[3] Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer",[4] it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four".

[6][7] The 2011 event was the 24th SummerSlam and was scheduled to be held on August 14, 2011, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California for the third consecutive year.

[12][13] R&B singer Cee Lo Green performed both "'Bright Lights Bigger City", the official theme song for the event, and his hit "Forget You" during the broadcast.

At Extreme Rules in May, Christian defeated Alberto Del Rio in a ladder match to win the vacant World Heavyweight Championship for the first time, only to lose it to Orton on the May 6 episode of SmackDown.

On the July 29 episode of SmackDown, the new Chief Operating Officer of WWE, Triple H, scheduled a title defense by Christian against Orton in a No Holds Barred match at SummerSlam.

The main event from the Raw brand for SummerSlam would pit John Cena against CM Punk for the WWE Championship.

The following night on Raw, McMahon dismissed Punk's claim to the title, and announced an 8-man tournament to decide the new WWE Champion.

Also, on the same night, Triple H relieved McMahon of his duties, and assumed control over WWE as the Chief Operating Officer just as the chairman was about to fire Cena.

On the July 25 edition of Raw, Rey Mysterio defeated The Miz in the finals to become the WWE Champion but lost it later on the same night against Cena.

[1] In the SmackDown main event, Christian defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Randy Orton in a No Holds Barred match.

Christian attempted a Sunset Flip out of the corner but Orton countered the move into an RKO on the steel steps to win the title.

[1] In the Raw main event, John Cena wrestled CM Punk to determine the undisputed WWE Champion.

In 2013, Stephanie McMahon revealed in an interview with Advertising Age that WWE's decision to end the brand extension was due to wanting their content to flow across television and online platforms.