ladder Match make this one an instant classic. Fairly strong undercard as well.
3) SummerSlam 2001: Though it took place during the much-maligned Invasion angle, this is a solid card with The Rock dropping Booker T for the WCW Championship, Kurt Angle and Stone Cold clashing over the WWE Championship, the great Ladder Match and a nice Edge vs. Lance Storm opener.
4) SummerSlam 2000: The TLC bout is the highlight of this one, but there was also a great triple threat between The Rock-Kurt Angle-Triple H and Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho in a 2-out-fo-3 falls match. There were plenty of struggles with this event as well, most notable The Kat vs. Terri in a Stinkface Match.
5) SummerSlam 1999: Foley's big moment was great, but didn't mean much in the long run (welcome to the Attitude Era) while the undercard struggled and Billy Gunn's push once again flopped.
Join us next time when we look back at the greatest moments from SummerSlams 2003-07.
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