Match Times: WWE SummerSlam 2013

WWE's SummerSlam 2013 event lasted 2 hours 52 minutes and 14 seconds (2h 52m 14s). Here is a breakdown of the timing for every single second of the show, in chronological order.

The matches are in bold. The "pre-match" segments include video packages, entrances, ring introductions, and any verbal promos that occur right before a match officially begins. The "post-match" segments include any celebrations, replays, angles, attacks, or promos that occur right after a match is finished.

• 0m 18s: WWE's "Then, Now, Forever" opening
• 2m 14s: On-stage segment with Miz and Fandango
• 2m 12s: Video hyping SummerSlam 2013
• 0m 59s: Opening pyro while Cole welcomes us to SummerSlam 2013
• 2m 34s: Jo-Jo sings the national anthem
• 0m 34s: Introduction of both commentating teams
• 3m 54s: Pre-match for Kane vs Wyatt
• 7m 49s: Kane vs Wyatt
• 3m 59s: Post-match for Kane vs Wyatt (Wyatts attack Kane with ring steps)
  
• 0m 38s: Commercial for the WWE 2K14 video game
• 1m 45s: Post-match for Kane vs Wyatt (Expert panel analysis featuring HBK)
• 1m 47s: Replay of Heyman's promo from the pre-show
• 2m 28s: Pre-match for Sandow vs Rhodes (with a 1m 16s Sandow promo)
• 6m 40s: Sandow vs Rhodes
• 1m 36s: Post-match for Sandow vs Rhodes
• 0m 17s: Plug for PPV theme song
• 0m 19s: Commentators discuss Los Angeles and the live attendance numbers
• 5m 29s: Pre-match for Del Rio vs Christian (with a 1m 33s video about Christian's career)
• 12m 30s: Del Rio vs Christian
• 1m 06s: Post-match for Del Rio vs Christian (replays)
• 1m 44s: Post-match for Del Rio vs Christian (Del Rio in-ring promo)
• 1m 28s: National Guard video, Lilian welcomes California National Guard
• 0m 51s: Video recap of the Maria Menounos tag match from Axxess
• 1m 13s: Backstage segment with Miz, Menounos, and Fandango
• 0m 33s: Commercial for Total Divas
• 1m 49s: Pre-match for Natalya vs Brie Bella
• 5m 19s: Natalya vs Brie Bella
• 1m 07s: Post-match for Natalya vs Brie Bella
• 0m 31s: Commercial for Doritos Jacked
• 2m 03s: Backstage segment with Ryback being a bully
• 8m 15s: Pre-match for Lesnar vs Punk (with a 3m 50s video package)
• 25m 17s: Lesnar vs Punk
• 3m 56s: Post-match for Lesnar vs Punk (replays, standing ovation for Punk)
  
• 0m 31s: Commercial for Night of Champions
• 0m 22s: Post-match for Lesnar vs Punk (commentators discuss the match)
• 2m 03s: Video: Doritos Jacked Bold Fan takes The World's Strongest Slam
• 1m 34s: Pre-match for Ziggler and Kaitlyn vs AJ and Langston
• 6m 45s: Ziggler and Kaitlyn vs AJ and Langston
• 1m 08s: Post-match for Ziggler and Kaitlyn vs AJ and Langston
  
• 0m 36s: Commercial for WWE 2K14 video game
• 0m 33s: Backstage segment with Miz attacking Fandango
• 0m 17s: Cole discusses the Staples Center and the live attendance numbers
• 0m 17s: Cast of Christmas Bounty is in the audience
• 10m 16s: Pre-match for Cena vs Bryan (with a 0m 48s panel analysis and 3m 46s video package)
• 26m 55s: Cena vs Bryan
• 3m 22s: Post-match for Cena vs Bryan (Bryan celebration)
• 1m 55s: Pre-match for Bryan vs Orton (Orton entrance, HHH attacks Bryan)
• 0m 08s: Bryan vs Orton
• 2m 19s: Post-match for Bryan vs Orton

The eight matches combined for a total bell-to-bell time of 1h 31m 23s. This means that 53.1% of the show was devoted to in-ring action. This is a big step up from last year's SummerSlam 2012 (47.4%), yet it is still the smallest total match-time number for all 3-hour WWE PPV's in 2013, each of which included at least 1h 35m 00s of in-ring action.

This PPV event provided a difficult decision for me due to the Money In The Bank cash-in attempt. How should Randy Orton's entrance down the aisle with HHH's attack on Bryan be classified? Is that a pre-match segment for the eventual Bryan vs Orton match? Or is that a post-match segment for the Cena vs Bryan match? I chose to call it a pre-match segment because it included an entrance and because it was the only possible choice as far as potential options for pre-match segments for Bryan vs Orton goes. I can certainly see the other side of the argument however.

With that said, the pre-match segments combined for a total time of 34m 52s, which is 20.7% of the show. The pre-match segments for the two main events accounted for more than half of this time and each lasted longer than all but one of the under-card matches.

The only other thing that stood out from the pre-match segments is that they managed to cram in three separate entrances for the Ziggler tag match into a very brief 1m 34s time span. For comparison's sake, the three separate entrances for the Cena versus Bryan match lasted 4m 01s. To take that even further, the two separate entrances for the divas match took up more time (1m 49s) than the three separate entrances for the Ziggler tag match.

The post-match segments combined for a total time of 22m 24s, which is 13.0% of the show. 5m 44s of that time came from the Ring of Fire match that opened the show. This is because the post-match segments for Kane versus Wyatt included an attack on Kane as well as an expert panel analysis segment (with HBK, Booker T, etc) that was entirely devoted to discussing the outcome of that match. This resulted in SummerSlam 2013 being the rare show where the curtain jerking match had the longest post-match segment time out of all the matches on the show.

That leaves about 23m 35s (13.2%) of the show for other miscellaneous things. This includes the national anthem, Miz hosting segments, commercials, videos, pre-show recaps, filler commentary, Ryback being a bully, and so forth.

This continues the 2013 trend of the so-called Big Four PPV events (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam) having a higher percentage of the show being devoted to Miscellaneous segments than any of the less prestigious PPV events (Elimination Chamber, Extreme Rules, Payback, Money In The Bank). It should be noted however that this is still a notch down from the SummerSlam 2012 mark of 15.9% of the show being allocated to Miscellaneous segments.

The three segments featuring The Miz as host took up a total time of 4m 00s. It is probably safe to assume that a Miz match on the show actually would have taken up more time than that, so perhaps the Miz-haters out there should actually rejoice the next time Miz is called upon for PPV hosting duties. If these 4 minutes of Miz hosting time were instead allocated to match time, the Miscellaneous percentage would have dropped to 10.9%, which is much more in-line with the less prestigious PPV events.

The opening bell for the initial match on the card didn't ring until 12m 44s into the show. For comparison's sake, here is how long it took for each of the previous 2013 WWE PPV events to get to the opening bell of the first match, including last year's SummerSlam 2012 event:

• 12m 44s: SummerSlam 2013
• 11m 16s: Royal Rumble 2013
• 10m 00s: WrestleMania 29
• 9m 29s: Elimination Chamber 2013
• 8m 42s: Extreme Rules
• 8m 13s: Money In The Bank 2013
• 7m 57s: SummerSlam 2012
• 6m 54s: Payback 2013

The average match time at SummerSlam 2013 was 11m 25s. If you remove the outlier of Bryan vs Orton from the mix, the remaining seven matches had an average match time of 13m 02s, which was only eclipsed by the two main events.

Here is the sorted list of match times for SummerSlam 2013:

• 26m 55s: Cena vs Bryan
• 25m 17s: Lesnar vs Punk
• 12m 30s: Del Rio vs Christian
• 7m 49s: Kane vs Wyatt
• 6m 45s: Ziggler and Kaitlyn vs AJ and Langston
• 6m 40s: Sandow vs Rhodes
• 5m 19s: Natalya vs Brie Bella
• 0m 08s: Bryan vs Orton

This was pretty clearly a two-match card. At least half of the matches on the card went under eight minutes. Twelve total WWE PPV matches have clocked in at under eight minutes so far in 2013, and five of those twelve matches came from this show (including Orton vs Bryan). Dolph Ziggler has wrestled in three of these twelve short PPV matches.

And while Del Rio versus Christian received a lot of time relative to most matches on the show, that match still didn't go as long as their 15+ minute match on Smackdown from a couple of weeks ago.

I have not verified this myself, but Wikipedia has a listed time of 13m 38s for the pre-show match of Ambrose vs Rob Van Dam. Will we ever see another WWE PPV where the pre-show match is actually the third longest match of the night?

The time for the Bryan versus Orton match requires additional explanation. According to my clock, the opening bell and closing bell were eight seconds apart. However, there was about a one second delay between the time HHH's hand hit the mat for the three count and the time the closing bell actually rang. This happens often and so I don't usually make mention of it here. But considering that this match was so short, it seems like an important detail to keep in mind.

Overall, SummerSlam 2013 was a show that heavily emphasized its two main events without including much substance on the under card. In fact each main event match lasted longer than every single match at WrestleMania 29. The entire success or failure of this event from a fan's perspective probably hinges almost entirely on the entertainment value of those two big main event matches.

Final Results for SummerSlam 2013

Matches - 53.1% - 1h 31m 23s

Pre-match - 20.7% - 34m 52s

Post-match - 13.0% - 22m 24s

Miscellaneous - 13.2% - 23m 35s