The 2016 SummerSlam was the 29th annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. The event took place on August 21, 2016, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the second consecutive year. It was the first PPV event held after the brand extension, which was reintroduced in July, went into full effect.
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The official Summerslam 2016 Poster
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| Summerslam 2015 | Summerslam (2016) | 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||
Twelve matches were contested at the event, including three on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, Dean Ambrose defeated Seth Rollins to win the WWE Championship in a Hell in a Cell match. In another marquee match, Brock Lesnar defeated Kevin Owens to capture his first WWE World Heavyweight Championship. In other prominent matches, AJ Styles defeated John Cena in their second encounter following Money in the Bank.
Production[]
Background[]
SummerSlam is an annual professional wrestling event produced every August by WWE since 1988. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views (PPV), along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four". It has since become considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind WrestleMania. Announced on September 28, 2015, the 2016 event was the 29th SummerSlam and was scheduled to be held on August 21, 2016, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the second consecutive year. In addition to airing on traditional PPV, the event was livestreamed on the WWE Network. Tickets went on sale on April 2 through Ticketmaster.
It featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions, being the first pay-per-view to occur after the brand split went into full effect following its reintroduction the previous month. It is the first Pay-Per-View to feature the then RAW Women's Championship, as the the previously named "WWE Women's Championship" became a RAW Branded Exclusive title alongside the WWE Championship.
Ahead of the event, the WWE and KFC, which is that year's event sponsor, held a promotional tie-in for its "Chicken Little" chicken sandwich. It featured a match between The Miz, dressed as "Puppers Cluckers" in a yellow chicken suit and Dolph Ziggler, as Colonel Sanders which took place after the conclusion of the August 16 episode of SmackDown Live where Ziggler emerged victorious.
Storylines[]
Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose[]
AJ Styles vs John Cena[]
Kevin Owens vs Brock Lesnar[]
Sasha Banks vs Charlotte[]
Triple H vs Shane McMahon[]
Finn Balor vs Bray Wyatt[]
Rusev vs Roman Reigns[]
Sami Zayn vs Chris Jericho vs the Miz vs Apollo Crews[]
The New Day vs Enzo and Big Cass vs The Club[]
Sheamus vs Cesaro[]
Becky Lynch, Naomi, and Carmella vs Natalya, Alexa Bliss, and Mystery Opponent[]
The Usos and American Alpha vs The Ascension and The Vaudevillians[]
Event[]
Pre-Show[]
Preliminary Matches[]
Main Event[]
Reception[]
Aftermath[]
Results[]
| No. | Results | Stipulation | Times |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1p | The Usos (Jimmy Uso and Jey Uso) and American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable) defeated The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor) and The Vaudevillans (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) | 8 Man Tag Team Match | 15:27 |
| 2p | Nikki Bella, Natalya, and Alexa Bliss defeated Becky Lynch, Naomi, and Carmella | 6 Woman Tag Team Match | 11:04 |
| 3p | The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) defeated Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, and Enzo Amore and Big Cass via Pinfall | Triple Threat Match for the WWE Tag Team Championships | 9:09 |
| 4 | The Miz defeated Sami Zayn (c), Chris Jericho, and Apollo Crews via Pinfall | Fatal 4 Way for the WWE Intercontinental Championship | 10:36 |
| 5 | Sheamus defeated Cesaro via Pinfall | Singles match
First in the best of seven series Sheamus leads 1–0 |
16:56 |
| 6 | Roman Reigns defeated Rusev (c) via Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWE United States Championship | 15:18 |
| 7 | Shane McMahon defeated Triple H via Pinfall | No Disqualifications Match | 12:08 |
| 8 | Sasha Banks defeated Charlotte (c) via Submission | Singles Match for the RAW Women's Championship | 13:51 |
| 9 | Brock Lesnar defeated Kevin Owens (With Chris Jericho) via Pinfall | Singles Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship | 5:45 |
| 10 | AJ Styles defeated John Cena via Pinfall | Singles Match | 23:10 |
| 11 | Finn Balor defeated Bray Wyatt via Pinfall | Inter-Brand Match | 11:45 |
| 12 | Dean Ambrose Defeated Seth Rollins (c) | Ladder Match for the WWE Championship | 19:24 |