WWE SummerSlam 2023

WWE SummerSlam 2023, one of the big 4 events from WWE, took take place on August 5, 2023, at Ford Field in Detroit, MI.

Seth Rollins defended World Heavyweight Championship against Finn Balor. Cody Rhodes vs Brock Lesnar also clashed in their trilogy bout at the show. Roman Reigns and Jey Uso clashed in Tribal Combat match for Universal Championship.

EVENT NOTES

• This is the 36th event in the Summerslam series.
• This is the second time that the Summerslam event took place in the state of Michigan. Earlier in 1993, the event took place in Auburn Hills, MI.
• The event was first reported to take place in Detroit via The Detroit News on February 7.
• The official attendance figure was announced as 59,124.

MATCH CARD

• Ricochet vs Logan Paul (Live Blog)
  • Winner: Logan Paul
• Cody Rhodes vs Brock Lesnar (Live Blog)
  • Winner: Cody Rhodes
• SummerSlam Battle Royal (LA Knight, Tommaso Ciampa, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sheamus, Grayson Waller, Matt Riddle, Chad Gable, Karrion Kross, The Miz, Santos Escobar, Ridge Holland, AJ Styles, Butch, Luke Gallows, JD McDonnagh, Apollo Crews, Omos, Giovanni Vinci, Ludwig Kaiser, Rick Boogs, Otis) (Live Blog)
  • Winner: LA Knight
• Ronda Rousey vs Shayna Baszler – MMA Rules match (Live Blog)
  • Winner: Shayna Baszler
• Gunther(c) vs Drew McIntyre – WWE Intercontinental Championship (Live Blog)
  • Winner: Gunther
• Seth Rollins(c) vs Finn Balor – World Heavyweight Championship (Live Blog)
  • Winner: Seth Rollins
• Asuka(c) vs Bianca Belair vs Charlotte Flair – WWE Women’s Championship (Live Blog)
  • Winner: Bianca Belair
• Bianca Belair(c) vs Iyo Sky
  • Winner: Iyo Sky
• Roman Reigns(c) vs Jey Uso – Tribal Combat for Undisputed WWE Universal Championship (Live Blog)
  • Winner: Roman Reigns

STORYLINES

Seth Rollins(c) vs Finn Balor – World Heavyweight Championship

Seth Rollins defeated Finn Balor in the semifinal of World Heavyweight Championship tournament. He defeated AJ Styles at Night of Champions 2023 event to become the inaugural World Heavyweight Champion. Finn Balor attacked him and challenged him for the title citing their history from SummerSlam 2016. Balor defeated Rollins at SummerSlam 2016 to become the inaugural Universal Champion, but suffered an injury during the match which forced him to relinquish the title in 24 hours.

Rollins defeated Balor at Money in the Bank 2023 event to retain the title. The finish came after Mr. Money in the Bank Damian Priest came out to tease a cash-in against Rollins. Balor got distracted with this and Rollins capitalized to get the finish. But, Balor did not stop pursuing the title. On July 17 episode of RAW, Balor interrupted Rollins’ interview and challenged Rollins for a match at SummerSlam. When Rollins hesitated, Balor attacked him with a chair. WWE later officially announced the match for SummerSlam 2023.

Cody Rhodes vs Brock Lesnar

The rivalry between Cody and Brock started at RAW April 3, 2023 episode with Brock attacking Cody after teasing to be his tag team partner. This led to a match between them at Backlash 2023 where Cody countered Kimura lock into a pinfall to get the win. Brock attacked Cody during his match on RAW May 8 episode. Their rematch was set for Night of Champions. Brock injured Cody’s arm but Cody still took on him at Night of Champions where Brock used Kimura lock on the injured arm to put him to sleep to get the win.

Cody then put out an open challenge for Brock for a rubber match between them. Brock returned to RAW on July 3 episode where Cody caught him by surprise with Cody Cutter. Cody then challenged for a match at SummerSlam. Brock and Cody engaged in a brawl on RAW July 17 episode. Brock once again used Kimura lock on Cody and accepted his challenge. WWE made the match official later in the show.

Asuka(c) vs Bianca Belair vs Charlotte Flair – WWE Women’s Championship

Asuka beat Bianca Belair at Night of Champions event using blue mist to win RAW Women’s Championship. Bianca was looking for a rematch, but Charlotte Flair stepped over her to get a title shot on June 30 episode of SmackDown. Asuka retained the title after Bianca caused a DQ. Bianca got her title shot on July 14 SmackDown episode, which also ended in a DQ due to Flair’s interference. A triple threat match was then announced between them for SummerSlam.

Roman Reigns(c) vs Jey Uso – Tribal Combat for Undisputed WWE Universal Champion

Bloodline infighting really came to the fore at Night of Champions when the Usos accidentally hit Solo Sikoa with a superkick while Roman and Solo were challenging for tag team titles. As Roman berated Jey for this mistake, Jimmy had enough and hit Roman with a superkick. This led to Roman and Solo losing to Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. Jimmy was expelled from the Bloodline after he refused to bow down to Roman and wanted everyone to be on same level in heirarchy. Jey also sided with Jimmy when asked to choose between his brother or Bloodline. A Civil War tag team match took place at Money in the Bank where The Usos won while Jey became the first person to pin Roman in 3 and a half years.

The Usos ordered the Trial of the Tribal Chief in the Tribal Court on SmackDown July 7 episode. Roman tricked them into an attack by teasing to leave the post of The Tribal Chief. The brutal attack from Roman and Solo sent Jimmy to the hospital. Jey returned later on the show to attack them back and forced them to retreat. He also asked for a Trial by Combat. Roman and Jey met in the ring on SmackDown July 21 episode to discuss the rules of engagement where Jey revealed that it would be a Tribal Combat match. Since it was approved by the “elders” of the Bloodline, Roman did not argue over it. Roman and Jey did a Tribal Handshake to confirm the match. Solo tried to attack Jey after this, but Roman stopped him.

Gunther(c) vs Drew McIntyre – WWE Intercontinental Championship

Gunther retained Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 39 against Drew McIntyre and Sheamus in a triple-threat match. McIntyre returned straight at Money in the Bank after this and attacked Gunther. On July 10 RAW episode, he teamed up with Matt Riddle to beat Imperium’s Ludwig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci. Gunther called him out on RAW July 17 episode. McIntyre and Gunther met face-to-face in the ring to agree to a match at SummerSlam. McIntyre also defeated Kaiser in a singles match at the same episode.

Logan Paul vs Ricochet

Logan Paul and Ricochet created some iconic moments in Royal Rumble and men’s Money in the Bank ladder matches. Paul accused Ricochet of focusing on targeting him instead of winning the MITB match. Ricochet then called him out for a match. Paul came to RAW July 10 episode, but refused to face Ricochet in a match, accusing him to attempting to become viral online at his expense. Ricochet avoided his attack and hit him back. Paul returned on RAW July 24 episode to attack Ricochet out of nowhere. He accepted Ricochet’s challenge for SummerSlam and tried to get a selfie. Ricochet then hit him back with a dropkick and a shooting star press.

Ronda Rousey vs Shayna Baszler

Ronda and Shayna were WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions and defended them against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez at Money in the Bank 2023. Shayna turned on Ronda and left her all alone in the match, leading to them losing the titles. Shayna and Ronda brawled for the next two weeks on RAW before Ronda said she would ask WWE to book a match at SummerSlam. Shayna replied that she wanted a fight. WWE made the bout official after this.