Catch all the highlights from SummerSlam 2023 with Roman Reigns taking on Jey Uso in Tribal Combat for the Undisputed WWE Universal Title
There were twists, turns and two very rapid title changes when World Wrestling Entertainment's SummerSlam brought the heat to Ford Field on Saturday night.
An announced crowd of 59,194 lit up the downtown stadium for WWE's second biggest event of the year. It was the first time WWE hosted an event at Ford Field since WrestleMania 23 in 2007, and SummerSlam's first time in the Motor City since 1993, when it was held at the Palace of Auburn Hills.
The summertime spectacular featured a mix of high flying acrobatics, athletic showmanship and good old fashioned storytelling.
Here are the top moments from the stadium supershow.
LA Knight's ascent
At 40, LA Knight is the WWE's oldest rookie. But after making his debut on WWE's "Smackdown" brand less than a year ago, he has exploded in popularity over the last few months, and he experienced his biggest in-ring moment to date when he had the entire crowd behind him as he participated in — and won — Saturday's SummerSlam Battle Royal. (His "Yeah!" catchphrase could be heard throughout the building and in the stadium concourse before, during and after his win, hard evidence of his enormous popularity with fans.) Nothing was actually on the line in the match, but you wouldn't know it from the crowd reaction, which treated LA Knight's win like a major moment. And for LA Knight, perhaps it was: it's his stepping stone to something bigger, and his victory was a proof-is-in-the-pudding moment for his rapidly rising star. "I'm just getting started," he told members of the media during the post-event press conference. Yeah!
Logan Paul's antics
The social media superstar opened the evening's card with a match against Ricochet, whose in-ring acrobatics make him a perfect opponent for the showy Paul. But Paul, who's only been wrestling for a little over two years, is such a naturally gifted athlete and love-to-hate-him WWE presence that he makes everything he's tasked with, whether it's a crazy top rope maneuver or riling up a crowd, look easy. His victory over Ricochet, after Paul clobbered his opponent with an illegal pair of brass knuckles the ref just happened to not see, was another step on his upward trajectory. A few hours later he was by his younger brother Jake Paul's side during his boxing match in Dallas while fans were just starting to file out of Ford Field, just one more reason to love to hate the guy.
Cody Rhodes' story
Cody Rhodes is the future of the WWE. He's also its present and he's deeply connected to its past — his father is pro wrestling legend Dusty Rhodes — which makes him quite a man of the moment. His match against Brock Lesnar on Saturday was pure, old-school storytelling, with the Beast taking it to Rhodes with a series of bludgeoning assaults, and Rhodes refusing to say die. Lesnar would toss Rhodes out of the ring, and Rhodes would crawl back for more, again and again, eventually gaining the win over his opponent. It was superhero mythmaking straight out of the Marvel playbook and the crowd ate it up, and Lesnar is the perfect opponent to raise Rhodes to the next level. Rhodes has a bigger story to tell in the ring — he's chasing after the WWE championship belt his father never won — and beating Lesnar makes him a stronger character and makes that journey mean even more. After the match, Lesnar shook Rhodes' hand and raised his arm in victory, a humbling show of respect from Lesnar, who is not often one to be humbled. For Rhodes, it was earned.
A title change two-fer
After the energy of the crowd went sideways during the Ronda Rousey-Shayna Baszler bout, which saw fans hitting the bathrooms in droves and "this is boring" chants erupted throughout the stadium, the event needed something to bring it back up to speed. It wasn't the Gunther-Drew McIntyre match, which was hard-hitting but lacked heat, and it wasn't the Seth Rollins-Finn Bálor match, which didn't pick up until late. But the close of the three-way Women's Championship match between Asuka, Bianca Belair and Charlotte Flair featured several curveballs, as Belair hobbled back to the ring after screwing up her leg, pinning Asuka and winning the championship belt. Then she lost it about two minutes later to Io Sky, who cashed in her anywhere, anytime title shot opportunity afforded to her by her Money in the Bank win and pinned Belair to become the even newer WWE Women's Champion. The wild turn of events was what the night needed after the dip from the evening's early highs.
Roman continues his reign
In the main event, WWE's Tribal Chief, Roman Reigns, retained his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship with a win over his cousin, Jey Uso, after interference from Jey's twin brother Jimmy, who returned after an absence and turned on his brother, sidelining him with a kick to the face. Sound like an over-the-top soap opera? Well that's exactly what it is, and it's why fans love it so much. The "Days of Our Lives"-like Bloodline storyline, as it's known, has been rolling for three years and is still rolling out new twists and turns, and Saturday's was just the latest chapter in the ongoing saga. What makes it such good theater is Reigns, who moves slowly and deliberately; even his ring introduction is pure drama. And Reigns is so methodical in his choices, both physically and mentally, that he comes across a step above everyone else in the company. WWE is all about pomp and circumstance, and Reigns is its champ in more ways than one. On with the show.
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