In the main event, which was an interbrand match, Raw's Brock Lesnar defeated SmackDown's Randy Orton by technical knockout.

In another marquee match, "The Demon King" Finn Bálor defeated Seth Rollins to become the inaugural WWE Universal Champion, which was introduced to be Raw's world championship.

Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer",[1] it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views (PPV), along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four".

[3][4] Announced on September 28, 2015, the 2016 event was the 29th SummerSlam and was scheduled to be held on August 21, 2016, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the second consecutive year.

[15] On July 15, WWE confirmed that the match would still be taking place, despite a USADA notification in regards to Lesnar's UFC fight, stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on June 28, which tested positive for a banned substance.

[23] On the July 26 episode of SmackDown, a six-pack challenge involving John Cena, Bray Wyatt, AJ Styles, Dolph Ziggler, Baron Corbin, and Apollo Crews was held to determine the #1 contender for the WWE World Championship at SummerSlam.

[27] Ziggler responded by attacking Ambrose with a superkick on their "Miz TV" segment during the final episode of SmackDown before SummerSlam.

[21] On the August 8 episode of Raw, Sasha Banks defeated Brooke, resulting in Dana being banned from ringside at SummerSlam.

[29] After the aforementioned mixed tag team match, Chris Jericho attacked Enzo Amore until Big Cass came out to help his partner.

[22] On the July 25 episode of Raw, The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Big E, and Xavier Woods) were celebrating in the ring on becoming the longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions.

[21] On August 8, Woods and Kingston were scheduled to defend the WWE Tag Team Championship against Gallows and Anderson at SummerSlam.

During an ensuing argument, Raw General Manager Mick Foley scheduled a Best-of-Seven Series between the two, with the first match taking place at SummerSlam.

[32] Eva Marie was drafted to SmackDown, but for several episodes, circumstances, including a pulled hamstring[22] and a wardrobe malfunction,[27] prevented her from making her in-ring debut.

Later that night, Becky Lynch and Carmella took on Natalya and Alexa Bliss; during the match, Marie appeared on the entrance ramp.

[24] On August 18, Marie was suspended for 30 days due to a violation of WWE's wellness policy, taking her out of the match.

[33] In light of this, WWE's advertising was intentionally vague about whether the match would be turned into a three-on-two handicap or if Natalya and Alexa would have a third partner.

In the first match, American Alpha (Jason Jordan and Chad Gable), The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley), and The Usos (Jey and Jimmy Uso) faced Breezango (Tyler Breeze and Fandango), The Ascension (Konnor and Viktor), and The Vaudevillains (Aiden English and Simon Gotch) in a twelve-man tag team match.

In the end, Zayn performed a Helluva Kick on Bubba Ray followed by Neville executing the "Red Arrow" for the pinfall.

[37] The actual pay-per-view opened with Enzo Amore and Big Cass facing Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens.

[37] In the second match, Sasha Banks defended the WWE Women's Championship against Charlotte with Dana Brooke banned from ringside.

After the match, Cena removed his armband and put it in the center of the ring before departing backstage to a standing ovation from the crowd.

[37] After that, Jon Stewart, acting as a replacement for the injured Big E, introduced the WWE Tag Team Champions, The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) for their title defense against Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.

[37] After that, Becky Lynch, Naomi, and Carmella were scheduled to face Natalya, Alexa Bliss, and Eva Marie in a six-woman tag team match.

This led to Lesnar winning via technical knockout and Randy Orton tended to by WWE medical personnel.

According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Jericho questioned WWE producer Michael Hayes about whether the finish was planned or not.

[39] The following night on Raw, Finn Bálor vacated the Universal Championship due to a shoulder injury incurred at SummerSlam.

On the same night, General Manager Mick Foley scheduled a fatal four-way elimination match for the next week's Raw to crown a new champion.

Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Big Cass, and Roman Reigns each qualified for the match by defeating Sami Zayn, Neville, Rusev, and Chris Jericho, respectively.

However, Charlotte's victory celebration was interrupted by Bayley, who was announced by Mick Foley as the Raw women's division's newest member.

Furthermore, The Dudley Boyz announced their retirement, but were first confronted by The Shining Stars and then attacked by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, who put D-Von through a table.