The world of pro wrestling is back in full swing as live, full capacity crowds returned to AEW, during last night’s pay-per view event, “Double or Nothing.” Daily's Place in Jacksonville held a full capacity crowd of, 5,500 people. WWE will soon follow suit, as they will be next to welcome full capacity crowds. Touring’s are set to begin for both companies in July. Each company has released a limited schedule for the return of fans. As weeks progress they will be releasing more dates and big events to come down the line. One event in particular that has been officially announced for the WWE, is SummerSlam.
Image: Tampa Bay Times
This big event has been confirmed to be for the first time ever on Saturday, August 21. It will be on Peacock in the U.S. and also on the WWE Network.
The other rumor that is going around for this is that this event will take place with close to 65,000 fans. Last time this event saw that many fans was back in 1992 in London, England, with 80,000+ in attendance. That main event was between The British Bulldog and Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship. The event went very well, and was highly rated. It is still in the top-5 for largest attended events in the WWE. Every other event in the top-5 are WrestleMania events.
The location for SummerSlam 2021 has not been announced , but many speculate that it could be in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium. This brand new stadium, has a capacity limit of 65,000.
Image: WWE
With this event being held on a Saturday the real question that should be asked is will this event be held on two nights just like other Big 4 Event, WrestleMania?
Looking back at WrestleMania 35 in 2019, the event was close to 8 hours in total. While with the two-day event allows for the stories being told by the superstars more time to build, more time as far as match time goes. When it comes to main events, look at how WrestleMania was presented with both Royal Rumble winners on the Saturday and Sunday night. It makes that main event spot more meaningful.
Another question that should be asked is that will we be seeing more big events like SummerSlam get the big stage treatment?
If we take a look back at the last three years in the WWE Universe other than the shows in Suadi Arabia, events like the Royal Rumble have been held in baseball stadiums such as Chase Field and Minute Maid Park. Both stadiums hold over 40,000 people.
The last of the Big four in the WWE is Survivor Series. The largest attendance for a Survivor Series was at the first ever one in 1987 with an attendance of 21,300. The main event was Hulk Hogan, Paul Orndorff, Don Muraco, Ken Patera and Bam Bam Bigelow vs. André the Giant, One Man Gang, King Kong Bundy, Rick Rude and Butch Reed.
Isn’t it about time that the term “The Big 4” in the WWE mean something?
However, you slice it, fans returning to the wrestling world is great for the sport, and even better for the wrestlers. The product certainly will benefit from the live crowd reaction, and the environment should be electric.
Wrestling has missed the fans, and their impact over the last year. But, now, the wrestling world is ready to turn the page and begin a new era.