The biggest party of the summer is just around the corner! Hooray! And what party isn’t complete without big, sweaty men punching and kicking each other in the hope of winning a big shiny belt? Any party that doesn’t have that is a party I don’t wanna be a part of. SummerSlam 2017 will be the 30th edition of the show, which means there are plenty of interesting facts and figures surrounding the show, including superstars’ win and loss records. Whilst you might know the famous records of superstars at WrestleMania, how much do you actually know about your favourite performer’s victories and defeats at WWE’s second-biggest show of the year? Well, I’m hoping you’ll say “not a lot”, otherwise you probably won’t read this list. Either way, let’s take a look now at some performers who have a spotless record at SummerSlam and some whose records are about as spotty as a Dalmatian going through puberty. Here are 8 wrestlers who are undefeated at SummerSlam and 7 who have never won at the show.
15 15. Finn Balor (1-0, Undefeated)
Let’s start with a more recent one.
Finn Balor is one of WWE’s most talented, yet criminally underused talents. Since his return from injury in April this year, The Demon King has been involved in multiple low-level feuds and has appeared just once on Pay-Per-View, passing out to Samoa Joe’s Coquina Clutch in the main event of Extreme Rules. Balor’s lacklustre 2017 run is extremely worrying and very surprising, especially when one considers how it was he went out with injury in the first place.
Balor has competed just once at SummerSlam thus far in his career and that match took place at last year’s show. Balor fought and defeated Seth Rollins in a match to determine the first ever WWE Universal Champion, having earned the right to do so on his very first night on Raw. This makes Balor the only person in history to win a world title in his WWE Pay-Per-View debut, as well as the first person to win a brand-new world championship in WWE since Triple H in 2002. Except Balor actually won his in a match, didn’t he, Trips. Sadly, Balor suffered a shoulder injury during the match and had to give up the title the next night on Raw, but perhaps one day The Demon King can reclaim his throne and sit atop Raw once more. Well, if this record becomes 2 and 0 at this year’s SummerSlam, it might still be possible.
14 14. Sgt. Slaughter (0-1, Never Won)
Ah, the Iraqi sympathiser angle, where to begin...
I have a lot to be jealous of when it comes to Sgt. Slaughter. He’s a former WWE Champion, a WWE Hall of Famer and he has possibly one of the greatest moustaches in human history. Damn my childlike face! I, however, didn’t pretend to be a sympathiser to Saddam Husseyn to get cheap heat from an American audience during the height of the Gulf War. Slaughter on the other hand, well, everyone has their bad days.
Iraqi Sympathiser gimmick aside, Slaughter’s 1991 run was extremely fruitful. Not only did he win the WWE Championship and headline that year’s WrestleMania, he also headlined his one and only SummerSlam. Teaming up with his fellow, umm, “Iraqis” (they really weren’t), General Adnan and Colonel Mustafa (the former Iron Sheik), Slaughter led his evil forces against the good (i.e. American) duo of Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior in a losing effort. Slaughter’s SummerSlam record might not be any good, but he is still a legend and deserves a lot of respect. Even if this gimmick was about as tasteful as a plain cracker that’s been left in the sun for a week.
13 13. AJ Styles (1-0, Undefeated)
At the current rate, AJ Styles could be a 21-time United States Champion by the time SummerSlam 2017 rolls around.
AJ Styles is a, no pun intended, a phenomenal wrestler. Having busted his back in promotions such as TNA, ROH and NJPW, Styles finally arrived in WWE at the 2016 Royal Rumble. Styles’ debut year in the WWE consisted of a stellar feud with Chris Jericho (even if the wrong person won), two fantastic WWE Championship matches against Roman Reigns and a victory over Dean Ambrose at Backlash, crowning him WWE Champion for the first time in his career. He also lost a bunch of times to James Ellsworth, but we won’t mention those.
In the middle of all that championship-winning and Ellsworth-losing-to, AJ also had a top-notch feud with John Cena, which culminated with a match at SummerSlam. Styles had already beaten Cena once at Money at the Bank (with help from Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows) and the three former Bullet Club members lost to Cena and Enzo Amore and Big Cass at Battleground, so Cena vs Styles at SummerSlam was to be the rubber match in their long-running rivalry. In what was one of WWE’s best matches of the year, Styles defeated Cena, clean as you like, giving The Phenomenal One his first victory at SummerSlam in his first appearance at the show. Styles stands a good chance of putting on another classic at this year’s SummerSlam against Kevin Owens and logic dictates that he should walk away with a 2-0 record. However, logic hasn’t been a part of this feud so far, so who knows what’ll happen.
12 12. Trish Stratus (0-1, Never Won)
Yep, believe it or not, the Diva of the Decade never got a win at SummerSlam.
Trish Stratus is regarded by many as one of the greatest female performers in WWE history. Entering the company in 2000 as a fitness model with no prior wrestling experience, Stratus retired in 2007 as a seven-time Women’s Champion, with numerous great feuds to her name, as well as the distinction of being one of the first women (alongside Lita) to headline an episode of Raw. Not bad for someone Vince McMahon once made strip on live TV.
For some reason or another, Stratus only made one wrestling appearance at SummerSlam during her WWE tenure, during her debut year of 2000. Teaming with her then-client and Intercontinental Champion, Val Venis, Stratus battled the team of Eddie Guerrero and Chyna in a mixed gender tag team match with a difference; whoever scored the winning fall, regardless of their gender, would become the new Intercontinental Champion. Stratus took the fall for her team after being manhandled (or should that be womanhandled?) by Chyna, crowning the 9th Wonder of the World Intercontinental Champion for the second time in her career. Despite her numerous accomplishments, Stratus would never compete at SummerSlam again, keeping her record at 0-1. To be honest, if Chyna beat me up somewhere, I’d be in no rush to go back there.
11 11. Kevin Owens (2-0, Undefeated)
Well, someone’s not walking out of the US title match with a perfect record this year.
Kevin Owens is awesome. After working for many years on the independent circuit, winning the ROH World Championship under his real name of Kevin Steen, Owens arrived in WWE in 2014, immediately feuding with long-term buddy, Sami Zayn, capturing the NXT Championship in the process. Owens then ascended to the main roster, setting the wrestling world on fire when he defeated John Cena in his main roster debut match at Elimination Chamber. He has since won three United States Championships (at time of writing, he’s probably on about 34 by now), two Intercontinental Championships and is the longest-reigning Universal Champion to date. Not bad for a guy who looks more like a fan than a wrestler.
Owens’ match against AJ Styles at this year’s SummerSlam will be his third at The Biggest Party of the Summer. He defeated Cesaro in 2015 in a match that was good, but suffered from its placement on the card (it came right before the hotly anticipated Undertaker vs Brock Lesnar rematch) and then teamed with Chris Jericho to defeated Enzo and Cass the following year. Owens’ SummerSlam matches haven’t set the world on fire so far, but with a pretty good dancing partner in Styles and the intrigue of Shane McMahon as guest referee, maybe this is the year we get a KO SummerSlam match to remember.
10 10. Andre The Giant (0-2, Never Won)
Turns out even being a Wonder of the World isn’t a guarantee of a SummerSlam win.
Andre the Giant is one of pro wrestling’s greatest figures. A huge star in every sense of the word, the supposedly 7-foot-4 Frenchman made a name for himself in both the old territories and the WWE, famously clashing with Hulk Hogan in the first truly great WrestleMania main event at WrestleMania III. Apologies to Roddy Piper, King Kong Bundy and Mr. T. Andre won the WWE Championship and World Tag Team Championships during his time in the WWE and even had a successful film career, famously appearing in The Princess Bride as Fezzik. He is also one of the greatest drinkers known to mankind, allegedly once drinking 156 beers in a single sitting. That’s Hall of Fame worthy in itself.
Andre holds the distinction of headlining the very first SummerSlam, doing so alongside Ted DiBiase against the team of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. The duo of Money Inc. lost to The Mega Powers following a distraction from Miss Elizabeth’s underwear (seriously), making Andre one of the first men in history to lose a SummerSlam main event. The following year, Andre teamed up with Big Boss Man and Akeem in a losing effort to Jim Duggan and Demolition, marking Andre’s final wrestling appearance at The Biggest Party of the Summer. Whilst Andre might never have got a "W" at SummerSlam, he was instrumental in the success of the very first event. So, without The Giant, we may not be here talking about the SummerSlam brand today. Still not as impressive as the beer-drinking thing, though. That’s just awesome.
9 9. Roman Reigns (2-0, Undefeated)
Please don’t boo this entry. Please try.
Where to start with Roman Reigns? A former Tag, United States and WWE Champion, making Roman Reigns the next big star has been WWE’s little pet project for the last three or so years. Ever since The Shield disbanded, Reigns has been pushed to the moon, much to the chagrin of the fans, who received Reigns about as well as a dog owner receives a dead bird in their house. It’s not that Reigns is a bad wrestler, he’s just not what the fans want and their booing is more an expression of anger at WWE for shoving him down their throats as it is hatred towards The Big Dog. Although, I’m pretty sure some people definitely hate him.
Those people will be furious to learn that Reigns is the only former Shield member who remains undefeated at SummerSlam. His first appearance at the show was in the corner of then-Shield brother, Dean Ambrose, for his United States Championship defence in 2013, but his first match came the following year, with a decisive victory over Randy Orton. The year after that, Reigns and Ambrose teamed up to defeat the team of Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper, as a part of Reigns’ god-awful feud with Bray Wyatt. Reigns was supposed to battle Rusev at SummerSlam 2016 for the United States Championship, but the match never technically got underway, as Reigns attacked Rusev before the bell, resulting a brawl that delayed their title match under the next Pay-Per-View. As for Ambrose and Rollins, Dean technically lost his US title defence by DQ in 2013, whilst Seth suffered his first SummerSlam loss against Finn Balor at last year’s event.
With Reigns in a fatal four-way this year, his chances of retaining his undefeated record stand pretty slim. However, he does possess something that none of the other men in that match do; the power of Vince McMahon’s approval. That, my friends, is the wrestling equivalent of gold.
8 8. Brie Bella (0-3, Never Won)
Daniel Bryan won his first WWE Championship at SummerSlam. His wife, sadly, hasn’t been so lucky.
Brie Bella/Bryan/Danielson/no-not-Nikki-the-other-one was with the WWE on-and-off for eight years before her apparent-retirement at WrestleMania 32. In that time, she fought her sister, Nikki, for the attentions of her now-real life husband, Daniel Bryan (which is a bit weird looking back at it), participated in one of the worst feuds in recent WWE history with Nikki and won the Divas Championships. Talk about swings and roundabouts.
Bella has appeared three times at SummerSlam to date and failed to score a victory at any of them. She lost to Natalya in 2013 in a match that was more an advert for Total Divas that an athletic contest and was pinned by Becky Lynch to lose her team (consisting of her sister and Alicia Fox) a three-team elimination match in 2015. Her biggest SummerSlam match by far came in 2014, when she battled Stephanie McMahon in The Billion Dollar Princess’ first Pay-Per-View match in over a decade. Bella looked to have McMahon beat, however, lost the match after interference from her sister, who turned heel and attacked Brie, beginning the aforementioned dumpster fire of a feud that consumed most of the rest of 2014 like a flesh-eating virus. And if you think I’m being harsh, you clearly weren’t watching WWE at the time.
7 7. John Morrison (3-0, Undefeated)
Man, this guy has gone by a lot of names.
Whether his last name has been “Nitro”, “Mundo” or “Morrison,” the real-life John Hennigan has always been a star. Whether it was teaming with Joey Mercury or The Miz, performing death-defying leaps of steel cages or refusing to hug Trish Stratus, John Morrison was one of the most popular members of WWE’s midcard during his six years with the promotion. A definite world champion contender who was never given his dues, Morrison has since gone onto massive success on the independent circuit, winning titles with the likes of 5 Star Wrestling, AAA and Lucha Underground. He was also in a movie where he got beaten up by a dog. Russell Madness – check it out.
If rumours of Morrison’s return to the WWE turn out to be true, he would be coming back with a perfect SummerSlam record. His first appearance at the show took place in 2007, where he defeated CM Punk to retain his ECW Championship in controversial circumstances. In 2011, Morrison joined fellow high-flyers Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio to battle Alberto Del Rio, The Miz and R-Truth in a match to determine who was the most midcardy. Morrison’s team won. Morrison’s biggest appearance at SummerSlam arguably came in 2010, where he main evented the show as part of Team WWE vs Team Nexus. Morrison joined such WWE legends as Chris Jericho, Edge, John Cena and old man Bret Hart to battle the likes of Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater in a 7-on-7 elimination tag. Although Morrison was the first man pinned for Team WWE, his team went on to win the match after John Cena survived a DDT to the concrete floor to overcome Gabriel and Barrett to stand tall. Ah, Super Cena, you ruined so many careers. Either way, nice work John, now please come back to WWE. I miss your incredible hair.
6 6. Rikishi (0-3, Never Won)
Forget Kim Kardashian, Rikishi might have the most famous backside in the world.
Rikishi had somewhat of a varied WWE career, but you can’t say it wasn’t successful. Performing for the promotion for well over a decade, Rikishi won numerous championships in the WWE, including the Intercontinental Championship and numerous Tag Team titles. He was also involved in one of the biggest wrestling angles of all time, when it was revealed that he was the man behind the wheel when Stone Cold Steve Austin got run over at Survivor Series 1999. Sadly, this angle failed to generate the success that it could have done, leaving Rikishi no higher up the card than he already was. We did get to hear an immortal line from The Rock, however, who described Rikishi as a “thong-wearing fatty.” Pure gold.
Whilst only performing once at SummerSlam under the name “Rikishi”, the man behind the character, Solofa Fatu, actually appeared three times at the event. Under the name “Fatu,” Rikishi wrestled twice at SummerSlam in the 1990s, losing a six-man tag team match in 1993 alongside his tag team partner, Samu, and Bam Bam Bigelow to the team of Tatanka and The Smoking Gunns and then losing via DQ one year later to the team of Irwin R. Schyster and Bam Bigelow, once again partnered with Samu. His last SummerSlam appearance came as Rikishi at the 2000 event; he appeared alongside Scotty 2 Hotty and Grandmaster Sexay as “Too Cool” in a losing effort against Right To Censor (Val Venis, The Goodfather and Steven Richards). Seriously, Rikishi, stay away from tag team matches at SummerSlam, they aren’t good for you.
5 5. The Legion of Doom (3-0, Undefeated)
For the record, I mean Hawk and Animal. No room for Heidenreich here.
The Legion of Doom (also known as The Road Warriors outside of WWE) are perhaps one of the greatest tag teams of all time. The duo of Hawk and Animal were famous for their iconic face paint, red and black shoulder pads and hard-hitting moveset and won tag team titles all across America and Japan. In the WWE, they won two tag team championships and were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011. The team would win a third set of tag team titles in 2005, but this was the combination of Animal and Heidenreich, which I refuse to acknowledge. They were that bad.
The Legion appeared three times at SummerSlam during their relatively short tenure with the WWE. Firstly, they won the World Tag Team Championships from The Nasty Boys in a Street Fight at SummerSlam 1991 and were victorious the following year in a match against Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster). The duo would then be absent from SummerSlam for five years, before returning in 1997 to defeat The Godwinns in a tag team match. So The Road Warriors’ SummerSlam opponents consisted of punk rockers, a millionaire, a tax collector and some pig farmers. Wrestling is really weird, isn’t it.
4 4. Jeff Hardy (0-4, Never Won)
All that ladder-jumping and still no wins. Poor Jeff.
Jeff Hardy is one of wrestling’s most intriguing figures. A tag team star alongside his brother Matt (broken or otherwise), Jeff Hardy made himself a star in the WWE, transitioning from midcarded to world champion over the course of the 2000s, winning two World Heavyweight Championships and the WWE Championship once before his departure in 2009. Outside of the WWE, Hardy has won titles all across America, with promotions such as TNA (now GFW), ROH and countless other indie companies. Now back with WWE, the fans eagerly await what’s next for The Rainbow-Haired Warrior, even if they are slightly more interested in what’s going to happen to his brother.
Before he and Matt won the Raw tag team belts in 2017, Jeff Hardy had never won a match at WrestleMania. This is an interesting point when you factor in his SummerSlam record, which still features a “0” in the “wins” column. Hardy’s first SummerSlam appearance came in 2000 in the first ever Tables, Ladders and Chairs match. Jeff, competing with Matt as The Hardy Boyz, lost the match (which also featured Edge and Christian and The Dudley Boyz), despite taking some pretty sick bumps, including a missed Swanton Bomb through a pile of tables. At 2001, Jeff lost his Hardcore Championship to Rob Van Dam in a ladder match and then lost at the 2008 event to MVP. His final SummerSlam appearance was at the 2009 event, where headlined the show against CM Punk in a ladder match for Jeff’s World Heavyweight Championship. Punk won the match, despite taking yet another awesome Swanton from Jeff, leaving the future Brother Nero high-and-dry with a 0-4 record at the show. I’m sure that’s a record Jeff wants permanently... DELETED!!! Sorry, I just really miss The Broken Hardyz.
3 3. The Ultimate Warrior (5-0, Undefeated)
Turns out all you have to do to be undefeated at SummerSlam is to paint your face and run around a lot.
When The Ultimate Warrior sadly passed away in 2014, he did so as an icon. Warrior’s relationship with the WWE prior to 2014 had been shall we say “rocky”, with the company and Warrior both taking every opportunity to verbally destroy the other in interviews, DVDs and blog posts. However, fences were mended just before Warrior’s death, when he was announced as the headliner for the 2014 class of the WWE Hall of Fame. Warrior appeared at the Hall of Fame ceremony, the following night’s WrestleMania and Raw the next night, delivering a heartfelt speech at the latter, thanking his fans for their support and claiming that, even if his heart gave out, the spirit of the Warrior would run forever. He died the next day. Heart-breaking, emotional and a little bit spooky, it was almost the perfect send-off for the Warrior and he will forever be remembered as one of the greats.
Warrior’s SummerSlam record definitely reflects this, as he never lost a single match at the show. He appeared at the first ever SummerSlam in 1988, squashing The Honky Tonk Man in 30 seconds to end his record-setting 454-day reign as Intercontinental Champion. In 1989, Warrior once again won the Intercontinental Championship, this time from Rick Rude, whom he would successfully defend his WWE Championship against the following year inside a steel cage. Warrior’s fourth win at SummerSlam came at the 1991 event, when he and Hulk Hogan teamed up to defeat Sgt. Slaghter, General Adnan and Colonel Mustafa. His final appearance and victory at the show took place in 1992, when he would defeat WWE Champion, Randy Savage, by countout.
It is rare for a prominent main eventer to win all their matches at a big WWE Pay-Per-View, but The Ultimate Warrior had such a strong fanbase in '80s and '90s WWE, that the company had little choice but to put him over every time. Whatever you think of him, Warrior will always have his spotless SummerSlam record, so let’s take a moment to celebrate one of wrestling’s most controversial, but captivating performers. Not the homophobia, though, never celebrate that.
2 2. Booker T (0-5)
I’ll tell you one thing, Booker T certainly doesn’t dig this, sucka.
WWE Hall of Famer Booker T is a one-of-kind wrestling specimen. After serving prison time as a young man for armed robbery, Booker turned his life around and would go onto become the most decorated man in WCW history, winning a total of 21 championships with the company. After joining WWE in 2001, he would become one of the most popular performers on the roster, winning world championship gold in 2006, becoming the first non-mixed-race African-American world champion in WWE history. A truly inspirational man who has earned every bit of his success, Booker T deserves the full respect of every single wrestling fan alive today. It's just a shame his commentary is terrible.
Despite his success elsewhere, Booker T has a horrendous record when it comes to The Biggest Party of the Summer. He might have headlined his first appearance at the show – a WCW Championship match against The Rock in 2001 – but he did so in defeat. In 2002, Booker T and Goldust unsuccessfully challenged Christian and Lance Storm for the WWE Tag Team Championships. Booker would then lose the first in a United States Championship Best of Five Series to John Cena in 2004, then he lost a World Heavyweight Championship match against Batista in 2006, although it was via DQ, so Booker kept the belt. His final SummerSlam appearance came the following year in a loss to Triple H, meaning that Booker is a five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time, five-time SummerSlam loser. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
1 1. Hulk Hogan (6-0)
Well, this is embarrassing.
Yes, the man with the greatest SummerSlam record of all-time is a man WWE has completely blacklisted. Hulk Hogan might be one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time, a huge cultural phenomenon who drew people to wrestling in their millions and helped make the WWE the entertainment juggernaut it is today, but he hasn’t been seen in the WWE since 2015. After leaked racist and homophobic comments made by the Hulkster were made public during his lawsuit against Gawker, WWE cut all ties with The Real American, removing his merchandise from their website, his profile from the Hall of Fame and attempting to hide all of his accomplishments from their history books. Whether or not Hogan will ever be seen in WWE again is up in the air, but either way, there’s no way WWE can hide all of Hulk’s many accomplishments forever. Case in point, his record at SummerSlam.
Hulk Hogan has the best undefeated record of any performer in SummerSlam history. He headlined the first ever SummerSlam, teaming up with Randy Savage to defeat Andre The Giant and Ted DiBiase, then headlined the show the following year, teaming up with Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake to take on Savage and the villain from Hogan’s film debut, Zeus. It’s still as baffling today as it was in 1989. In 1990, Hogan battled Earthquake and won via countout, before returning to the main event of SummerSlam in 1991, teaming up with The Ultimate Warrior to take on Sgt. Slaughter and his cronies. That’s the third time this match has been mention in this list alone, which is exactly three times more than WWE will ever talk about this match again. Hogan was then absent from SummerSlam until 2005, when he would once again headline the show, taking on Shawn Michaels in what was billed as a dream match. Sadly, putting the mighty backstage-politicking forces of Hogan and Michaels together went about as well as trying to start a fire underwater, as Michaels intentionally sabotaged the match, over-selling Hogan’s moves to comical degrees. HBK was apparently unhappy with Hogan for meddling with the original plan for Michaels to defeat Hogan further on down the line in their feud and went out of his way to make the match as bad as possible. Mission accomplished, Shawn.
The year after, Hogan made his last SummerSlam wrestling appearance, battling Randy Orton during his “Legend Killer” phase. Sadly, the power of the Legend Killer wasn’t enough to crush Hulkamania/backstage-influence-amania, and Hogan was victorious, taking his record to 6-0. With Hogan likely gone from WWE for a while and with his wrestling days long gone, it’s almost a given that his SummerSlam record will remain untarnished forever. His personal record on the other hand, well, that’s been well and truly ruined for good.