WWE's SummerSlam, also known as the "Biggest Party of the Summer," hasn't always been running NFL stadiums and packing in 40,000 or 50,000 fans. There have been plenty of times when a seemingly paltry 16,000 have been in attendance for the second-biggest wrestling show of the year.
Today, we're taking a look at the highest and lowest attendance figures in SummerSlam history.
Highest-Attended SummerSlam Events
SummerSlam 1992 (Wembley Stadium): 78,927
Nearly 80,000 Brits packed Wembley Stadium in 1992 to watch the British Bulldog take on Bret "Hitman" Hart for the Intercontinental Championship.
Elsewhere on the card, the Ultimate Warrior defeated WWE Champion Randy Savage via countout, The Undertaker defeated Kamala and the Legion of Doom defeated Money, Inc.
The show received mainly positive reviews and the company brought in $1.6 million in merchandise at Wembley Stadium alone. Bulldog and Hart put on an excellent match, which is not so surprising considering that's all Hart did.
It is surprising when you consider that Smith was likely high on cocaine during the match and, according to Hart, forgot nearly the entire sequence that had been laid out.
Everything in the ring ended up being fine, despite Bulldog's poor conditioning being on full display. However, the company viewed Smith as a liability. He lost the title shortly thereafter and was released before the end of the year.
SummerSlam 2024 (Cleveland Browns Stadium): 57, 791
Cody Rhodes defended the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Solo Sikoa in a Bloodline Rules match. Sikoa's Bloodline stablemates Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa hit the ring to beat down Rhodes when he had the match won, prompting Kevin Owens and Randy Orton to enter for the assist.
With the odds evened, it looked like Rhodes was going to win the match again, when he was blindsided by Jacob Fatu.
With both Sikoa and Rhodes down, Roman Reigns made his return. He had been off of television since WrestleMania XL, but was now entering a program with Sikoa, who had declared himself the "Tribal Chief."
Other matches included Liv Morgan defeating Rhea Ripley for the Women's World Championship, LA Knight winning the U.S. Championship over Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre picking up a victory over CM Punk (with Seth Rollins as the special guest referee).
Lowest-Attended SummerSlam Events
SummerSlam 2020 (WWE Thunderdome): 0
This felt a bit like cheating to include this, because it isn't indicative of the market size or the quality of the show. Still, it technically is the lowest-attended SummerSlam ever.
Billed as being "Behind Closed Doors," SummerSlam 2020 is remembered more for the return of Roman Reigns than anything else.
Reigns returned with a new heel persona to take out Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt at the conclusion of the main event in a "Wreck Everyone & Leave" shirt. This was the beginning of the Tribal Chief era for Reigns, which redefined his legacy and started one of the best storylines the WWE has ever put out.
SummerSlam 2002 (Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum): 14,797
Not even 15,000 got to see the coronation of Brock Lesnar as Undisputed WWE Champion. Oddly enough, this is considered by many to be the single-greatest SummerSlam in history, yet it features the lowest attendance.
It was a sellout and the event had a loaded card, so there's little doubt the company probably would've also sold out the much bigger Madison Square Garden had they chose to run it instead.
Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho vs. Ric Flair, Chris Benoit vs. Rob Van Dam, Edge vs. Eddie Guerrero and Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H in an unsanctioned match highlight the rest of this absurd card, which was topped off by Brock Lesnar defeating the departing Rock for the Undisputed WWE Championship.
Lesnar was just 25 years old at the time, the then-youngest WWE champ in history.
More Wrestling on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as WWE SummerSlam Attendance History: Highest and Lowest Crowds Ever.