The 25 greatest matches in SummerSlam history

No. 17: The Undertaker vs. Mankind (1996)

SummerSlam 1996 saw, simultaneously, one of the most innovative and brutal matches in WWE history. But, nothing proved as painfully surprising during the contest as the startling way it ended.

The Undertaker stepped into Mankind’s world in a sadistically conceived Boiler Room Brawl, a match tailor-made for the Hardcore Legend in which the two Superstars would begin their showdown in an actual boiler room — filled with countless weapons of destruction — and end only when one of them took The Phenom’s mystical urn from Paul Bearer in the middle of the ring.

After utilizing everything from ladders to trash cans to the darkness of the boiler room itself, The Deadman and Mrs. Foley’s Baby Boy broke through the confines of the industrialized battleground, through the hallway and into the WWE Universe in the arena. When the madness finally reached the ring itself, Undertaker knocked his opponent from the apron and paved the way for his triumph. However, when The Demon of Death Valley went to grab his prize, Paul Bearer, his longtime cohort, shocked the WWE Universe by turning away — ultimately costing The Phenom the match to a recovering Mankind. – MICHAEL BURDICK (WATCH FULL-LENGTH MATCH)