Roman Reigns’ Return, Shane McMahon, Injuries, More
WWE SummerSlam 2024 has come and gone, and a heap of backstage news and notes have surfaced from the show.
Featured below is a recap of some of the behind-the-scenes notes from “The Biggest Party of the Summer” from August 3 at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, OH.
– Jacob Fatu was actually planned to sell his leg following his top-rope splash to Cody Rhodes through the commentary desk in the main event. As noted, Jacob Fatu was spotted in a walking boot after the show.
– The reason Rollins’ Referee Cam stopped being featured shortly after his ring entrance for the CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre bout was because the battery pack for it kept falling off, and Rollins made the on-the-fly call to ditch the camera afterwards. There was not any heat on Rollins for this, as it was understood and seen as a possibility ahead of time anyways. The referee cam was first tested at the WWE Performance Center and was fine-tuned before the show on Saturday night. It is expected to be used more going forward.
– A lot of wrestlers were said to be talking about the Shane McMahon and Tony Khan meeting from July 29 at the private airport in Arlington, TX. Most are expecting Shane to end up making an appearance of some kind there.
– Speaking of McMahon’s and the talk behind-the-scenes, talent was said to be happy to see Stephanie McMahon-Levesque at the show on Saturday night. As noted, Triple H spoke about the possibility of Stephanie McMahon returning after the event.
– Things are said to be looser in regards to language used on WWE premium live events, as evident at SummerSlam this weekend. There were apparently next to no comments among talent and staff backstage about the strong language used throughout the show on Saturday night.
– As referred to by Cody Rhodes, there was a tip sheet sent to talent that included head shots and bios of legends who would be at the show to help educate younger talents. They were encouraged to pick their brains and treat the legends with the proper respect. For a recap on the list of legends who were at the show, click here.
– Roman Reigns’ surprise return was kept under wraps throughout the build-up and very much so during the event itself on Saturday night. He was kept hidden for the most part until right before coming out during the Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa “Bloodline Rules” main event for the WWE Universal Championship.
– The injury spots surrounding Rhea Ripley’s shoulder were planned in advance leading into her WWE Women’s World Championship match in the opener against Liv Morgan. For a full list of producers who put together all of the matches at SummerSlam, click here.
– The awful landing that Logan Paul took from the top-rope superplex from LA Knight during their WWE United States Championship match was not planned. Paul was said to be okay afterwards for the most part. As noted, Paul, along with Fatu, was said to be one of the key injuries coming out of the show.
– Regarding Rick Steiner being featured on WWE social media channels again for his appearance alongside Scott Steiner at the show, it is said that he fell out of WWE’s good graces as a result of his controversy with Gisele Shaw. However, since then he has admitted wrongdoing and assured the company nothing like that would ever happen again. He also reportedly offered an apology to Shaw, but there is no word as to whether or not they have spoken since the incident.
– Rob Feinstein has no affiliation with WWE and was not invited to the show by the company, despite showing up and taking photos with several of the wrestlers and legends at the event. He was not backstage at the show, nor was he comped a ticket under his name. He reportedly found out the hotel that talent would be staying at, which explains how he had so many photos with wrestlers.
(H/T: Fightful Select)
