The 2010 SummerSlam was a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

(PPV)

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

produced by

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

(WWE). It was the 23rd annual

SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by the world's largest professional wrestling promotion, WWE. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind th ...

and took place on August 15, 2010, at

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena (originally and colloquially known as Staples Center) is a multi-purpose indoor arena in downtown Los Angeles. Opened on October 17, 1999, as Staples Center, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along F ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

for the second consecutive year, held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. Six matches were contested at the event. The main events of the evening included: Team WWE defeating The Nexus in a 7-on-7 elimination tag team match,

Randy Orton Randal Keith Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He has been signed to WWE since 2000, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown brand. Orton is widely regarded as one of t ...

defeating

Sheamus Stephen Farrelly (born 28 January 1978) is an Irish Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand under the ring name Sheamus. Prior to joining WWE, he wrestled on th ...

via disqualification for the

WWE Championship The WWE Championship, also referred to as the Undisputed WWE Championship since April 2024, is a men's professional wrestling world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown bran ...

even though Sheamus retained the title, Melina winning the Divas Championship against

Alicia Fox Victoria Elizabeth Crawford (born June 30, 1986) is an American professional wrestler. She is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where she performs under her real name as the on-screen Deputy Director of Authority, and also performs ...

, Kane retaining the World Heavyweight Championship against

Rey Mysterio Óscar Gutiérrez Rubio (born December 11, 1974), better known by his ring name Rey Mysterio, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Widely regarded as both one of the greatest '' luch ...

. Other matches featured on the show were

WWE Intercontinental Champion The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#Location-specific championships, championship created and promoted by the United States, American professional wrestling promotion, promo ...

Dolph Ziggler Nicholas Theodore Nemeth (born July 27, 1980) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he performs under his real name, stylized as Nic Nemeth, where he is one-half of the TNA World Tag ...

versus

Kofi Kingston Kofi Nahaje Sarkodie-Mensah (born August 14, 1981) is a Ghanaian-born American professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Kofi ...

, but ended in a no contest while

Big Show Paul Donald Wight II (born February 8, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under his real name of Paul Wight. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) f ...

defeated The Straight Edge Society (

CM Punk Phillip Jack Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw brand. Regarded as ...

Joey Mercury Adam Birch (born July 18, 1979), better known by the ring name Joey Mercury, is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenures in WWE and Ring of Honor. Birch was trained by fellow wrestler Jimmy Cicero and made his wrestl ...

and

Luke Gallows Andrew William Hankinson (born December 22, 1983) is an American professional wrestler. He is performing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) under the ring name Doc Gallows. He is best known for his three tenures in WWE, where he performed under ...

) in a three-on-one handicap match. SummerSlam received 350,000 pay-per-view buys, a decrease on the 369,000 buys garnered by the 2009 event.

Production

Background

is an annual

(PPV) 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, along with WrestleMania,

, and

Survivor Series Survivor Series, branded as Survivor Series: WarGames since 2022, is a professional wrestling event produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving ( ...

, referred to as the "Big Four". It has since become considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind WrestleMania. The 2010 event was the 23rd SummerSlam and was scheduled to be held on August 15, 2010, at

for the second consecutive year. It featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown

brands A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

. Much like the previous year's SummerSlam, WWE promoted the event with its ''SummerSlam Axxess''

fan convention A fan convention (also known as a con or fan meeting) is an event in which Fan (person), fans of a particular topic gather to participate and hold programs and other events, and to meet experts, famous personalities, and each other. Some also inc ...

. The convention was held at the Nokia Plaza in

L.A. Live L.A. Live is an entertainment complex in the South Park District of downtown Los Angeles, California. It is adjacent to the Crypto.com Arena and the Los Angeles Convention Center. L.A. Live was developed by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG ...

from August 14 to 15.

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...

revealed further details of the latest installment of their ''

WWE SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs Live television, live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Netwo ...

'' series, '' WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011''.

Storylines

The

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

at SummerSlam featured professional wrestlers performing as characters in scripted events pre-determined by the hosting

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Storylines between the characters were produced on WWE's weekly television shows ''Raw'' and ''SmackDown'' with the Raw and SmackDown brands—storyline divisions in which WWE assigned its employees to different programs. The main

rivalry A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant ...

heading into SummerSlam from the Raw

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

was between the champion

and

over the

. On the July 19 episode of ''Raw'', Orton defeated

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...

and

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, rock musician, and actor. As a wrestler, he has been signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) , where he ...

in a

triple threat match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called " gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

to become the number one contender for Sheamus' WWE Championship at SummerSlam. On the August 9 episode of ''Raw'', the

anonymous Raw general manager The Anonymous Raw General Manager was a professional wrestling authority figure in WWE, who anonymously controlled the Raw brand from June 21, 2010 to July 18, 2011. The Anonymous General Manager controlled the show by sending emails to a laptop, ...

added two stipulations to the match, stating that anyone who interfered in this match would be suspended indefinitely and if Orton lost, he would not receive another match for the championship while Sheamus is champion. The main rivalry heading into SummerSlam from the SmackDown brand was between the champion Kane and

over the World Heavyweight Championship. On the May 28 episode of ''SmackDown'' Kane's storyline brother,

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by his ring name the Undertaker, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway ...

defeated Mysterio to qualify for the fatal four-way match for the World Heavyweight Championship at the

Fatal 4-Way Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a storyline. ...

pay-per view in June. During the match however, The Undertaker suffered a legitimate injury, forcing him to be written out of the match by having him found in a "vegetative state" by Kane over

Memorial Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It i ...

weekend. As a result, Kane accused several wrestlers of incapacitating his brother and attacked them. Mysterio won a

battle royal Battle royal (, also battle royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules, where the winner is the one who registers the most wins. In recent times, the term has been ...

to replace The Undertaker by last eliminating Kane, and went on to defeat the defending champion

Jack Swagger Donald Jacob Hager Jr. (born March 24, 1982) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and former Amateur wrestling, amateur wrestler and Mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist. He currently performs on the independent circ ...

and CM Punk at Fatal 4-Way to win his second World Heavyweight Championship. At Money in the Bank, Kane won a

Money in the Bank ladder match The Money in the Bank ladder match is a multi-person ladder match held by the professional wrestling promotion WWE. First performed at WWE's annual WrestleMania event beginning in 2005, a separate WWE Money in the Bank, Money in the Bank event w ...

and cashed in his championship opportunity on Mysterio later that night, after Mysterio had defeated Swagger to retain. Kane defeated Mysterio to win his first World Heavyweight Championship. On the July 23 episode of ''SmackDown'', Mysterio defeated Swagger in a two-out-of-three falls match to earn a rematch against Kane for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam. On the July 30 episode of ''SmackDown'', Kane revealed that The Undertaker had disclosed that his attacker was Mysterio, and vowed to get revenge. Another main rivalry from Raw featured The Nexus, a

stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

consisting of former '' NXT'' 'rookies' led by the season's winner

Wade Barrett Stuart Alexander Bennett (born 10 August 1980) is an English acting, actor and former professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring name Wade Barrett as a color commentator on the ''WWE Sma ...

, against 'Team WWE', led by

John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American actor and professional wrestler. As a wrestler, he has been signed to WWE , where he is the current WWE Championship, Undisputed WWE Champion in his record 14th reign, which is ...

. The Nexus made their debut as a collective unit on the June 7 episode of ''Raw'', attacking Cena,

, and members of the ringside crew, on the pretext of demanding guaranteed WWE contracts for all of them. The following week on ''Raw'', the then-

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Bret Hart Bret Sergeant Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling background at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal U ...

refused and as a result, The Nexus attacked and incapacitated him, forcing WWE Chairman

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( ; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda McMahon, Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest ...

to appoint a new, anonymous General Manager, who ultimately signed all members of The Nexus to the show. The Nexus continued to frequently attack various WWE wrestlers, crew, and

legends A legend is a historical narrative, a symbolic representation of folk belief. Legend(s) or The Legend(s) may also refer to: Narrative * A fictitious identity used in espionage Books, comic books, and theater * ''Legend'' (Gemmell novel), a 1 ...

to display their dominance, although they focused mainly on Cena, costing him the WWE Championship twice at Fatal 4-Way and Money in the Bank. On the July 19 episode of ''Raw'', Cena confronted The Nexus, who offered him a place in their stable, which he refused and instead revealed that he had assembled a team, christened 'Team WWE' (consisting of Cena himself,

, John Morrison,

R-Truth Ronnie Aaron Killings (born January 19, 1972) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs under his real name, stylized as Ron Killings and R-Truth. Killings worked for World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) ...

The Great Khali Dalip Singh Rana (born 27 August 1972), better known by his ring name The Great Khali, is an Indian-born American former Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, promoter, and actor. He is best known for his tenure with WWE, where he be ...

, and Bret Hart), to face The Nexus in a seven-on-seven tag team match at SummerSlam. On the July 26 episode of ''Raw'', the anonymous general manager changed the match to an elimination format. Following dissension on Cena's team in the next few weeks, Edge and Jericho left the SummerSlam match on the August 2 episode of ''Raw''. They rejoined the following week, however, when The Nexus tried to attack the members of Team WWE and Edge and Jericho. On the same episode, Khali was attacked by The Nexus, removing him from the match at SummerSlam.

The Miz Michael Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and television personality. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name The Miz. Mizanin first gained fame a ...

offered his services to the team as Khali's substitute, ultimately saying that he would reveal his final decision at SummerSlam itself. Another rivalry from the SmackDown brand pitted

against The Straight Edge Society, a stable preaching the hardlined straight edge lifestyle, led by CM Punk and consisting of

and Serena. In May, at the Over the Limit pay-per-view, Punk lost a match to Rey Mysterio, forcing Punk to have his head shaved bald as a result of the stipulation. In order to conceal his baldness, Punk started wearing a

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment, and often employed for rituals and rites. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes, ...

until Big Show forcibly removed it on the July 16 episode of ''SmackDown''. In attempt to avenge Punk's humiliation, the Straight Edge Society's masked "mystery man" faced Big Show in a match, but had his own mask removed during the match, revealing him to be Joey Mercury. On the July 30 episode of ''SmackDown'', the Straight Edge Society attacked Big Show and repeatedly stomped his right hand into the steel ring steps. The following week, it was announced that the Straight Edge Society would be facing Big Show in a three-on-one handicap match at SummerSlam. Another rivalry from the Raw brand was between the champion

and Melina over the

WWE Divas Championship The WWE Divas Championship was a women's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world championship in WWE. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced as part of the WWE brand extensio ...

. In December 2009, Melina tore her ACL at a

live event A house show (also commonly called a live event) is a professional wrestling event produced by a major Professional wrestling promotion, promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in o ...

, which caused her to

vacate A vacated judgment (also known as vacatur relief) is a legal judgment that legally voids a previous legal judgment. A vacated judgment is usually the result of the judgment of an appellate court, which overturns, reverses, or sets aside the judgme ...

the Divas Championship. At Fatal 4-Way in June, Fox won the title in a fatal four-way match against Maryse,

Gail Kim Gail Kim-Irvine (born February 20, 1977) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenures in TNA Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In TNA, she was the inaugural and record setting seven-tim ...

and defending champion

Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...

, and retained the championship against Eve at Money in the Bank. On the August 2 episode of ''Raw'', Melina made her return and attacked Fox. The following week on ''Raw'', Melina defeated Fox in a non-title match and was rewarded with a title opportunity at the Divas Championship at SummerSlam.

Event

Preliminary matches

The actual pay-per-view opened with

defending the

WWE Intercontinental Championship The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a men's professional wrestling championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the Raw brand division. It is one of two secondary championships for WWE's main roster, alo ...

against

. The match ended in a no-contest after The Nexus attacked both competitors. Next,

defended the Divas Championship against Melina. Melina executed a snapmare driver on Fox to win the title. Post match, co-Women's Champions

LayCool LayCool (sometimes stylized Lay-Cool) was a professional wrestling tag team consisting of Layla and Michelle McCool. The team worked for WWE and were featured primarily on the SmackDown brand but appeared on the Raw brand on some occasions, whi ...

(

Layla "Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally recorded with their band Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their only studio album, '' Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'' (1970). Its contrasting movemen ...

and

Michelle McCool Michelle Leigh Calaway ( McCool; born January 25, 1980) is an American retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in WWE, where she is a two-time WWE Women's Champion, as well as the first WWE Divas Champion. She is a WW ...

) attacked Melina. After that, The Straight Edge Society (

and

) faced

in a

handicap match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

. In the end, Big Show delivered a KO Punch to Gallows and delivered a

chokeslam A chokeslam is a type of body slam in professional wrestling, in which a wrestler grasps an opponent's neck, lifts them up, and slams them to the mat. It is common in televised wrestling because it is simple and relatively safe, yet looks powerf ...

to Mercury onto Gallows, pinning Mercury to win the match.

Main event matches

In the fourth match,

faced

for the

in a last chance match, with the stipulations being that anyone who interfered in the match would be suspended indefinitely along with if Orton lost, he would never get another shot at the title as long as Sheamus is champion. In the climax, Sheamus performed a Brogue Kick on Orton for a near-fall. Sheamus retrieved a steel chair and fought with the referee over the chair, resulting in Orton winning by disqualification. After the match, Orton attacked Sheamus with a low-blow and performed an

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

on the broadcast table on Sheamus. In the fifth match, Kane faced

for the World Heavyweight Championship. The match ended when Kane performed a

on Mysterio to retain the title. After the match, Kane attempted to put Mysterio in a casket, but

was revealed to be inside the casket. Kane delivered a

Tombstone Piledriver A piledriver is a professional wrestling driver move in which the wrestler grabs their opponent, turns them upside-down, and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the opponent head-first into the mat. The technique is said to have b ...

to Undertaker. The Nexus at SummerSlam 2010

In the main event, The Nexus faced Team WWE in a 7-on-7 elimination tag team match. Before the match started, Daniel Bryan was announced as the seventh member of Team WWE. In the climax of the match, after every other member of Team WWE had been eliminated, Barrett delivered a

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

to Cena onto the concrete floor and scored a near-fall. Cena eliminated Gabriel after Gabriel missed a 450º splash. Cena then eliminated Barrett with the STF, giving his team the win.

Reception

Overall, the event received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics, who praised the quality of the main event match (although panning the finish) while panning the remainder of the event.

Bleacher Report ''Bleacher Report'' (often abbreviated as B/R) is a website that focuses on sports and sports culture. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, with offices in New York City and London. ''Bleacher Report'' was acquired by Time Warner's Turner B ...

's Andre Harrison rated the event 5 out of 10, calling it a "one match show" (referring to the 7-on-7 tag team match as the only good match in the event), although stating that "WWE dropped the ball huge" on the finish. 411mania.com rated the event 2.75 out of 5.

Aftermath

The next night on ''Raw'', the anonymous general manager of Raw announced that members of The Nexus would face off against members of Team WWE in a series of matches throughout the evening. In order to find the "weak links" of the group, The Nexus' leader, Wade Barrett, declared that anyone in The Nexus who lost their match would be excommunicated from the group. Ultimately, each Nexus member won their match except for Darren Young, who lost to John Cena by submission. After the match, the remaining six members brutally attacked Young, symbolizing his banishment from The Nexus. According to Chris Jericho and Edge, the original plan steered toward a victory for The Nexus. However, John Cena asked for the finish to be changed, which Jericho felt affected The Nexus' momentum. Nexus members Heath Slater and Darren Young have also shared similar sentiments. Cena has since admitted that his decision was wrong. In April 2011, the promotion ceased using its full name with the "WWE" abbreviation becoming an

orphaned initialism An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled with the initial letter of each word in all caps with ...

Results

7-on-7 elimination tag eliminations

References

External links

Official SummerSlam websiteOfficial SummerSlam minisite
{{WWEPPV, SummerSlam

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Professional wrestling shows in Los Angeles 2010 in Los Angeles 2010 WWE pay-per-view events August 2010 in the United States