The 2021 SummerSlam was the thirty-fourth annual SummerSlam professional writhe consequence produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the forwarding ‘s Raw and SmackDown sword divisions. The event aired on pay-per-view ( PPV ) cosmopolitan and was available to stream through Peacock in the United States and the WWE Network elsewhere, which made it the beginning SummerSlam to air on Peacock. It took place on August 21, 2021, at Allegiant Stadium in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada. It was the foremost SummerSlam to take place on a Saturday deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as the beginning SummerSlam to take place in a stadium since the 1992 consequence, and in the lapp city since WrestleMania IX, although it was the first SummerSlam air out live on a Saturday. It was besides WWE ‘s beginning event to tune in theaters in the United States in addition to the other circulate outlets. Due to April ‘s WrestleMania 37 having to be held at a reduce capacity because of the COVID-19 pandemic, SummerSlam was promoted as WWE ‘s “ biggest event of 2021 ”, and became the highest-grossing SummerSlam event of all clock. [ 2 ] eleven matches were contested at the event, including one couple on the Kickoff pre-show. In the chief event, Roman Reigns defeated John Cena to retain the Universal Championship. In early outstanding matches, Bobby Lashley defeated Goldberg to retain the WWE Championship, Edge defeated Seth Rollins, Charlotte Flair defeated defending supporter Nikki A.S.H. and Rhea Ripley in a triple threat equal to win her criminal record sixth Raw Women ‘s Championship, Damian Priest defeated Sheamus to win the United States Championship, and in the open bout, RK-Bro ( Randy Orton and Riddle ) defeated AJ Styles and Omos to win the Raw Tag Team Championship. The event was besides luminary for the returns of both Becky Lynch, who defeated Bianca Belair in an ad-lib match to win the SmackDown Women ‘s Championship, and Brock Lesnar, both of whom had last wrestled at WrestleMania 36 in April 2020 .
product [edit ]
setting [edit ]
SummerSlam is an annual pay-per-view ( PPV ) and WWE Network event, produced every August by WWE since 1988. Dubbed “ The Biggest Party of the Summer, ” [ 3 ] it is one of the promotion ‘s master four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the “ boastfully Four ”. [ 4 ] It has since become considered WWE ‘s moment biggest event of the year behind WrestleMania. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] The 2021 event was the 34th event in the SummerSlam chronology and featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brands. [ 7 ] WWE attempted for SummerSlam 2021 to be more grandiose than April ‘s WrestleMania 37 event, by and large because the latter had to be held at a boil down venue capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic, [ 8 ] with the party going american samoa far as to promote SummerSlam as their “ biggest event of 2021 ”. [ 9 ]
Reading: SummerSlam (2021)
On May 28, 2021, WWE announced that SummerSlam would take station live on Saturday, August 21, marking the first SummerSlam to be held on a Saturday since the 1992 event ( which was pre-taped on a Saturday and aired on videotape delay on a Monday ), american samoa well as the first SummerSlam to not be held on a Sunday since the 1994 consequence, which took place on a Monday. [ 10 ] During the 2021 Belmont Stakes ‘ pre-race show on June 5, the Allegiant Stadium in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada was confirmed as the host venue for SummerSlam. [ 11 ] While WWE typically hosts PPVs on a Sunday night, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that it was the Allegiant Stadium that wanted SummerSlam held on a Saturday. [ 12 ] This marked the second SummerSlam to be held in a football stadium, with the foremost being the 1992 consequence at Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London, England, but the first base to be held in a National Football League stadium in the United States. [ 13 ] Travel packages became available on June 11 while individual tickets went on sale on June 18. [ 14 ] In summation to traditional PPV and the WWE Network in other countries, it was the inaugural SummerSlam to air on Peacock in the United States after the american version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in March. [ 15 ] SummerSlam besides aired in movie theaters across the United States, frankincense marking WWE ‘s first pay-per-view event to air in theaters in the nation. [ 16 ] As separate of SummerSlam Week, WWE held a multi-day trial in the Las Vegas area to sign new wrestlers to developmental contracts. [ 17 ] Additionally, following John Cena ‘s rejoinder to WWE at the previous PPV, Money in the Bank, the company began a tour titled the “ Summer of Cena. ” The tour had Cena appearing on Raw, SmackDown, and at WWE Live events in the weeks leading up to and including SummerSlam. [ 18 ] WWE besides partnered with TikTok to host a contest to select one guest ring announcer for SummerSlam. [ 19 ] Music producer and disk jockey Valentino Khan opened the event with a musical performance. [ 9 ] Following the event, actress, comedian, and writer Tiffany Haddish hosted the official SummerSlam afterparty ; additionally, WWE made a contribution in support of her foster care charity, the She ready Foundation. [ 20 ] SummerSlam was held on the same night as the Manny Pacquiao vs. Yordenis Ugás boxing match, which took place at the nearby T-Mobile Arena. [ 21 ] [ 22 ] WWE planned for SummerSlam to end before the menu ‘s independent event, so that those attending in-person would have adequate time to travel from Allegiant Stadium to T-Mobile Arena in time for the battle, and to avoid counterprogramming for PPV watchers who ordered both shows. [ 23 ] SummerSlam ended just as Pacquiao made his entrance. [ 24 ]
With COVID-19 cases declining ascribable to vaccinations in the United States and most establishments lifting pandemic protocols, WWE resumed bouncy tour in mid-july, running shows at full moon venue capacity. [ 25 ] shortly after, however, COVID-19 cases began rising again due to the emergence of the Delta random variable of the virus. On August 4, the Allegiant Stadium and Ticketmaster released official statements that all attendees of SummerSlam, regardless of vaccination condition, would be required to wear masks during the event. [ 26 ] [ 27 ]
Storylines [edit ]
The event comprised eleven matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. The matches resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in script events that built tension and culminated in a wrestle equal or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE ‘s writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, [ 28 ] [ 29 ] while storylines were produced on WWE ‘s weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown. [ 30 ] Following Roman Reigns ‘ successful defense mechanism of the Universal Championship at Money in the Bank, he declared that everyone could now acknowledge him. John Cena then made a surprise fall to WWE, marking his first appearance with the company since WrestleMania 36 in April 2020, where he had a brief stare down with Reigns before performing his signature “ You Ca n’t See Me ” tease at Reigns. [ 31 ] rather of waiting until SmackDown, Cena appeared on Raw the following night to explain himself, declaring that he wanted to put Reigns in his station. He then formally challenged Reigns for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam. [ 32 ] On SmackDown, Cena appeared to confront Reigns, however, Reigns rejected the challenge and alternatively accepted a challenge from Finn Bálor, who himself had returned to SmackDown the previous week. [ 33 ] During the compress signing the pursue week, Reigns signed the abridge first, however, as Bálor attempted his signature, he was attacked by Baron Corbin, who rather tried to sign it. Cena then came out, assail Corbin, and signed the abridge himself, thus booking Reigns to defend the Universal Championship against Cena at SummerSlam. [ 34 ] After getting into a heat promo on the SmackDown the nox before SummerSlam, Reigns said he would leave WWE if he could not defeat Cena. [ 35 ] At Money in the Bank, Nikki A.S.H. won the women ‘s Money in the Bank ladder match, earning a narrow for a women ‘s backing match of her option at anytime of her choose, while late that night, Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley to win the Raw Women ‘s Championship. [ 31 ] The watch night on Raw, Flair defended the title against Ripley in a replay ; however, Flair was disqualified after striking Ripley with the title belt, therefore Ripley won the match but not the backing. Ripley and Flair then brawled and Ripley performed the Riptide on Flair at ringside. Nikki then ran out and cashed in her money in the Bank condense on Flair to win the Raw Women ‘s Championship. [ 32 ] The follow workweek, Flair and Ripley staked their claims to challenge Nikki for the title at SummerSlam. WWE officials Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville resolved the matter by scheduling Nikki to defend the championship against Flair and Ripley in a trio menace match at the event. [ 36 ] Following his dominant victory at Money in the Bank, [ 31 ] Bobby Lashley ( accompanied by MVP ) held an open challenge for the WWE Championship on the following night ‘s episode of Raw. The challenge was accepted by a returning Keith Lee, who had been passive due to health issues since February. After Lashley defeated Lee, Lashley and MVP were confronted by WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg, appearing for the foremost time since the Royal Rumble in January. Goldberg proclaimed that he would be Lashley ‘s next rival for the title. [ 32 ] The surveil workweek, however, Lashley rejected Goldberg ‘s challenge. [ 36 ] On the August 2 episode, Goldberg appeared and confronted the champion face-to-face, stating that he would defeat Lashley for the title. The peer was subsequently confirmed for SummerSlam. [ 37 ] After Edge was granted a Universal Championship pit at Money in the Bank, Seth Rollins took issue with this decisiveness, feeling that he deserved the opportunity. At the event, Rollins monetary value Edge the championship and following the match, the two brawled into the crowd. [ 31 ] On the keep up episode of SmackDown, Edge called out Rollins and stated that their issues date rear to December 2014 when Rollins had attempted to injure Edge ‘s surgically repaired neck and definitively put an end to his career. Rollins then came out and claimed he despised older wrestlers like Edge and John Cena for coming bet on and taking opportunities from the stream wrestlers who earned them. A brawl then ensued. [ 33 ] The following week, Rollins attacked Edge during his entrance and declared that if he can not be Universal Champion, then neither can Edge. [ 34 ] On the August 6 episode, Edge challenged Rollins to a match at SummerSlam which Rollins accepted. [ 38 ] On the July 5 episode of Raw, Drew McIntyre faced and defeated his old 3MB stablemate Jinder Mahal ( accompanied by Shanky and Veer ) after Mahal felt that McIntyre had cost him an opportunity to compete in the men ‘s money in the Bank ladder match. Following the couple, Mahal, Shanky, and Veer attacked McIntyre and steal McIntyre ‘s family sword that he uses for his entrance theatrics. [ 39 ] The following week, Mahal, Shanky, and Veer dismantled the sword alone for McIntyre to reveal that it was a replica. McIntyre then proceeded to dismantle Mahal ‘s motorbike. [ 40 ] At Money in the Bank, Mahal, Shanky, and Veer cost McIntyre the men ‘s money in the Bank ladder peer. [ 31 ] On the come nox ‘s episode of Raw, Mahal, Shanky, and Veer gloated about costing McIntyre the match only for McIntyre to attack all three with a steel chair. [ 32 ] McIntyre would then defeat Shanky and Veer in matches over the following match of weeks. [ 36 ] [ 37 ] On August 13, a match between McIntyre and Mahal was scheduled for SummerSlam. [ 41 ] On the August 16 episode of Raw, McIntyre defeated Shanky and Veer in a hindrance catch, therefore banning the two from ringside at SummerSlam. [ 42 ] On Night 1 of WrestleMania 37, Bianca Belair defeated Sasha Banks to win the SmackDown Women ‘s Championship. [ 43 ] On the July 30 episode of SmackDown, both Carmella and Zelina Vega staked their claims to challenge Belair for the title. The two then attacked Belair, who was saved by Banks, making her beginning appearance since the SmackDown after WrestleMania. Banks and Belair then teamed up and defeated Carmella and Vega in a tag team match. Following the match, however, Banks ambushed Belair from behind, thereby turning heel in the action. [ 34 ] The subsequent workweek, Banks challenged Belair to a match for the title at SummerSlam, which Belair accepted. [ 38 ]
event [edit ]
During the SummerSlam Kickoff pre-show, Big E faced Baron Corbin. In the end, as Corbin tried to leave the match with Big E ‘s Money in the Bank briefcase, Big E tackled Corbin into the barricade. Big E performed the Big Ending on Corbin to win the pit and regain self-control of his money in the Bank contract. [ 44 ]
preliminary matches [edit ]
The actual pay-per-view opened with AJ Styles and Omos defending the Raw Tag Team Championship against RK-Bro ( Randy Orton and Riddle ). In the end, Orton performed the RKO on Styles to win the title, and give Omos his foremost loss in WWE. [ 1 ] following, Alexa Bliss took on Eva Marie ( accompanied by Doudrop ). Before the match began, Bliss placed Lilly ( a chilling looking dame which is function of Bliss ‘ device ) atop a turnbuckle. Marie taunted Bliss by taking the dame and slapping it which enraged Bliss. As Bliss attempted Twisted Bliss on Marie, Marie moved out of the way. In the end, Bliss performed a DDT on Marie to win the catch. Following the match, Doudrop announced Marie as the failure of the match and proceeded to wear Marie ‘s vest. [ 1 ] After that, Sheamus defended the United States Championship against Damian Priest. In the close moments of the match, as Sheamus applied a Leg Lock on Priest, Priest grabbed and removed Sheamus ‘ protective face dissemble ( as Sheamus had broken his nose a few weeks prior ). As Sheamus attempted a Brogue Kick, Priest performed a Spinning Kick and the Reckoning on Sheamus to win the title. [ 1 ] In the fourth match, The Usos ( Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso ) defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio. In the end, after an evenly competitive match, The Usos performed a Double Superkick on Rey and Jimmy performed a Superfly Splash on Rey to retain the entitle. [ 1 ]
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Following this, a brief segment then occurred with Rick Boogs playing the entrance theme of Intercontinental Champion King Nakamura to the band. Nakamura finally made his entrance aboard Boogs, where they danced aboard SmackDown observer Pat McAfee. [ 1 ] following, Bianca Belair was scheduled to defend the SmackDown Women ‘s Championship against Sasha Banks. however, it was announced that Banks was not cleared to compete and would be replaced by Carmella. Before the match began, Becky Lynch ( in her first appearance since the Raw after Money in the Bank in May 2020 ) returned from her motherhood leave and attacked Carmella. Lynch then challenged Belair for the title, which Belair accepted. As Lynch offered a handshake to which Belair accepted, Lynch struck Belair with a forearm and performed the Manhandle Slam to win the title in 26 seconds. [ 1 ] Following this, a abbreviated section then occurred where U.S. Olympic Gold Medalists ( in wrestle ), Tamyra Mensah-Stock and Gable Steveson, came out where the crowd acknowledged them by cheering. [ 1 ] In the one-sixth match, Drew McIntyre took on Jinder Mahal in which Mahal ‘s teammates Shanky and Veer were banned from ringside. In the end, McIntyre performed the Future Shock DDT and the Claymore Kick on Mahal to win the match. Afterwards, Veer and Shanky came out to check on Mahal and McIntyre chased all three of them off with his sword. [ 1 ] adjacent, Nikki A.S.H. defended the Raw Women ’ s Championship in a triple threat match against Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair. At the beginning, Flair shoved Nikki. Both Nikki and Flair countered the Riptide from Ripley. Nikki performed a Crossbody off the top lasso onto Ripley and Flair who were outside the hoop. Flair countered a bivalent Suplex into a double DDT on Ripley and Nikki. Flair then performed a Moonsault on Ripley and Nikki off the top rope. As Flair applied the Figure Eight on Ripley, Nikki performed a Splash to avoid the submission. In the end, after moving come out of the closet of the means of a Splash from Nikki, Flair forced Nikki to submit to the Figure Eight to win her record one-sixth Raw Women ‘s Championship, making her 14th overall singles title in WWE, and her fifteenth claim overall, although WWE has promoted it as her 12th singles style, not counting her two NXT Women ‘s Championship reign. [ 1 ] In the one-eighth pit, Edge took on Seth Rollins. Edge reenacted The Brood ‘s capture ( a group Edge was once a member of earlier in his WWE career in 1998-1999 ) before coming to the band to his unconstipated entrance. Rollins began to target the surgically animate neck of Edge by slamming it into the steel steps. Rollins performed a Frog Splash on Edge for a nearfall. Edge performed a Swinging Neckbreaker from the acme rope on Rollins. As Edge went back to the top rope, Rollins performed a Superplex and a Falcon Arrow on Edge for a nearfall. Edge countered The Stomp and a Pedigree from Rollins and performed a Glam Slam for a nearfall. As Rollins went for The Stomp on the apron, Edge countered and performed a Spear on Rollins sending both of them out of the ring. Rollins countered a spear attack by Edge into a Pedigree for another nearfall. Edge performed a Corkscrew Moonsault and a Spear on Rollins for a nearfall. In the end, Edge countered The Stomp again and locked in an Edgecator and a Crossface. Edge rammed Rollins ‘ mind into the ring mat respective times and locked in a Bulldog Choke, submitting Rollins to win the match. [ 1 ] After that, John Morrison and The Miz came to the ring to reveal their surprise, the Drip Stick 2000. The New Day ‘s Xavier Woods came out with the device and sprayed Miz and Morrison out of the ring. [ 1 ] In the penult match, Bobby Lashley ( accompanied by MVP ) defended the WWE Championship against Goldberg. Goldberg performed a Spear on Lashley outside the band. As Lashley rolled out the band to recover, MVP struck Goldberg ‘s stifle with his cane. Lashley attacked the injured knee with multiple chop blocks and rammed it into the call post. Goldberg was unable to continue, resulting in the referee calling the match, therefore Lashley retained the style. Afterwards, Lashley attacked Goldberg ‘s knee with a steel professorship. Following the equal, Goldberg ‘s 15 year-old son, Gage, came to his father ‘s aid only for Lashley to apply the Hurt Lock on Gage. [ 1 ]
Main event [edit ]
In the main event, Roman Reigns ( accompanied by Paul Heyman ) defended the Universal Championship against John Cena with a stipulation that Reigns would leave WWE if he lost. Cena started with Roll-Up and Inside Cradle fall attempts. Reigns countered the Attitude Adjustment into a DDT for a nearfall. Reigns locked in a Guillotine Choke, however, Cena escaped. As Reigns attempted a Spear, Cena countered with a bang and a Five Knuckle Shuffle. Cena performed an Attitude Adjustment on Reigns for a nearfall. As Cena applied the STF, Reigns reached the rope to void the submission. Cena performed a second Attitude Adjustment on Reigns through the announce table, after which, Cena rolled Reigns back in the ring for a nearfall. As Cena attempted another Attitude Adjustment, Reigns performed a Superman Punch for a nearfall. Reigns attempted another Spear on Cena, however, Cena moved out of the way and Reigns rammed into the ring post. Cena performed a Super Attitude Adjustment off the top lasso for a nearfall. In the end, as Cena taunted Reigns and attempted his own Spear, Reigns performed the Superman Punch twice and a Spear on Cena to retain the deed and stay in WWE. Following the couple, Brock Lesnar returned for the inaugural time since WrestleMania 36 and confronted Reigns much to Heyman ‘s surprise. After a gaze down, Reigns left the resound as the herd cheered Lesnar to end the event. [ 1 ] After the event went off the air out, Lesnar executed multiple german suplexes and an F-5 on Cena, evocative of their equal from SummerSlam in 2014. [ 45 ]
aftermath [edit ]
raw [edit ]
After SummerSlam, Goldberg was off television for the next calendar month due to his ( kayfabe ) knee wound while Bobby Lashley lost the WWE Championship to Big E in the latter ‘s Money in the Bank cash-in meet. [ 46 ] Goldberg returned on the October 4 episode of Raw and proclaimed that he would kill Lashley for what he did to his son. Lashley stated that his attack on Gage was a misconstrue, which Goldberg refused to believe. Lashley then stated he would face Goldberg at Crown Jewel on the circumstance that the meet was a No Holds Barred equal, which Goldberg gladly accepted. [ 47 ] On the August 30 sequence of Raw, new United States Champion Damian Priest defended the title against Sheamus and Drew McIntyre in a triple threat match where Priest retained. [ 48 ] On the follow episode, Sheamus defeated McIntyre to earn a replay against Priest at Extreme Rules. [ 49 ] On the September 20 sequence, Jeff Hardy defeated Sheamus to earn a smudge in the title match at Extreme Rules, thus making it a treble menace meet. [ 50 ] On September 4, following his appearance at SummerSlam, it was announced that U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist Gable Steveson had reportedly signed a shrink with WWE. [ 51 ] Five days by and by, WWE confirmed they had signed Steveson to an NIL conduct. [ 52 ] As share of the 2021 WWE Draft in October, Steveson was drafted to the Raw brand. [ 47 ]
SmackDown [edit ]
On the September 10 episode of SmackDown, Brock Lesnar again appeared to confront Roman Reigns and claimed that his former advocate, Paul Heyman, who had been serving as Reigns ‘ special rede since August 2020, knew Lesnar would be at SummerSlam in an attempt to cause disagreement between Reigns and Heyman. Lesnar then challenged Heyman to accept a match against Reigns for the Universal Championship. [ 53 ] On September 16, WWE announced that the couple would occur at Crown Jewel. [ 54 ] On the first SmackDown after SummerSlam, Bianca Belair challenged Becky Lynch to a replay for the SmackDown Women ‘s Championship, however, Lynch refused. Belair then won a black four-way equal to become the number one rival. [ 55 ] After Lynch refused to defend her title the next workweek, stating she would defend the style when she was ready, WWE officials Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville scheduled Lynch to defend the title against Belair at Extreme Rules. [ 56 ] At that event, Sasha Banks made her render, and attacked both Belair and Lynch, frankincense the match was ruled a no contest. [ 57 ] A treble terror match between the three for the SmackDown Women ‘s Championship was scheduled for Crown Jewel. [ 58 ] Unsatisfied with his loss to Edge, Seth Rollins challenged Edge to a replay that occurred on the September 10 episode of SmackDown that Rollins won. [ 53 ] Rollins was calm unsated, however, as he was offended that Edge had called him “ Edge Lite ” and that Edge did not announce his retirement. After Rollins made it more personal by breaking into Edge ‘s home, [ 58 ] Edge challenged Rollins to a Hell in a Cell match, which was scheduled for Crown Jewel. [ 59 ]
Results [edit ]
References [edit ]
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