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We are just days away from WWE's annual summer extravaganza, SummerSlam. SummerSlam is part of WWE's "Big 4" and billed as the second biggest pay-per-view of the year after WrestleMania. Over the years, SummerSlam has become synonymous with some of the best WWE matches of the year. From classics like Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog to high-octane encounters like CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar, SummerSlam has always lived up to its moniker of being the Biggest Event of The Summer.
Names like Hart, The Undertaker, and more recently, Seth Rollins have been part of numerous SummerSlam classics. But, if we were to crown a superstar as "Mr. SummerSlam," we'd give it to Brock Lesnar.
Since returning to the company in 2012, Brock Lesnar has performed in every single SummerSlam. Brock Lesnar also holds the distinction of main-eventing the event for five straight years (2014-2019). The Beast Incarnate has dismantled a wide variety of opponents at SummerSlam. This Sunday would be the first SummerSlam in eight years to not feature The Beast Incarnate.
Here are five matches which prove that Brock Lesnar is the most prolific performer in SummerSlam history:
#5 Brock Lesnar vs. The Rock (SummerSlam 2002)
We start the list with Brock Lesnar's very first outing at The Biggest Party of The Summer. The year was 2002, and The Rock was the WWE Undisputed Champion. The main event of SummerSlam 2002 saw The Great One lock horns with the young and up-and-coming Brock Lesnar.
The Beast Incarnate earned himself a shot at WWE Undisputed Championship by winning the 2002 King of The Ring Tournament. By the time he faced The Rock, Lesnar had earned the reputation of being one of the baddest men on the roster. Lesnar had victories over known faces like RVD, Hulk Hogan, and The Hardy Boyz before his encounter with The Great One.
The match started with The Beast dominating The Great One with big power moves. Brock Lesnar would survive multiple Rock Bottom attempts and even kick out of one during the match. The finish of the match saw Brock Lesnar stop a People's Elbow by The Rock and reverse it into an F5 to pin The Great One and capture the WWE Undisputed Championship. With this win, Brock Lesnar also became the youngest WWE Champion in history.
In many ways, the match between Brock Lesnar and The Rock at SummerSlam 2002 was a passing of the torch. The Rock would take a break from wrestling following his loss to Lesnar to focus on his acting career. The win over The Rock made Brock Lesnar an overnight sensation, and The Beast Incarnate would go on to become one of the more dominant Superstars in WWE history.
#4 Brock Lesnar vs. CM Punk (SummerSlam 2013)
After being betrayed by his longtime friend and manager, Paul Heyman, at Money In The Bank 2013, CM Punk vowed revenge on his former mentor. On July 15, 2013, episode of RAW, Brock Lesnar would attack CM Punk. Heyman would claim that Punk could never beat Lesnar, which lead to Punk challenging the Beast to a match at SummerSlam 2013.
The match between the duo, billed as The Beast vs. The Best, was one of the most anticipated bouts on the card. CM Punk and Brock Lesnar would attack each other several times during the build-up to their highly-charged encounter. Unlike most of Lesnar's matches, this wasn't a straight-up mauling but 25 minutes of pure wrestling magic. The match had everything from big moves, aerial spots, counters, submission to brawling.
CM Punk and Brock Lesnar took each other to their respective limits during the match. The match had several finishes that kept fans at the edge of their seats. The finish of the match saw Brock Lesnar hit CM Punk with an F-5 to secure a victory.
#3 Brock Lesnar vs. Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns (SummerSlam 2017)
What happens when WWE puts four behemoths inside the ring at the same time in a huge SummerSlam clash? A match that keeps fans at the edge of their seats from start to finish. After managing to retain the Universal Championship against Samoa Joe at Great Balls of Fire, RAW General Manager, Kurt Angle announced that Brock Lesnar would be defending his Championship in a Fatal-4 Way match against Samoa Joe, Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns at SummerSlam.
While the buildup to the match wasn't extraordinary, it ended up being one of the best main events in SummerSlam history. The match began on a fiery note with all the four competitors immediately getting to work. The early part of the bout saw Brock Lesnar dominating his opponents (except for Braun Strowman) before finally coming face to face with The Monster Among Men. The confrontation between Brock Lesnar and Strowman received a thunderous response from the packed Brooklyn crowd.
Strowman would hit The Beast with multiple running powerslams and even flip an announce table over a motionless Beast. Strowman dominated Lesnar in a way that we had never seen before. With Lesnar lying on his back on the announcers' area, a team of medics would stretcher Brock Lesnar to the back.
For a while, it seemed like Brock Lesnar's hold on the Universal Championship might finally be coming to an end. There were plenty of false finishes throughout the match. The eventual finish saw Lesnar returning to the ring, countering an attempted Spear by Reigns and reversing it into an F-5.
With the win, The Beast not only retained the Universal Championship but also kept his WWE career going as the match had added stipulation of Lesnar leaving the company if he were to lose.
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#2 Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena (SummerSlam 2014)
After conquering The Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania 30, Brock Lesnar would turn his attention to John Cena and the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The match between the duo was Brock Lesnar's first World Title match in over a decade. The bout began like any other Brock Lesnar match, with The Beast dominating Cena. Brock Lesnar would hit Cena with an F-5 within seconds for a near-fall.
Given the history between Lesnar and Cena and the company's booking of Cena, fans felt that this might be a highly competitive contest. The early part of the match followed the pattern of a formulaic John Cena bout, with his opponent dominating him for the most part. However, the twist here was that unlike his other matches, Cena wasn't able to mount a comeback during this one-sided beatdown.
Barring a lone Attitude Adjustment and few moments of respite, Cena was dismembered by The Beast in a way we had never seen before.
The shocked Los Angeles crowd saw Lesnar dismantle the man known as " Super Cena" with an array of German Suplexes with the total reaching 16 by the time the match ended. Lesnar would hit Cena with a second F-5 to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The bout would go on to earn the moniker of being the best squash match in WWE history.
#1 Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins (SummerSlam 2019)
The build-up to this match saw Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins engage in one of the most violent and vicious beatdowns in WWE history.
After successfully cashing in his Money In The Bank contract at Extreme Rules 2019, Brock Lesnar was once again the Universal Champion. The main event of RAW after Extreme Rules saw a 10-man Inter Brand Battle Royal, with the winner getting a shot at Brock Lesnar's Universal Championship at SummerSlam. Seth Rollins would win the match by last eliminating Randy Orton.
On the July 29, 2019, episode of RAW, Seth Rollins faced off against Dolph Ziggler in a non-title match. When it seemed like Rollins had the match won, Brock Lesnar showed up and attacked Rollins. He would proceed to destroy Rollins with an array of devastating F-5's, the last two of which led to Rollins bleeding heavily from his mouth.
Despite the vicious beatdown by Brock Lesnar, the match between him and Rollins didn't generate as much hype as one would've hoped due to the growing resentment of Rollins, particularly on the internet. Many even questioned the company's decision to put the match at the main event spot as this wasn't something that they were excited to see.
Before the match even began, the crowd was viciously booing Rollins as he made his way to the ring. The bout started with Lesnar targeting the taped ribs of Rollins. Minutes into the match, Rollins would flip out of a German Suplex by The Beast and hit him with a Curb Stomp for a nearfall.
One of the best sequences of the match saw Rollins flip out of another German Suplex attempt from Lesnar and hit The Beast with multiple superkicks to set him up for The Stomp, but he was caught mid-way by The Beast who would turn it into an F-5.
The final minutes of the match saw Rollins hit Lesnar with a Frog Splash onto the announce table. Rollins followed it up by hitting another Frog Splash and a Curb Stomp for another nearfall. By this time, the crowd was firmly behind Rollins with chants of "Burn It Down" reverberating through the Scotiabank Arena.
Rollins' attempted stomp was caught mid-way by Lesnar, who would reverse it into an F-5, but Rollins managed to slip out of that and hit The Beast with a superkick, followed by a third and final stomp to win the match and regain the Universal Championship.
This match was another example of how great of a performer Brock Lesnar is. Lesnar's selling was one of the highlights of the bout. Lesnar and Rollins were able to create magic on a night where fans least expected it. From start to finish, this was the best Brock Lesnar match in recent memory.
