One MIND-BLOWING Secret For Every WWE SummerSlam

5. 2021 | WWE Almost WCW 2000’d The Biggest Title Change Ever

Roman Reigns held the WWE Universal title for 1,316 days. Because he won the WWE title at WrestleMania 38, and held both concurrently, WWE promoted it as the modern day equivalent of Bruno Sammartino’s 2,803 stint - which, since very few people really care about that anymore, positioned Roman as the most successful WWE wrestler ever. It worked. You have to forget that virtually all of 2021 was bobbins, and that any “real” promoter would have booked a proper Cage match to prevent the Usos from interfering every bastard time, but it worked. People engaged with and bought into the idea that Roman was the kayfabe most dominant guy ever, and Cody Rhodes’ WrestleMania 40 win felt like a landmark coronation and the very height of WWE’s third boom period. None of this happens to quite the same effect in a timeline very similar to that which unfolded. 

That is because, according to the man himself, when speaking to the No Contest Wrestling podcast in March 2026, John Cena was meant to win his 17th World title at SummerSlam 2021. If you forget about Ric Flair, Cena was gunning for the record. It’s a massive deal, isn’t it? So much so that a desperate John Cena turned heel ahead of WrestleMania 41 just to stand a chance of breaking it. 

Cena - confirming that plans do indeed change on the day of a WWE show - revealed that he was going to lose the title seconds after an immediate restart. Yes, under Vince McMahon, the record-breaking 17th World title win was not going to be some lovely feel-good moment. It was not going to matter at all. The plan apparently only changed when Brock Lesnar agreed to come back at 5PM on the day of the show. 

Were it not for a last-minute breakthrough in negotiations, WWE almost WCW 2000’d its World title record.