SummerSlam 2013 SummerSlam 2013 was a professional wrestling pay - per - view event produced by WWE , which took place on August 18 , 2013 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles , California . It was the 26th annual SummerSlam event . Jo - Jo Offerman sang the National Anthem . Booker T , Shawn Michaels , Vickie Guerrero & Josh Mathews hosted the SummerSlam pre - show . The Miz hosted the main show . Background . SummerSlam featured professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre - existing feuds , plots , and storylines that played out on WWE ' s primary television programs . Wrestlers portrayed villains or heroes as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches . On the July 15 , 2013 episode of " Raw " , new Raw General Manager Brad Maddox announced that he would allow WWE Champion John Cena to choose his own opponent for SummerSlam . Later in the night , after taking an informal poll of the live audience , he chose Daniel Bryan . On the August 12 episode of " Raw " , Maddox served as special guest referee in a match with Bryan facing Wade Barrett . After making a quick count to allow Barrett to win the match , Maddox would offer his services as the guest referee for the Cena - Bryan match at the PPV when Triple H interceded , and announced he would serve as referee instead ( punctuated by a pedigree to Maddox ) . Also on the same episode , Brock Lesnar made his return when he attacked CM Punk . The following week on " Raw " , Paul Heyman accepted Punk ' s challenge for a match at SummerSlam on behalf of Lesnar . On the July 19 , 2013 episode of " Smackdown " , Randy Orton defeated World Heavyweight Champion Alberto Del Rio in a non - title match . However on the July 29 episode of " Raw " , Christian also defeated Del Rio in a non - title match . To determine the next challenger for Del Rio ' s championship , new general manager Vickie Guerrero decided to make a triple threat match between Christian , Orton and the returning Rob Van Dam . The match ended with Christian reversing Orton ' s attempt of an RKO into a backslide pin winning the match and becoming the new # 1 contender for the title before being attacked by Del Rio . On the August 9th edition of " SmackDown " , Christian would defeat Del Rio in another non - title match . At the Money in the Bank pay - per - view on July 14 , Damien Sandow won the Money in the Bank briefcase for a future World Heavyweight Championship shot , betraying his former tag team partner Cody Rhodes in the process . Rhodes attacked Sandow after the latter ' s loss to Christian the following night on " Raw " . On the July 26 episode on " SmackDown " , while Sandow was facing Randy Orton in a singles match , Rhodes would take his briefcase , causing Sandow to lose the match and search for his briefcase after . Rhodes would throw Sandow ' s briefcase into the Gulf of Mexico , and Sandow was unable to retrieve it because he couldn ' t swim . It was announced on the August 5 episode of " Raw " that Rhodes will face Sandow at SummerSlam . Four days later on " SmackDown " , Sandow would debut his new look Money in the Bank briefcase with a new World Heavyweight Championship contract . Later on , after Christian defeated Del Rio in a non - title match , Sandow would attempt to cash in his contract , but his effort was thwarted by Rhodes . On the July 8 episode of " Raw " , after Kane defeated Christian in a singles match , The Wyatt Family would appear to attack Kane , removing him from competing at the Money in the Bank match for the WWE Championship contract . The Wyatt Family would attack Kane again three weeks later on " Raw " after Daniel Bryan defeated Kane in a singles match . A week later on " Raw " , after Erick Rowan and Luke Harper defeated Tons of Funk ( Brodus Clay and Tensai ) in a tag team match , Kane announced that he would face Bray Wyatt in a " Ring of Fire " match at SummerSlam . After AJ Lee retained her Divas Championship against Kaitlyn at Money in the Bank and later on cost Dolph Ziggler at winning the World Heavyweight Championship , Ziggler would break up with AJ the next night on " Raw " , causing her to distract Ziggler in his non - title rematch against Del Rio and leaving Big E Langston to attack him . On the July 29 episode of " Raw " , Kaitlyn would defeat AJ in a non - title match to stay in contention for the Divas Championship , but four days later on " SmackDown " , AJ defeated Kaitlyn to retain the championship due to Layla turning villainous by interfering and protecting AJ . A week later on " Smackdown " , The Miz - the host of SummerSlam - announced that Kaitlyn and Ziggler would face AJ and Langston in a mix tag team match at the PPV . On the August 12 episode of " Raw " - as a result of their feud stemming from starring on " Total Divas " - Natalya challenged Brie Bella to a match at the PPV , which she accepted by slapping Natalya ' s face . Natalya also announced that The Funkadactyls ( Cameron and Naomi ) will be in her corner due the fact that Eva Marie has aligned herself with The Bella Twins . Later , on the same episode , Rob Van Dam won a 20 man battle royal ( lastly eliminating Mark Henry ) to win the right to challenge United States Champion Dean Ambrose for the title at the SummerSlam Kickoff Show , one hour prior to the PPV broadcast .