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SUMMERSLAM By the Numbers: A Look at the WWE’S Second Biggest Attraction

SUMMERSLAM By the Numbers: A Look at the WWE’S Second Biggest Attraction

Over the course of its three-decade history, SummerSlam has had a total of 227 matches. There have been long matches and short matches. There have been title changes,and matches where the only prize is settling a score. When you think of any of the battles that have taken place during SummerSlam, the same thing crosses everyone mind: the numbers. No? Just me? Ah well. Let’s take a look at some of the interesting stats about the WWE’s August tradition.

Best Record: (3-Way Tie: Hulk Hogan, The Ultimate Warrior, and Rob Van Dam)

A single appearance with a win is great, but only three superstars have five or more victories without a single defeat. Hulk Hogan has the most at 6-0, with his most recent victory in 2006 against Randy Orton. The Ultimate Warrior and Rob Van Dam are both 5-0. Out of all these wins, the Warrior’s first victory is arguably the most significant, as he won the Intercontinental Title from the Honky Tonk Man, ending a 454-day reign, the longest continuous IC champion to this day.

Side Note: While these are the best records of those who never suffered defeat at SummerSlam, none of these gentlemen hold the most actual wins at the event. That honor goes to the legendary Undertaker, who in 16 SummerSlam appearances has won 10.

Worst Record: Booker T (0-5)

Booker T

With every winner, there must be a loser. Unfortunately for Booker T, SummerSlam was never his time to shine. Appearing five times, five times, five times, five times, five times (old school wrestling fans will get that one), he lost every single time. Taking away a little bit of the sting from this poor record, his losses were to some great wrestlers: The Rock, Batista, John Cena, Triple H, Lance Storm, and Christian. So at least Booker T lost after going up against some amazing competition. The downside to that is he never lost due to someone cashing in their Money in the Bank contract, so he couldn’t use that as an excuse. And despite his poor record at SummerSlam, Booker T is a multi-time World Champion, a WWE Hall of Famer, oh and his theme music was also cool as hell.

Most Main Event Appearances: John Cena (6)

John Cena

The main event is always the last match on the card. With all the storylines going on the in the WWE, the main event match reflects which storyline is the most important. On very few occasions, there are double, even triple main events because some storylines are just that important. Through it all the man people love to hate AND love to love depending on the day of the week has the top spot in this category. Appearing in six main events, John Cena has dominated the spotlight when it comes to SummerSlam. While I am sure he will main event SummerSlam again in the future for his sake I hope it’s not a repeat of his last appearance at the top of the card in 2014, where he was manhandled for 16 minutes by Brock Lesnar.

Title that has changed hands the most: The Intercontinental Title (14)

< a href=”http://nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Intercontinental-Championship-08132016.png”>Intercontinental Championship

This year at SummerSlam, The Miz defends his Intercontinental Championship against newcomer Apollo Crews. If I were The Miz, I would definitely have some tricks up my sleeve. Not only is Crews a threat to the title due to his amazing wrestling skills, but the Intercontinental Title has swapped owners 14 times at SummerSlam. In fact, the first five SummerSlams in a row saw new IC champions crowned. Until Shawn Michaels finally broke this unlucky streak by avoiding a loss at the 1993 event, being the Intercontinental Champion going into SummerSlam was almost like having the “Madden Curse.”

Biggest attendance (Wembley Stadium, 80,355)

SummerSlam 1992

In total, 557,694 people have attended SummerSlam (YES, some people have attended more than once, including me. I think that’s splitting hairs). Out of that over half a million people, 80,355 filled Wembley Stadium for SummerSlam 1992 to see their hometown hero, the British Bulldog, defeat his brother-in-law Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship. They also got to witness The Ultimate Warrior fight “Macho Man” Randy Savage for the WWE Championship and see the Undertaker arrive to the ring atop a hearse before his match against Kamala. While today’s fans know to expect dramatic entrances from the Undertaker, SummerSlam 1992 was where that began.

Celebrities that wrestled at SummerSlam: 1 (Stephen Amell)

Wrestlemania, the WWE’s biggest event, has on occasion opened the door for some non-wrestling celebrities to lace up the boots and see action in the ring. It started with Mr. T back in 1985. Since then, people like Lawrence Taylor, Maria Menounos, William “Refrigerator” Perry and even Snooki of all people have fought in the ring at Wrestlemania. SummerSlam, on the other hand, has seen just one celebrity enter the squared circle. Teaming up with Neville against Stardust and Wade Barrett, Arrow’s Stephen Amell was able to check off something from his bucket list and look good doing it. His Arrow training definitely served him well as he went toe to toe with his opponents. After diving from the top turnbuckle onto Stardust and Barrett on the floor outside the ring, Amell was able to roll the stunned Barrett back in so Neville could hit his Red Arrow finisher (coincidence) and gain the victory. Whether or not we see Amell back in the ring has yet to be seen, but for now, he can at least say he has a better SummerSlam record than Booker T.

Longest Match: Team WWE vs. Team Nexus (35:16, 2010)

SummerSlam 2010

The summer of 2010 saw Nexus, a group of seven renegade rookies led by Wade Barrett, running roughshod all over the WWE because they didn’t think they were being treated fairly on the WWE’s program for up and coming wrestlers, NXT. After attacking any and every one from the WWE roster, both backstage and in the ring, John Cena and six partners decided to end these rookies’ rampage by facing them at SummerSlam. Cena’s team included Chris Jericho, Edge, the legendary Bret Hart, R-Truth, John Morrison, and Daniel Bryan, who was unceremoniously kicked out of Nexus and wanted revenge (I am sticking with the storyline, people). After 35 minutes of pure melee, it came down to John Cena and Wade Barrett, with Cena securing the victory by making Barrett submit to the STF. It was a great match, and taught a great lesson, “respect your elders.”

Shortest Match: Randy Orton vs. Daniel Bryan (8 seconds, 2013)

SummerSlam2013-08132016

Eight seconds is all it took for the WWE to begin an eight-month long storyline that could very well go down in history as one of its best. Daniel Bryan had just beaten John Cena for the WWE title after a grueling 27-minute match. As Bryan’s hand was being raised in victory by special guest referee Triple H, Randy Orton’s music started and Orton walked to the ring slowly, teasing he was going to cash in his Money in the Bank Contract (he won a ladder match the previous month that gives him one title shot anytime, anyplace). While Bryan’s attention was fixed on Orton, Triple H attacked him from behind with a Pedigree. Orton then crawled in the ring and “pinned” the unconscious Bryan to claim the title. Triple H tried to excuse his despicable interference by saying that Bryan wasn’t good enough to be the champion and face of WWE. Fortunately for the fans who unanimously adored Bryan, Triple H would be proven wrong again and again. After numerous battles, Bryan eventually overcame all the odds stacked against him by WWE management and won the WWE title at Wrestlemania XXX. It was an epic underdog storyline that fans loved, and it only took eight seconds to jumpstart it.

Number of times Brock Lesnar took someone to Suplex City: 32

Brock Lesnar has wrestled in six SummerSlam matches. In that time, he has executed the suplex a total of 32 times on his various opponents. At the beginning of his career before he became the “Mayor of Suplex City,” he performed a mere seven suplexes during his SummerSlam appearances in 2002, 2003, and 2012, for an average of 2.3 per year. 2013, against CM Punk, saw a little increase with four suplexes. It was his 2014 WWE World Heavyweight Championship match against John Cena where Suplex City became open for business at SummerSlam. I said earlier that he has hit a total of 32 suplexes. Let’s just say that just like a high roller at a casino, John Cena had his entire stay in Suplex City comped, being on the receiving end of half of Lesnar’s SummerSlam total, 16.

Over the years, SummerSlam has grown where it is almost as important to the fans as Wrestlemania. Hopefully, these numbers will give you some insight into what the WWE has called the “hottest ticket of the summer.”

So what do you think? What is your favorite SummerSlam stat? Is there one not listed here you wish you knew? Who will win, Seth Rollins or Finn Balor? Let me know on Twitter or sound off in the comments below.

Images: WWE

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