WWE SummerSlam: 20 best non-world title matches in history

WWE has made sure to still put on solid matches at SummerSlam even when a world title isn’t on the line. Here are 20 of the best non-world title matches.

SummerSlam definitely isn’t WrestleMania, but it’s one of WWE’s biggest events where the company tends to pull out all of the stops for its fans. Every match can be important, and the wrestlers usually put on impressive matches no matter where they fall on the card.

This year’s SummerSlam should prove to be no different, with a WrestleMania-level card building up for The Biggest Party of the Summer. Every match is solid, which is to be expected when there’s so much talent to use outside of feuds for the Universal and WWE titles.

Over the years, some of the event’s best matches haven’t even had a world title on the line, and, in some cases, don’t have any gold up for grabs. Wrestlers take advantage of the big stage that SummerSlam provides, and put on a show to make sure their names are etched in SummerSlam history.

In honor of that, we have compiled the 20 best non-world title matches that SummerSlam has put on in its 29 previous years as an event. And don’t worry, Shawn Michaels against Hulk Hogan from SummerSlam 2005 won’t be appearing anywhere on this list.

20. Team WWE vs. Team Nexus, SummerSlam 2010

Let’s get the laughing out of the way now, but this battle between Team WWE and the rampaging Nexus back in the summer of 2010 was a pretty solid feud, and the blowoff worked some magic.

Back in 2010, the Nexus was running wild on the entire WWE roster, with Wade Barrett leading the young but talented group of NXT stars before the brand became what it is today. John Cena became a massive target for the group, and turned to some extreme measures to try and combat the barrage.

Cena brought together a huge team of some of the best of the best that WWE had to offer at the time, and compiled a random roster of Bret Hart (of all people), Edge, Chris Jericho, John Morrison, R-Truth and The Great Khali to take down the Nexus. To counter that, the Nexus took out Khali, leaving Team WWE without one of its members heading into the year.

The match went on a solid 40 minutes with 7-on-7 elimination rules, and saw the re-debut of Daniel Bryan, who joined forces with Team WWE to replace Khali. The match featured pretty much everything, between a Hart appearance in the ring, Bryan putting on a show and even the usual Super-Cena dramatics that WWE fans have been accustomed to for over 10 years.

In the end, Cena pulled off a big comeback against Barrett and Justin Gabriel, burying most of the momentum that the group had accumulated over the previous two months. However, the main event at that year’s SummerSlam was worth the build up, and was one of the bigger matches in SummerSlam’s 23-year history at that point.