This is a workrate list, not a list of importance, just flat a star rating ranking.
20. 2019 AJ STYLES d. PRINCE DEVITT (4.5 stars)
-Battle of the former Bullet Club stablemates; the babyface Styles went over and Devitt headed to Dark Ride Wrestling.
19. 1999 WWF TITLE: CAREER v. CAREER: CACTUS JACK d. STONE COLD STEVE AUSTIN (guest referee, HBK) (4.5 stars)
-It's their first WWF singles match; the two dominant wrestlers in the promotion, they had been circling each other for a couple of years; they won Triple Crowns on the same night - Jack kept the belt in a strong brawl.
18. 2005 WORLDWIDE TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL: KURT ANGLE d. SHAWN MICHAELS (4.5 stars)
-This is the IC/US/TV titles all in one, Angle and Michaels were the leaders of a long stable v stable feud with Angle as the heel. Angle got this one with some aid from Shelton Benjamin.
17. 2005 WORLDWIDE TOURNAMENT SEMIFINAL: CHRIS BENOIT d. CHRIS JERICHO (4.5 stars)
-And the next match on that 2005 Summer Slam card was the other semifinal, Benoit going over Jericho.
16. 1989 TAG TITLES: CAGE MATCH: ROCKERS d. BRAINBUSTERS (4.5 stars)
-Arn and Tully took young Shawn and Marty to the learning tree in this bloody feud, the babyface Rockers got their revenge here, winning the tag belts, leading to the end of the Brainbusters run in WWF.
15. 1989 WWF TITLE: RANDY SAVAGE (w/Liz) d. BRET HART (4.5 stars)
-Later that same night, this all babyface match, Randy keeping the belt over Bret - the night ending with the Rockers and Randy celebrating as Bret looked on.
14. 2002 UNDISPUTED TITLE: KURT ANGLE d. REY MYSTERIO (4.5 stars)
-The match that unified all 3 major title belts, Rey was the last NWA champion, this is his debut, he comes to the promotion with that belt to face the babyface WWF champion Angle (who took ECW's belt from their last champion, Van Dam). It's as close as one could get to a real Champion v Champion matchup between NWA and WWF - Angle beats Rey and unifies the 3 World Titles.
13. 2017 LOSER LEAVES TOWN KEVIN STEEN (w/Generico) d. NEVILLE (w/Claudio/Gargano) (4.5 stars)
- Sami Zayn, the former El Generico, defeated Kevin Steen, his longtime partner, in the Cell in the main of this year's Mania - 4 years ago, Steen ran their former stablemate Neville (the former and future Pac) out of the promotion as we saw this version of GDI explode.
12. 1995 IC TITLE: LADDER MATCH: SHAWN MICHAELS d. RAZOR RAMON (w/Waltman and Hunter) (4.5 stars)
-Riddle and Edge are headlining Summer Slam 2021, over a quarter century ago we had a Clique intra-stable feud over the IC belt. Michaels regained the IC belt from Ramon here, it was Shawn's 3rd IC Title and no one (other than Shawn) has ever won more.
11. 2000 TAG TITLES: TLC2: EDGE/CHRISTIAN (w/Trish) d. HARDYS (w/Lita) and DUDLEYS (w/Stevie) (4.5 stars)
-It's Edge/Christian's first tag title, they were part of the Clique here and used aid from HHH/Waltman to win this one - two decades later, Edge is in the main event fighting for the WWF Title.
10. 1996 IC TITLE VADER (w/Hennig) d. CACTUS JACK(4.5 stars)
-The Vader/Jack feud from the NWA migrated here, Vader keeping his IC belt over Foley in a wild brawl that ended with Vader powerbombing Cactus off the ramp.
9. 1996 WWF TITLE: SHAWN MICHAELS d. OWEN HART (4.5 stars)
-Heck of a finish to Summer Slam '96, the Vader/Cactus match leading to this main event. Shawn keeps the belt here over his longtime rival Owen. Pillman and Austin brawled outside pre-match. Superkick. Pinfall.
8. 2010 BRYAN DANIELSON d. CM PUNK (4.5 stars)
-Danielson's PPV debut. Bret Hart, Ricky Steamboat, Steve Regal all part of the build to this match; Danielson devastates Punk, he is stretchered out postmatch.
7. 1991 IC TITLE: BRET HART d. RICKY STEAMBOAT (4.75 stars)
-Speaking of Bret and Steamboat....his second run with the promotion ended in a failed attempt to take Bret's IC. Pure babyface matchup, sharpshooter submission.
6. 2000 IC 2 of 3 FALLS CHRIS JERICHO d. EDDY GUERRERO (4.75 stars)
-Jericho/Eddy were each others biggest NWA rival and that continued when Eddy made his way to WWF, babyface Jericho took heel Guerrero's title here, taking the 2nd and 3rd falls.
5. 1994 WWF TITLE: CAGE MATCH: OWEN HART d. BRET HART (4.75 stars)
-Owen's the babyface, he took his brother's title at WMX, he keeps it here in a match that saw the return to the promotion of Davey Boy and the Anvil. This was an escape or pinfall cage match, Owen escaped to keep the belt.
4. 1992 WWF TITLE: BRET HART d. DAVEY BOY SMITH (4.75 stars)
- Wembley. Bret kept his title over his former tag partner, sharpshooter submission. Michaels elbowdrops Owen through the Spanish announce table, Savage/Flair/Hennig all involved postmatch.
3. 2004 UNDISPUTED TITLE: 2 of 3 FALLS: CHRIS BENOIT d. KURT ANGLE (4.75 stars)
-Toronto. Babyface Benoit submits heel Angle (first submission loss for Angle) on the third fall to the delight of the Canadian crowd.
2. 2005 UNDISPUTED TITLE: 2 of 3 FALLS: REY MYSTERIO d. EDDY GUERRERO (4.75 stars)
-All babyface match, Rey taking the title in Eddy's final match, Rey winning the Triple Crown.
1. 2013 WWF TITLE: CAGE MATCH: BRYAN DANIELSON d. BROCK LESNAR (w/Heyman and Swagger) (5 stars)
-In the build to Summer Slam 2021, a babyface Brock Lesnar returned to the promotion after a year to destroy a heel Bryan Danielson and send him out of the WWF. 8 years prior, the roles were flipped, Danielson regaining the belt in a bloody brawl. Postmatch, CM Punk attacked Danielson with the WWF fork and then dropped the elbow in a full nod to Randy Savage.
That's the full build. Next month - Summer Slam 2021.
