WWE SummerSlam 2023: Triple H Addresses The Discourse Surrounding Matches That Didn't Make The Card

WWE's SummerSlam premium live event wound up having nine matches across roughly four hours on Saturday night, culminating in Roman Reigns retaining his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship against Jey Uso. But while the show had a handful of noteworthy title matches champions like Austin Theory and Rhea Ripley weren't booked to defend their championships and storylines like Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus were left off the card. Fans were incredibly vocal in the week leading up to the show about what did and didn't make the show — particularly Ripley not getting to defend her Women's World Championship and Lynch vs. Stratus III instead getting booked for an episode of Raw later this month. Paul "Triple H" Levesque addressed those conversations during the post-show press conference.

"There was a lot of banter I saw this week about matches being cut, which is the word that was used. But nothing was cut. There was no card announced. If we don't have more things in the pocket ready to go for a PLE than can fit in the PLE, I've done a terrible job," Levesque said. "Because there's always an injury waiting around the corner. There's always a moment that changes everything. And when one creative thing changes, it changes the trajectory of everything. So if you don't have more stuff than you need ready to go, you've failed. Then you get to the unfortunate place where, 'I've got too much stuff.' I don't know about any of you, that show as plenty long tonight. If it would've been longer, it would've been bad. 

"So there comes a time when you say, 'Well does everything get shorter time? Does everything get rushed? Or do we move things around and shift it and give it a bigger spotlight?' As a performer, for me, I'd rather have the bigger spotlight," he added.

Rhea Ripley Talks Fan Support After Being Left Off SummerSlam Card

Ripley addressed fans rallying around her heading into SummerSlam weekend during an interview with ComicBook on Friday — "I appreciate it, I do. All us women appreciate it. Because at the end of the day, we work all year round for opportunities like this. SummerSlam, it's a massive, massive show for the WWE. It's our second biggest (premium live event) of the year. So to not be on it, it's a little bit heartbreaking, but at the end of the day I know that we're all still going to be fighting for the next spot and the next PLE will come up. There's PLEs all the time now. So we will get our shot as well. But yeah, SummerSlam, it's cool to say that you're on it, and I appreciate everyone for backing us girls up."

Now that the show is over, did WWE make a mistake by not giving Ripley a match? Tell us your thoughts in the comments! 

WWE SummerSlam 2023 Results

• Logan Paul def. Ricochet
• Cody Rhodes def. Brock Lesnar
• LA Knight wins the SummerSlam Battle Royal
• Shayna Baszler def. Ronda Rousey (MMA Rules)
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther def. Drew McIntyre
• World Heavyweight Championship: Seth Rollins def. Finn Balor
• WWE Women's Championship: Bianca Belair def. Asuka & Charlotte Flair
• WWE Women's Championship: Iyo Sky def. Bianca Belair
• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns def. Jey Uso (Tribal Combat Rules)