WWE SummerSlam’s Greatest Ever Performers

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15. Mick Foley

Record: 3 wins, 2 losses, 2 Title Matches, 1 Main Event

Memorable Moment: Defeating the Undertaker in 1996

Looking at Mick Foley’s statistics for SummerSlam, at first glance one would probably see it as very good, but not exactly spectacular. As he joined WWE relatively late in his career, Foley would only get to experience the summer spectacular four times as part of the main roster, and a one-off during a brief return in 2006. But, like the majority of his career, he would leave plenty of blood, sweat and bruised body parts every time he featured on this card, would compete against legendary competition, and more times than not come out smiling.

As the deranged and unhinged Mankind, he made his debut in 1996 against one of his most fearsome rivals, The Undertaker. I firmly believe that neither would have made as lasting an impact on WWE without their series of matches against one another, with their war at SummerSlam this year one of the most emphatic. It began in the arena’s boiler room, with the brutal brawl spreading throughout backstage into the arena. This didn’t make for the most technically brilliant encounter, but its uniqueness, violence and shock conclusion of Paul Bearer turning his back on the Deadman and siding with Mankind has meant it’s lasted long in the memory.

Mankind rode this success, one of the first time Undertaker had appeared truly vulnerable, to a successful time at SummerSlams going forward. He defeated Hunter Hearst Helmsley in 1997 inside a steel cage, before falling to the New Age Outlaws the following year when he was left to defend the Tag Team Championships on his own. His biggest victory however came in the main event of the 1999 event, as Mankind shocked the world to become the WWE Champion for the third time, a reign that would prove distinctly brief. He made one final return in 2006 in a typically bloody conflict with fellow veteran Ric Flair, where the Nature Boy ended up victorious.

Next: CM Punk