SummerSlam 2023: Cody Rhodes Wins the War, IYO SKY Steals the Night, and The Bloodline Trips Over Its Own Ending

Paul and Ricochet are asked to open with spectacle and do exactly that. Their athleticism gives the match an immediate stadium scale, but the best sequences are not merely flips; they are counters in which each man expects the other to attempt something impossible. The Spanish Fly at ringside and the top-rope neckbreaker are memorable because the timing is unusually precise.

Paul continues to improve at structuring his offense around his character. He wants the viral moment, grows frustrated when Ricochet matches him and eventually accepts help when clean athleticism is not enough. Ricochet supplies the pace without disappearing into the role of stunt partner.

Paul uses brass knuckles passed from ringside to score the pin. The finish is cheap in exactly the right way and gives Ricochet a reason to lose without undercutting the eighteen minutes before it. A very good opener that does more than chase highlights.

The third match of the trilogy is built around a simple question: how many times can Lesnar tell Cody to stay down before Cody proves that he will not? Brock dominates, throws Cody outside and repeatedly tries to take the countout victory almost as an act of mercy. That gives the punishment a purpose beyond filling time.

Cody's comeback works because it is gradual. He survives the floor F-5, survives another through the announce table, uses the steel steps and eventually turns Lesnar's own Kimura Lock against him. Each survival step makes the final Cross Rhodes sequence feel more believable.

Three Cross Rhodes finish Lesnar cleanly. The post-match handshake and raised arm are not necessary to validate the win, but they make the scene feel like Lesnar recognizing that Cody passed the test he created. A strong trilogy closer and one of Cody's most important wins between WrestleMania 39 and 40.

The battle royal exists largely because LA Knight had become too popular to leave off SummerSlam, and the crowd makes that purpose obvious. WWE fills the ring with enough credible names to create movement while keeping Knight visible without forcing him to dominate every elimination. Omos provides the early obstacle and the group working together to remove him gives the match its first large reaction.

The middle is the usual battle-royal traffic, but Chad Gable, Tommaso Ciampa, Bronson Reed, AJ Styles and Sheamus keep the eliminations active. Knight avoids disappearing in the crowd and enters the final stretch with the audience expecting the result rather than merely hoping for it. That expectation is the match's real engine.

Knight eliminates Reed and finally Sheamus to win. It is not a classic battle royal, but it gives the correct wrestler a stadium victory at exactly the point his momentum requires one. The reaction does most of the grading work.

The match attempts to borrow MMA pacing, officiating and presentation without the uncertainty that makes actual combat sports compelling. Baszler and Rousey know the techniques, but the deliberate resets and referee checks create dead air inside a wrestling stadium. The crowd never fully understands when it should accelerate with them.

There are good individual exchanges, particularly when Baszler attacks submissions and Rousey answers with throws. The problem is connective tissue. The format repeatedly stops the match from developing the rhythm a normal wrestling fight would have produced.

Baszler traps Rousey in the Kirifuda Clutch and wins by technical submission. The result is meaningful because Baszler gets the definitive victory, but the match is remembered more as Rousey's exit than as a successful experiment. The right winner cannot rescue the format.

Gunther and McIntyre do not waste time pretending this is anything other than a heavyweight fight. Chops, kicks and power moves arrive early, and the match benefits from staying under fourteen minutes rather than stretching toward an epic it does not need to be. The physicality is the story.

McIntyre's Claymore near fall is the match's best false finish because Gunther has spent the previous year making his championship defenses feel increasingly difficult to end. Gunther answers by knocking Drew off the top rope, then stacking the splash, lariat and powerbomb into a decisive closing run. There is little wasted motion.

Gunther retains and moves closer to the all-time Intercontinental Championship reign record. The match is not as layered as his best defenses, but it is compact, violent and convincing. That is more than enough.

Rollins and Bálor have seven years of history to use, and the match smartly treats that history as motivation rather than trivia. Rollins wears the vest associated with their 2016 SummerSlam match, while Bálor attacks the arm and shoulder that once cost him his first world-title reign. The callbacks give the work emotional specificity.

Bálor's offense is focused and Rollins has to keep escaping situations that mirror the original injury. The Pedigree, Coup de Grâce and Stomp near falls escalate naturally, while Damian Priest's presence with the Money in the Bank briefcase adds a second layer of tension. The question becomes whether Judgment Day will help Bálor or sabotage him by accident.

Priest slides the briefcase into the ring, Bálor hesitates and Rollins lands the Stomp to retain. The finish protects the rivalry and deepens the faction tension without turning the match into pure interference. An excellent title defense and the strongest complete match of the night.

Three elite athletes create an uneven but consistently active triple threat. Asuka provides the striking and submission transitions, Charlotte supplies the power and aerial risks, and Bianca Belair gives the match its biggest athletic counters. The problem is that the combinations do not always feel as smooth as the names suggest they should.

Belair's apparent knee injury becomes the decisive story. She is helped toward the back, then returns while Charlotte has Asuka trapped in the Figure Eight. That comeback creates the match's strongest emotional turn and gives the closing minute much more urgency than the middle.

Asuka mists Charlotte, Belair ducks the kick and catches Asuka in an inside cradle to win the title. The match is good, the title change is surprising, and almost immediately all three are about to become supporting players in IYO SKY's moment. A strong setup to an even better aftermath.

This lasts only seconds and cannot be judged like a conventional match. Its value is timing. Bianca Belair has just survived a twenty-minute triple threat and won the championship with an injured knee when IYO SKY's music hits. The audience understands the opportunity immediately.

Bayley clears Asuka and Charlotte with the briefcase, IYO strikes Bianca and the cash-in becomes official. One Over the Moonsault ends the reign almost as soon as it begins. The execution is clean enough that the moment never becomes cluttered.

IYO wins her first WWE Women's Championship and celebrates with Bayley and Dakota Kai. The score reflects the historical and emotional success of the cash-in more than bell-to-bell depth. As a moment, it is one of the best on the entire show.

Roman Reigns and Jey Uso have enough history to make almost any confrontation emotionally relevant. Tribal Combat begins with that advantage and occasionally finds the right image, especially when Jey uses the strap and chairs to turn years of punishment back on Roman. The match understands the family stakes even when the pacing becomes indulgent.

Thirty-six minutes is simply too much. Long pauses between weapon setups and interference stretches drain urgency, while Solo Sikoa's arrival brings the match back into familiar Bloodline territory. Jey's spear and splash on Roman briefly create the best near fall because the audience can imagine the title change.

Jimmy Uso then pulls Jey from the ring, reveals himself and superkicks his brother. Roman spears Jey through the table in the corner and retains. The shock is real, but the finish trades the payoff to Jey's title challenge for another family betrayal that requires later explanation.

Historically important and occasionally compelling, but far below the level the feud's story had earned. The ending advances television more effectively than it completes SummerSlam.