Detroit, MI – 59,000+ people packed into the Detroit Lions’ home of Ford Field last Saturday, August 5, 2023, for the “Biggest Party of the Summer,” also known as WWE’s annual SummerSlam event.  The event carried increased significance for an already big event for the WWE as this is the absolute hottest WWE has been in decades.  

 New Head of Creative, Paul Levesque (better known as Triple H) has revitalized the product near and dear to plenty of fans’ hearts, and that newfound energy was on full display Saturday Night. 

The viewership statistics back up the claim of WWE’s new life, this past SummerSlam was the most watched in SummerSlam history and generated a record gate of $8.5 million. The record-breaking figure accounts for the highest-grossing non-WrestleMania event ever.  

SummerSlam proved to be yet another win for WWE in 2023, as just over a month ago they notched the highest-grossing arena show in history at the O2 Arena in London with their Money in the Bank event, and over course the “grandest stage of them all” WrestleMania was far and away the highest gate achieved.

While all of the quantifiable numbers are impressive, there’s something about the product that feels different from the WWE that drove away a lot of fans. Sitting up in the press box, I had the privilege of meeting plenty of other people just like me, fans who drifted away but had been reeled back in by the business telling its greatest story of all time, the story of the Bloodline. 

If I were to write the synopsis of the three-year (and counting) story of the Bloodline, the article would be a novel, so instead I’ll use one word that has been echoed at every wild twist and turn this story has delivered: Cinema. 

Every match on Saturday delivered a different energy, whether it was the high-action, fast-paced sprint of the high-flying Ricochet vs social media megastar Logan Paul, Brock Lesnar, and Cody Rhodes blowing the roof off of Ford Field with the reactions they drew, or the slow burn into the frenzy-filled finish of Seth Freakin’ Rollins and Finn Balor that was seven years in the making. 

Not to mention in the soap opera that was the main event, Jey Uso, cousin of the “Tribal Chief” of the Anoa’i family, Roman Reigns, was inches away from dethroning the tyrannical ruler before his own brother, Jimmy Uso, betrayed him and left Jey Uso defeated, leaving all of Ford Field stunned and beside themselves and adding another chapter to the story dubbed as “Cinema.” 

The current roster has the perfect mix of “Sports Entertainers” like the scorching hot LA Knight, who had over 50,000 people screaming his one-word catchphrase “YEAH!” at the top of their lungs when he won the “Slim Jim SummerSlam Battle Royal,” and “Pro Wrestlers” such as the Intercontinental Champion, Gunther, who trades in the flashy gear and catchphrases for intense and captivating performances in the ring. This reinvigorated product has everything for everyone, live cinematic segments that could contend for multiple Oscars if they were eligible.  

From insane athletic feats that you may not have known were possible to comedic relief just when you need a laugh. The main takeaway from Saturday Night? The WWE is hotter than ever before, and SummerSlam did nothing but fan the flames.