WWE: Ranking Every PPV from 2016

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6. SummerSlam

WWE has a bad habit of not delivering with their Big Four PPVs lately. We already know WrestleMania was a flop. And while SummerSlam largely fell short of expectations, it had enough moments and was big enough of an event that it still comes in at no. 6 in our rankings.

Let’s start with the positives. Finn Balor completed his meteoric rise to the top of WWE when he defeated Seth Rollins for the vacant Universal Championship. Although he would unfortunately have to relinquish the championship just a day later thanks to a torn labrum, the match itself was fantastic, aside from the crowd’s incessant focus on the appearance of the title belt itself.

SummerSlam also saw the surprise return of Nikki Bella, who replaced the recently suspended Eva Marie in the six-woman tag team match. It was great to finally see the return of one of the most important figures in the women’s division over the last several years.

And then we have some negatives. One of the most glaring issues was the main event which simply didn’t deliver, that being Brock Lesnar vs Randy Orton. Lesnar legitimately busting open Orton and concussing him in the process created plenty of buzz, but for the fans watching it was just weird and unsatisfying.

There was also Roman Reigns vs Rusev, which for some reason just didn’t actually occur. It was supposed to be a match for the U.S. title, but it never started because they wouldn’t stop brawling before the bell rang. No-contests happen all the time, but this one was on a PPV and just felt awkward.

Overall, SummerSlam was not a bad show. It fell short of what many would expect out of a Big Four PPV, but again, this list isn’t about how the PPVs performed as it relates to expectations. And at the end of the day, it was still pretty good by regular PPV standards.