The 31st edition of WWE's SummerSlam pay-per-view -- the
fourth-longest-running event in WWE history (behind WrestleMania, Survivor
Series and Royal Rumble) is on Sunday. Since the inaugural SummerSlam in 1988,
the pay-per-view has been held in 13 different states, as well as in Canada and
England. This is the fourth straight year that SummerSlam will take place at
the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, which followed six years in Los Angeles.
In what's almost certain to be the main event, Brock Lesnar
will defend his Universal championship against Roman Reigns. With this being
the fourth one-on-one match between them and a title reign of this length in
play, there are plenty of interesting stats in play. Get yourself up to speed
heading into the match with the most consequences at WWE's second-biggest event
of the year, followed by a quick look at the card's other featured bouts.
UNIVERSAL
CHAMPIONSHIP: BROCK LESNAR (C)
V. ROMAN REIGNS
- On Sunday, Brock Lesnar will have been Universal champion
for 504 days, the sixth-longest world title reign in WWE history and the
longest of the last 30 years.
LONGEST WORLD TITLE REIGNS - WWE HISTORY
YEARS
|
WRESTLER
|
DAYS
|
1963-71
|
Bruno Sammartino
|
2,803
|
1978-83
|
Bob Backlund
|
2,135
|
1984-88
|
Hulk Hogan
|
1,373
|
1973-77
|
Bruno Sammartino
|
1,237
|
1971-73
|
Pedro Morales
|
1,027
|
2017-18
|
Brock Lesnar
|
504*
|
* As of SummerSlam
on Sunday
|
- The knock on Lesnar has been his lack of title defenses
and television appearances throughout his Universal title reign. SummerSlam
will be just his seventh televised title defense during his lengthy reign, and
his first in 114 days (dating back to the Greatest Royal Rumble in late April).
That is the longest span between title defenses for a WWE world champion since
... Lesnar's WWE championship reign in 2014-15 when he went 126 days between
televised title matches.
LONGEST SPAN
BETWEEN TELEVISED TITLE DEFENSES
World champions in WWE, last 30 years
YEARS
|
WRESTLER
|
DAYS
|
1991
|
Hulk Hogan
|
217
|
1988-89
|
Randy Savage
|
137
|
2014-15
|
Brock Lesnar
|
126
|
2017-18
|
Brock Lesnar
|
114*
|
* Ends at SummerSlam on Sunday
|
- When Lesnar does show up, it is always on the big stage --
and he usually comes out victorious. Among the 46 superstars who have competed
in at least 50 career WWE pay-per-view matches, no one has a better win
percentage than Lesnar.
HIGHEST PPV WIN
PERCENTAGE IN WWE HISTORY
WRESTLER
|
WIN %
|
W-L-D
|
Brock Lesnar
|
.673
|
37-17-1
|
John Cena
|
.584
|
94-64-3
|
Seth Rollins
|
.583
|
35-25-0
|
Bret Hart
|
.578
|
37-26-1
|
The Undertaker
|
.575
|
96-66-5
|
Minimum 50 matches
|
- If this match closes the show as expected, it would be the
seventh time that Lesnar competes in the main event of SummerSlam -- passing
John Cena for the most such matches in the 31-year history of the event. No
superstar has won more SummerSlam main event matches than Lesnar (five).
MOST SUMMERSLAM
MAIN EVENT MATCHES
WRESTLER
|
TOTAL MATCHES
|
W-L
|
Brock Lesnar
|
6
|
5-1
|
John Cena
|
6
|
2-4
|
The Undertaker
|
5
|
3-2
|
As of 2018
|
- Lesnar was in the SummerSlam main event match in each of
the previous four years -- the longest such streak in SummerSlam history. That
means the Barclays Center has yet to see a SummerSlam main event that did not
feature Lesnar -- and that doesn't appear likely to change in 2018.
SUMMERSLAM MAIN
EVENT MATCHES SINCE 2014
2017: Brock Lesnar (c) def. Roman Reigns, Braun
Strowman and Samoa Joe
2016: Brock Lesnar def. Randy Orton
2015: The Undertaker def. Brock Lesnar
2014: Brock Lesnar def. John Cena (c)
- Roman Reigns will receive another world title opportunity
on Sunday. SummerSlam will be Reigns' 14th world title shot at a pay-per-view
event in the last five years -- four more than any other title challenger
during that span. It's crucial to note that despite so many title
opportunities, Reigns won just two of his previous 13 such matches.
MOST WORLD TITLE
SHOTS AT WWE PPV EVENTS
Since 2013
WRESTLER
|
PPV WORLD TITLE SHOTS
|
W-L
|
Roman Reigns
|
13*
|
2-11
|
Dean Ambrose
|
10
|
2-8
|
John Cena
|
8
|
3-5
|
Seth Rollins
|
8
|
2-5
|
Randy Orton
|
7
|
1-6
|
* Entering Sunday's match
|
- Reigns has taken on Lesnar one-on-one on three separate
occasions, and failed to win any of those matches (includes Seth Rollins'
Money in the Bank cash-in at WrestleMania 31). Lesnar is the only wrestler
Reigns has faced one-on-one on at least three occasions without recording a
victory.
- Could Money in the Bank potentially come into play again
during a Lesnar-Reigns showdown? Braun Strowman currently possesses the Money
in the Bank contract, guaranteeing him a Universal championship match at the
time of his choosing. However, Strowman will be defending his contract in a
match against Kevin Owens at
SummerSlam, most likely prior to the Lesnar-Reigns title match.
- In the history of the Money in the Bank briefcase, the
holder of the contract has cashed in at SummerSlam twice, and both came out
victorious. Alberto Del Rio cashed in on CM Punk in 2011 to win the WWE
championship, while Randy Orton cashed in on Daniel Bryan in
2013 (with an assist from Triple H)
to become WWE champion.
QUICK HITS
While SummerSlam will be the site of their first televised
WWE championship match, it will be the third different world title that AJ
Styles and Samoa Joe have battled one another for in their
careers. Courtesy of WWE
- AJ Styles will
defend the WWE championship against Samoa Joe. While SummerSlam will be the
first time that Styles and Joe meet one-on-one inside a WWE ring, the two
superstars actually competed against each other for world titles in other major
wrestling promotions. In 2003, Samoa Joe successfully defended the Ring of
Honor world championship against Styles. In 2010, Styles successfully defended
his TNA world championship against Samoa Joe at Against All Odds.
- At SummerSlam, Styles will have been WWE champion for 285
days, the second-longest WWE championship reign of the last 10 years; CM Punk
holds that record at 434 days from 2011 to 2013. Sunday will be Styles' ninth
televised title defense during his current reign.
- Former UFC Women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will
challenge Alexa Bliss for
the Raw women's championship. Rousey looks to join Lesnar and Ken Shamrock as
the only athletes to win titles in both UFC and WWE.
- Carmella will
defend the SmackDown women's championship against Charlotte
Flair and Becky Lynch in
the first women's triple threat match in SummerSlam history. If Flair wins, she
will join Trish Stratus and Mickie James as the only six-time women's champions
in WWE history.
- Dolph Ziggler will
defend the Intercontinental championship against Seth Rollins. The
Intercontinental title has changed hands 14 times at SummerSlam -- more than
any other championship -- but not since 2014, when Ziggler defeated The Miz for
the belt.
- Jeff Hardy will
challenge Shinsuke
Nakamura for the United States championship. Surprisingly,
Hardy is 0-6 in his SummerSlam career, the worst record in the history of the
event. Only John Cena has more SummerSlam losses (nine) than Hardy.
- Daniel Bryan will take on The Miz in a long-awaited match.
Bryan is 3-1 all-time against The Miz in one-on-one bouts, including a win in
their only previous pay-per-view meeting at Night of Champions in 2010, when he
defeated The Miz for the United States championship. That was Bryan's first
title victory in WWE.
- Braun Strowman will defend his Money in the Bank contract
in a match against Kevin Owens.
Only once in Money in the Bank history has a superstar lost his briefcase in a
match. Mr. Kennedy won Money in the Bank at WrestleMania 23 in 2007 but lost
his contract just over a month later in a match against Edge.
- The New Day is set to challenge The Bludgeon
Brothers for the SmackDown tag team championships. The New Day look
to become the sixth team in WWE history to win tag titles on five different
occasions. Standing in their way, however is the fact that Harper and Rowan are
a perfect 16-0 in standard two-on-two tag matches since re-debuting as the
Bludgeon Brothers last November.
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