The Best of the Big Four

[IrishCanadian25]

Simple question - WWF/E has had 4 major annual pay per views for decades now - Wrestlemania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series. The question is - which is your favorite, and why?

Wrestlemania is the oldest and the biggest, often acting as the "end of the pro wrestling year," though a new season begins the following night on Raw. It is usually capped off by the match between the Royal Rumble winner and either the WWE Champ or WHC.

SummerSlam is the end of summer classic, and has featured some terrific mid-year feuds and matches, like Michaels vs Hogan and Hart vs Henning. A lot of mid-card title play on this show.

Royal Rumble is the extremely innovative kick-off to Wrestlemania, which some feel is even more fun to watch, due to the uncertainty of who will win, what order people will come out in, etc.

Survivor Series is WWE's "concept PPV" with the 4-on-4 or 5-on-5 elimination style matches, often tying in several feuds into one match. It was originally a Thanksgiving night / weekend tradition, and still takes us through late November.

Which is your favorite of these three, and why?

 

[Shocky]

Maybe a bad time of year to post this, but I expect Wrestlemania to fully run away with this. You watch old Wrestlemania's, and almost every single one there is something different in the air. Most guys bring their A games, so many great matches, and moments come from this card yearly. The wwe simply puts their all into this product every year, and it shows.

I used to think that Summerslam was the #2 show of the year, and thought it was more of the Smark version of Wrestlemania. Wrestlemania was done moreso for the mainstream audience, while Summerslam simply was built upon the matches. I think that it still holds a little true, but for the most part Summerslam isn't about title matches. Summerslam used to be about the IC title putting on the best match of the night. Those days are gone now, and I believe Summerslam is left without a true identity.

Royal Rumble: I think this has become the #2 show of the year. Simply put, it launches the road to Wrestlemania. The Rumble match is so damn unique in the business, and the WWE has never ****ed it out. It is what it is, a once a year event with 30 guys fighting for a shot at Mania. Plus, the card doesn't have a lot of fluff on it. It's usually 3 or 4 solid title matches, and the rumble, no bullshit.

Survivor Series: If there was a pay per view that fell from grace, this is it. Survivor Series used to be a solid show, but it just doesn't bring anything anymore. I think the entire Screwjob thing was the beginning of the end for the Survivor Series as a great pay per view. Sure, it was interesting because, wow, look what happened, but the Deadly Game tournament the year after was just awful. The thing that pisses me off to this day was the announced main event of Survivor Series 1999, The Rock vs. Triple H vs. Steve Austin, tha'ts fucking huge. Oh wait, the WWE knew Austin couldn't perform, still advertised him on the card, and came up with an injury angle to get him off the card during the pay per view, that is bullshit, and I've never forgiven the WWE for that.

So I'm going
1. Wrestlemania
2. Rumble
3. Summerslam

4. Survivor Series, but I fully expect that Night of Champions takes this spot.

 

[Freakinflax]

The thing that pisses me off to this day was the announced main event of Survivor Series 1999, The Rock vs. Triple H vs. Steve Austin, tha'ts fucking huge. Oh wait, the WWE knew Austin couldn't perform, still advertised him on the card, and came up with an injury angle to get him off the card during the pay per view, that is bullshit, and I've never forgiven the WWE for that.

I agree. Was eagerly anticipating that match and it never happened. Then it was supposed to be Rock vs. HHH vs. Austin vs. Big Show, but Mick Foley took his place. Damn them!

I've been to all big 4 live, and Wrestlemania was the best. Survivor Series was cool to me because I was in the 5% range cheering for Jericho and booing Cena. Summerslam is always cool. Rumble is fantastic. King of the Ring was the best!

Mania all the way.

 

[SavageTaker]

I am Going to go with Wrestlemania.It has been hyped of since the beginning as the biggest event in pro wrestling,and rightfully so.This is the time of the year where unexpected things can happen,last year everyone thought john cena or trips would win the title but they surprised us by having orton retain.This is were some really good feuds end too.There is no doubt that wrestlemania is my favorite,because it is the one that gets the most hype and the one ppv that is more anticipated than the others.

I would put the RR in second because that is where the road to WM begins.Second would probably be Summerslam,because it is always a couple of days afteror before my birthday and because there have been some pretty memorable SummerSlams.Third would be Survivor series.

 

[The Todd]

Just to be different I will go with the Royal Rumble.

As you said, it kicks off the road to Mania and the uncertainty of who will be next and what will happen is always great. The crowd get so into this and because each entrance is a surprise, their favourite wrestlers get bigger pops than they normally do. The winner used to get the whole build up to WrestleMania centred around them, usually finishing off a feud at the February PPV and then heading straight to the Main Event.

It has been made less prestigous lately, with the winner not being in the actual Main Event (Rey, Taker, Cena) and, the biggest sin of them all, the winner cashing their title match in at No Way Out (Cena).

Even with that in mind I will still pick that one, but more to do with that every one will pick Mania.

In regards to the other two, I am actually a big fan of Survivor Series. I love the elimination matches. Like the Rumble, it can give mid carders that push of being in a PPV and squaring off with Main Event talent.

SummerSlam is the one that I look forward to the least. It has no hook as a big four PPV, just another standard PPV. What I would like is for the winner of the MitB to get his shot at the Main Event here, it gives the winner time to build credibility, and then the winner doesn't always have to win the belt, and if they do they do it in a proper way.

 

[redmethod09878]

Summerslam

Summerslam has so many better matches than other ppv. During the late 80s to mid 90s Summerslam matches were some of best of all time. Recent years with rvd vs benoit,hhh vs hbk,angle vs guerrero,lesnar vs rock,orton vs benoit have been amazing.I think survivor series just has only the main event match thats good.Im not a huge fan of the elimination tags.The rumble match is only good in the begining usualy the first two have a interesting role in the match. A good wresltemania is amazing but they only have those everyonce in a while.

 

[smalltownfan]

#1 and #4 are easy with WrestleMania running away with the #1 ranking and Survivor Series ranking #4. I am torn between SummerSlam and the Royal Rumble because SummerSlam has produced so many good matches over the years whereas the Rumble is so unpredictable. You never know who's coming out next (Cena floored me last year), you never know how long or how short people will last, you have people favored to win all of the sudden get thrown out, it comes down to two of the greatest ever to decide who wins (Taker vs HBK a couple of years ago) or someone you never expected to win does just that (when Mysterio won). With all that being said, I think I just talked myself into putting the Rumble down as #2 and SummerSlam as #3.

 

[Lee]

I've always preferred Survivor Series, it's the half point between Manias, the half time show as it were. There's always some sort of surprise and it's nt hyped to fuck, which makes it an all round better show, less hope.

 

[Hacksaw Highway]

Mania for me easily. No other show evokes such strong memories, and Wrestlemania is such a gigantic part of the legacies of guys like Hogan, Austin, Taker and Machaels. I was fortunate enoug to be at WrestleMania 19, and it just feels electric. Everyone in the crowd is buzzing, because they know what a huge event it truly is.

 

[HBK-aholic]

Hon do you really expect anything other than Wrestlemania to win, especially at this time of year? Wrestlemania is wrestling - everything is centered around it, I therefore find it impossible to vote for anything different. While there have been bad shows in the past, there have been great ones to make up for that - and I'm really feeling that this year will be the best ever.

I'd go with Rumble second - just because I love watching the match, not knowing who will be out mext, and knowing anyone could win is great, it lasts long as well, which I like. The match inspires feelings which don't happen with normal matches - in just one second the person you were rooting for could be eliminated, it'd be that simple. I love it.

 

[Mighty NorCal]

Generally, you will get a better wrestling show from Royal Rumble or SummerSlam, but WM is THE end all be all, the best. While the actual in ring stuff may not be up to par with SS, and RR, the pagentry, the atmosphere, and everything else about Mania is just SO damn fun. Its a celebration fo the sport we all love, and I cant say I prefer anything else. love me some Mania.

 

[Khalifa]

I must say my favoruite is Surivior Series. I have liked it ever since the invasion angle. WrestleMania never really got me going, Summerslam just bores me most years and Royal Rumble is great but Sometimes has questionable matches because of the rumble itself. Survivor Series just has that feel to me. It puts on a great show every year and continues the tradition as well ( not including 2002). Every card has been good for a long time. You name one card that is bad. 2008 had a few good matches same with 2007. Etc etc, so to me Survivor series is my favoruite.

 

[BIGJUICYNIPPLES]

wrestlemania is clearly the best, this shoulden't even be a question. Summerslam is just another ppv as it is now Surviver Series has lost imo all of it's credibility for the 5 on 5 4 on 4 type matches, becouse there just random guys put into a big match. Tho Royal Rumble is is imo the 2nd best

 

[TheOneBigWill]

I'm gonna possibly take a lot of heat for this, but WrestleMania is my least favorite event of those four. I look at this question as asking me "What Anthology set do you want, and how would you order them?" It'd go as follows.

1. Survivor Series: Without question my all-time favorite Pay per view has been the Old-School Survivor Series. From the very beginning, throughout until around 1992 when they tried something new. Then again from 1993-1997. This p.p.v only got stupid when they went away from tradition.

Its always been my favorite show because of the elimination matches. Why? Because you get the opportunity to get up to 4 different running feuds, all happening at the same time. Then you get the opportunity to get cross-over feuds that can spawn from these matches. Not to mention, this is the one time of the year where you don't have to be "in" a Tag team, to be apart of a Survivor team and have it look amazing.

2. Royal Rumble: The one show thats never went away from what it began as, would be the Rumble. 30 men, 1 battle royal with high reward, 1 winner. From the first, to the most recent.. it's always been the same exact match headlining the overall meaning of the show.

The only thing that stops the Royal Rumble from headlining my Favorite's list of Pay per views is the fact that the undercard (including Heavyweight title matches) isn't always the greatest. I mean, through specific years you've seen guys like Mark Henry, Hardcore Holly & Umaga all receive Heavyweight title shots. Did anyone think any of them had a chance to win? Really?!

But yet the overall show, each and every year, is always centered and surrounded by the 30 man elimination Royal Rumble. So regardless if you have a really great undercard line-up, or the worst "wouldn't put it on free t.v." line-up.. it's irrelevant, because the Rumble is what's important.

3. SummerSlam: Why did I put this before Mania? That's the big question on everyone's minds, is my guess. Well, you could argue the Rumble & Survivor Series are gimmick p.p.v's so that may explain why they're first. But SummerSlam is nothing but a second-rate WrestleMania to many, so why put it before Mania? Simple.. because the outcomes aren't always as predictable as Mania's are.

SummerSlam has seen more heels come out victorious than Mania. SummerSlam has produced more shocking finishes, and unpredictable moments than Mania has. SummerSlam doesn't always end feuds, or begin them. Sometimes, just sometimes.. the show itself merely revolves around having a generally great line-up, and overall good matches. Whereas Mania is revolved around beginning, ending and settling feuds. Summerslam isn't always about that, so you don't get the predictable outcome like you do with Mania.

4. WrestleMania: So finally, we have WrestleMania. Why am I bad mouthing Mania, when its coming up in only under 2 weeks?! Simple.. because Mania is more for the entertainment aspect. Its all lights and cameras, but hardly ever anything other than one or two major spots. Taker's streak. Good over-coming Evil. Celeb-appearances. MITB. Outside of that, more often than not, can you truly tell me what Mania offers? Nothing.

Sure, Mania has produced some great matches. But so has Backlash or Judgment Day. Big deal. Mania has made itself a huge show, on name-value alone.

Furthermore, all I ever see anymore for the previous couple of years is how "This year's Mania doesn't look solid." (based on 'said' yearly event) Thats all the majority of people say, year in and year out. So why is Mania even worth mentioning as a top 4, when based on people's criticisms it doesn't even sound like it's even worth being a top 5 lately.

Of course I'm not of the same nature to say it looks bad. On a personal note, for this year's version, I think the line-up is amazing. Title matches with solid purpose. Feuds with heated drama. And Taker finally has an opponent that is legit dangerous. The only thing missing was the Celeb/Wrestler showdown.. which was replaced with a glorified fill-in clusterfuck.

So all in all, that's my top 4, from favorite to least.

 

[I_Like_All_Wrestling]

Each PPV really means little theses days. It might mean more in storyline purposes, but they certainly aren't the shows they used to be.

The Rumble used to be great when you had unexpected guys showing up. That was great to see. Now we know who's in it beforehand, and it's fairly easy to pick who the winner is going to be. There are also tons of guys in it that I don't really care about. When a past guy comes back for the rumble (like RVD, that was good) and we know they'll lose, that's one thing. When it's filled with people like The Miz and Mark Henry I'm just not that interested. I'll give it to WWE though, last year with the surprise Cena return was exciting...that's what it used to be about.

Survivor Series used to be by far my favorite. I LOVED the 4 on 4 matches. Now it's just another PPV with a 5-5 thrown in. A team elimination PPV was great.

Summerslam and Wrestlemania used beginning and end points for feuds. Now they are Just PPVs in their respective months. Wrestlemania is obviously the most important because WWE wants it to be and promotes it that way. Veterans usually seem to put on a great show then as well, and I happen to enjoy MITB (probably not this year though), but really besides WWE telling you that it's important, what makes Wrestlemania so important. Summerslam is really just called a big PPV where now it could simply be called Backlash or Unforgiven or something.

I wish PPVs had the value they used to. Part of the reason they don't is because there are so many PPVs and feuds are much much shorter. By the time we get to a "major" PPV we've really seen the same match at 3 previous PPVs and every single week on RAW or Smackdown, sometimes with a tag match, handicap or "opponents as tag team" matches thrown in.

 

[Bollocks Mahoney]

My favourite is the Royal Rumble. It's always unpredictabe and fun to watch. Then second is Wrestlemania, because every wrestler tries harder on this show any other, which makes for some of the best matches in history of WWF/E. Then third would be Survivor Series for the traditional tag matches, and also many big names have debuted on this show, and lots of Superstars have made their returns from injury at this show. Summerslam is last. I've never really thought much of it as a ppv to be honest. It just seems like another ppv to me, like Backlash, for example.

 

[ACMerk]

I personally like the Pay-Per-View that doesn't have a set match every year. I think that Summerslam is the best because it doesn't have a big match, so big anyway that they don't base the Pay-Per-View on that one match.
Survivor Series has at least a few 5-on-5 matches and those matches are always formed (officially) at last minute and always have some names that don't have anything to do with that rivalry.
Royal Rumble always has the Royal Rumble Match and there is always some names that appear as if they will return for one last run, like this year there was RVD who appeared and the minute he did, i was sooooo excited to see what Brand he would be on and what they would do with him at the Show of Shows, Wrestlemania but then a week passed and another week passed and i realized it was just one time appearence, which really disapointed me. And there is Never enough names to actually put into the match, you always have to get some jobbers, usually like Rowdy Roddy Piper or Superfly.
So that is why I like Summerslam out of the 3, major, but not so major anymore, Pay-Per-Views. And of course Wrestlemania is my Number 1, but there you have it, i think Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble could just be good 3-Hour Raws W/O Commercials, just a couple, if not just one Really Big Match(es).

 

[HHHDiedForOurSins]

1. WrestleMania - It has to be number 1, when you think of the most memorable moments of the past 20 years, chances are the majority of them happened at WM.

2. Royal Rumble - The Rumble match never disappoints and is always the match I look forward to the most each year.

3. Survivor Series - I've always liked the elimination matches, I thought SS went through a dip in quality in the mid 2000s but it's picked up lately, the last 2 years have been really good shows.

4. Summerslam - This is the event that has fallen the most over the years, it used to be a huge show, now it's only slightly above the likes of No Way Out, Backlash etc, I haven't enjoyed a Summerslam since 2005.

 

[TheOneBigWill]

1. WrestleMania - It has to be number 1, when you think of the most memorable moments of the past 20 years, chances are the majority of them happened at WM.

This statement couldn't be more wrong. Some of the very big moments, haven't even come near Wrestlemania. Here are just a few examples on major moments that didn't come anywhere near, or have anything to do, with Wrestlemania.

1. Eddie Guerrero & Chris Benoit's Deaths: While Guerrero passed away a week prior to Survivor Series, Chris Benoit died before Night of Champions. The only Mania moment either of these stories share, is Eddie's Hall of Fame induction.

The Benoit death got the worst televised spots in recent Wrestling memory, but it still got them more spotlight than Mania in recent years. (good or bad)

2. Brock Lesnar, then Randy Orton becoming the Youngest Heavyweight Champion: Ironically, both of these moments came at Summerslam's.

Lesnar defeated The Rock, and became at that time the youngest Champion. Only for Orton, 2 years later, to defeat Benoit and re-write history all over again.

3. Montreal Screw job: Bret Hart; was he screwed? Was it because of Shawn, Vince or Himself?! Regardless.. it had ZERO connection to Wrestlemania, and is still discussed and talked about more than over half of the Mania's that've happened in time.

4. InVasion Angle: One of the biggest moments in Wrestling history, and arguably one of the most botched storylines in Wrestling history.. and it only had a minimal connection to Mania. (of course that being w/ Shane buying W.C.W instead of Vince, just a week or two prior)

However, the InVasion didn't kick into full force until around the King of the Ring, and went through to Survivor Series. No Mania around to ground-break this huge moment in Wrestling history.

2. Royal Rumble - The Rumble match never disappoints and is always the match I look forward to the most each year.

This, I agree with. Even the Rumble that McMahon won.. was a great one. And the card that year was good too.

3. Survivor Series - I've always liked the elimination matches, I thought SS went through a dip in quality in the mid 2000s but it's picked up lately, the last 2 years have been really good shows.

See, I always felt it took a dip in 1996, when they had the same about of single's matches that they did Survivor matches. Then in 1997, they centered more around single's and tag team matches than they did the Survivor matches. Finally, 1998 came and bam.. one night tournament to crown a new Heavyweight Champion.

While I loved that event because I love one night tournaments. It was basically a 2nd version of the King of the Ring for that year.

1999 tried picking back up with Survivor matches, but one of which had Big Show taking on "Team Boss Man" in a 4-on-1 handicap match, and he destroyed the entire team. That was stupid, then of course add-on he went on later to become Heavyweight Champion as well.

4. Summerslam - This is the event that has fallen the most over the years, it used to be a huge show, now it's only slightly above the likes of No Way Out, Backlash etc, I haven't enjoyed a Summerslam since 2005.

This is yet another statement I couldn't disagree with more. Summerslam stands out from all those other shows, because it's still holding the ability to make, end, or further feuds. While any show can pretty much do that, Summerslam is built up almost as big as Mania is. And that is just the beginning of what makes it stand out from the other B-show p.p.v's.

As far as an enjoyable Summerslam, I admit some of their matches have declined in recent memory. However, so has Mania match-up's. But unlike Mania, 2 years ago, especially.. we got Orton/Cena, and everyone believed Orton would win.. but he didn't.

That much hype around someone doing something, on a Mania stage, and they probably wouldn't go for the shock-value ending.. they'd have probably just gave it to Orton.

WrestleMania is the stage where typically everyone goes to finally achieve that one moment that's eluded them. Be it Orton overcoming the odds last year. Or Taker's undefeated streak being challenged. Or even figuring out who'll attempt being the next Main Eventer in the M.I.T.B match.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

I like Summerslam more than I do Wrestlemania. Summerslam is a pay-per view in which feuds can be started or ended. Also, it's usually the place where you get first-time matchups like Batista/Cena, Hogan/Orton and Hogan/HBK. It has the build of Wrestlemania and the matches usually deliver more than Wrestlemania matches. I would rather have seen Jericho/Taker than HBK/Taker so I'm expecting that first time encounter to be at Summerslam.

It's a tossup between Survivor Series and Royal Rumble. They still have elimination matches but the teams are just thrown together. I liked the Raw v. Smackdown one in 2005 and Team Austin v. Team v. Bischoff in 2003. Randy Orton being the sole survivor of three straight Survivor Series is a great accomplishment.

The Royal Rumble match has always been one of my favorites as I anticipate who would be #1 and who would last the longest. The way wrestlers are eliminated are always fun to watch like Paul London being eliminated by Snitsky. It can really jump-start a wrestler's career once he wins it. Besides the match, the rest of the card isn't up to snuff. The title matches aren't that good and I think the WWE makes it that way as they want all the focus on the Royal Rumble match.

 

[TheSavageAuthor]

Wrestlemania ALL THE WAY!

It's the "grandaddy", it's their "Superbowl", it's the biggest, most important event of the year, and you get the biggest and best matches, because everyone steps it up into another level.

And.....it's the only wrestling PPV that can justify having a bunch of your non-wrestling friends over to get drunk and dress in ridiculous costumes! lol

 

[Haner388994]

I went with the obious PPV in my eyes to take the title of being the best PPV of the year, Wrestlemania. Wrestlemania is always great. This PPV is almost always the most popular PPV watched over the whole year. At Wrestlemania, superstars perform in their best way, putting everything on the line in their matches. This year looks like it will be GREAT too.

 

[Pimpin]

I'm gonna go with Wrestlemania cause it's arguably the biggest pay per view WWE has, the superstars always up their game at Wrestlemania & most of the time The Road To Wrestlemania is always bad ass during that time of the year. Too bad this year's Wrestlemania doesn't look that promising.

 

[healyz84]

I thoroughly enjoy the Rumble and it is by far my favorite ppv, but Mania is something else all together. I'll use a football analogy here and say that it would be like picking the afc/nfc championship game over the superbowl. While it may be true that the championship game turns out to be the better match, the superbowl is just a whole other level, and even if the match isn't great, the show will be.