10 Fascinating Facts About WWE In 2014

4. WWE Ran A Mini-SummerSlam 24 Hours Earlier

Batista CM Punk WWE 2014
WWE.com

This was certainly a choice.

WWE didn't always run house shows the night before major pay-per-views. Events like Royal Rumble, 'Mania and SummerSlam typically came pre-packed with all sorts of other shenanigans, so everyone was a little too busy for live touring. In 2014, the promotion hit San Jose on 16 August and previewed SummerSlam.

You're reading that correctly. WWE's house show card 24 hours before the tentpole PPV included no less than three of the same matches fans would pay to see on the show one night later. Rusev vs. Jack Swagger, Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt and even Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns were all on the format.

Two of those matches ended with pretty much the same finish people would witness at SummerSlam too; only Jericho vs. Wyatt was remarkably different due to Ric Flair's appearance as a special guest ref and 'Y2J' scoring the pin. It was brave to give away a significant chunk of the pay-per-view lineup ahead of time.

John Cena also wrestled on the show, but he worked Kane instead of Brock Lesnar. That might've been a step too far, eh?

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.