WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event
The 2018 SummerSlam was the 31st annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The event took place on August 19, 2018, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the fourth and final consecutive year.
Thirteen matches were contested at the event, including three on the Kickoff pre-show. Nine matches, including two on the Kickoff pre-show, were championship matches. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar to win Raw's Universal Championship, ending Lesnar's 504-day reign (although WWE officially recognizes it as 503 days). In the penultimate match, Ronda Rousey defeated Alexa Bliss to win the Raw Women's Championship, becoming the first woman to win a women's championship in both the Ultimate Fighting Championship and WWE. In other prominent matches, The Miz defeated Daniel Bryan, Samoa Joe defeated SmackDown's WWE Champion AJ Styles by disqualification (thus did not win the championship), and in the opening bout, Seth Rollins defeated Dolph Ziggler to regain Raw's Intercontinental Championship. The event was also the first SummerSlam not to feature John Cena since 2003.
Production.
Background.
SummerSlam is an annual professional wrestling event produced every August by WWE since 1988. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views (PPV), along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four". It has since become considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind WrestleMania. Announced on August 14, 2017, the 2018 event was the 31st SummerSlam and was scheduled to be held on August 19, 2018, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the fourth consecutive year. It featured wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brand divisions. The event aired on pay-per-view worldwide and was livestreamed on the WWE Network. Tickets went on sale on February 2 through Ticketmaster.
Storylines.
The event comprised 13 matches, including three on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands, with storylines produced on WWE's weekly television shows, "Monday Night Raw", "SmackDown Live", and the cruiserweight-exclusive "205 Live".
Raw.
As Universal Champion Brock Lesnar refused to defend the title at Extreme Rules, Raw General Manager Kurt Angle gave him an ultimatum: defend the title or be stripped of it. On the "Raw" after Extreme Rules, Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman agreed that Lesnar would defend the title at SummerSlam. Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, Elias, Finn Bálor, and Roman Reigns all wanted an opportunity. In response, Angle scheduled two triple threat matches that night, with the winners facing each other the following week to determine Lesnar's challenger. Reigns won the first triple threat match over Bálor and McIntyre, while Lashley won the second over Elias and Rollins. The following week, Reigns defeated Lashley. Lesnar and Heyman then faked a break up before ambushing Reigns on the final "Raw" before SummerSlam.
After retaining her title against Nia Jax at Extreme Rules in an Extreme Rules match, Raw Women's Champion Alexa Bliss gloated that she had beaten every woman on the Raw roster. Ronda Rousey, whom she had cost a championship match at Money in the Bank and who had been suspended, came out from the crowd and attacked Bliss and Mickie James. Raw General Manager Kurt Angle extended Rousey's suspension for another week, and also awarded her a title match at SummerSlam, provided that she would not break her suspension again.
At Extreme Rules, Kevin Owens defeated Braun Strowman in a Steel Cage match after Strowman threw Owens from the top of the cage onto the broadcast table. On the July 23 episode of "Raw", Owens vowed to take everything away from Strowman. A rematch was scheduled for SummerSlam with a stipulation that if Owens won, even by disqualification or countout, he would win Strowman's Money in the Bank contract.
At Extreme Rules, Dolph Ziggler defeated Seth Rollins 5–4 in sudden death overtime of a 30-minute Iron Man match to retain the Intercontinental Championship, thanks to interference from Ziggler's tag team partner, Drew McIntyre. On the July 23 episode of "Raw", a rematch between Ziggler and Rollins for the title was scheduled for SummerSlam with McIntyre in Ziggler's corner. During the contract signing on the August 13 episode, Dean Ambrose returned from injury, confirming he would be in Rollins' corner.
At Extreme Rules, Finn Bálor defeated Baron Corbin. A few weeks later, a rematch between the two was scheduled, with Corbin defeating Bálor. The following week, another match between the two was scheduled for SummerSlam.
On the August 13 episode of "Raw", The B-Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel) retained the Raw Tag Team Championship in a triple threat tag team match against Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt and The Revival (Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson) when they pinned Wyatt. Afterwards, The B-Team was scheduled to defend the championship against The Revival on the SummerSlam Kickoff pre-show.
SmackDown.
On the July 24 episode of "SmackDown", SmackDown General Manager Paige was about to reveal AJ Styles's opponent for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam when James Ellsworth tried to claim the contendership. Paige fired him and saw him being kicked out of the building, when Samoa Joe attacked Styles with the "Coquina Clutch" and then signed the contract.
On July 21, Paige scheduled a tag team title tournament with the winning team earning the right to challenge The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at SummerSlam. The tournament began on the July 24 episode of "SmackDown" with The New Day (represented by Big E and Xavier Woods) and Cesaro and Sheamus advancing to the finals by defeating SAnitY (Alexander Wolfe and Killian Dain) and The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso), respectively. The New Day (represented by Big E and Kingston) then defeated Cesaro and Sheamus in the finals to face The Bludgeon Brothers for the titles at SummerSlam.
On the July 24 episode of "SmackDown", Becky Lynch defeated SmackDown Women's Champion Carmella in a non-title match to earn the right to challenge for the title at SummerSlam. The following week, Charlotte Flair returned and saved Lynch from an attack by Carmella. The same night, Flair defeated Carmella and was subsequently added to the title match, making it a triple threat match.
At Extreme Rules, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Jeff Hardy to capture the United States Championship after a pre-match low blow. A rematch between the two for the title was scheduled for the following "SmackDown" which Hardy won by disqualification after he was attacked by Randy Orton. On August 3, another match between the two for the title was scheduled for SummerSlam.
In the first season of "NXT" in 2010, The Miz served as the "WWE Pro" of "NXT Rookie" Daniel Bryan. Throughout the season, Miz constantly berated Bryan, claiming he was not WWE material and expressing his displeasure at Bryan being his Rookie. The feeling was mutual as Bryan regularly alluded to the fact that he had been wrestling longer than Miz, stating that he should be the Pro and Miz should be the Rookie. On the May 11 episode of "NXT", Bryan was eliminated from the show. The following week after his elimination, Bryan attacked The Miz and Michael Cole on "NXT". The two would then feud over the United States Championship, which Bryan won from Miz at Night of Champions. Six years later, on the August 23, 2016, episode of "Talking Smack", Bryan (then General Manager of SmackDown) got into a verbal altercation with The Miz, which consisted of Bryan criticizing Miz's wrestling ability and "safe style" of wrestling. The Miz responded by going on a rant about Bryan being unable to return to in-ring competition due to the various injuries he had sustained throughout his WWE career. From this point forward, Bryan and Miz had sporadic interactions for over a year. On March 20, 2018, Bryan was medically cleared to return to in-ring competition by doctors, after which he resumed his feud with The Miz. On the July 31 episode of "SmackDown", Bryan challenged Miz to a match at SummerSlam. Miz initially declined the match, stating that he has always been above Bryan going back to "NXT" season one, and recommended that Bryan return to the independent circuit once his WWE contract expired. However, the following week, The Miz accepted Bryan's SummerSlam challenge.
On the July 24 episode of "SmackDown", Andrade "Cien" Almas defeated Rusev. The following week, Zelina Vega defeated Lana. A rematch between Vega and Lana was scheduled the following week, with Vega winning again. On August 11, a mixed tag team match between Rusev and Lana and Almas and Vega was scheduled for SummerSlam Kickoff pre-show.
205 Live.
On the July 24 episode of "205 Live", Drew Gulak earned the right to challenge Cedric Alexander for the WWE Cruiserweight Championship by winning a fatal four-way match. On July 30, the match between Alexander and Gulak for the title was scheduled for SummerSlam. Brian Kendrick and Gentleman Jack Gallagher were banned from ringside for the match.
Event.
Pre-show.
Three matches occurred on the SummerSlam Kickoff pre-show. In the first match, Andrade "Cien" Almas and Zelina Vega faced Rusev and Lana. In the climax, Vega pinned Lana with a roll-up using the ring ropes as leverage to win the match. 
Next, Cedric Alexander defended the WWE Cruiserweight Championship against Drew Gulak. In the end, Alexander pinned Gulak with a roll-up to retain the title.
After that, The B-Team (Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel) defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder). In the end, as Dawson attempted to pin Axel with a small package, Dallas fell onto Axel, reversing the small package and pinning Dawson to retain the titles.
Preliminary matches.
The actual pay-per-view opened with Dolph Ziggler (accompanied by Drew McIntyre) defending the Intercontinental Championship against Seth Rollins, accompanied by Dean Ambrose. McIntyre sent Ambrose into the steel steps at ringside, distracting Rollins and allowing Ziggler to perform a "Zig Zag" on Rollins for a nearfall. In the end, as McIntyre attempted to interfere, Ambrose performed "Dirty Deeds" on McIntyre. Rollins performed a superkick and "The Stomp" on Ziggler to regain the title for a second time.
Next, The Bludgeon Brothers (Harper and Rowan) defended the SmackDown Tag Team Championship against The New Day's Big E and Xavier Woods, accompanied by Kofi Kingston. The match ended when Rowan struck Woods and Big E with a mallet, thus The New Day won by disqualification, however, The Bludgeon Brothers retained the titles. 
After that, Braun Strowman defended his Money in the Bank contract against Kevin Owens, with the stipulation that Strowman could lose the contract by any means. In the end, Strowman chokeslammed Owens onto the steel stage ramp. Strowman then rolled Owens back into the ring and performed a running powerslam on Owens to retain the contract and end the feud. 
In the fourth match, Carmella defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. The ending saw Lynch apply the "Dis-Arm-Her" on Carmella, only for Flair to sneak behind &amp; attack Lynch from behind with the "Natural Selection" for the pinfall to win the title to tie Trish Stratus' record, winning her seventh women's championship. After the match, Lynch attacked Flair, turning heel. 
Next, AJ Styles defended the WWE Championship against Samoa Joe. In the climax, as Joe continued to taunt Styles' wife and child, who were in attendance at ringside, an irate Styles tackled Joe through the barricade. Styles then attacked security personnel and struck Joe with a chair, causing a disqualification, thus Joe won the match, however, Styles retained the title. 
Next, Elias promised a concert. As he was about to start, the guitar broke. He then discarded the guitar pieces and then departed backstage.
Next, Daniel Bryan faced The Miz. In the end, Miz's wife Maryse, who was seated in the front row, handed Miz a pair of brass knuckles that the referee did not see. As Bryan attempted a suicide dive, Miz struck Bryan with the object and tossed the object back to Maryse. Afterwards, Miz rolled Bryan back in the ring and pinned him to win