Minnesota is getting ready to host the 39th annual WWE SummerSlam 2026. It is the first time that a major PLE has made its way to the Twin Cities, and it looks primed to continue WWE’s summer tradition. The Biggest Party of the Summer has been produced like a major PLE for decades, involving moments that will live forever in WWE lore.
When it comes to WWE’s big shows, major surprises are the meal of the day. When anyone sits down to watch SummerSlam, they know they are in store for great wrestling, but also a surprise or two, giving the show that big event feel that WWE craves. Throughout the history of SummerSlam, there have been some incredible surprises that have etched SummerSlam into the annals of WWE legend. Below, we will look at the greatest of these SummerSlam surprises.
Kevin Nash Spoils The Summer of Punk (SummerSlam 2011)
The Summer of Punk was chugging ahead at full steam by the time SummerSlam 2011 rolled around. CM Punk had delivered his iconic pipe bomb promo, walked away from WWE with the World Championship, and then shockingly returned to engage in battle with new WWE Champ John Cena.
Their battle at SummerSlam was to set the record straight as to who was the rightful WWE Champion, and after an auspicious pin, CM Punk had his hands raised. The world thought that CM Punk’s summer was going to end on a high note, and then a huge roadblock entered the picture.
The world stood with its mouth open as Kevin Nash lumbered through the audience and attacked CM Punk. One jackknife later, Alberto Del Rio had cashed in Money in the Bank, walking away the new champion. The Staples Arena and the wrestling world were in shock at what transpired. No one could have predicted seeing Big Sexy get himself involved in SummerSlam’s main event.
The Tribal Chief Wrecks Everyone And Leaves (SummerSlam 2020)
Roman Reigns was not reaching the levels that the WWE machine had hoped for. Since breaking away from the Shield, he was pushed like a megastar, but the fans never connected the way that WWE had hoped. There was a backlash against the Big Dog, and it looked like he would never become the champion that WWE had put its weight behind.
Then the pandemic hit, and Roman Reigns understandably took some time away from the company. When he returned, he was not the same man who had left.
After SummerSlam’s main event, Roman Reigns returned to WWE with a new attitude and vicious side that we hadn’t seen before. No one expected to see Roman Reigns, let alone a man who displayed an attitude and vicious streak that was absent in the past.
It was a shock to see him back in a WWE ring, and even more than that, he had taken such a sharp departure from the character that WWE had put so much time behind. It was a stroke of genius, as this was Reigns’ transformation into the Tribal Chief; the rest is history.
