It was that time of year again when we got the hottest show of the summer. But could Summerslam 2023, in front of nearly 60,000 fans at Detroit’s Ford Field live up to the hype? Matthew Roberts looks at WWE Home Video’s latest release to find out.
We started with Logan Paul against Ricochet, which was up first so that Logan could fly on to his brother’s boxing match the same night. This was the kind of match that some people will have loved and others would have hated. It was very much a “highlight reel” kind of thing, with the two hitting big moves in an attempt to out-do each other. It was fine for what it was, but hurt by one or two spots not quite hitting the mark and the brass knuckles finish. It was a sterling effort though and an entertaining opener.
The third match of the Cody Rhodes/Brock Lesnar feud was up next. There was a big match feel over this one, despite some reservations from me that they had kind of rushed through the trilogy a little. The match never quite grabbed you as the decisive feud ender I was hoping for but it was still very good and ended things on a positive note.
The Slim Jim battle royale was next up. As with all of these kind of things it was something or nothing but at least had the benefit of the crowd wanting one man to win and that one man, LA Knight, winning it. To complain that, say, this was on the card when Becky Lynch Vs Trish Stratus wasn’t isn’t without merit but to do so would only show a lack of acknowledgement of what really makes the WWE tick.
The battle royale, however, was far better than the match that followed it. Ronda Rousey has seemingly been phoning it in for months now (and whilst that’s not a good thing and there is no excuse for it, there is no doubt that the WWE’s booking of her has slowly eradicated the genuine mystique she had aroud her) and not even going up against real-life pal Shayna Baszler changed that. There was little interest in the match from the crowd, neither were exactly scintillating and this smacked of “contractual obligation” all round. Seven minutes seemed like seven hours.
The Intercontinental Title match between Gunther and Drew McIntyre couldn’t have failed to be an improvement although if one is being harsh it was a slight disappointment. It couldn’t hold a candle to Gunter/Sheamus at Clash at the Castle, for instance, or the three-way at WrestleMania but it was still a strong effort that woke the crowd back up. Similarly, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor’s battle over the World Title perhaps didn’t quite hit the heights you might have hoped but it was still a very good match with plenty of Judgement Day drama to add to proceedings.
In what was becoming a little bit of a pattern, hopes were high for the Smackdown Women’s Title match between Bianca Belair, Charlotte and champion Asuka but the end result was disappointing. Charlotte seems to have dropped a level since her return this year (sometimes it looks as if she is wrestling in slow motion) and for all the undoubted star quality Bianca Belair has she’s not the kind of in-ring talent who can ramp things up when the planned spots aren’t working. Although in the regimented WWE system that’s not necessarily her fault. Still, the last few minutes were the hottest of the match and the post-match cash in from Io Sky was a genuinely hot moment too.
The event ended with the much-awaited clash between Roman Reigns and Jay Uso. The build up had been sublime; the execution was less so. At over 35 minutes it was at least ten minutes too long and whilst I never for one moment thought that this was going to be the night when Reigns was dethroned it seemed as if the WWE had nothing else in reserve for the ending beyond the shock return/turn of Jimmy Uso. It’s perhaps no surprise that Reigns hasn’t been around much since this one.
So overall despite having it’s moments, Summerslam 2023 has to be regarded as a minor disappointment. It had some good matches but the best ones still felt slightly short of what we might have hoped. The two women’s matches didn’t really work either and so whilst the show as a whole was generally entertaining, it fell frustratingly short of greatness.
The Summerslam 2023 press conference is included as an extra, but it’s hardly essential viewing.
7 out of 10.
Photographs courtesy of Fetch and WWE. Thank you to WWE Home Video for our review copy of Summerslam 2023 which is out Monday 25 September on DVD and Blu-Ray. You can buy your copy from WWEDVD.co.uk by clicking here.