Seth Rollins Beats Finn Bálor at WWE SummerSlam 2023, Retains World Heavyweight Title

Photo credit: WWE.com

Seth Rollins defeated Finn Bálor at SummerSlam on Saturday night to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.

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We’re singing ALL night long!@WWERollins retains the #WorldTitle against @FinnBalor at #SummerSlam! #AndStill pic.twitter.com/jAjSGI9gjJ

Rollins overcame the interference of The Judgment Day ringside to earn the win.

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MAMI & “Dirty” Dom are here at #SummerSlam!@RheaRipley_WWE and @DomMysterio35 have arrived!!! pic.twitter.com/hKpm8YJcHT

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World Heavyweight Champion @WWERollins contends with The Judgment Day at #SummerSlam! pic.twitter.com/mtZLOKmC17

Earlier in the match, Damian Priest slid his men’s Money in the Bank briefcase into the ring and encouraged Bálor to use it with the referee distracted by Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio. The Irishman didn’t seem interested in doing so.

Later on, Rollins kicked out of Bálor’s Coup de Grace attempt, and he earned the win after hitting The Prince with a Stomp onto the briefcase for the victory.

The SummerSlam bout was a rematch of the clash between Rollins and Bálor that occurred at Money in the Bank in London last month.

Priest won the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match earlier that night, and his presence at ringside with the briefcase in tow inadvertently distracted Bálor, allowing Rollins to win and retain the title.

The Irishman blamed his stablemate for costing him the match, and for a period of a week or two, it seemed as though The Judgment Day was in serious danger of imploding.

Bálor and Priest eventually came to an understanding, though, with the latter insisting he never would have cashed in on the former and was only ringside at Money in the Bank in case things went awry.

Priest also agreed to step aside and allow Bálor to pursue a rematch against Rollins given the controversial finish in London.

A few weeks ago on Raw, Bálor interrupted a backstage interview involving Rollins and challenged The Visionary to a rematch. The titleholder offered to settle the score right then and there, but the Irishman seemingly backed down.

It was a ruse, though, as Bálor reentered the picture and attacked Rollins, setting the stage for their return match at SummerSlam.

Bálor was already desperate to beat The Visionary for the world heavyweight title, but his sense of urgency increased even more in the weeks prior to the pay-per-view.

In addition to Priest being Mr. Money in the Bank and Ripley being the women’s world champion, Mysterio beat Wes Lee on an episode of NXT to become the North American champion.

That left Bálor as the only Judgment Day member without a major accolade, and that remained the case at SummerSlam, as he fell short in his attempt to take the title from Rollins.

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