SummerSlam

Lore & Background

The inaugural SummerSlam took place on August 29, 1988, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The 1992 event was the company's first major PPV to take place outside of North America with it being held at the original Wembley Stadium in London, England; it had a reported attendance of 80,355, which as of April 2023, WWE considers this to be their seventh largest live gate in history. From 2009 to 2014, SummerSlam was held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California and from 2015 to 2018, the event took place at the Barclays Center in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Beginning with the 2021 event, SummerSlam has been held in National Football League stadiums across the United States. From its inception up through that 2021 event, SummerSlam was held annually in August. The 2022 event marked the first and thus far only time that the event was not held in August, as it was instead held in July, with SummerSlam returning to August with the 2023 edition. Beginning with the 2025 event, SummerSlam is now hosted as a double-night feature, a format originally exclusive to WrestleMania (beginning with WrestleMania 36 in 2020). This change was originally slated for the 2026 installment but eventually moved up by a year following the initial announcement.

In Their Own Story

The arena lights dimmed as the crowd's roar reached a fever pitch, echoing off the rafters of a packed stadium under the summer night sky. The air was thick with anticipation, smelling of popcorn and sweat, as pyrotechnics exploded overhead to announce the main event. Two rivals stood in opposite corners, eyes locked, knowing that this moment defined their legacies forever.

Reader's Guide

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, that year's SummerSlam was WWE's first PPV and livestreaming event produced from their bio-secure bubble, the WWE ThunderDome. After the promotion resumed live touring with fans in July 2021, that year's SummerSlam was promoted as the "biggest event of 2021" due to WrestleMania 37 having to be held at a reduced venue capacity. The 2021 SummerSlam in turn became the highest-grossing SummerSlam event of all time until that record was broken with the 2023 event, which also became the highest-grossing non-WrestleMania event for WWE.

Did You Know?

• The inaugural SummerSlam took place on August 29, 1988, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
• The 1992 SummerSlam was the company's first major PPV to take place outside of North America, held at the original Wembley Stadium in London, England.
• The 2022 event was the first and thus far only SummerSlam not held in August; it took place in July.
• Beginning with the 2025 event, SummerSlam expanded to a two-night format, originally slated for 2026 but moved up by a year.
• The 2023 SummerSlam became the highest-grossing non-WrestleMania event in WWE history.