SummerSlam (2022)

The 2022 SummerSlam was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event produced by WWE, held for wrestlers from the promotion's main roster brands, Raw and SmackDown. It was the 35th annual SummerSlam and took place on July 30, 2022, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. This was the first and only SummerSlam to not be held during the month of August. This was also the first WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming event following the retirement of WWE owner Vince McMahon, who had served as chairman and chief executive officer of the company since 1982. McMahon announced his retirement on July 22, eight days before SummerSlam. However, he returned as Executive Chairman on January 10, 2023, before severing ties with the company in 2024. Eight matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar in a Last Man Standing match to retain the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, which was billed as their final match against each other. In other prominent matches, Pat McAfee defeated Happy Corbin, Logan Paul defeated The Miz, The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) defeated The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) to retain the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship, Liv Morgan defeated Ronda Rousey to retain her SmackDown Women's Championship in a conflicted ending, and in the opening bout, Bianca Belair defeated Becky Lynch to retain the Raw Women's Championship. The event also saw the returns of Bayley, Dakota Kai (who had been released from her WWE contract in April), Io Shirai, and Edge. The event received positive reviews from critics, who, along with fans, lauded the main event, and welcomed the new creative direction the company was taking. Praise was also directed to Logan Paul's performance and the Raw Women's Championship match, but criticism was directed at the...