10 Fascinating WWE SummerSlam 2003 Facts

10. Only 9 Of The 22 Wrestlers At The 2003 Show Took Part In The Prior Year's SummerSlam

SummerSlam and Royal Rumble essentially duke it out for the title of WWE's number two pay-per-view. Often, SummerSlam gets the nod in its role of "B+/A- WrestleMania for the end of summer", and it makes sense to load up the show with stars galore. In the 2002 edition of this list, I noted that 15 of the 18 wrestlers on that show were World Champions at some point. The 2003 show was considerably less-star studded.

Half the wrestlers from 2002 were absent due to injuries (Booker T, Edge), healthy scratches (Christian, Lance Storm, Goldust, Test), working elsewhere on the show (Rey Mysterio on the pre-show, Ric Flair as a manager), or had better things to do (The Rock).

This year did see some true stars that missed last year's show, like Goldberg (not in WWE), Kane (returning from injury in late-August 2002) and The Dudley Boyz (were split, and treading water), while others like La Resistance, A-Train, and a wrestling Eric Bischoff didn't add much to the event quality.