WWE SummerSlam 2023 News – Ticket Sales, Live Gate Revenue, & Matches Plans Updates

Next month’s WWE SummerSlam 2023 event at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan is currently expected to be the most watched event in SummerSlam history, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer reported that the reason for this is due to both the growth of Peacock’s subscriber base and WWE’s popularity over the past year.

In terms of attendance, Meltzer reported that WWE has distributed around 45,971 tickets, both sold and comp, as of Thursday. Meltzer also reported that this would be the second largest ever attendance for a SummerSlam event and only behind the SummerSlam 1992 event at Wembley Stadium.

In terms of live gate revenues, Meltzer reported that this year’s event is currently expected to be the largest gate for any non-WrestleMania event ever in the United States. Meltzer also reported that the target goal would be $7.3 million in real money and $7.7 million in WWE’s claimed amount for this past January’s Royal Rumble 2023 event that included revenues from both ticket sales and Ticketmaster fees.

In regards to WWE’s current plans for announced matches, Meltzer reported that his sources stated that WWE officials currently have plans in place for the “fight” stipulation for Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler to be more similar to a MMA Rules type match and not a street fight type match.

In regards to unannounced matches, Meltzer reported that WWE officials still have plans for Rhea Ripley to defend her WWE Women’s World Championship against Raquel Rodriguez at the event. Meltzer also reported that as of this week, WWE officials are still planning for Austin Theory to defend his United States Championship against Rey Mysterio or Santos Escobar on the August 4th SmackDown show in Dayton, Ohio and not at the following night’s SummerSlam event.