SummerSlam is one of the biggest WWE pay-per-views of the year. Alongside Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, and Survivor Series, it makes up the promotion's 'Big 4' events.
With the first-ever SummerSlam taking place in 1988, the event has witnessed some truly historic moments and fantastic matches over the years. Major storylines are heavily featured at the event, and every top championship in the promotion is defended at SummerSlam ever year.
While the main events have been a little hit-or-miss, SummerSlam as a whole, is one of WWE's most important events, with wrestlers hoping to get on the card. Some don't make the cut, but some are mainstays of the event.
10 Brock Lesnar: 10 Matches (6 Wins - 4 Losses)
Brock Lesnar's SummerSlam record got off to a great start with him defeating The Rock to become the new WWE Undisputed Champion when he was just 25-years old. He lost to Kurt Angle at next year's event before leaving WWE for almost a decade.
Since returning, Lesnar has been regularly featured in marquee matches at SummerSlam. He has worked matches against the likes of Triple H, CM Punk and Roman Reigns. He dominated John Cena in 2014 to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and destroyed Randy Orton in 2016. But he also suffered high-profile losses at the hands of Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship and was beaten by The Undertaker in controversial fashion back in 2015.
9 Shawn Michaels: 11 Matches (6 Wins - 4 Losses - 1 Draw)
Shawn Michaels is one of the greatest of all time, but he failed to pick up a victory in his first three appearances at SummerSlam. He lost in 1989 and 1990, before avoiding a loss thanks to a double count-out in 1992.
He picked up a couple of wins after that before being forced into retirement for a few years due to injury. When he returned in 2002, he had a great match with Triple H at the event, which he won, and had a fantastic run in an Elimination Chamber match the next year, which he eventually lost. In his subsequent appearances, Michaels reformed DX with Triple H to defeat the team of Shane McMahon and Vince McMahon and Legacy, in 2006 and 2009 respectively.
8 Kane: 11 Matches (6 Wins - 4 Losses - 1 No-Contest)
Kane is one of WWE's greatest big men ever. As The Undertaker's tag-team partner, rival, and kayfabe brother, Kane had a historic run with the promotion, winning multiple championships and having some great feuds over the years.
Kane's SummerSlam record is identical to Shawn Michaels'. While he has six wins and four losses, his SummerSlam match against The Undertaker in 2000 ended in a no-contest. When 'Taker removed Kane's mask, it caused him to flee the ring while covering up his scarred face. More recently, he put over Bray Wyatt at the event, and his match against Daniel Bryan led to the eventual formation of the fantastic Team Hell No.
7 Chris Jericho: 11 Matches (5 Wins - 6 Losses)
Chris Jericho made his WWE debut back in 1999 and wrestled 11 matches at SummerSlam over the course of his career, winning five and losing six. Jericho had decent success at the event as part of a team, defeating Cryme Tyme as one-half of Jeri-Show, and defeating the team of Enzo Amore and Big Cass a few years later, when he started teaming up with Kevin Owens.
Over the years, he has put over stars like Cena and Bray Wyatt at the event and has picked up wins over wrestlers like Dolph Ziggler. While he didn't wrestle at the 2008 event, Jericho shocked the world when he attacked Shawn Michaels' wife as a part of their storyline.
6 Bret Hart: 11 Matches (7 Wins - 4 Losses)
Bret Hart had a number of special moments at SummerSlam over the course of his career. While he started off with a couple of losses as a part of the Hart Foundation, he won his first Intercontinental Championship at the event in 1991, before going on to main-event his first pay-per-view at SummerSlam in 1992.
His match against Davey Boy Smith that year is regarded as the greatest in SummerSlam history. Hart's last match at the event was in 2010 when he joined Team Cena to successfully take on The Nexus in the main event. While he was disqualified from the match, his team still picked up the win.
5 Triple H: 13 Matches (8 Wins - 5 Losses)
Triple H's Hunter Hearst Helmsley character made its debut at SummerSlam in 1995, defeating Bob Holly. Over the years, Triple H wrestled some great matches at the event against the likes of The Rock, Mankind, Kurt Angle, and Stone Cold Steve Austin. He even retained the World Heavyweight Championship in an Elimination Chamber match at SummerSlam in 2003.
Later on in his career, he defeated stars such as King Booker and The Great Khali, while also picking up big wins in a tag team with Shawn Michaels. Later in his career, he helped legitimize Brock Lesnar by losing to him at SummerSlam; a blemish on an otherwise strong win-loss record.
4 Edge: 13 Matches (11 Wins - 2 Losses)
Edge made an unexpected return to the ring when he took part in this year's Royal Rumble. Soon after, he moved into a feud with Randy Orton, resulting in a match at WrestleMania and Backlash. The final match of their feud was expected to take place at SummerSlam, but an injury put those plans on hold.
That match would have marked Edge's 14th appearance at the event. Edge has a fantastic record at SummerSlam, winning eleven matches and losing just twice. His first loss was in a tag-team turmoil match in 1999, while the second was in a Hell in a Cell match against The Undertaker in 2008.
3 Randy Orton: 14 Matches (7 Wins - 6 Losses - 1 Draw)
Randy Orton will be facing Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship at this year's SummerSlam. This will mark Orton's 15th appearance at the event, and the result of that match will likely set the tone for the rest of his year.
While he became the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in history by beating Chris Benoit at the age of 24 and then also beating The Undertaker at the event, Orton has lost matches to John Cena and Roman Reigns, while he wrestled to a double-countout against Kofi Kingston last year, leaving him with 7 wins, 6 losses, and 1 draw. His worst loss came at the hands of Brock Lesnar, who won by Technical Knock-out and left him lying in a pool of his own blood.
2 John Cena: 14 Matches (5 Wins - 9 Losses)
John Cena spent about a decade as the face of WWE, and for a wrestler accused of burying talent during his time at the top, he has a terrible SummerSlam record. Over the course of his career, Cena has traded wins with Randy Orton at SummerSlam, while he has lost to CM Punk on multiple occasions and even put over Daniel Bryan in a fantastic match for the championship.
Cena's most shocking loss was at the hands of Brock Lesnar, who absolutely dominated him in the main event in 2014 for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Cena was hit with 16 German Suplexes and two F-5s before being pinned, ending his reign at 49 days.
1 The Undertaker: 16 Matches (10 Wins - 5 Losses - 1 No-Contest)
No Superstar has wrestled more matches than The Undertaker has at SummerSlam. Over the course of his legendary career, The Undertaker has wrestled matches against the likes of Kane, Edge, and Randy Orton.
While he has lost a fair share of matches, his 10 wins put him only behind the Rated-R Superstar. Fans had hoped that he may return for a WrestleMania 36 rematch with AJ Styles at SummerSlam, but that seems increasingly unlikely, with him announcing his retirement in the Last Ride Documentary.