The guys over at Rukkus Blog have provided an awesome infograph on SummerSlam that is turning into the gift that keeps on giving. Aside from showing us just how dominant John Cena has been throughout his WWE career, there were also a ton of great facts about the history of SummerSlam.
Let’s take a look at five interesting SummerSlam facts that you probably never knew. You can also see the entire SummerSlam infograph below.
Brock Lesnar Is Mr. SummerSlam
Brock Lesnar has spent his entire career destroying people, but he seems to step his game up even more when SummerSlam rolls around. Lesnar has a career record of 4-1 at the Summer Classic (his only loss being to Kurt Angle in 2003) with wins over the Rock, Triple H, CM Punk and John Cena. The last three of those wins all coming since 2011 which, yeah that’s an impressive list.
Lesnar will look to make it 5-1 when he takes on the Undertaker this Sunday from Barclay’s. Speaking of the Undertaker…
Taker Finally Returns to SummerSlam
This Sunday will mark the first time since 2008 that the Undertaker competes at SummerSlam. Seven years ago the Dead Man beat Edge in a Hell in a Cell match that main-evented the show. While Taker was included in the SummerSlam storyline for 2009, an injury prevented him from competing and the Dead Man has not been in a match at the Summer Classic since.
That all changes this Sunday when he looks for his revenge on Lesnar!
If John Cena’s in a Title Match, The Strap is Probably Changing Hands
In the least shocking bit of news you’ll ever hear, this Sunday will mark the fifth consecutive SummerSlam that will include a WWE title match featuring John Cena. In some news that actually is surprising, Cena has come out on the losing end in each of the past four SummerSlam’s he has competed in. Even more surprising, he has dropped the title in three of those years.
After CM Punk took the strap off of Cena in 2011, Daniel Bryan did the same in 2013 and Brock Lesnar welcomed us all to Suplex City last summer while winning the belts from Cena.
So which trend continues Sunday? John Cena losing or the WWE title switching hands?
SummerSlam 2014: The Anti-Champions Show
Speaking of losing titles, SummerSlam 2014 was the first time in the 24-year history of the show that every single title defended changed hands. Not only did the aforementioned Cena drop his title to Lesnar, but Divas Champ AJ Lee (miss you AJ) dropped her title to newcomer Paige, and the Miz also lost the Intercontinental title to Dolph Ziggler on the show.
Needless to say, SummerSlam 2014 was not kind to defending Champions.
SummerSlam 2003 Was Great to Defending Champs
While SummerSlam 2014 was a terrible time for defending Champions, no titles switched hands during SummerSlam 2003. Rey Mysterio successfully defended his Cruiserweight title (R.I.P.) against Shannon Moore (!), while La Resistance (LOL) defended their tag titles successfully against the Dudley Boyz.
The late, great Eddie Guerrero successfully defended his U.S. title in a Fatal Fourway match, while Kurt Angle made Brock Lesnar tap out to retain his WWE title. In the night’s main event, Triple H successfully defeated Goldberg, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels in one of the deepest Elimination Chamber matches of all-time to retain his World Heavyweight Championship.