10 Matches You Didn't Know Were Planned For SummerSlam

The history of SummerSlam sees some of the biggest matches in WWE history taking place. Vince McMahon’s original vision was for this to be the second biggest PPV of each year and that has more or less been WWE’s philosophy for the past three decades plus. However, there have been some fascinating ideas to not make it to the show.

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Some have been talked about many times, like Daniel Bryan being planned to face and lose the WWE Championship to Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2014. Quite a few others don’t get as much discussion or are just so shocking they warrant a deeper look. Each of the following planned matches didn’t make it to the SummerSlam stage.

10 Bret Hart Vs Shawn Michaels (SummerSlam 1992)

WWE had a historic main event at SummerSlam 1992 between Bret Hart and The British Bulldog in Wembley Stadium. However, that wasn’t the original plan at all. Vince McMahon planned for Bret to defend the Intercontinental Championship against Shawn Michaels in a mid-card showstealer.

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Hart talking McMahon into how big it would be for the United Kingdom if Bulldog faced him in a family feud swayed him to change the plans. The story from Bret saw him claiming he apologized to Michaels, who understood and was still the next planned champ after Bulldog.

9 Mick Foley Vs Dean Ambrose (SummerSlam 2012)

The unselfish nature of Mick Foley saw him seriously contemplating coming out of retirement to face a relatively unknown prospect. Jon Moxley aka Dean Ambrose was in developmental with plans to get called up if WWE could find the right creative for an impactful debut.

Worked shoot moments of Ambrose confronting Foley and blaming him for hardcore wrestling inspiring young wrestlers was meant to pay off at SummerSlam 2012. WWE dropped the idea when Foley was not physically cleared to compete and found an even better idea for Ambrose in The Shield.

8 Randy Orton Vs Edge (SummerSlam 2020)

The WWE return of Edge in 2020 led to a lot of unexpected changes ruining the original plans. WWE already had many variables working against them with the pandemic blocking live events. Edge was still meant to continue working his feud with Randy Orton into SummerSlam 2020 since they were tied 1-1 in the series earlier that year.

An injury took Edge off television for many months and canceled that plan. Orton instead faced Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship on that event. Edge had a short payoff with Orton when returning the following year to give that feud an ending.

7 Batista Vs Muhammad Hassan (SummerSlam 2005)

WWE had huge plans for Muhammad Hassan during his hot start as a heel playing into bigotry he felt and portraying an anti-American character. Hassan was getting enough heat to warrant moments involving major stars like Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker.

Unfortunately, it was that feud with Undertaker that ruined his push. WWE reportedly wanted Hassan to become the youngest World Champion by defeating Batista at SummerSlam 2005. A terrible segment implying a terrorist attack aired on the same day as an actual terrorist attack to cause WWE’s networks to demand Hassan’s push get dropped and the character get removed from TV.

6 John Cena, Big Show & Justin Bieber Vs The Wyatt Family (SummerSlam 2013)

One of the strangest “what if” scenarios in WWE history saw them working with Justin Bieber on a potential attraction match. Big Show started the story of having connections to the popular pop singer and WWE having a planned six-man tag match for him.

SummerSlam 2013 was to feature Bieber, Big Show and John Cena against the Wyatt Family in a trios match. WWE wanted the celebrity appeal of a household name during their years of the event taking place in Los Angeles every year. Plans didn’t work out, and Bieber never wrestled for WWE.

5 Hulk Hogan Vs Bret Hart (SummerSlam 1993)

The idea of Hulk Hogan vs Bret Hart being planned for SummerSlam 1993 does get talked about, but the importance of what that match could have delivered. WWE wanted to have a true passing of the torch moment with Hogan dropping the WWE Championship to Bret on the way out as the new face of the company.

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Backstage politics led to the plans changing and Hulk losing to Yokozuna instead. Hart held a grudge for years and even confirmed a story about him confronting Hogan backstage. This clearly would have been a better idea than the lackluster plan that played out.

4 Shawn Michaels Vs Vince McMahon (SummerSlam 2002)

WWE had the perfect return match for Shawn Michaels when he defeated former partner Triple H in their first big match at SummerSlam 2002. However, that wasn’t the original plan for either man heading into the biggest event of the summer that year.

Michaels shared in his autobiography that the idea of him facing Vince McMahon was the initial idea for his return match. Triple H was entering a feud with the New World Order and was rumored to face Kevin Nash until Nash got injured. WWE lucked out with the much better change becoming a legendary match.

3 The Brothers Of Destruction Vs The Shield (SummerSlam 2013)

The Shield became the hottest act for WWE in 2013 when they got over by having great matches and winning in decisive fashion. WWE tested the waters for a program with The Undertaker when he aligned with their rivals Kane and Daniel Bryan for a short TV angle.

The hope was that a tag match of the Brothers of Destruction vs The Shield would come at SummerSlam 2013. An injury to Undertaker during The Shield’s attack on him months earlier led to him being removed from any planning.

2 Daniel Bryan Vs Charlie Sheen (SummerSlam 2012)

WWE had a crazy idea for SummerSlam 2012 during the popularity of Charlie Sheen saying wild things in interviews and having everyone talk about it. Daniel Bryan had a planned match with Sheen for the major PPV since his character was having anger management issues, and that happened to be the name of Sheen’s new sitcom.

There was even a segment with Sheen appearing via satellite to talk trash to Bryan a few weeks before the event. WWE ended up dropping the match altogether when Sheen became too unreliable. Bryan confirmed the plan that eventually changed before he faced Kane instead.

1 Steve Austin Vs Chyna (SummerSlam 1999)

SummerSlam 1999 almost had one of the wildest matches in WWE history when Chyna was named the #1 contender to face Steve Austin for the WWE Championship. Rumors indicated that WWE even considered having Chyna win for a historic moment during her peak momentum.

Austin wasn’t thrilled about losing to nor facing a female wrestler to cause the change in plans. WWE booked Chyna to lose the title shot and instead had Austin face Triple H and Mick Foley in a triple threat match. Foley won the gold and Chyna instead moved to the Intercontinental Championship picture.