WWE is preparing to take over Detroit’s Ford Field on August 5th for SummerSlam. While WWE fans might be very pumped for the biggest party of the summer, they aren’t the only game in town.
WWE is merging with the UFC, but that won’t stop both companies from holding events on the same night. That is exactly the case on Saturday night, but there is more going on in the combat sports world.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter noted that WWE is in for some serious competition on Saturday night. SummerSlam is going head-to-head with UFC on ESPN and Jake Paul vs Nate Diaz. You also can’t forget about AEW Collision, as Tony Khan’s Saturday night show will collide with a WWE premium live event for the first time.
SummerSlam is part of a major combat sports night, which also includes the Nate Diaz vs. Jake Paul boxing PPV, a UFC show on ESPN and AEW Collision which goes against a WWE PPV show for the first time, head-to-head and a major one. AEW is putting C.M. Punk vs. Ricky Starks with Ricky Steamboat as outside the ring enforcer (originally announced as referee but for whatever reason that changed, although outside the ring enforcer usually means ref bump and him jumping in at the end to referee), along with FTR vs. Big Bill & Brian Cage for the tag titles, Kris Statlander vs. Mercedes Martinez for the TBS title and an Acclaimed promo addressing the Billy Gunn retirement angle.
It was also noted that, “SummerSlam will hurt Collision and the only question is how much. SummerSlam should do two million or more viewers, although that number is not measured he same as a television rating. But still, more fans will be watching SummerSlam streaming than AEW on TNT and this is the big question of how much that will affect the rating.”
Only time will tell how low AEW Collision’s viewership will be this week, but they will certainly struggle against SummerSlam. It will certainly be interesting to see how many die-hard AEW fans keep it tuned to Collision for the whole two-hour show. Then again, this might also give some fans an excuse to break out their multi-screen setup.
Logan Paul is expected to open up SummerSlam so he can jump on a jet and make it to his brother’s fight later that night. We will keep a close eye on this story, and so many more, right here at Ringside News. As always, please chime in by using the comments below to let us know what you think!