Who Is Mr. SummerSlam?
Counting down the 30 greatest performers in SummerSlam history.
If Shawn Michaels is Mr. WrestleMania, who is Mr. SummerSlam?
I’ve determined that person by analyzing win/loss record, longevity, importance on the card and overall performance.
Here are the 30 top performers in SummerSlam history.
30. Eddie Guerrero
Latino Heat suffered more losses than wins at SummerSlam, losing a hard-fought battle with Edge, tapping out to Kurt Angle and most importantly, losing custody of Dominick to Rey Mysterio.
29. RVD
Discounting his pre-show appearances, Rob Van Dam has two championship wins at SummerSlam and a loss to Kane.
28. Razor Ramon
The Bad Guy made three SummerSlam appearances: a clean win over Ted DiBiase, an Intercontinetal Championship victory over Diesel due to HBK’s mistake and then a loss to Michaels in a ladder rematch from WrestleMania X.
27. Stone Cold
SummerSlam hasn’t been kind to the Texas Rattlesnake. He broke his neck in 97, lost the WWE Title in 99 and would have lost the title again in 01 had he not struck the referee.
26. Sheamus
The Celtic Warrior has four losses at SummerSlam, but has been pinned only twice. He lost to Orton by DQ and to Mark Henry by countout. On the other hand, he beat Orton in later years and retained the World Heavyweight Title against Alberto Del Rio.
25. X-Pac
As 123 Kid, he suffered a couple losses to IRS and Hakushi, nothing special. But as X-Pac, he beat Jeff Jarrett in a hair match and won the Light Heavyweight Title from Tajiri.
24. Christian
His Peeps would be proud. Christian has three wins at SummerSlam, all successful defenses of championships. But the one unsuccessful defense cuts deep – losing the World Heavyweight Title to Orton in 2011.
23. Rey Mysterio
Making his WWE PPV debut at SummerSlam 2002, Rey Mysterio was off to a poor start, tapping out to Kurt Angle. He took five other losses over the years, but got his most significant victory in 2005, when he won custody of future Tag Team Championship partner Dominik.
22. Davey Boy Smith
When you have your hand raised at the end of the greatest match in SummerSlam history, the rest of your results don’t matter.
21. Batista
Technically, Batista has never been pinned at SummerSlam. His only loss comes in a triple threat where Edge pinned Jericho to retain the Intercontinental Title. However, the rest of Batista’s showings haven’t been impressive, as he retained the title by DQ twice. At least he beat Cena in their first encounter on WWE TV.
20. Billy Gunn
Surprisingly, Billy Gunn has had more wins at SummerSlam than any Shield member, as well as Daniel Bryan. But he flopped in his shining moment, losing a Kiss My Ass match to The Rock and cementing his status as a tag team guy.
19. Dean Ambrose
The Lunatic Fringe has managed to walk into and out of SummerSlam as WWE Champion. He’s also won tag team matches with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins after The Shield had already broken up.
18. Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins has hit a grand slam at SummerSlam. In 2015, he beat Cena for the U.S. Title (thanks to unlikely help from Jon Stewart). In 2017, he and Ambrose reunited to win the Raw Tag Team Titles. In 2018, he took the Intercontinental Championship from Dolph Ziggler and in 2019, he slayed “The Beast” for the Universal Championship.
17. Daniel Bryan
Five appearances isn’t a lot, but two of them were huge for Daniel Bryan’s career. After being fired a couple months earlier, he returned to help Team WWE thwart the Nexus in 2010. And in 2013, he defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship, only to lose it minutes later due to Triple H and Randy Orton. That ambush prompted the Yes Movement and changed Bryan’s life forever.
16. Chris Jericho
Y2J has more losses than wins at SummerSlam, and the majority of those wins come from tag team matches. But he truly made his mark in 2008, when he interrupted Shawn Michaels’ retirement speech and “accidentally” punched Michaels’ wife in the mouth.
15. CM Punk
The Best in the World batted .500 at SummerSlam. He retained the WWE Title three times, but also lost the belt due to an Alberto Del Rio cash-in. As a matter of fact, CM Punk’s last great match occurred at the 2013 edition as he went to war with Brock Lesnar.
14. Randy Savage
Wins and losses aren’t such a factor in ranking the Macho Man because he made an impact more so outside the ring. While it’s true that he and Hogan laid the foundation for the event back in 1988, he and Elizabeth truly made history with their in-ring wedding closing the show in 1991.
13. John Cena
I’m not biased, look at the facts: John Cena sucks at SummerSlam. He has 10 losses, losing championships on three of those occasions. Plus, he was squashed by Lesnar in 2014. But he does redeem himself with three successful WWE Title defenses and leading Team WWE to victory over the Nexus.
12. Mick Foley
Admittedly not a WrestleMania guy, Mick Foley has made quite the name for himself at SummerSlam. In the biggest win of his career up to that point, Mankind defeated Undertaker in the first Boiler Room Brawl, then went on to beat Triple H in a cage match, and in 1999, he won the WWE Championship for a third and final time as Jesse “The Governor” Ventura raised his hand.
11. The Rock
Despite only five appearances at SummerSlam, The Rock was a major player, competing in four title matches. He also pulled a main event hat trick, retaining the gold in a triple threat, beating Booker T for the WCW World Title and then passing the torch to Brock Lesnar.
10. Kane
If you count his run as Isaac Yankem, then Kane has appeared at a dozen SummerSlams. Never the main event, the Big Red Machine has amassed six wins including retaining the World Heavyweight Championship against Rey Mysterio.
9. Kurt Angle
Our Olympic Hero has competed at SummerSlam only six times, but he’s made the most of his outings, suffering just one loss. And to be fair, that was in 2000 when the entire show was built around his love affair with Stephanie, and unfortunately, Angle suffered a concussion that basically eliminated him from the main event.
8. Shawn Michaels
Mr. WrestleMania is good enough for Shawn Michaels, as his nearly a dozen showings at SummerSlam have been decent, not stellar. The Heartbreak Kid didn’t shine until the mid-90s, when he won the Intercontinental Title from Ramon in a ladder rematch, retained the WWE Title against Vader and screwed Undertaker out of the title the following year. Of course, no one will ever forget his miraculous comeback to WWE in 2002 when he defeated Triple H in a non-sanctioned street fight.
7. Triple H
You would expect Triple H to have a flawless record at SummerSlam, but The Game has eight wins and five losses. Seemingly a focal point of the show for the past two decades, he has main evented four times and served as the special referee for an additional two main events, playing a significant role in each.
6. Edge
The Rated-R Superstar boasts an impressive record at SummerSlam: nine wins and only two losses. Both of those losses elevated Edge, though, as he and Christian established themselves in the tag team division in 1999 and he proved just as sadistic as Undertaker almost a decade later in Hell in a Cell.
5. Undertaker
The Deadman ties with Randy Orton for the most SummerSlam appearances on record, either competing or magically returning at 18 events. With 10 wins and five losses, Undertaker has kicked a lot of ass. However, he has rarely been the headliner at the annual August extravaganza, instead gaining wins over midcarders like Kamala, Test and A-Train.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YzDeCvHsRU
4. Ultimate Warrior
Undefeated at SummerSlam, the Ultimate Warrior ignited his career by dethroning Honkytonk Man at the inaugural show, undoubtedly the greatest moment in the history of the event.
3. Hulk Hogan
While the Hulkster also remains undefeated at SummerSlam, he only has six appearances at the event. He and the Macho Man laid the foundation for the event’s success, and fittingly, his final WWE match took place against Randy Orton at the ‘06 edition.
2. Bret Hart
The Excellence of Execution is the only wrestler to win the Tag Team Titles, Intercontinental Title and World Title at SummerSlam. Of course, his greatest loss is even more significant, as he and Davey Boy Smith had the greatest match in the history of the event. If it weren’t for a couple losses as part of the Hart Foundation, The Hitman would take the top spot on this list.
1. Brock Lesnar
The Beast is Mr. SummerSlam.
In his 10 appearances at the biggest event of the summer, Brock Lesnar has either fought for the world title or been in the most anticipated match on the card. He was christened as the “Next Big Thing” at his first SummerSlam, conquering The Rock for the WWE Championship while the crowd turned from supporting The People’s Champ to rallying behind Lesnar. That sparked an impressive record, with Lesnar having six wins and two losses, albeit one of those losses came in controversial fashion.
Since 2014, Lesnar has been the main event of WWE’s second biggest show of the year more times than anyone.
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