The 8 Worst Booking Decisions in WWE SummerSlam History

For as many amazing moments as WWE SummerSlam has hosted since its inception in 1988, there have also been quite a few that have lave left fans scratching their heads in disbelief.

An absurdly bad booking decision can ruin one's enjoyment of an event. Unfortunately, that's been the case with countless WWE pay-per-views over the years, and SummerSlam has been no exception.

In the nearly 35 years of the summer staple, several Superstars have lost when they should have won, and multiple matches have failed to live up to the hype. As disappointing as it can be for fans in the moment, a strong follow-up can make all the difference.

For example, the way Becky Lynch's quick win over Bianca Belair at last year's installment was highly questionable at the time, but Belair avenging that loss at WrestleMania 38 to become Raw women's champion righted that wrong. However, the same can not be said for numerous other instances in the event's illustrious history.

The following eight booking decisions will be remembered as some of SummerSlam's worst to date.

Thanks to the Lex Express and his beloved patriotic persona, Lex Luger was WWE's ultimate hero in 1993. All signs pointed to him being the one to dethrone Yokozuna as WWE champion, and there was no better time for him to having his crowning moment than at SummerSlam.

Luger was fresh off slamming Yokozuna over Fourth of July weekend and was riding a massive wave of momentum heading into the August extravaganza. There really was no reason for him to not to become champion that night, other than it being somewhat early in Yokozuna's reign for him to be dropping the title again after already losing it once to Hulk Hogan.

The match itself was nothing special, but the electric atmosphere gave it a big-fight feel, and the crowd was clamoring for Luger to walk away with the gold. Although he did emerge victorious, it was by count-out and thus he wasn't awarded the title.

That didn't stop Luger from celebrating as if he captured the championship and conquered the evil foreigner, though. The other babyfaces carried him on their shoulders in the ring as the crowd roared in approval.

The idea was to keep Luger in chase mode and continue building him up for a shot at the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 10. Between SummerSlam and 'Mania, though, Bret Hart surpassed Luger in popularity and ended up winning the title instead.

Although this was a classic case of WWE failing to strike while the iron was hot, it's not as if things didn't work out well with Hart on top.

All the focus heading into SummerSlam 1994 was on whether The Undertaker would finally resurface after not being seen since the Royal Rumble that January.

WWE spent several weeks building up the main event as Undertaker returning to face an imposter. It would have have been fine as a midcard (if not upper-midcard) attraction, but putting it on last was the wrong call.

What made matters worse was how the show was supposed to mark the culmination of the long-running rivalry between Bret and Owen Hart. After Owen bested Bret at WrestleMania 10 and became King of the Ring shortly thereafter, he was set to challenge Bret for the WWE Championship at the biggest party of the summer inside a steel cage.

Their match had all the makings of an instant classic, and that's exactly what it was. It was as close to a perfect Steel Cage matchup as you'll find in WWE, but evidently the company didn't see it as a big enough deal to close out the evening with.

While a somewhat cool visual, the battle of dueling Deadmen wasn't anywhere near as great. Swapping these two bouts would have made it a significantly stronger show.

Randy Orton's Legend Killer gimmick was absolute money and cemented him as a star early in his career. It wasn't as prevalent following his feud with The Undertaker in 2005, but he did bring it back every now and again when necessary.

With The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin retired from the ring at the time, Hulk Hogan was arguably one of the biggest legends Orton could have worked with in 2006. The rivalry came together on a bit of a whim that summer, but it was still an opportunity for Orton to become a bigger player in the company after failing to win the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 22.

Sadly, this storyline and subsequent match wound up being a massive waste of time.

Very little about their feud was memorable, and the matchup was supremely disappointing. Hogan dominated a majority of it before going over in decisive fashion, making Orton look infinitely inferior in the process.

Orton recovered just fine, but it was an underwhelming swan song for Hogan, who never wrestled again for WWE. This primary purpose of this program should have been to elevate Orton, not to feed The Hulkster's ego.

Shinsuke Nakamura's exemplary NXT run prepared him for a hot debut on the main roster, and he was booked strongly upon his arrival on SmackDown in 2017.

After racking up victories over Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin and John Cena, Nakamura was primed for a run with the WWE Championship. Concurrently, Jinder Mahal was getting the push of a lifetime with his string of wins over Randy Orton and was being established as a credible WWE champion.

Their feud was fairly basic, but Nakamura becoming champion on the SummerSlam stage would have made it worthwhile. Instead, Mahal emerged victorious in deflating fashion, leaving everyone to wonder why WWE didn't put the title on Nakamura right then and there.

It wasn't as if he wasn't ready for that sort of spotlight. The King of Strong Style was as over with the audience as he'd ever be in the company and would have been the perfect person to end Mahal's reign before it started to decline in quality.

This loss would have been more acceptable had Nakamura wound up winning the prestigious prize off AJ Styles the subsequent spring, but that never materialized either. In retrospect, this loss was a hindrance to Nakamura and was the first sign that WWE didn't see him as the same level of star the fans did.

The Summer of Punk in 2011 saw CM Punk simply perform on another level of superstardom coming off his WWE Championship victory at Money in the Bank that year.

WWE rushed his return to the company to set up the highly anticipated rematch between him and John Cena at SummerSlam. There, they'd determine who the undisputed champ truly was.

The match itself was excellent and on par with their encounter from Money in the Bank, albeit with a much tamer atmosphere in Los Angeles compared to Punk's native Chicago. The aftermath is where things got wonky, with Kevin Nash randomly resurfacing to attack Punk and Alberto Del Rio subsequently cashing in his Money in the Bank contract to become WWE champion.

The chaotic ending got people talking and excited for Raw the next night to see what would happen next. It may have been an acceptable booking decision had WWE not gone on to completely squander the storyline.

Nash vs. Punk never came to pass, and Del Rio's reign as WWE champion was cut short by Cena within five weeks. Punk rebounded and regained the gold at Survivor Series at the end of the year, but they could have kept his momentum consistently strong had the Summer of Punk not had such an anticlimactic conclusion.

Matt Hardy's controversial release from WWE in April 2005 caused a major stir within the wrestling world. There was even more buzz when he was re-signed by the company that July, just in time for a hotly contested clash with his archrival Edge at SummerSlam.

Hardy and Edge had done a masterful job of blurring the lines between storyline and reality. Their bad blood stemmed from Hardy's ex Lita leaving him for Edge, and WWE was wise to capitalize on it.

Hardy spent many years in WWE both before and after this, and never at any point was he more popular as a singles star than he was ahead of SummerSlam. Fans desperately wanted to see Hardy give Edge his comeuppance and ascend to main event status.

As it turned out, their match lasted just under five minutes with Edge completely decimating Hardy from start to finish. Hardy attempted to valiantly fight back only to fall short a bloody mess once the referee called for the bell.

Fans in attendance weren't sure what to think what they had just witnessed. It merely served as a reminder that Hardy wasn't on Edge's level.

Hardy had his moment when he defeated Edge in their Steel Cage match at Unforgiven the following month, but the rivalry had cooled off considerably.

In the midst of his infamous "Reign of Terror," Triple H had one of his toughest title defenses inside the Elimination Chamber at SummerSlam 2003.

He had to face five of Raw's finest in the form of Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton, Kevin Nash, Chris Jericho and Goldberg. The Game was anxious to avenge the last time he competed in Satan's Structure at Survivor Series 2002, where he lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Michaels.

It was a solid match for the most part, designed to make Goldberg look as strong as possible. The former WCW world heavyweight champion had arrived in WWE mere months earlier and was hot on the heels of Triple H and his title.

After eliminating Orton, Jericho and Michaels on his own, Goldberg was swiftly hit in the face by Triple H's signature sledgehammer and pinned for the three count. The surprising finish completely sucked the excitement out of the arena because no one expected Goldberg to be beaten so early into his run.

He went on to win the world title from Triple H at Unforgiven, but much like the aforementioned entries, SummerSlam was his time to shine and WWE dropped the ball.

Aside from The Shield, WWE has had a serious issue properly booking factions in the last decade-plus, but no group fell faster than The Nexus.

Their shocking debut that June 2010 was easily the most thrilling thing to happen on Raw in years. It immediately injected new life into the program and made Mondays must-see again, if only temporarily.

The white-hot angle was set to culminate in a blockbuster seven-on-seven tag team elimination match with The Nexus taking on Team WWE, led by John Cena. There was no justifiable reason for Team WWE to go over and undermine Nexus, but that's exactly the route WWE went.

It came down to Cena having to battle Wade Barrett and Justin Gabriel of Nexus on his own, and he beat both of them within seconds of each other. The victory being as decisive as it was further killed any and all momentum Nexus had.

Fans no longer saw them as a serious threat, causing the storyline to lose stream before being blown off with a whimper that December. It remains one of the most baffling booking decisions WWE has ever made, and it is every bit as egregious now as it was then.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.