WWE has wanted SummerSlam to be one of their biggest pay-per-views of the year, second only to their flagship WrestleMania, but in recent years the August event has become more of a crystal ball of sorts for WrestleMania. One could argue that this goes all the way back to the first SummerSlam which saw the Mega Powers, Hulk Hogan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage, team up only to go toe to toe the following April at WrestleMania V. Although that one might be reaching a bit, it is a trend that has been happening within the last few years.
SUMMERSLAM 2012/WRESTLEMANIA 29
It was only a few short months before this SummerSlam that Brock Lesnar would make his return to WWE, starting a feud with John Cena. After his tangling with the Cenation leader, Lesnar would set his sights on Triple H. The COO would go on to face Lesnar at SummerSlam in a no disqualification match, that saw Triple H succumb to the Kimura Lock.
The following February the feud was reignited when Triple H attacked Lesnar, the challenge was later issued to Brock for WrestleMania 29 which he accepted by attacking Triple H’s buddies The New Age Outlaws. The stipulation of it being a no holds barred match was added by Paul Heyman as well as if Triple H were to lose he would have to retire. Unlike most “_____ must retire” stipulations, this one wasn’t quite as obvious, with Triple H becoming more involved in the running of WWE many thought that this might have been his swan song, however the Game prevailed, defeating Brock Lesnar with a Pedigree onto the steel steps, similar to how John Cena beat Lesnar at the previous years Extreme Rules, with an Attitude Adjustment onto the steel steps, proving that those steps are Lesnar’s kryptonite.
SUMMERSLAM 2013/WRESTLEMANIA XXX
The argument of whether or not this angle was a part of the plan or not has been debated for the last two years, but the fact remains that the seeds for Daniel Bryan’s triumph at WrestleMania XXX were planted at SummerSlam 2013.
Bryan would face John Cena in the main event of SummerSlam for the WWE Championship in what was a great match and would be Bryan’s first taste of the WWE Championship, having previously held the World Heavyweight Championship which many speculate was perceived as the lesser of the two titles. Bryan’s celebration was cut short however, when Randy Orton came out to cash in his Money In The Bank. Triple H who was the special referee for Bryan vs. Cena attacked the new champion, making him easy pickings for Orton.
This was the beginning of the YES Movement. WWE would have Bryan and Orton fight over the championship for several months with the title even being out of both of their respective grasps for a short period. Eventually the Viper would become the definitive champion and WWE would try to move Bryan to other things, like a feud with Bray Wyatt. The fans however, were not so quick to let go of their dream of having Bryan be WWE World Heavyweight Champion, lobbying every chance they had, making their voices heard, literally with raucous chants of YES and NO. Even poor Rey Mysterio, a perennial fan favourite, was booed out of the building when he entered the 2014 Royal Rumble, simply because he wasn’t Daniel Bryan, despite the fact that there was no inkling given that Bryan would even be competing in the match itself.
By the time the road to WrestleMania was kicking into high gear it was obvious that Daniel Bryan was going to be involved in the main event and sure enough, after a spectacular match with Triple H to kick off the show, Bryan would go on to face not just Orton, the man who took the title from Bryan at SummerSlam, but Batista as well. Daniel Bryan would come full circle from SummerSlam, after being ripped off of his title reign. Given the moment he had that night, I would say it was a fair trade off.
SUMMERSLAM 2014/WRESTLEMANIA 31
For the connection between last year’s SummerSlam and WrestleMania, it may be a bit of a stretch. There were no rematches to speak of, but the time between SummerSlam 2014 and WrestleMania 31 marked the domination of the Beast as WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Brock Lesnar seemed to have a new lease on life in WWE after breaking The Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania XXX, almost seemingly wiping away his past loses against the likes of John Cena and Triple H. It was the former of those two that Lesnar handily defeated at SummerSlam, suplexing Cena no less than 16 times. Lesnar wasn’t a full time wrestler and as such not a full time champion either, but he let his actions speak for themselves, and when he couldn’t Paul Heyman was there to expound the virtues of his client Brock Lesnar.
With Daniel Bryan out of action and CM Punk long gone from WWE at this point, WWE needed to build up someone that the fans could rally behind, someone who could go toe to toe with Lesnar and not seem weak, not have it be unbelievable. WWE chose Roman Reigns, and unfortunately it didn’t work out in WWE’s favour. With the poorly written promos that didn’t seem to really echo the personality of Reigns, and the fact that once again, he wasn’t Daniel Bryan, the fans turned on Roman. Upon his winning the Royal Rumble #CancelWWENetwork began trending, which in my opinion was a little excessive, but in the end didn’t seem to do much harm. The bigger issue may have been WWE pushing Reigns so much that it was too obvious that he was their company knight chosen to slay the Beast, and the fans didn’t like it. Luckily, WWE had an ace up their sleeve.
Seth Rollins had been the Money In The Bank holder for nearly a year, he was getting to the point where he had to use his shot, and there was a lot of people who were expecting Reigns to win and then Rollins to cash in, to soften the blow. However, in a first with Money In The Bank, the contract was cashed in mid-match making the Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns match a triple threat. It’s hard to know exactly when the decision was made to pull the trigger with Rollins briefcase but looking back it was still probably the best direction they could have gone considering how poorly received Roman’s push was, it also enabled Lesnar to not look weak, as he was not the one who was pinned. Nevertheless, WrestleMania 31 marked the end of Lesnar’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship run, which began at SummerSlam.
SUMMERSLAM 2015/WRESTLEMANIA 32
With SummerSlam recently in the books for this year, it’s not hard to see that this trend will continue, the question is in what capacity? The obvious first choice is the much anticipated rubber match between The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar.
The head-scratching controversy from the main event of SummerSlam may have taken a little bit of steam out of this feud, but not enough to really slow it down. This is a feud that was built on WrestleMania. Despite their feuds during Brock Lesnar’s first run in WWE in 2002, it has been a whole different ballgame since Lesnar returned to WWE, and after breaking Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania XXX, it is the only logical step for their feud to reach its apex at WrestleMania.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. After the events of SummerSlam it is pretty evident that Undertaker will be taking up the heel role in the angle, but as opposed to a smarmy heel, it seems to be one the smells of desperation. The grizzled veteran who knows his time is fleeting, but will stoop to any level to hold onto his spot, maybe even make a deal with the devil.
Another storyline that may come to its conclusion at WrestleMania 32 is that of Stardust and Stephen Amell. While most saw this angle as a one off (including the Arrow star himself) it would appear, after the SummerSlam tag team match that things may have changed. Amell had said that things with Stardust may not be finished. Perhaps the best place to finish things wll be on the Grandest Stage of all.
Amell performed decently in his in ring debut, by no means perfect, but on the scale of celebrity in ring work, he was above average (he was no Snooki.) Amell had said on a Facebook Q & A prior to the match that he had no time to train for the match, as he is filming the fourth season of Arrow. By the time WrestleMania roles around Arrow will have wrapped for the year, and it will still be another two months before Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II is released in theatres (in which Amell stars alongside WWE’s Sheamus) so Amell could have ample time to properly train for a return to the ring, possibly in a one on one match with Stardust.
We can only speculate what the future holds come WrestleMania time. Will John Cena find his way back to the World Title picture? Will the Wyatt Family still be terrorizing the remnants of The Shield? Will Kevin Owens and Cesaro show yet again why they deserve the adulation they have received? Or will this trend cease? Maybe there won’t be any connections between SummerSlam and WrestleMania 32, but speculating is half the fun.
