SummerSlam has been held annually in WWE since 1988. The world-famous wrestling event is older than Raw, ECW, and of course Austin Theory. SummerSlam has changed in many ways since its inaugural show at Madison Square Garden, for starters it is a “premium live event” and not a pay-per-view in 2022.
Despite the numerous ways that SummerSlam has evolved with WWE (and the world at large), there are many aspects of its first show that are still relevant 36 years later. This list examines 5 ways SummerSlam has changed and 5 ways it’s surprisingly still the same.
10 Same: Surprise opponents
Since SummerSlam is often heralded as the second biggest event in wrestling (after WrestleMania), there’s always a lot of star power at the event in any given year. One way to keep fans on their toes is to surprise opponents. Today, rumors will flood social media and spoilers are hard to avoid, but this hasn’t stopped surprised opponents from popping up.
In 2021, Becky Lynch stunned Bianca Belair and defeated the Raw Women’s Champion in 27 seconds. A similar moment happened at the first SummerSlam when The Ultimate Warrior stunned Honky Tonk Man and crushed him, winning the Intercontinental Championship.
9 Different: Grand Tickets
Although WrestleMania will always be the “Super Bowl” of WWE, the big tickets have become a big part of what makes SummerSlam an incredible event. In 2021, Edge brought back his old track “Brood”. In 2009, D-Generation X introduced a “DX tank”.
Tickets are mostly an afterthought at the original SummerSlam show. They weren’t much different than any other Lucha Libre show. This is one of the changes fans welcome, as SummerSlam tickets are always a fun surprise.
8 Same: Wacky SummerSlam Wrestling Outfits
In 1988, “Ravishing” Rick Rude appeared in an outfit that his opponent, Junkyard Dog, wore in his tights. His outfit was definitely one of the most eccentric outfits of the night, but that trend never ended after the 1988 event. Since then, many stars have donned interesting outfits before stepping into the ring.
Seth Rollins, for example, has worn a Rey Mysterio-inspired outfit and a Michael Jackson jacket-inspired outfit specifically for SummerSlam in recent years.
7 Different: The Tag Team Main Event Is Weird
Both the first and second SummerSlam shows featured tag team matches in the main event. Tag Team main events are not common in live premium events today. WWE hasn’t had a SummerSlam tag team main event in over a decade.
The focus, of late, is almost exclusively on crowning a WWE World Champion, with tag team matches being reserved for the mid and lower card.
6 Same: Ten Match Card
The first SummerSlam event featured 10 televised matches. In 2021, SummerSlam also featured ten televised matches.
Even though the length of the matches and the show on the show change over time, the undercard usually stays close to ten games.
5 Different: the intercontinental title is almost never defended
The Intercontinental Championship was once one of the most prestigious belts in WWE. To say that it “has lost some shine” would be to say it lightly. Not only did the title change hands at the first SummerSlam, it was defended every year for nearly the first decade of the show.
As of 2022, the IC title has not been defended at SummerSlam since 2018. The belt even missed WrestleMania in 2022 entirely. Time will tell what the IC title will look like during this era, but it’s not even close to the level of prestige it had when Warrior won the title at SummerSlam in 1988.
4 Same: Big Time returns to the ring
Hulk Hogan’s return after three months away from WWE was a huge draw for the inaugural SummerSlam event. As recently as last year, John Cena returned to WWE for his first televised match in over a year against Roman Reigns.
Thanks to Hogan, SummerSlam will always be full of surprises and he remains a big draw of the event.
3 Different: The SummerSlam Women’s Division
The women’s division might be one of the biggest differences between SummerSlam in 1988 and SummerSlam in recent years. The WWE women’s division is an absolute draw for the event. Basically, there was no women’s division in WWE in 1988 and there was not a single women’s match in the inaugural event.
Since 2013, women’s championship matches have not only become common, but have also become some of the best matches of the night year after year.
two Same: SummerSlam still prepares WrestleMania
The purpose of bringing The Mega Powers (Hogan and Randy Savage) together at the first SummerSlam was to set up their eventual match at WrestleMania. SummerSlam was the television tag team debut for Hogan and Savage. The two parted ways and would eventually compete in the main event of WrestleMania 5 for the WWE title, but their story began at SummerSlam.
SummerSlam has also been the first step towards WrestleMania in recent years. In 2021, Lesnar returned to WWE after Reigns defeated John Cena to retain the WWE Universal Championship, setting up an eventual main event between the two at WrestleMania 38.
1 Different: the show is much longer now
With an incredible running time of over FOUR hours in 2021, SummerSlam has become a much longer affair despite having 10 matches as the inaugural event. As WWE moved to the Peacock streaming platform, the goal seems to be to increase “streaming time” rather than “number of people streaming.”
WWE main events often feel bloated and this is one of the biggest differences fans are complaining about. Bringing back the original’s 2 1/2 hour runtime is something no fan would complain about.