SummerSlam is the WWE's second-biggest show of the year, but there have been times throughout the near 30-year history of the event where it stole the spotlight from WrestleMania by being the better show.
Could that happen this year?
With the entirety of the two-night SummerSlam 2025 card now revealed and a few months to have pondered on WrestleMania 41, let's compare the two and see which is better.
Overall Card Depth and Star Power
Both the WrestleMania and SummerSlam cards feature most of the WWE's biggest stars, which is obviously great news.
John Cena, Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Rhea Ripley, Jey Uso, Gunther, Randy Orton, Iyo Sky, Jade Cargill and Logan Paul all feature prominently on both cards.
The glaring omission is, of course, Seth Rollins.
Rollins currently holds the Money in the Bank briefcase after aligning with Paul Heyman at WrestleMania and forming a new group with Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. However, he might not appear at SummerSlam due to a leg injury he sustained at Saturday Night's Main Event.
Prominent wrestling insider Dave Meltzer claims that Rollins isn't really injured and that this entire thing is a work. Meltzer's history speaks for itself in the industry, but in recent years he's gotten plenty of things wrong. So, take the report with a grain of salt.
If Rollins isn't really injured, one would assume that he gets involved in Night 1's main event between Gunther and CM Punk, likely walking out with the World Heavyweight Championship.
WrestleMania Match Quality and Fan Reception
Let's take a look at the cards for both nights of WrestleMania 41 and then jump into the main event angles.
Night 1
Night 2
After WWE's new Netflix show Unreal revealed the original WrestleMania 41 plans, I can't help but think the company's first ideas were better.
If you haven't seen it, you can get a full rundown here, but here are some of key differences/highlights.
- Multiman ladder matches for both the United States and Intercontinental Championships
- Travis Scott would now be in Rey Mysterio's corner against Chad Gable/El Grande Americano
- Bron Breakker and Drew McIntyre would fight with Steve Austin as the special guest referee
- Bad Bunny would take on Dominik Mysterio
- A returning Becky Lynch would partner up with returning Charlotte Flair to take on Iyo Sky and Asuka for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships
- CM Punk would challenge Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship
- Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins
We're unsure when this plan was drafted, but something of note is that John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship was the plan from the start. However, rapper Scott was originally penciled in for a much smaller role in the Mysterio-Gable feud.
This plan also fails to mention The Rock. At the time, there were a plethora of reports that he would be unable to make WrestleMania 41 due to shooting the live-action Moana adaptation for Disney. However, when he appeared at Elimination Chamber, everything changed for the fans.
Something else we learned from Unreal was that The Rock's original plan had nothing to do with Cena. The Rock would still give Rhodes a final opportunity to join him, but when Rhodes refused The Rock would use his position to create a title match on the spot between Rhodes and Kevin Owens, which KO would win.
Obviously, this didn't happen. Instead, we got what appeared to be Cena selling his soul to The Rock and taking out Rhodes, setting up their WrestleMania match.
Fans fully expected The Rock to play some sort of role at WrestleMania considering he was in the ring posing with Cena for the biggest heel turn since Hulk Hogan formed the NWO in WCW.
That never happened. Instead, Scott was involved for a bit and a 20-minute clunker ended with a whimper. Cena had broken Ric Flair's record, but overall the event just felt off.
Perhaps this show was a victim of unrealistic expectations. Maybe the fans should have never expected The Rock to appear and advance the storyline with Cena and Rhodes. Then again, maybe the WWE should've had Cena declare he didn't need The Rock. Who knows what the correct answer was.
All I know is that WrestleMania 39 was excellent, WrestleMania XL was perfect and WrestleMania 41 was mostly a slog.
That's not to say there weren't bright spots on the card. And admittedly, it is a bit unfair to judge a two-night WrestleMania on just the main event. But at the same time, this was the marquee match at the biggest wrestling show of the year.
And it didn't work.
Night 1 was a better show, which isn't saying all that much. The Rollins vs. CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns Triple Threat was great and Paul Heyman was the MVP of it all. Both the Women's World Championship and WWE Women's Championship matches were great, no complaints there at all.
But still, we're talking about two nights of wrestling and finding four or five bright spots? That's not good enough for the "Showcase of the Immortals."
SummerSlam 2025 Card and Analysis
The SummerSlam card, albeit lopsided, appears better on paper than what we got at WrestleMania, but that mainly comes down to the two main events.
CM Punk challenging Gunther, with the mystique of a possibly hurt/possibly not Rollins getting involved is very intriguing. Punk has yet to capture a championship since his November 2023 return to the company, but there's no denying he's one of the biggest stars on the planet.
On the flipside, Cena vs. Rhodes II is also in a much better spot because A) fans aren't expecting a surprise from The Rock, B) a Street Fight is a better situation than a straight-up singles match at this point for Cena, who can use some weapons to hide his slower in-ring pace and C) it appears we're on the doorstep of the ever-elusive double-turn.
With only a handful of appearances left, Cena deserves to get cheered. Turning him babyface and Rhodes heel gives each of them a fresh coat of paint and it allows Cena to chase the Intercontinental Championship. The IC title is the only one Cena needs to be a grand slam winner in WWE.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as WWE SummerSlam 2025 vs. WrestleMania 41: Which Card Is Better?.