10 WWE SummerSlam Records You Didn’t Know About

10. WWE Championship Fortress

We’re often reminded of champion’s advantage favouring the holder of a belt, but at SummerSlam, it looks like WWE may have taken that phrase a little too literally.

In the 28 shows since 1988, we’ve seen a total of 27 matches for the WWE Championship. And yet we’ve only seen the belt actually changing hands on seven of those occasions.

Furthermore, two of those instances were in fact Money in the Banks cash-ins - Alberto Del Rio in 2011 and Randy Orton in 2013. So, really, it’s more like five title changes from a possible 25 matches.

For me, that’s a fairly remarkable stat, and one that suggests that SummerSlam isn’t quite a “season finale” PPV like WrestleMania tends to be. Rather, it’s a chance for champions to be made to look stronger and rivalries to be eked out a little longer.

Not that the champion has always retained in straightforward fashion, though. 1992 and 1993 saw count-out victories for the challengers, while 2001 and 2010 saw the champions retain after losing via a disqualification.

Still, we’ll be guaranteed at least one new world champion this time around, with Seth Rollins and Finn Balor set to do battle for the vacant Universal Championship.