WWE SummerSlam 2017: Worst Matches in History of Biggest Party of the Summer

Although WWE SummerSlam 2017 doesn't take place until August 20, the seeds are already being planted for the pay-per-view. From what has been teased on Raw in recent weeks, the show has the potential to be a blockbuster, and that isn't even taking into consideration what SmackDown Live will bring to the table.

SummerSlam is WWE's second-biggest event of the year and has been since its inception in 1988. The summer spectacle has featured its fair share of sensational cards over the past 30 years, but not every installment has been perfect from top to bottom.

There have been more critically acclaimed SummerSlam matches than those that fell flat, but the matches that have lived on in infamy are terrible. Whether it was due to a lack of a compelling story or simply failing to meet the lofty expectations set by fans, some bouts did not deserve to take place on a stage as grand as SummerSlam.

Nothing from the past decade or so has been atrocious, but the same cannot be said for the early installments of the event. SummerSlam hosted a slew of stinkers throughout the 1990s and early 2000s that would be better off forgotten but will unfortunately instead be etched into fans' minds forever.

Here's hoping nothing on this year's SummerSlam card comes close to being as bad as the following flops, which are the worst matches in the history of The Biggest Party of the Summer.

Diesel vs. King Mabel (1995)

Credit: WWE.com

Aside from the Intercontinental Championship ladder match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon, SummerSlam 1995 featured a pretty poor card. It didn't help that Diesel and King Mabel headlined the show for the WWE Championship over Michaels and Ramon, who naturally stole the show.

Diesel reigned as WWE champion for the better part of 1995 yet failed to bring excitement to the product. Not many of his matches on top were worthy of closing out pay-per-views. Nor was he captivating or remotely exciting as a babyface.

The worst match he ever contested as champion came at SummerSlam 1995, when he did battle with King Mabel, another individual who received an aggressive push when he shouldn't have. Following this atrocity of a bout, it wasn't difficult to see why he was no longer considered a future main event player.

Seeing two behemoths beat the daylights out of each other can be entertaining from time to time, but Diesel and Mabel lacked chemistry. Lex Luger's interference was meant to save this train wreck from becoming a total disaster, but it only further complicated matters.

Diesel retaining his title wasn't what angered fans; it was the idea they wasted their money on such a horrible pay-per-view main event.

The Kat vs. Terri Runnels (2000)

Credit: WWE.com

Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks contested a classic for the Raw Women's Championship at SummerSlam 2016. However, don't expect to see anything nearly as good from the women while watching SummerSlam shows from the early 2000s.

The women's division was virtually nonexistent at that time, and when it was around, it was treated like a joke. The Kat and Terri Runnels may have been over with the audience, but their in-ring abilities left a lot to be desired.

Worse yet, their encounter at SummerSlam 2000 was never meant to be taken seriously, hence they competed under Stinkface rules. In this type of match, the only way to win was for one of the women to perform a Stinkface (Rikishi's old signature move) on their opponent.

One could argue the match doesn't deserve a spot on this list because of its brevity, but the damage had been done. Those three minutes might as well have been an hour because they somehow managed to turn something so simple into a nightmare.

The next time you heavily criticize the booking of today's women in WWE, look back to this bout and appreciate how far women's wrestling has come.

The Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez (1993)

Credit: WWE.com

It's almost unbelievable to think that The Undertaker spent the better part of 1993 feuding with Giant Gonzalez, who had no business being a part of WWE in the first place. The company attempted to make a star out of him by placing him in a WrestleMania program with Taker, but his awful outings quickly put an end to his WWE tenure.

Prior to his departure, he and Undertaker had one more match against each other, at SummerSlam 1993, which was contested under Rest in Peace rules (otherwise known as a No Disqualification match). To the surprise of no one, it was every bit as bad as their encounter at WrestleMania IX.

To make matters worse, WWE never bothered to explain what the rules of the contest prior to the pay-per-view. Once it was revealed that Rest in Peace merely meant disqualifications and count-outs wouldn't be in play, fans were left disappointed.

There was virtually nothing redeeming about this match other than how graceful Undertaker's flying clothesline was that put Gonzalez away. Although it was likely physically impossible for The Phenom to deliver a Tombstone to his opponent, a clothesline ending the match was pretty lame.

Undertaker had a stretch of bad matches in the early 1990s, but this was an all-new type of terrible. Thankfully, Gonzalez left WWE shortly thereafter.

The Great Khali vs. Batista (2007)

Credit: WWE.com

Say what you will about Jinder Mahal being an odd fit as WWE champion, but he might as well be Bruno Sammartino compared to The Great Khali, who held the company's top title for a number of months in the latter half of 2007.

It was evident that putting the World Heavyweight Championship on Khali was meant to boost WWE in India at the time, but that didn't make the decision any better. His run as champion produced a handful of bad bouts, but few were worse than his encounter with Batista at that year's SummerSlam event.

Batista had been chasing the gold for months—first in his feud with The Undertaker and then against Edge. He wasn't able to secure the strap on either occasion, and Khali wasn't going to be an easy obstacle to overcome, either.

Most world title matches lasting six minutes would be seen as criminal, but it might have been for the best that this bout was kept short (and not so sweet). Khali and Batista had little chemistry as opponents, and almost every minute of this was painful to watch.

When The Punjabi Nightmare struggled to beat Batista, he got himself intentionally disqualified by hitting his adversary with a chair, retaining his title in the process. That put a merciful end to the one of the least exciting world title matches in SummerSlam history.

The Oddities vs. Kaientai (1998)

Credit: WWE.com

Although the Attitude Era was known for its memorable moments and exhilarating unpredictability, some of the in-ring action wasn't quite up to par. There were matches during that period that were downright deplorable and had no place on a pay-per-view.

The Oddities vs. Kaientai was one of those matches. The rest of the SummerSlam 1998 card was rather stacked, with Stone Cold Steve Austin defending the WWE Championship against The Undertaker and Triple H taking on The Rock for the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match.

Unfortunately, the event is also remembered for its less than stellar undercard, including the train wreck that was the aforementioned handicap match. Although the Japanese stable consisted of several talented athletes, they were reduced to being a punchline throughout their time together in WWE.

The Oddities, on the other hand, were fun as fan favorites, but the entertainment stopped at their entrance. Once the bell rang for their matches, you never knew exactly what you were going to get, but whatever it was, it was guaranteed to be dreadful.

Granted, this was meant to be comic relief, but at 10 minutes, it lasted a lot longer than it needed to and hindered the overall show in the process.

Eric Bischoff vs. Shane McMahon (2003)

Credit: WWE.com

If it wasn't already apparent, Shane McMahon is not a trained professional wrestler. However, he almost gets a pass because of how thrilling his matches tend to be, but that's typically because he's in the ring with a fellow incredible athlete or because the circumstances are just right.

Neither of those things was the case at SummerSlam 2003, especially considering his opponent was none other than Eric Bischoff. This happened right in the middle of Bischoff's lengthy rivalry with Stone Cold Steve Austin, who was also running Raw at the time.

Since Stone Cold couldn't compete, he had Shane serve as his surrogate, and since Bischoff was not an active wrestler, this match predictably featured a ton of shenanigans, with Jonathan Coachman doing most of the former WCW official's dirty work.

Shane put forth a commendable effort and did all he could to make this serviceable, but it was to no avail. It was only after he landed a flying elbow on Bischoff on the commentary table at ringside that he was able to emerge victorious.

If nothing else, fans were treated to seeing a rare Stone Cold Stunner from the Texas Rattlesnake, but that aside, this was a waste of time that took a spot away from more deserving members of the roster.

The Undertaker vs. The Undertaker (1994)

Credit: WWE.com

The Undertaker contested countless classics at WrestleMania over the course of his legendary career, but he didn't produce quite as many gems at SummerSlam. In fact, some of his bouts at The Biggest Party of the Summer were among his worst, and his encounter with his impostor at SummerSlam 1994 led the list.

One year removed from his awful outing against Giant Gonzalez at SummerSlam 1993, Undertaker needed to redeem himself with a great match (or at least something somewhat passable) at the subsequent installment. Not only was his match with Under-faker also brutal, but it was arguably way worse.

Moreover, it came after a near-year-long buildup with Undertaker's absence from programming being "investigated" since January's Royal Rumble. Fans were looking forward to his clash with the man who had been posing as him for months, but the match could not have been a bigger disappointment.

As a result of how bad the bout was, the angle was dropped post-SummerSlam and never acknowledged again. Brian Lee, who portrayed The Undertaker's impostor, did a decent job of playing The Deadman, but the crowd couldn't have cared less for the abomination they were watching.

To think the Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart WWE Championship Steel Cage match had to play second fiddle to this.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is an Endicott College alumnus and aspiring journalist. Visit his website, Next Era Wrestling, and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.