In the main event, Brock Lesnar defeated Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns, and Samoa Joe in a fatal four-way match to retain Raw's Universal Championship and in the penultimate match, Jinder Mahal defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to retain SmackDown's WWE Championship.

Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer",[2] it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views, along with WrestleMania, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four".

[4][5] Announced on September 28, 2015, the 2017 event was the 30th SummerSlam and was scheduled to be held on August 20, 2017, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the third consecutive year.

It featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions, and in addition to airing on traditional PPV worldwide, the event was available to livestream on the WWE Network.

[17] At Battleground, Natalya won a fatal five-way elimination match to become the number one contender for Naomi's SmackDown Women's Championship at SummerSlam.

[16] Bayley then suffered a legitimate shoulder injury, incurred during a match with Nia Jax,[17][19] forcing her to relinquish her number one contender's spot.

[22] At Battleground, Jinder Mahal defeated Randy Orton in a Punjabi Prison match to retain the WWE Championship with help from The Singh Brothers and the return of The Great Khali.

[24] On the Great Balls of Fire Kickoff pre-show, Neville defeated Akira Tozawa to retain the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.

[13] On the July 31 episode of Raw, a number one contender's match was scheduled between Tozawa and Ariya Daivari for the following night's 205 Live with the winner facing Neville for the Cruiserweight Championship at SummerSlam.

A frustrated Owens confronted Shane and SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan and demanded a rematch, but with a competent referee.

[17] On the August 7 episode, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson defeated Amore and Big Show after a distraction from Cass, and a brawl broke out between the three.

Later, Cass confronted Raw General Manager Kurt Angle, wanting a match against Big Show at SummerSlam, but with Amore banned from the entire state of New York.

[21] On the July 17 episode of Raw, as Finn Bálor was making his way to the backstage after his match with Elias, Bray Wyatt appeared on the TitanTron.

[24] The following week, SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan scheduled a match between Corbin and Cena at SummerSlam.

[30] On the final SmackDown before SummerSlam, Corbin attacked Cena during the latter's non-title match against Mahal, causing a disqualification.

[28] Throughout July and August 2017, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins teased a potential and partial Shield reunion for several weeks with both men sticking their fists out for the other for The Shield's signature fist bump, but both would decline each week, primarily due to trust issues from Rollins' betrayal three years prior.

[21] Finally, on the August 14 episode of Raw, although both Ambrose and Rollins got into a physical altercation earlier in the night, the two came together to fight off Cesaro and Sheamus and both reciprocated the fist bump and reunited.

This led to a six-man tag team match later that night between The Miz and The Miztourage against The Hardy Boyz and Jordan, where the latter won.

[22] On August 17, WWE announced that The Miz and The Miztourage would be facing The Hardy Boyz and Jordan in a rematch on the SummerSlam Kickoff pre-show.

Jey and Jimmy performed a double Samoan Splash on Big E to win the titles for a record-setting second time.

[36] In the seventh match, Cesaro and Sheamus defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.

[36] Next, AJ Styles defended the United States Championship against Kevin Owens, with Shane McMahon serving as special guest referee.

[36] In the penultimate match, Jinder Mahal (accompanied by The Singh Brothers) defended the WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura.

[36] In the main event, Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) defended the WWE Universal Championship against Braun Strowman, Roman Reigns and Samoa Joe in a Fatal Four-Way match, with the stipulation that should Lesnar lose the championship, he and Heyman would leave WWE.

Strowman performed a Running Powerslam on Lesnar through an announce table and threw a commentator's chair at Joe and Reigns.

Strowman performed a Running Powerslam on Joe, but Lesnar avoided a pinfall at a two count, taking the referee out of the ring.

[37] Both then participated in a battle royal to determine the number one contender for the Intercontinental Championship where Bray Wyatt caused Bálor's elimination,[38] setting up a rematch for No Mercy.

[41] On the September 5 episode, Nakamura defeated Randy Orton to receive another chance at the WWE Championship at Hell in a Cell.

After a verbal confrontation, Styles agreed to the rematch and Shane allowed Owens to pick a special guest referee, but said this would be his last chance at the title.

[49] On the following episode of 205 Live, Akira Tozawa received his rematch for Neville's WWE Cruiserweight Championship, but was unsuccessful.