WWE SummerSlam Plans for Seth Rollins Reportedly Confirmed

It looks like WWE is gearing up for Seth Rollins to once again defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Finn Balor at next month’s SummerSlam pay-per-view in Detroit. Rollins was able to beat Balor at Money in the Bank in London earlier this month thanks to an accidental distraction by Damian Priest, causing an apparent rift within The Judgement Day. However, Balor and Priest seemed to patch things up on this week’s Monday Night Raw and beat Rollins, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in a six-man tag match in the show’s main event. Balor then turned around and pinned NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes in a tag team match on this week’s NXT. According to Dave Meltzer via Wrestling Observer Radio, that win was booked so Balor could keep racking up wins ahead of his rematch with “The Visionary” rather than be inserted into the NXT Championship picture with Hayes and (current No. 1 contender) Ilja Dragunov. 

While no matches have been confirmed for SummerSlam as of yet, this is now the ninth match to be rumored for the show. You can see the full (rumored) card below!

WWE SummerSlam 2023 Rumored Card

• Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso
• Intercontinental Championship: Gunther vs. Drew McIntyre
• SmackDown Women’s Championship: Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair vs. Bianca Belair
• Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn vs. TBA
• Cody Rhodes vs. Brock Lesnar (with some sort of stipulation)
• Becky Lynch vs. Trish Stratus
• Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler
• Ricochet vs. Logan Paul

Seth Rollins on the Perception of the World Heavyweight Championship

Rollins was a guest on Out of Character this week and addressed the elephant in the room regarding his World Heavyweight Championship. Ever since it was first introduced, fans have labeled it as a “consolation prize” compared to Roman Reigns’ Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. 

“I wasn’t offended or annoyed,” Rollins said when asked about that label. “If you watched and followed and saw how Roman has built up the title that he has, it only makes sense to view it as a consolation prize, but for me, it didn’t feel that way. It felt like a big deal, and it felt like a big deal because there are so many guys who are able to be in the shoes that I’m in right now. The fact that it’s me makes it feel like a big deal to me. I feel a lot of responsibility to represent them and the industry as well as I can and help everything move forward. It feels, sometimes, with Roman’s title reign, because there is only one challenger at a time and often only every few months, a lot of guys were in a holding pattern. I am a firm believer that having a title available is a necessity and I feel a lot of humility and responsibility in being the champion that will be there and available for our audience. I wasn’t offended by it, and I understood where people are coming from.”