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WWE hosts several pay-per-views each calendar year, but the Big Four PPVs that the company produces are seen as the biggest wrestling events in the wrestling industry each year.
Two of the Big Four WWE events are WrestleMania and SummerSlam. WrestleMania is undoubtedly the biggest wrestling event of the year, SummerSlam is seen as a close second, with Royal Rumble and Survivor Series taking the remaining two spots.
Winning a top title at WrestleMania is always seen as a huge achievement, and many WWE Superstars dream of living such a moment in their careers. While several WWE Superstars have won a prestigious Championship at WrestleMania, they have gone on to lose it soon after. Some Superstars have managed to hold onto their titles until SummerSlam, where they’ve defended their title either successfully or unsuccessfully.
In this article, we will look at five WWE Superstars who won a big WWE Championship at WrestleMania, only to lose the title at SummerSlam.
#5 The Undertaker (vs Sycho Sid at WrestleMania 13 - vs Bret Hart at SummerSlam 1997 for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship)
The main event of WrestleMania 13 saw a big match between two of WWE’s biggest Superstars. The reigning WWE World Heavyweight Champion Sycho Sid, defended his title against The Undertaker at The Grandest Stage of Them All.
It was a No Disqualification Match, where Shawn Michaels joined the commentary team. There were a few distractions and interferences during the match, with the most prominent one coming from Bret Hart.
While Sid had the upper hand heading into the final moments of the match, Hart appeared to distract Sid which allowed The Undertaker to hit the Tombstone Piledriver to become the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
The Undertaker then went on to defend his title against several top men in WWE, including Mankind, Triple H, and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin.
However, Hart was still focused on getting the title back and challenged The Undertaker to a match at SummerSlam 1997, where Shawn Michales took on the role of Special Guest Referee.
The match between the two men lasted almost half an hour and saw the advantage see-saw between the two until Hart was finally able to defeat The Deadman.
Hart had a few unfair calls during the match at the hands of the special guest referee, but went on to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
#4 Chris Benoit (vs Triple H (c) & Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XX - vs Randy Orton at SummerSlam 2004 for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship)
The 20th edition of WrestleMania a few memorable matches and the biggest match on the card saw Triple H defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Shawn Michaels and Chris Benoit.
All three men had their high points in the match, with the match endeding when Benoit threw HBK out of the ring and applied the Crippler Crossface to Triple H. While the Champion resisted at first, he was forced to tap out and lose his WWE World Heavyweight Championship. This also marked the first time a WrestleMania main event ended in a submission.
The night became even more memorable as Eddie Guerrero joined Benoit after the match to celebrate, and the two friends embraced as the event ended.
After successfully defending his title for over five months, Benoit faced Randy Orton at SummerSlam 2004. Orton was a fresh face in the company at the time, but he was seen as a top athlete who had the fans behind him.
The Viper braved through seven German Suplexes from Benoit and then hit him with the RKO to become the youngest WWE World Heavyweight Champion of all time.
Orton’s reign lasted less than a month as his mentor Triple H, betrayed him and won the title away from him soon after.
#3 Naomi (vs. Alexa Bliss (c), Becky Lynch, Carmella, Mickie James, and Natalya at WrestleMania 33 - vs. Natalya at SummerSlam 2017 for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship)
The second last match of WrestleMania 33 was a big one, as six women competed for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship. Alexa Bliss walked into the Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida, as the titleholder, while Becky Lynch, Naomi, Carmella, Mickie James, and Natalya had their eyes on the prize.
Surprisingly, the match did not last too long, and the six women did not get a chance to shine as much as they should have on The Grandest Stage of Them All. It was Naomi's night as she forced Bliss to submit to the Slay-o-Mission to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship for the second time in her career.
Naomi’s second run as the blue brand’s champion turned out to be much better than her first one as she defended her title against a few challengers before meeting The Queen of Hearts at SummerSlam 2017.
After a hard-fought match, Naomi went for the split-legged moonsault to retain her title. However, The Queen of Harts got her knees up at the right time and countered the move.
Natalya then forced Naomi to submit to her signature Sharpshooter after countering Naomi's split-legged moonsault attempt to win her first title in WWE since 2010.
#2 John Cena (vs The Rock at WrestleMania 29 - vs Daniel Bryan at SummerSlam 2013 for the WWE Championship)
WrestleMania 29 was host to one of the biggest WWE matches of all time. The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment, Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson, took on The Face That Runs The Place, John Cena. The match saw The Rock defend his WWE Championship against Cena at the event.
The two men had faced off at The Grandest Stage for over 30 mins a year earlier, and they once again competed in a long match. While there were a series of two-counts in the match, Cena managed to defeat The Rock after delivering a total of three Attitude Adjustments.
Cena then defended his title against many opponents leading up to SummerSlam the very same year. This led to a match between Daniel Bryan and Cena at The Biggest Party of the Summer, while Triple H acted as the Special Guest Referee.
The match saw many near finishes before Bryan’s running knee did the job and helped him win his first WWE Championship. Cena shook Bryan and Triple H’s hands before leaving the ring, following which Randy Orton made an appearance.
Triple H attacked Bryan, following which The Viper cashed in his Money in the Bank contract and won the WWE Championship by ending Bryan’s reign within minutes.
#1 Brock Lesnar (vs Goldberg at WrestleMania 33 - vs Roman Reigns at SummerSlam 2018 for the WWE Universal Championship)
This entry is a bit different from the rest as it transcends one calendar year and bleeds into another. Brock Lesnar has always been seen as the most destructive force in WWE, and a WrestleMania event without his appearance feels empty.
At WrestleMania 33, Lesnar looked to end his rivalry against Goldberg, who was the WWE Universal Champion at the time. This was a fast-paced match that saw Lesnar kick off with three big German Suplexes, after which Goldberg knocked him down with two Spears.
The action went on for almost five minutes before Lesnar’s final F-5 helped him defeat Goldberg, and he became the WWE Universal Champion in the process.
Lesnar mostly became a part-timer from there on as he only worked major pay-per-views and defended his title against the top WWE Superstars during such events. At the 2017 WWE SummerSlam, Lesnar retained his title in a Fatal 4-Way match against Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns, and Samoa Joe.
He held the title for 504-days, before facing Roman Reigns one-on-one at SummerSlam 2018. After trying for months, and failing, Reigns was able to defeat The Beast at the event after delivering a flurry of Spears.
This helped him end end Lesnar's historic run as the WWE Universal Champion and enter his name in the history books.
