WWE SummerSlam 2023 Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights (2024)

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage and recap of WWE SummerSlam 2023 from Ford Field in Detroit.

Here is a look at the full lineup for the pay-per-view:

Let's take a look at everything that happened at this year's SummerSlam.

Updates will be posted throughout the show after each match.

WWE kicked this year's SummerSlam off with the match it was hoping would go viral: Logan Paul vs. Ricochet.

The Social Media Megastar was out first to a huge wave of boos.

The two men met in the middle of the ring and talked some trash. Ricochet slapped the taste out of Paul's mouth before taking him down with a headscissor to send him out of the ring.

The YouTuber was able to gain the upper hand for a few moments by using some underhanded tactics. He even taunted Samantha Irvin, who is the ring announcer and Ricochet's fiancée.

They traded control several times throughout the match. Paul focused on getting heel heat while The One and Only was trying to pop the crowd with high-risk maneuvers. The fans were eating it up.

Paul has made a habit of exceeding expectations in the ring and this performance was no exception. Pairing him with someone like Ricochet was brilliant booking because he is the kind of talent who knows how to take care of the social media star during the riskier spots.

They were given a lot of time and packed in plenty of memorable spots while still telling a story along the way. This was the best-case scenario for this match.

One of Paul's buddies slipped him some brass knuckles, and he nailed Ricochet with a huge right hand to steal the win. The outcome may have been cheap, but everything else worked.

Winner: Logan Paul

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

The second match of the night was, arguably, one of the most anticipated of the night. Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar met for one more showdown in the hopes of finally putting this feud to rest.

Rhodes didn't wait for the bell and tried to attack Lesnar right out of the gate. The Beast Incarnate threw him with a suplex, but it barely did anything to stop the assault from his opponent.

Lesnar kept finding ways to take Rhodes off his feet, but it only seemed to keep him down for a short time. Once he started hitting multiple suplexes, the former UFC champion began to slow the pace down as he dished out punishment.

A lot of The Beast's matches follow this same pattern. His opponent starts strong and then ends up on the receiving end of a beating for several minutes. The only thing that seems to change is the outcome.

The Beast tried to give Rhodes a chance to save himself with a count-out, but he refused. Lesnar warned him that it would only get worse before hitting another suplex. He even put The American Nightmare through the announce table with an F-5 in an attempt to win.

The crowd cheered louder every time Rhodes beat the count back into the ring. He ended up using the steel steps as a weapon and the ref didn't disqualify him for some reason.

The American Nightmare was able to grab Lesnar and hit three Cross Rhodes in a row for the pin and the win.

From a storytelling standpoint, this might be the best encounter these two have had. They told a story and gave us a fun contest along the way. The use of the stairs was confusing, but it's not enough to ruin the whole match.

Winner: Cody Rhodes

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

Most of the entrances for this Battle Royal took place during a break, but LA Knight's was saved until everyone could see it. Omos made his entrance right after the bell and was accompanied by MVP.

All hell broke loose before Omos even got to the ring. He started eliminating people right away when he threw out Apollo Crews, JD McDonagh and Rick Boogs.

We saw a few different feuds addressed with specific eliminations, including Santos Escobar and Austin Theory who will fight over the U.S. title next week. Several people teamed up to finally take Omos out of the match and got a huge pop from the crowd in the process.

The final four men were Sheamus, Reed, Knight and AJ Styles. Karrion Kross eliminated Styles from outside the ring, and after an entertaining final sequence, Knight threw out The Celtic Warrior to win the whole thing.

This was an above-average Battle Royal, especially in the final 5-10 minutes. Knight winning was the right call, especially judging from the crowd's response.

Winner: LA Knight

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

One of the most personal bouts on the entire card was up next as Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey stepped into the ring for an MMA Rules match.

The ref explained that the only way to win was by knockout or submission. Baszler refused to tap gloves as a sign of respect before the match began.

The Queen of Spades seemed to have the upper hand early on, but Rousey found counters to most of her submissions. Once they got back to their feet, they started trading strikes.

While this was billed as more of an MMA fight than a wrestling match, it certainly had more of a pro wrestling feel to it. They were still talking trash, taunting the crowd and selling like they would in any other bout.

Baszler was getting checked out by doctors for an arm injury when Rousey attacked them and told her former friend to finish this. They started trading punches as soon as The Queen of Spades met her in the middle of the ring.

The crowd didn't seem to care too much about this match until close to the end. After locking in the Kirifuda Clutch, Baszler scored a technical submission when Rousey passed out.

This was a decent match that would have been a lot better with a fresh crowd. Baszler just got the biggest win of her career. Let's hope WWE capitalizes on it.

Winner: Shayna Baszler

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

The Intercontinental Championship was on the line in the next match when Gunther defended the title against Drew McIntyre.

For The Ring General, there was more on the line than just his belt. He was also fighting to keep his near-record-breaking reign alive until he surpasses The Honky Tonk Man.

The two powerhouses stared each other down for a long time before locking up. McIntyre scored the first knockdown, and Gunther made sure to take note. He responded by bringing the challenger down in a headlock.

It took them a while but once they started throwing chops, they were swinging for the fences. You could hear the impact of each hit and almost feel the welt forming on the Scot's chest.

These are two guys who pride themselves on their physicality, so this was an aggressive fight from start to finish. Both worked hard and got the crowd to wake up a bit.

Gunther kicked out of the Claymore and once he recovered, he hit McIntyre with a few big moves followed by a powerbomb for a clean win to retain his title.

Winner: Gunther

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

The World Heavyweight Championship was the next title on the card when Seth Rollins took on Finn Bálor.

Both men came to the ring looking focused, but The Visionary was more vocal in his confidence.

The Prince gained the upper hand and immediately began focusing his offense on Rollins' left arm, almost like he was trying to get revenge for the injury he suffered at SummerSlam in 2016.

The pace was methodical for the first few minutes as Bálor punished The Visionary with anything he could think of that would put more pressure on his arm.

They treated this more like a marathon than a sprint. If these men were 10 years younger, this would have been a spot fest. This time, they focused more on the story and using their history to their advantage. They did an excellent job using callbacks to add to the drama.

Damian Priest showed up with his MITB briefcase and nailed Rollins with a cheap shot behind the ref's back.

Bálor hit a Pedigree but failed to get the three-count. Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio showed up and distracted the ref, but the Irishman didn't want to use Priest's briefcase to cheat, allowing Rollins to hit a Stomp for a two-count.

The Visionary fought off Priest and Dirty Dom, and he somehow kicked out of the Coup de Grace. He used the briefcase Priest left in the ring to hit a Stomp and win the match.

All of this was done well and planted the seeds for a potential Judgment Day breakup.

Winner: Seth Rollins

Grade: A

Notable Moments and Observations

The sole women's match on the card preceded the main event. Asuka put the WWE Women's Championship on the line against her two biggest rivals, Charlotte Flair and Bianca Belair.

All three circled each other and missed some kicks trying to be the first to land a strike. Asuka struck first, but Belair and Flair ended up in the ring alone a few moments later.

This played out like most Triple Threat matches. They would take someone out of the equation for a while so two could pair up, and then they would have a short sequence with all three before they cycled someone else out for a bit.

All three competitors did a good job, and the chemistry they have built up with each other was apparent with each combination of opponents. Nobody seemed to have a clear advantage, so it felt like anyone could win at any point.

Belair hit the steel steps with her knee after being dropped out of the ring. Medics attended to her and eventually started helping her to the back while The Empress of Tomorrow and The Queen kept fighting.

The EST of WWE limped her way back to the ring to break up a Figure Eight from Flair with a 450 splash that almost won her the title.

The Queen put Belair in the Figure Eight, but Asuka spat mist in her face to break it up. The EST rolled The Empress up for the pin to become the new women's champion, but Iyo Sky and Bayley ran down and attacked everyone. Sky cashed in and hit a moonsault to get the pin and win the title.

The new champion celebrated with Bayley as the crowd cheered her on. Dakota Kai came into the ring to celebrate and pose with Damage CTRL, who debuted at SummerSlam last year. This was all done in a great way and really brought the crowd back up.

Winner: Bianca Belair, and then Iyo Sky

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

The final match of the night, and arguably the only one worthy of being called the main event, was the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match between Roman Reigns and Jey Uso. This was contested under Tribal Combat rules, which means there weren't any rules.

The Tribal Chief grabbed a mic and told the crowd to acknowledge him as Jey tried to prepare mentally for the fight by looking in any other direction than his cousin. Reigns told Jey that if he won, he would personally hand over his ceremonial neckwear.

They locked up and Reigns made a clean break in the corner. They shoved each other but didn't engage further. After The Tribal Chief spent a few minutes in control, Jey began to show some life.

He tried to use a table, but Reigns stopped him before he could and regained the upper hand as the crowd started chanting Jey's name. The champ grabbed a kendo stick and started teeing off on his cousin as Paul Heyman kept yelling "Tribal Combat" over and over.

Jey came close to winning with a superkick and an Uso Splash, but Reigns was able to kick out. This led to Jey grabbing a chair and unloading on The Tribal Chief. He put a pile of chairs into the ring, but it was Reigns who used them when he hit a powerbomb for another near-fall.

As expected, both men did a masterful job telling their story. The match itself might not have been groundbreaking, but the way they put everything together and how they sold it is why it worked so well.

Solo Sikoa showed up as they fought in the crowd and beat Jey down. He and Reigns brought him back to the ring and looked to have the match in hand.

Reigns and Solo had a bit of a tense moment that allowed Jey to spear his cousin through the barricade. He got his younger brother onto the announce table and put him through it before putting The Tribal Chief back in the ring.

As Jey looked to pin Reigns, Jimmy Uso came out of nowhere and yanked him out of the ring. He hit his twin brother with a superkick and then threw him back for Reigns to hit with a spear through a table for the win.

Winner: Roman Reigns

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

Most of what we saw on Saturday night was predictable, but most of the decisions were also logical and the most satisfying outcomes we could have asked for.

Every single match on the card was enjoyable on some level, but the crowd reactions ebbed and flowed throughout the night. You could tell those in attendance were tired by the halfway point because they had been cheering for everything so hard.

The biggest surprise of the night might have been the performance from Ricochet and Paul. We all knew they were going to do some wild stuff, but how they put everything together was great. Whoever agented that match deserves a raise.

Sky's title win was a satisfying moment for her and her fans, Knight's victory in the Battle Royal felt earned, and both world title bouts delivered in different ways.

All in all, this was a pretty successful show in terms of the quality of each match. Now, WWE just needs to make sure it follows up on everything heading into Payback on September 2.

Grade: A-