Ranking Every Summerslam Main Event Of The 2000s

The 2000s decade gave WWE some of their best matches in company history with quite a few coming at SummerSlam. Every wrestler wanted to have a big main event match at SummerSlam since it was still the second-most popular show of the entire year. The decade started with the Attitude Era and Invasion storyline still playing out.

WWE’s brand split started to make bigger changes with both Raw and SmackDown having unique rosters. The decade ended with the PG Era starting as WWE wanted to rebrand. Every SummerSlam main event of the time had a different level of success associated with it. Find out which ones stand tall or fall short. Let's check out all the SummerSlam main events of the 2000s, ranked from worst to best.

10 John Cena Vs Randy Orton (SummerSlam 2007)

John Cena and Randy Orton started their rivalry at SummerSlam 2007 for the WWE Championship. The two would have many matches throughout the years, but it always felt like something was missing from making the matches special.

SummerSlam 2007 did see them having a solid match, but the decade had all other nine main events outshining them. Cena retained to continue his title reign in front of a hostile crowd that wanted Orton to win instead.

9 The Rock Vs Booker T (SummerSlam 2001)

The Invasion storyline dominated WWE television during the summer of 2001 with WWE battling The Alliance of WCW and ECW. Booker T was the WCW Champion heading into SummerSlam when The Rock returned from Hollywood to challenge him.

The two wrestlers had a lot of similarities from the people’s champion personas to both using the same finisher under different names of The Rock Bottom and Book End. Rock won a fun match to become the WCW Champion.

8 John Cena Vs Edge (SummerSlam 2006)

The vocal disdain for John Cena by many WWE fans started to grow in 2006. Edge became the top rival to Cena at this time playing a heel that represented the opposite of everything Cena stood for. They main evented their first pre-scheduled PPV against each other at SummerSlam 2006.

Edge successfully defended the WWE Championship after Lita interfered to help him steal the victory. Both careers were better off for their feud against each other with a main event like this leading to buy rate success.

7 Hulk Hogan Vs Shawn Michaels (SummerSlam 2005)

WWE booked a dream match in the main event of SummerSlam 2005 with Hulk Hogan facing Shawn Michaels for the first time. Michaels turned heel solely for this feud and did a great job building to the attraction.

Hogan won a solid match that did feature Michaels having fun with comedically overselling the Hulkster’s moves. Michaels was reportedly upset that Hogan backed out of a rematch they agreed on, but they still had a good match with the crowd loving every second.

6 Triple H vs Goldberg vs Chris Jericho vs Shawn Michaels vs Kevin Nash vs Randy Orton (Summerslam 2003)

Goldberg joining WWE in 2003 made him the biggest part of the SummerSlam 2003 main event. Everyone expected Goldberg to win the World Heavyweight Championship here since he had yet to be pinned in WWE.

The Elimination Chamber stipulation added fun for Goldberg to destroy most of the wrestlers in entertaining fashion until it was just him and Triple H. This spectacle was ruined by the weak ending of Triple H using a sledgehammer to get the pin over Goldberg while retaining the big gold belt.

5 The Undertaker vs Edge (SummerSlam 2008)

The Undertaker and Edge had one of the most heated WWE rivalries of 2008. Their WrestleMania 24 match was great, but they moved forward with match stipulations that were associated with one of the two.

Undertaker’s wheelhouse of the Hell in a Cell match saw Edge forced to face him inside of the structure at the SummerSlam 2008 event. Both wrestlers brought their A-Game to have yet another great match against each other with Undertaker winning.

4 The Rock Vs Triple H Vs Kurt Angle (SummerSlam 2000)

The love triangle storyline between Triple H, Kurt Angle and Stephanie McMahon saw them getting involved in the WWE Championship picture against The Rock. Angle and Triple H faced off with the champ in a triple threat match to main event SummerSlam 2000.

Stephanie ended up playing a role in the match with both Triple H and Angle each wanting to impress her. Rock won the fun match since he was the only completely invested in the match since Stephanie’s presence hurt the others.

3 Randy Orton Vs Chris Benoit (SummerSlam 2004)

Randy Orton made history at SummerSlam 2004 by becoming the youngest man in WWE history to win a world championship. WWE loved the progression of Orton in the Evolution faction improving under the leadership of Triple H and Ric Flair.

Chris Benoit’s World Heavyweight Championship reign ended in shocking fashion when Orton pulled off the upset here. WWE did a good job by both making Orton a credible challenger but also making it a big surprise that he would actually win the title in the great match.

2 CM Punk Vs Jeff Hardy (SummerSlam 2009)

The rivalry between CM Punk and Jeff Hardy dominated WWE television in the summer of 2009. Punk turned heel and used his straight edge lifestyle to run down the fans and Hardy due to his addiction struggles.

The feud culminated at SummerSlam 2009 in a must-see TLC match. Hardy’s specialty saw Punk stepping up to match him in the incredible main event. Punk won the World Championship match with Hardy leaving WWE a few weeks later.

1 Brock Lesnar Vs The Rock (SummerSlam 2002)

WWE invested in Brock Lesnar as the future of the company during his rise in 2002. It only took about four months from his debut for Lesnar to win the WWE Championship from The Rock in the main event of SummerSlam.

The battle of Brock vs Rock featured them having an action-packed match with the crowd hot for every second. Lesnar defeating Rock to win the big one that early in his career cemented him as a major star for WWE’s future.

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