10 Fascinating WWE SummerSlam 2013 Facts

10. A Shield-Related Match Was Under Consideration

No doubt that aside from Bryan and Punk, the next-most over act in WWE was The Shield. Booking the trio properly went a long way toward building strong fan sentiment for the group (even for Roman Reigns). Six months after their NXT call-up, Dean Ambrose won the US Title, while Reigns and Seth Rollins took the Tag Team straps.

The trio was conspicuous by their absence from the SummerSlam main card. Though Ambrose would defend the US Title against Rob Van Dam in a dark match, the early card had either the entire Shield facing Big Show and Mark Henry in a handicap match, or Reigns and Rollins defending the Tag belts against the dual colossi . Show had been out since May with an unspecified injury, and wouldn't cleared until days before the pay-per-view, so the idea was scrapped.