Ranking All 30 WWE SummerSlam Main Events
1. 2013 – Cena (C) Vs. Bryan
Sometimes a match can truly make a new star.
Daniel Bryan was riding high as one-half of Team Hell No and had made a name for himself in singles competition leading up to SummerSlam that year. When John Cena chose Bryan as his opponent, fans knew they were going to see a really good match, but they got more than.
The match told an awesome story of Bryan’s ring prowess against Cena’s brute force, ending with what would become DB’s finishing move, the running knee. Bryan’s celebration was the kind of true underdog reaching the mountaintop moment you don’t see often in a worked sport like pro wrestling, but in the midst of it, guest referee HHH would turn on Bryan. A quick Pedigree and Money in the Bank briefcase cash-in by Randy Orton and Bryan’s moment was ripped away.
Bryan’s long journey back to winning the WWE Championship would take several twists and turns during the next eight months (Daniel Wyatt, anyone?), but that WrestleMania XXX moment was born right here, with Bryan winning a fantastic title match against WWE’s poster child and then raging against the machine for the next half-year. Despite the detours, it produced another great moment, bookending Bryan’s journey.