WWE SUMMERSLAM 2023
AUGUST 5, 2023
FORD FIELD
DETROIT, MICHIGAN

Watch: Peacock

MEET YOUR PREVIEWER:

Suit Williams: Your intrepid WWE Correspondent is checking in for the biggest party of the summer. What does intrepid actually mean? I use it in these intros when I don’t have any other pithy thoughts to start the preview, and I think I’m using it correctly. But I’m not sure. Let’s find out.

The definition of intrepid, courtesy of Oxford: fearless; adventurous (often used for rhetorical or humorous effect)

As I expected, I used it 100% correctly. If you want to be an intrepid traveler, wade your way through the dump that is modern-day Twitter and follow me @SuitWilliams before I hit my breakpoint and nuke the thing.

GEEK SLIM JIM SPONSORED BATTLE ROYAL

It’s a geek battle royal. The last one of these I remember was on Survivor Series 2021, where I decided to give a play-by-play on the Sunday Night Football game that was on at the time. Unfortunately, there will not be any football on Saturday, not even the goofy spring leagues. What else is there to say? LA Knight is bafflingly over, even to someone who likes him like I do. He should win this. So, I’ll be smart and pick someone else. I dunno, what’s The Miz doing? Prediction: The Miz

MMA RULES MATCH
SHAYNA BASZLER VS. RONDA ROUSEY

According to reports, with first credit to Dave Meltzer, Ronda Rousey will finish her second run here. She’ll be doing it against long-time friend and former partner Shayna Baszler.

It’s hard to describe this run of Rousey’s as anything more than an abject failure. At one point, Ronda Rousey was one of the most famous women on the planet. When she signed with WWE back in 2018, Ronda Rousey still had some shine from her dominant run in the UFC. WWE used her name to build to an all-women’s PPV, Evolution, and had her in the main event of WrestleMania against Becky Lynch…and Charlotte Flair. (Note: They never did Rousey vs. Lynch one-on-one.) What was more important was the energy that surrounded her matches. I was live at Wrestlemania 34 for her debut match, a mixed tag match where she teamed with Kurt Angle against Triple H & Stephanie McMahon. The energy in the Superdome for this basic-ass tag match was unreal. Ronda Rousey felt like every bit the big star she was advertised to be.

That energy, which had just about petered out when she left after Wrestlemania 35, was non-existent when she came back to win the 2022 Royal Rumble. Ronda Rousey was just another woman on the roster, just one that came out with licensed music. The energy that made her first run so interesting also covered up some of her flaws as a worker, and the three-year sabbatical didn’t exactly help matters there. Ronda Rousey wasn’t a star anymore. She wasn’t a big deal anymore. She was just a below-average wrestler with waning star power.

Rousey put up a stinker against Charlotte Flair at Wrestlemania 38, a match that looked even worse compared to the women’s title match the following night between Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair. Ronda would go on to have a feud with Liv Morgan in an attempt to get Morgan over as an underdog. Instead, Morgan looked like a geek that fluked her way to the title, Rousey looked like an idiot that couldn’t put her away, and they both came away looking worse for wear. Rousey would go on to randomly lose the Smackdown Women’s Title to Charlotte on the last Smackdown of 2022, then shifted over to teaming with Baszler. After a run that was abbreviated due to injury, they split out of nowhere at Money In The Bank, leading us here.

While I think a match of this type should only be held in the Lion’s Den, it will be MMA Rules instead. While a cursory glance at their MMA records would have Rousey as the heavy favorite, the fact that this isn’t a shoot says that Rousey will pass her long-burned-out torch to Baszler. Prediction: Shayna Baszler

RICOCHET VS. LOGAN PAUL

Logan Paul and Ricochet have used their athleticism to make a few awesome moments in multi-man matches this year. There was the Royal Rumble, where they hit a springboard crossbody on each other in mid-air.

Then there was Money In The Bank, where Ricochet hit Paul with a dangerous-looking Spanish Fly through two tables.

That spot was the impetus for this match, wherein a bit of kayfabe breaking, Paul called Ricochet sloppy and unprofessional. My ultimate hope for this match is that Ricochet showed Paul his infamous match with Will Ospreay, and they just do that match spot for spot. I tell you what, that would be awesome. I think Logan Paul could hit an Oscutter. Prediction: Logan Paul

WWE INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH
GUNTHER (W/GIOVANNI VINCI & LUDWIG KAISER) (C) VS. DREW MCINTYRE

After a months-long sabbatical where his contract status was in question, Drew McIntyre returned at Money In The Bank and laid out Gunther, making his claim for the Intercontinental Title. I don’t have much else to add, this match should kick ass. Gunther’s reign is the second-longest of all time, recently passing “Macho Man” Randy Savage’s reign in 1986. By Saturday, he will be five weeks away from breaking the Honky Tonk Man’s record for longest reign with the title, a record that has stood since 1988.

The intrigue here will be if WWE decides to break the record with Gunther, or have McIntyre take that from him. There have been reports of WWE wanting to “update” their record books, with the long title reigns of Roman Reigns and Bianca Belair being examples. Gunther’s reign has been awesome, and having it break the record would be a nice accolade for Gunther. But there’s something really funny about no one being able to break the record, and the Honky Tonk Man forever being in the record books. I have no rooting interest either way, I just want these two to beat the hell out of each other. Prediction: GUNTHER

WWE WOMEN’S TITLE TRIPLE THREAT MATCH
ASUKA (C) VS. CHARLOTTE FLAIR VS. BIANCA BELAIR

I saved this match for last because I don’t have much to say about this match. Charlotte has shoe-horned herself into this feud, as Belair can’t seem to get a clean rematch against Asuka for the title. Iyo Sky and Bayley have been around as well, as Sky has the Money In The Bank briefcase too. I don’t have any feel for this one, so I’ll just go chalk and pick Charlotte. She is inevitable. Prediction: Charlotte Flair

BROCK LESNAR VS. CODY RHODES

Cody Rhodes says that he’s going to end this here. I still don’t know why this started. Brock has never said. What is Cody going to do after this? Prediction: Cody Rhodes

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE MATCH
SETH ROLLINS (C) VS. FINN BALOR

This is a rematch from Money in The Bank, where Rollins beat Balor after Damian Priest distracted Balor with the Money In The Bank briefcase he had just won. The story since then has revolved around the dissension in the Judgment Day. I’m not expecting a blow-away match here, as these two had a match last month that was just fine. With Summerslam being the show where the history between these two started back in 2016, I think Balor will beat Rollins here. Then, Priest will cash in on him and officially kick Balor out of the group to kick off the program for the fall. Prediction: Finn Balor; Damien Priest cashes in afterward

TRIBAL COMBAT MATCH: THE WINNER IS TRIBAL CHIEF AND UNIVERSAL CHAMPION
ROMAN REIGNS (W/PAUL HEYMAN & SOLO SIKOA) (C) VS. JEY USO

I’ll say this. Since Sami Zayn joined the Bloodline last year, this storyline has been booked pretty well, with one notable exception. Everyone involved has gotten over and WWE has gotten hot in the ratings as a result of this storyline. Reigns had two red-hot challengers on the road to Wrestlemania, then came out of Wrestlemania fully entrenched in the breakup of the Bloodline. He teamed with Solo Sikoa in order to win the tag team titles that the Usos lost at Wrestlemania. That led to the Bloodline Civil War at Money In The Bank where, for the first time in over three years, Roman Reigns got pinned by Main Event Jey Uso.

And that brings us here. The Tribal Combat match. Anything goes, and the winner becomes acknowledged as the Head of the Table. That’s a good storyline. The way it’s performed is annoying, but it makes sense and it’s gotten over to a massive degree. But that brings me back to my notable exception.

Why is Roman Reigns still the Universal Champion? You could argue that Reigns should have lost the title twice, both to Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes, while still getting to this point. The story since Mania would have played the same way. Roman would have had the same amount of Universal Title defenses since Wrestlemania – zero. And the benefits to Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes would buoy any losses from Reigns not having the title anymore. While this storyline has been red-hot, the Universal Title itself feels like a background ornament. If Rhodes vs. Lesnar was the Universal Title feud, it wouldn’t. Maybe the company has TWO red-hot storylines going into their biggest show of the summer.

Anyway, Roman will win. People have talked themselves into Jey Uso as an actual top guy, which is adorable. But Roman will win because the story never ends. God forbid it does, then they’ll have to come up with a different story. Prediction: Roman Reigns

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