10 Fascinating WWE SummerSlam 2012 Facts
1. It Was The Last SummerSlam To Break 300,000 Buys
Lesnar's return did some wonders for WWE's sagging pay-per-view numbers. As noted, his heavily-increased public profile from his four years as UFC's top draw elevated the buyrate of April's Extreme Rules pay-per-view, and it did the same for SummerSlam.
While Lesnar wasn't going to put the toothpaste back in the tube when it came to the rise of illegal streaming, he did get SummerSlam to 358,000 buys, up 21 percent from the 296,000 that bought the 2011 show. That's an effective headliner, certainly.
WWE Network was less than two years away from rendering buyrates mostly moot, so Lesnar's value and the popularity of WWE events would have to be measured by other metrics. In 2012, with pay-per-view buys still a lofty piece of the WWE pie, it was clear that the Lesnar investment was worth the money.