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SummerSlam 2018 takes place this weekend live from Brooklyn, New York and boasts an impressive card considering the fact that there are a number of faces missing from the show. The likes of John Cena, The Undertaker, and Triple H are absent from this year's show, with Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns scheduled to headline the show over the Universal Championship.
Ronda Rousey is part of her first SummerSlam event as she fights Alexa Bliss for the Raw Women's Championship whilst Carmella defends against former Champions Charlotte and Becky Lynch on the SmackDown side.
Shinsuke Nakamura defends his United States Championship against Jeff Hardy whilst Seth Rollins battles Dolph Ziggler for the Intercontinental Championship with the returning Dean Ambrose in his corner. Elsewhere, AJ Styles defends the WWE Championship against Samoa Joe in perhaps his toughest test to date, whilst The Bludgeon Brothers defend the SmackDown Tag Team Championships against The New Day and over on Raw, The B-Team defend against The Revival.
Other matches that are scheduled to take place include Baron Corbin vs Finn Balor and Rusev Day vs Andrade "Cien" Almas and Zelina Vega. There is a reason why SummerSlam is affectionately called 'The Biggest Party of The Summer' and here are five stats that every WWE fan should know ahead of the event.
#5. Brock Lesnar main events for the fifth time
Brock Lesnar defends his Universal Championship against Roman Reigns this Sunday night and interestingly, this will be the fifth consecutive year that WWE has allowed The Beast Incarnate to close the show. Lesnar main evented the show back in 2014 against Triple H, again in 2015 against The Undertaker, in 2016 against Randy Orton and was included in a fatal-four way match for his Championship at last year's event which also included Braun Strowman, Samoa Joe, and Roman Reigns.
Lesnar also main evented SummerSlam back in 2012, which means if he closes the show on Sunday night as expected then he will surpass John Cena for the record amount of SummerSlam main events. No man has won more SummerSlam main events than Lesnar either since he has been victorious five times which doesn't bode well for Reigns this weekend.
#4. The first women's triple threat match in SummerSlam history
Carmella defends her SmackDown Women's Championship against former Champions Becky Lynch and Charlotte at SummerSlam and interestingly in the 31-year history of the show, there has never been a women's triple threat match.
Once again, Charlotte will be making history, this time with two other women as she looks to regain the Women's Championship ahead of the Evolution pay-per-view in October. If Charlotte wins, she will become one of only three women who have held the Women's Championship six times.
Carmella has held the title ever since the week after WrestleMania back in April when she cashed in her Money in the Bank contract on Charlotte. The current Women's Champion has proved that she can overcome the odds many times before and will be looking to do the same thing this weekend even though the odds are definitely stacked against her..
#3. Jeff Hardy has never won a match at SummerSlam
Jeff Hardy takes on Shinsuke Nakamura this weekend at SummerSlam in the hopes that he can win back the Championship that he was screwed out of at Extreme Rules last month. Sadly for 'The Charismatic Enigma', the odds are definitely against him since he has the second-worst record in the three-decade-long history of the show.
Hardy has lost all six of his previous matches at The Biggest Party of the Summer, a record that is only beaten by the fact that John Cena has lost nine. Nakamura was defeated by Jinder Mahal in his debut at SummerSlam last year, which means that both of these men will be looking to get a win in their column for SummerSlam on Sunday.
#2. A world dominated by Roman Reigns
The WWE Universe has reacted angrily to the fact that Roman Reigns has been the poster child for WWE over the past few years and there isn't a stat that proves this more than the fact that this weekend marks Reigns 14th Championship opportunity in just five years.
That is five more than any of his fellow WWE superstars and even though many claim that Reigns has worked hard to earn these chances, the star has won just two of his previous 13 attempts at Championships. It's also worth noting that three of these matches were against Brock Lesnar, the star that he is up against on Sunday night.
#1. First SummerSlam in history not to include Bret Hart, The Undertaker, John Cena or Triple H
SummerSlam has been a main part of WWE's calendar for more than three decades and every year in the past has featured either Bret Hart, The Undertaker, John Cena or Triple H. This year however, that 31-year streak comes to an end as none of these four men are currently scheduled to be part of the show.
There were rumors a few weeks ago that John Cena and The Undertaker were set to have their rematch from WrestleMania at this year's event, but with just days to go until WWE lands in Brooklyn, it's highly unlikely that Cena or The Undertaker will be part of this year's show but Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns have stepped up in their absence, so all is now right with the world.
