Numbers Don't Lie: Why WWE SummerSlam, Not WrestleMania, Is Best PPV for Fans

There is no event more revered in wrestling than WrestleMania. Even those who never want to work for WWE full time would likely be happy to compete just once on the Grandest Stage of Them All. It is the Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup, Super Bowl and Wimbledon of professional wrestling.

While WWE continues to make events bigger to try to match the mystique of the Show of Shows, not even the promotion's No. 2 event of the year can match up. No one brings up the honor of competing at The Biggest Party of the summer, SummerSlam.

Despite this legacy divide, there are many reasons to be more excited for SummerSlam than WrestleMania. While the latter may be flashier, its quality has rarely, if ever, lived up to expectations. SummerSlam, though, has often overdelivered in comparison.

In fact, it would not be unfair to claim that WWE's summer special event is a better yearly experience than The Showcase of the Immortals, especially for longtime fans. 

What constitutes a greater event? How do you quantify a successful show? One clear indicator is match quality. WWE events are, first and foremost, wrestling showcases.

Over the years, both WrestleMania and SummerSlam have had great matches. How could anyone forget "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. Bret Hart at WrestleMania 13 or Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H at SummerSlam 2002? However, singular matches do not define an event.

While 'Mania may be best known for its absolute classics, SummerSlam has shown more consistent success in creating complete wrestling experiences, backed up by a variety of statistics.

Credit: WWE.com

Just How Much Wrestling Is There?

Earlier this year, B/R analyzed just how much actual wrestling is on a WrestleMania card. The total came out to an average of 48.3 percent, or just under two hours of a four-hour show, with the percentage dropping to as low as 35.5 percent in the past four years.

While SummerSlam has also begun to stretch its length, the show still has a solid 54.8 percent of wrestling on the card, with the lowest in the past four years still 50 percent.

More than an extra hour on average in total length, WrestleMania only contains 20 more minutes of wrestling than SummerSlam. Both huge events are known for impressive entrances and special guests, but nearly every year, SummerSlam has given more time to the talent to perform.

Kevin Berge

The graph above shows the growing disparity over time between the two events; SummerSlam has contained a higher percentage of wrestling every year since 1998. Even if 'Mania has technically had more minutes of in-ring action over the past few years, it has done so over a much longer show.

The stats show that SummerSlam puts more focus on the in-ring performances, which should be the primary focus of any wrestling event. However, time alone is not enough to constitute quality.

The Quality vs. Quantity Argument

While it is easy to just assume more wrestling is better, the quality of the wrestling on display is also a crucial detail. However, quantifying how good wrestling matches are is not easy. Few things in wrestling are more subjective than match quality.

Therefore, some sacrifices have to be made. The only largely accepted rating for match quality is the Wrestling Observer Newsletter's star ratings.

Even if this is far from a perfect quantification of data, it is the easiest and most generally acceptable rating system. Wrestling Observer Newsletter publisher Dave Meltzer scores matches on a star scale from minus-five to plus-five (with some recent exceptions breaking the scale), with anything below two stars not up to par for TV match standards.

Collecting every star rating for every match at both WrestleMania and SummerSlam, the difference in rating is not staggering. WrestleMania has, on average, produced matches at 2.09 stars, while SummerSlam has produced 2.27-star matches.

However, given the total number of matches over the history of both events, such a gap in quality is still notable. In recent years, both have clearly risen in Meltzer's ratings, passing the three-star mark in both 2014 and 2015.

Kevin Berge

Above is a graph of SummerSlam and WrestleMania's rating averages over the years, and it is clear the quality has fluctuated over time. However, The Biggest Party of the Summer has generally remained higher, with only 2007 standing out, as WrestleMania far outshone SummerSlam.

Given the amount of extra time given to wrestlers to perform at SummerSlam over 'Mania, though, this quality difference is a bit less one-sided than would be expected. This mainly comes down to its breadth of great matches.

The Heightened Sense of Wrestling Greatness

While overall quality may favor SummerSlam, there is one area where The Showcase of the Immortals shines most clearly. No WWE event has been more consistently excellent over such a long time in delivering great matches.

WrestleMania is a night of greatness where Superstars exceed their limits, so the show has a massive concentration of memorable matches. Going by Meltzer's ratings, the show has 42 four-plus-star matches over 34 years and is the only WWE event with multiple five-star matches (and arguably deserves more).

SummerSlam is not that far behind, with 26 four-plus-star matches and one five-star match, but it seems that 'Mania will always have the higher ceiling for great performances. Most of the greatest matches and performances are saved for the top of WrestleMania.

Rick Rude vs. The Ultimate Warrior	2.50 vs. 3.25
Randy Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior	4.25 vs. 4.00
Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart	4.75 vs. 5.00
Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon	5.00 vs. 4.75
Edge and Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz	4.75 vs. 4.50
Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar	4.25 vs. 4.25
Kurt Angle vs. Eddie Guerrero	4.00 vs. 3.75
Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero	3.25 vs. 3.50
The Undertaker vs. Randy Orton	3.50 vs. 2.75
The Undertaker vs. Edge	4.25 vs. 4.50

It is interesting, though, to consider the overlap. Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon in a ladder match was a celebrated contest at both WrestleMania X and SummerSlam 1995, but the 'Mania match is more revered, earning a five-star rating.

Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart at WrestleMania X and SummerSlam 1994 were all-time classics, though they have the opposite relationship, with the SummerSlam match given a full five stars.

Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior, Kurt Angle vs. Brock Lesnar, The Undertaker vs. Edge and the Triple Threat tag team TLC matches are also classic clashes that were great at both events. In general, the differences between contests at each event are fairly minuscule.

The PPVs are both held in high regard by talent, who go out of their way to elevate their game on these massive stages. Even though 'Mania has more of these all-time great encounters, SummerSlam has rarely disappointed on that front.

What Makes SummerSlam Special

Is SummerSlam better than WrestleMania? The answer is still not a simple yes or no, but there are many reasons to believe it's better for fans. In particular, SummerSlam can be trusted to be far more consistent.

The highest of highs and the lowest of lows is an easy way to describe The Grandest Stage of Them All. While 'Mania has been witness to all-time great clashes, from Ricky Steamboat vs. Randy Savage to The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels, it has also been graced by some of the worst contests of all time.

SummerSlam has never had a minus-five catastrophe like Mr. T vs. Roddy Piper in 1986 or even a minus-four mistake like The Bushwhackers vs. The Fabulous Rougeaus in '89. There has never been a SummerSlam as bad as the .78-star-average WrestleMania IV.

The summer WWE event has outshone every other show by largely being a consistent event, standing tall with great matches and mostly avoiding bad ones. Despite its range and length, SummerSlam is always a quality experience that focuses on the in-ring work of the competitors.

With SummerSlam 2018 set for Sunday, many may consider this event's chances to outperform WrestleMania 34 limited, but there is a reason this SummerSlam card is packed with potentially great matches. Over its likely six-hour run time, the latest Big Four spectacle will give wrestlers their time to shine.

Although SummerSlam is often overshadowed by WrestleMania, it is the event that gives wrestlers the most opportunity to deliver and presents fans with a far more consistently excellent product.

Stats were collected from data points on the Internet Wrestling Database, Wikipedia and the WWE Network.