14 Best WWE Title Changes That Ever Happened At SummerSlam
2. WWE Championship (2013): John Cena (c) Vs. Daniel Bryan; Bryan (c) Vs. Randy Orton
WWE hadn’t corporate-ized the “Yes Movement” yet in
2013, but Daniel Bryan certainly had a huge following heading into his big
SummerSlam matchup against John Cena. He was the undersized, underdog superstar
fighting for respect and accolades. On this night, he won both.
Bryan and Cena had a classic match that proved two things: Cena can wrestle, and Bryan can out-wrestle Cena. Bryan’s victory cemented his ascension to the top of promotion, but it was the screwjob that followed with HHH and Randy Orton that would really catapult Bryan to other-worldly stature in the fans’ eyes. Bryan went from the underdog achieving his dream to the underdog who had authority figures actively trying to prevent him from living his dream.
It was that win-loss combo that solidified Bryan’s position within the company and gave WWE a major storyline to play up for the next several months. Yes, the company got seriously sidetracked for a while and very nearly went the route of making Batista the guy with his hand raised at WrestleMania XXX. But WWE came around and did what was best for business.