It was one of the first four annual pay-per-view events produced by the WWF, along with WrestleMania, the Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series, which were eventually dubbed the "big four".

The preliminary matches included a title defense by Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man against a surprise challenger, revealed to be The Ultimate Warrior.

WWF Chairman Vince McMahon countered Jim Crockett's successful Starrcade pay-per-view (PPV), which began airing in 1983, by creating WrestleMania.

After WrestleMania III in March 1987, the most successful professional wrestling pay-per-view event in history, McMahon created Survivor Series, which aired the same day as Starrcade in November 1987.

After defeating Crockett in the ratings war, McMahon created the Royal Rumble, an event airing for free on the USA Network in January 1988, on the same night as the Crockett-produced PPV, Bunkhouse Stampede.

WrestleMania IV garnered higher ratings, and not long after, Crockett filed for bankruptcy and sold his company to Ted Turner, who rebranded it as World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

In addition to WrestleMania in March, Royal Rumble in January, and Survivor Series in November, McMahon created an event for August, which he named SummerSlam.

The two feuds first came together at WrestleMania IV, when—as the result of the vacating of the WWF Heavyweight Championship—a 14-man single-elimination tournament was set up to crown a new champion.

"[12][13] The André-DiBiase team—which dubbed itself "The Mega Bucks"—retaliated by announcing the guest referee would be someone they declared to be fair and neutral: Jesse Ventura, a color commentator on the WWF's programs who favored the villains, though according to the main storyline, Ventura was chosen by WWF President Jack Tunney as the only person capable of handling such a match.

The event began with a match between The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid), and The Fabulous Rougeaus (Jacques and Raymond Rougeau).

Patera then slipped both of his arms underneath Brown's armpits and locked his hands behind his neck, using a submission move known as a full nelson.

Before the match, it had been announced that Honky's original challenger, Brutus Beefcake, was unable to wrestle due to being attacked the previous week on an episode of Superstars of Wrestling by Outlaw Ron Bass, who had raked his cowboy spurs repeatedly across Beefcake's forehead (television and even the PPV only showed the censored version of the attack).

Warrior, who accidentally knocked Finkel to the floor when he rushed into the ring and hit the ropes, had the advantage from the beginning, attacking The Honky Tonk Man, who was still in his entrance attire.

The Rock had gone into the match without his manager Superstar Billy Graham, who could only look on helplessly from his position in the commentary booth alongside Gorilla Monsoon at the illegal antics of Bravo and Martin.

As Bret Hart was tagged into the match, Demolition got the advantage over him when he was whipped shoulder-first into the turnbuckle, breaking Mr. Fuji's cane that he had placed there when the referee wasn't looking.

Subsequently, as part of the scripted ending to the match, Miss Elizabeth began arguing with Ventura, the referee and ripped off her skirt to reveal a one-piece swimsuit.

As Hogan pinned DiBiase, Ventura, a villainous character aligned with The Mega Bucks (despite being a long-time on-air Savage fan and his former tag-team partner), began a slow three-count.

[15][12] The event was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and took place on August 29, 1988, in New York City's Madison Square Garden.

[16] The original plan for SummerSlam was to bring Ric Flair over from the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) to the WWF.

[13] Calum Waddell, in Fighting Spirit Magazine, called The Ultimate Warrior's win over the Honky Tonk Man "genuinely captivating," and he said the match between The British Bulldogs and The Fabulous Rougeaus was an "exciting battle".

The Mega Powers continued to team together after the event until a new storyline was developed where Randy Savage became jealous of Hulk Hogan paying attention to Miss Elizabeth, and as the WWF World Heavyweight Champion, felt slighted over his perceived lower billing in the Mega Powers' pecking order.

[21] The final falling out happened on The Main Event II, when Elizabeth received an on-screen injury during a tag team match.

[24] During the midst of their title reign, despite being billed as villains, Demolition's popularity with fans continued to grow, and the tag team eventually was turned face 3 months after SummerSlam at the 1988 Survivor Series.

Several of the WWF's stars from the beginning of its national expansion in 1984 slowly began leaving the promotion over the next few months, including Ken Patera, Junkyard Dog, The British Bulldogs (particularly Dynamite Kid), and Don Muraco as the WWF began focusing on new talents such as Bad News Brown, Rick Rude, the Ultimate Warrior, the Powers of Pain, and the Brain Busters (who would arrive in October 1988).

The Bolsheviks began to fall down the tag team ranks, losing in feuds with the Powers of Pain and later with the newly arrived Bushwhackers and Rockers.