Top 5 Most Significant Title Changes in SummerSlam History

4. Randy Orton defeated Chris Benoit for the World Heavyweight Championship

In 2004, Randy Orton was a thriving young member of Evolution and the longest reigning IC Champ in seven years. He’d eventually lose the title to Edge only to participate in and win a 20-Man Battle Royal soon after. Winning the Battle Royal gave Orton a shot at Chris Benoit’s World Heavyweight Championship. Orton’s time in Evolution helped jumpstart his fledgling career, and with Ric Flair guiding him, he’d made a name as the ‘Legend Killer.’

Now, beating up veterans past their prime hardly makes one the man. However, winning gold does, and that’s exactly what Orton intended on doing at SummerSlam 2004. Randy wanted to transcend from Legend Killer to Legend at the tender age of 24. You know what I was doing at 24?! Selling auto parts and wondering why I paid so much for a Bachelor’s degree.

Orton’s win over Benoit as SummerSlam not only made him the youngest champ ever but would spark the betrayal by Evolution, Randy’s face turn, and subsequent feud with Triple H. While the Triple H feud may not have gone his way, this championship victory was the first of many to come and the beginning of one of the most consistently successful careers in the WWE over the last 12 years.

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