SummerSlam 2008 SummerSlam 2008 was a professional wrestling pay - per - view ( PPV ) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) , which took place on August 17 , 2008 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis , Indiana . It was the 21st annual SummerSlam event and starred wrestlers from the Raw , SmackDown and ECW brands . Seven professional wrestling matches were featured on the event ' s card . The event featured a supercard , a scheduling of more than one main event . The first , featuring wrestlers from the SmackDown brand , saw The Undertaker defeat Edge in a Hell in a Cell match , a match that saw both men fight in a ring surrounded by a roofed steel cell . The other main event featured wrestlers from the Raw brand , in which Batista defeated John Cena in a standard wrestling match . Three featured bouts were scheduled on the undercard . In a standard match from SmackDown , WWE Champion Triple H defeated challenger The Great Khali to retain his title . Another was a standard match involving wrestlers the Raw brand , where World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defeated challenger John " Bradshaw " Layfield ( JBL ) to retain his title . The ECW brand ' s sole contribution to the card saw Matt Hardy defeat ECW Champion Mark Henry by disqualification , as a result of WWE regulations , Hardy did not win the title as they can only be won via pinfall or submission . Background . The buildup to the matches and the scenarios that took place before , during , and after the event were planned by WWE ' s creative staff . The event featured wrestlers from the Raw , SmackDown , and ECW brands : storyline expansions of the promotion where employees are assigned to wrestling brands under the WWE banner . The main rivalry on the SmackDown brand was between Edge and The Undertaker . During 2008 , the two had previously fought in four pay - per - view events over the World Heavyweight Championship . The two would finally face each other in a Tables , Ladders , and Chairs match , a match in which any of these items can be used as weapons with the objective to climb a ladder and reach the title belt hanging above the ring , at One Night Stand for the vacant World Heavyweight Championship . An additional stipulation was added to the match , in which , if The Undertaker should lose the match , he would be banished from WWE . Edge won the match , thus The Undertaker was forced to , as part of the storyline , leave WWE . On the July 18 episode of " SmackDown " , Edge and General Manager Vickie Guerrero held their scripted wedding reception . At the end of the show as Guerrero and Edge were in the ring , Triple H appeared to reveal Edge ' s secret love affair with Edge and Guerrero ' s wedding planner , Alicia Fox . During Edge and Triple H ' s match for the WWE Championship at The Great American Bash , both Guerrero and Fox would interfere , in the process Vickie got speared and the distraction gave Triple H the opportunity to retain his title . Despite an apology from Edge on the July 25 episode of " SmackDown " , Guerrero announced that she had reinstated The Undertaker and announced that he would face Edge at SummerSlam in a Hell in a Cell match . Another rivalry from the SmackDown brand was between Triple H and The Great Khali over the WWE Championship . On the July 25 edition of " SmackDown " , a Battle Royal was held , where the winner would receive a WWE Championship match against Triple H at SummerSlam . Khali won the match , which also involved The Big Show , Jeff Hardy , Mr . Kennedy , Umaga , and Montel Vontavious Porter . The primary rivalry on the Raw brand heading into SummerSlam was between John Cena and Batista . On the July 21 edition of Raw , Batista faced CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship in a rematch from The Great American Bash . JBL ran into the ring , trying to avoid a vengeful John Cena . When Cena looked to punch JBL , he ducked and Batista was hit instead . Batista started a brawl against Cena and the two eventually fought until refs broke it up . The next week , Batista claimed that he had no problems with Cena , who had a hard time believing it . Later that night , Cena and Batista beat JBL and Kane in a tag - team match . New General Manager Mike Adamle announced that the two men would face off at SummerSlam , making it the first time ever that the two men had faced off against each other , a match that had been six years in the making . Both men won the World Tag Team Championship against Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase Jr . in a tag team match . They lost the title a week later in a rematch . Another main feud on the Raw brand was between John " Bradshaw " Layfield ( JBL ) and CM Punk for the World Heavyweight Championship . JBL became the number one contender for Punk ' s title , when he pinned Punk in a two - on - one handicap match , which also featured Chris Jericho as JBL ' s tag team partner . The main feud on the ECW brand was between Mark Henry and Matt Hardy over the ECW Championship . On the July 22 episode of " ECW on Syfy " , Hardy won the right to face Henry at SummerSlam after winning a Fatal Four - Way match against Finlay , The Miz and John Morrison . Event . Before the event aired live on pay - per - view , The Big Show defeated Bam Neely , who was accompanied by Chavo Guerrero , in a dark match . Big Show won by pinning Neely after a knockout punch . Preliminary matches . The first match aired was between Jeff Hardy and Montel Vontavious Porter ( MVP ) . Some of the highlights of the match included MVP delivering a belly to belly suplex to Hardy who landed hard on the turnbuckle and later , MVP kicked Hardy across the ring as the latter tried to deliver his rope - aided corner dropkick . The match involved series of counters and submission holds . Near the end , after delivering the Whisper in the Wind , when Hardy tried to hit the Swanton Bomb on MVP , Shelton Benjamin came down the entrance ramp to the ring , but Hardy took him out . In the ring , Hardy missed his Swanton Bomb , and MVP quickly kicked Hardy in the face and pinned him to win the match . The second match of the evening was a " Winners Take All " mixed tag team match with the WWE Intercontinental Champion Kofi Kingston and the WWE Women ' s Champion Mickie James putting their titles on the line against Santino Marella and Beth Phoenix . The match started with James and Phoenix , who countered each other ' s moves for sometime . Later , they both tagged in their male partners , who continued the match . In the end , Marella tossed Kingston over the top rope and then suffered from a standing tornado DDT from James . This allowed Phoenix to capitalize and she delivered the Glam Slam to James and pinned her to win herself the WWE Women ' s Championship and Santino the Intercontinental Championship . The pay - per - view continued with Shawn Michaels coming out to the ring with his wife Rebecca to announce that after consulting his doctors and his family , he had decided to , in storyline , " retire " from professional wrestling due to all the injuries he had suffered throughout his career . Chris Jericho interrupted Michaels ' address , came down to the ring and asked him to say that he was quitting WWE because of what Jericho did to him . In retaliation , Michaels insulted Jericho , calling him a " vile and selfish human being " , and said that he should go home and tell his family that " he ( Jericho ) will never " ever " be Shawn Michaels " . As Michaels and Rebecca were about to leave the ring , Jericho stopped Michaels and proceeded to punch him , but he ducked and Jericho accidentally nailed Rebecca in the face . Jericho left the ring , as Michaels and WWE medical trainers attended to Rebecca , who appeared to have a legitimate swollen lip . The third match was between Mark Henry and Matt Hardy for the ECW Championship . Early on in the match , Hardy delivered a Twist of Fate to Henry and covered him for a pinfall attempt , but Henry ' s manager Tony Atlas pulled Hardy out of the ring and assaulted him . This forced the referee to call for a disqualification with Hardy as the winner of the match , but as titles don ' t change hands on disqualification or countout , Henry retained the ECW title . As Atlas was assaulting Matt outside , Jeff Hardy came down to his brother ' s aid and delivered a Swanton Bomb to Atlas from the ring apron on the outside . Later , The Hardys performed a double suplex on Henry outside the ring . Main event matches . The fourth match on the card was the featured preliminary match from the Raw brand which saw CM Punk defend the World Heavyweight Championship against John " Bradshaw " Layfield in a singles match . Both men ' s heads collided mid - match , resulting in some bleeding from Punk . After dominating the majority of the match , JBL was defeated by a GTS ( Go To Sleep ) from Punk , resulting in the champion retaining the title . The next match was the featured preliminary match from the SmackDown brand , featuring Triple H defending his WWE Championship against the Great Khali . The champion was attacked early in the match by a double - handed chokeslam from Great Khali - a move normally used to end matches . Khali controlled the match with his strength , until Triple H attacked his legs . The end came when Khali blocked two Pedigree attempts , only to fall to a third attempt to allow Triple H to make the pinfall and retain the title . The penultimate match was the Raw brand ' s main event , that saw the first ever singles confrontation between John Cena and Batista . The fans were split on the two fan favorites , and each man performed numerous signature moves on the other in order to try and score the pinfall . After paying tribute to his former mentor , Ric Flair , by using his chop block and figure four leglock submission hold , Batista attempted to end the match but was trapped in the STFU . Towards the end of the match , Cena successfully counted a powerslam attempt into a fireman ' s carry , and hit the FU to Batista for a near - fall . In turn , Batista countered a top - rope leg drop into the Batista Bomb for a two - count . Batista then kicked Cena in the face , before ending the match following a second Batista Bomb for the pinfall . The final match on the card was the SmackDown brand ' s main event : Undertaker versus Edge in a Hell in a Cell match . Edge dominated a large portion of the match with numerous weapons , including the trademark weapons of his speciality match , the Tables , Ladders , and Chairs match . Undertaker then took control and knocked Edge through a panel in the cell , causing both men to fall outside the structure near the announcers ' tables . Undertaker scored the victory after a leg choke and then a devastating chokeslam from the top - ropes through two tables positioned outside the ring , Spear , a con - chair - to , and then delivered his finisher , a Tombstone Piledriver for the final pinfall . After the match , Undertaker was leaving the arena after winning , but saw Edge move a little in the Titantron . So he went back in the ring to finish him off , and Edge was chokeslammed off of a ladder through the center of the ring , through the canvas , by The Undertaker . Then Undertaker went down and posed with flames engulfing the collapsed area of the canvas . Closing the show , commentator Jim Ross alluded that Edge had been sent to Hell . Aftermath . With Edge written out of action , The Undertaker ' s rivalry with him was re - focused towards one with the remaining members of La Familia . At the August 15 episode of " SmackDown " , Vickie Guerrero tried to apologize to Undertaker for her actions . Despite this , The Undertaker decided to launch an attack at La Familia . The following week saw Undertaker vow revenge on the stable . Both main event feuds for the Raw brand were set to continue at Unforgiven with each men involved in a new concept five - man match called the Championship Scramble match for the World Heavyweight Championship that would also involve Kane . It was later revealed , however , that the SummerSlam match between Cena and Batista left Cena with a legitimate herniated disc . Cena ' s injury saw him replaced in the match with Rey Mysterio . The SmackDown brand would also feature its own Championship Scramble match at Unforgiven with Triple H defending his WWE Championship against The Brian Kendrick , Shelton Benjamin , Montel Vontavious Porter and Jeff Hardy . In spite of this , Triple H ' s rivalry with The Great Khali continued when Triple H aided Jeff Hardy during his Scramble qualification match against Khali with a chair shot . A title rematch between Matt Hardy and Mark Henry was made at the next episode of " ECW on Syfy " , which Henry won from interference by Tony Atlas . Shortly afterward , ECW General Manager Theodore Long announced that ECW would have its own Championship Scramble at Unforgiven for the ECW Championship , which Hardy managed to qualify for along with The Miz , Chavo Guerrero , and Finlay . Reception . Conseco Fieldhouse has a maximum capacity of 18 , 345 , but that was reduced for SummerSlam . The event had an attendance of 15 , 977 , the maximum allowed , selling out the event . " Canadian Online Explorer " ' s professional wrestling section rated the entire event a 6 . 5 out of 10 stars , the same as the SummerSlam event in 2007 . The Hell in a Cell main event match from the SmackDown brand rated an 8 . 5 out of 10 stars . The Raw brand ' s main event , John Cena versus Batista , was less well received and was rated a 6 . 5 out of 10 stars . " The Sun " gave the event a great review , praising the Hell in a Cell match , Punk ' s performance , the Jericho / HBK angle and JR ' s commentary . Overall , they rated the event 9 out of 10 .