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COMMENT





SummerSlam by the numbers
By JON WALDMAN -- SLAM! Sports


Greetings one and all, and welcome to your SummerSlam stats pack. This year commemorates the 15th anniversary of the mid-August classic, which in the minds of a lot of viewers has become the second most important pay-per-view event in WWE\'s calendar.

Throughout the years, SummerSlam moments have lived on in the minds of wrestling fans as milestones in the company\'s history. There have been several key highlights in SummerSlam\'s history, including Bret Hart winning his first Intercontinental title, Steve Austin nearly breaking his neck, the first TLC match, and of course, the epic Diesel vs. Mabel bout.

With all this history behind the summertime sizzler, let\'s take a look at some of the facts and figures from SummerSlam\'s past.

  • The Intercontinental title is also the most fought-for title in SummerSlam history, having been on the line at 14 of the 15 PPVs.
  • Only Shawn Michaels has been able to retain the Intercontinental title at SummerSlam, and he did it twice.
  • Once again, going into this year, Christian is on a title streak. He has retained the tag titles at the last two SummerSlams he wrestled at (he didn\'t participate in 2001\'s event).
  • Rob Van Dam has also won title matches in his last two SummerSlams.
  • Booker T is 0-2 at SummerSlam, and both matches were title matches.
  • The SummerSlam curse strikes again! In 1990, Brutus Beefcake was to have fought Mr. Perfect for the Intercontinental title. Just days before the event, however, he was in a boating accident. Kerry Von Erich took his place and beat Perfect for the title. This year, Booker T was two weeks away from defending his IC title at SummerSlam, but has gone down with a back injury and will not compete.
  • Neither of the current heavyweight champions has walked away from SummerSlam with the title. Triple H has lost two title bouts, while Kurt Angle lost once and won once. Angle\'s win, however, was via DQ, and the champ, Steve Austin, retained his title.
  • Of the challengers to the Heavyweight titles this year, Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels and Brock Lesnar are 1-0 in title matches. Randy Orton, Goldberg and Chris Jericho have never had a Heavyweight title match at SummerSlam.
  • Of the challengers, only Randy Orton has not held a world title in a major promotion.
  • Goldberg will look to join the short list of wrestlers who have held world title belts in both WWF/WWE and NWA/WCW. Others already on the list include Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart, Big Show, Nash, Randy Savage, and Sycho Sid among others. Chris Jericho, Kurt Angle, The Rock and Steve Austin held the WCW championship while it was part of the WWF.
  • The Rock has main-evented the last three SummerSlams.
  • Only Shane McMahon has been in a match from his family at SummerSlam, and he\'s wrestled twice.
  • Three men, the Big Bossman, Shawn Michaels and Jesse Ventura have been guest referees for SummerSlam matches. Ventura, however, has been the guest ref twice.
  • There have been two Lion\'s Den matches at SummerSlam, the only event to have this gimmick match.
  • There have been four cage matches in SummerSlam history, but no Hell in a Cell matches.
  • Jimmy Snuka, Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair have only competed in one SummerSlam each, while Jerry Lawler competed in three.
  • Roddy Piper never competed at SummerSlam.
  • This may surprise some, but the Women\'s title has been fought for three times at SummerSlam. Alundra Blayze holds the distinction of being in the most Women\'s title matches with two.
  • Even more surprising, more women have competed outside a Women\'s Title match than in them. Non-title competitors include: Sherri Martel, Sapphire, Sable, Jaqueline, Chyna, Trish Stratus, The Kat and Terri Runnels have all competed at SummerSlam.
  • Dusty Rhodes/Goldust and Jerry Lawler/Brian Christopher are the only fathers and sons to have competed at SummerSlam. Lawler and Christopher are the only ones to compete on the same card though.
  • Four brother combos have competed as a tag team at SummerSlam: Matt and Jeff Hardy, Scott and Rick Steiner, Ron and Don Harris (as DOA and the Blus) and Jacques and Raymond Rougeau.
  • Four \"brother\" tandems were also in SummerSlam matches: Edge and Christian, Bubba and D-Von Dudley, Beau and Blake Beverly and Bart and Billy Gunn.
  • There were also three fake cousin duos that have competed at Wrestlemania: Luke and Butch, Skip and Zip, and Hardcore and Crash Holly.
  • Matt Hardy has never wrestled at SummerSlam without his brother Jeff, nor has Scott Steiner without his brother, Rick. Both will likely wrestle for the first time this year solo.
  • The only members of the massive Samoan wrestling family to win matches at SummerSlam are The Rock and The Barbarian. Samu, Rikishi, Snuka and Yokozuna are all winless.
  • The Guererro family only has one SummerSlam participant, Eddy. Despite being in the WWF for three years, Chavo Guererro Jr. has not had a match at the summer classic.
  • Other wrestlers who have been in the WWF for the least three years, yet have never competed at SummerSlam include William Regal, Hugh Morrus, Lita, Mark Henry, Billy Kidman, Torrie Wilson and Tommy Dreamer.
  • Marc Mero and Sable are not only the only husband and wife to compete at the same SummerSlam, they are also the only to compete against each other.
  • Dustin Runnels and Terri have both wrestled at SummerSlams, but not on the same card.
  • Another SummerSlam curse - both couples are now divorced.
  • Thankfully for newlyweds Billy Kidman and Torrie Wilson, neither has wrestled at SummerSlam, and neither is slated to this year…yet.
  • Marty Jannetty has competed without Shawn Michaels at SummerSlam, but Jim Neidhart has never wrestled without Bret Hart.
  • Several wrestlers have competed at SummerSlam with multiple gimmicks: Charles Wright (Goodfather, Kama), John Tenta (Earthquake, Golga) Ron Harris (Jacob Blu, Skull), Don Harris (Eli Blu, 8-Ball), Brian Lee (Fake Undertaker, Chainz), Dennis Knight (Mideon, Phineas Goddwinn), Glen Jacobs (Isaac Yankem, Kane), Sionne Vailahi (Cione, Barbarian), Barry Darsow (Smash, Repo Man), Sean Waltman (1-2-3 Kid, X-Pac), Solofa Fatu (Headshrinker Fatu, Rikishi), Al Snow (Leif Cassidy, Al Snow) and Nelson Frazier (Mabel, Viscera).
  • Kevin Nash (Diesel, Kevin Nash) will be joining the list this year.
  • Surprisingly, Mick Foley has only competed at SummerSlam as Mankind.
  • Hakushi is the only Japanese wrestler to have won a match at SummerSlam. Sho Funaki, Dick Togo and Mens Teio lost a 6-man tag, while Yoshihiro Tajiri lost to X-Pac in 2001.
  • There have been three Olympic athletes who have competed at SummerSlam - Ken Patera, Bad News Brown and Kurt Angle. Patera is the only one without a win.
  • Dean Malenko and Barry Windham are the only members of the 4 Horsemen who spent time wrestling in the WWF to not have taken part in SummerSlam. Sid Vicious (Sycho Sid), Brian Pillman, Curt Hennig (Mr. Perfect), Jeff Jarrett, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard, Paul Roma, Lex Luger, Ric Flair and Chris Benoit have all had matches at the PPV. Ole Anderson, Steve McMichael and Sting never wrestled for the WWF.
  • 4 Horsemen managers J.J. Dillon and Hiro Matsuda never wrestled at SummerSlam. Valets Elizabeth and Debra McMichael have participated at SummerSlam in non-wrestling capacities, while Woman has never been part of the WWF.
  • Buff Bagwell and Konnan (as Max Moon) are the only nWo members who spent time in the WWF to have not competed at SummerSlam. nWo alumni that have competed at a SummerSlam are: Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall (Razor Ramon), Kevin Nash (Diesel), Syxx (X-Pac) Vince (Virgil), Scott Steiner, Brian Adams (Crush), Lex Luger, Giant (Big Show), Jeff Jarrett, Booker T (WWF inception), Michael Wallstreet (IRS), Big Bubba (Bossman) and Curt Hennig (Mr. Perfect). Scott Norton, Sting, Horace Hogan, Great Muta, Tenzan, Masa Chono, Satoshi Kojima and the Fake Sting never were part of the WWF.
  • nWo managers Dusty Rhodes, Rick Rude and Ted Dibiase have all worked SummerSlam matches; Eric Bischoff is the only manager not to wrestle at SummerSlam. Elizabeth has been a valet for the nWo and participated at SummerSlam. nWo referee Nick Patrick has also worked at SummerSlam.
  • Only three former ECW world champions have competed at SummerSlam, those being Bam Bam Bigelow, Rhyno and Tazz. Only Bam Bam has won a match at the event.
  • Shane Douglas, Sabu, Justin Credible, Raven, Mike Awesome and Jerry Lynn, all former champs who were in the WWF, never had a SummerSlam match.
  • Tommy Dreamer is the only former ECW champion on the current WWE roster not to have competed at SummerSlam.
  • Three of the pre-Extreme champions, Tito Santana, Jimmy Snuka, and Don Muraco, competed at SummerSlam. All lost their matches.
  • Four ECW alumni will be battling out for the US title this year. Guererro, Benoit, Tajiri and Rhyno were all in the promotion. Of the four, Benoit is the only wrestler not to have held an individual title in ECW.
  • The only year where a Canadian did not win a match at SummerSlam was 1990. That year, Tenta was the only Canadian on the card.
  • The most Canadians to compete at a SummerSlam is six, shared by 2000 and 2002\'s events.
  • Should expected and announced matches go according to plan, this year will have a record eight Canadians participating, including Chris Jericho, Benoit, Christian, Test, Sylvain Grenier, Renee Dupree, Gail Kim and Trish Stratus.
  • Bret Hart appeared in almost every SummerSlam during his WWF career. The only years he missed were 1990 and 1996.
  • Hart is the only wrestler in SummerSlam history to wrestle twice on the same card, a feat he accomplished in 1993.
  • Chris Jericho\'s only SummerSlam miss was when he was first brought into the company in 1999. He arrived mere weeks before the event, and made a non-wrestling appearance at that event.
  • Edge will miss his first SummerSlam this year. He had appeared in five straight SummerSlams dating back to 1998.
  • Undertaker has had a match at SummerSlam every year since 1992. In 1991, the first year he was in the WWF for a SummerSlam, Undertaker crashed Randy Savage and Elizabeth\'s wedding with Jake \"The Snake\" Roberts.

    CLICK HERE for the full list of SummerSlam matches and results.

    Jon Waldman, a Canadian freelancer, has been with SLAM! Wrestling since 2000. While he has never competed at SummerSlam, he has seen a few of the tapes and DVDs from the event. Speaking of DVDs, be sure to check back soon for part II of Jon\'s Rey Mysterio 619 DVD review.