It was the 33rd annual SummerSlam and took place on August 23, 2020, from the WWE ThunderDome, hosted at the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.

The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions.

The event was originally scheduled to take place at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Boston mayor Marty Walsh announced the suspension of all large-scale gatherings and that no permit would be issued for an event that could draw a large crowd before September 7.

Following the match, Roman Reigns returned following a five-month hiatus and attacked both men, turning heel for the first time since 2014.

Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer",[1] it is one of the promotion's original four pay-per-views (PPV), along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series, referred to as the "Big Four".

[2][3] Announced on August 8, 2019, the 2020 event was the 33rd SummerSlam and featured wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions.

[4] As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, WWE had to present the majority of its programming for Raw and SmackDown from a behind closed doors set at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida beginning mid-March,[5] although in late May, the promotion began using Performance Center trainees to serve as the live audience,[6] which was further expanded to friends and family members of the wrestlers in mid-June.

[7] SummerSlam, as well as the preceding night's NXT TakeOver event, were originally scheduled to take place in Boston, Massachusetts at the TD Garden.

[4] On May 8, the ongoing pandemic forced Boston mayor Marty Walsh to suspend all large-scale gatherings until September 7, effectively canceling WWE's planned events in the city.

[8][9] Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer reported that the promotion was open to moving SummerSlam to September if it meant having fans in attendance.

[10] However, an advertisement that aired during The Horror Show at Extreme Rules confirmed that SummerSlam would still be taking place on August 23, but with no reference to a city or venue.

[11] Although Pro Wrestling Insider had reported that the event would be held at the WWE Performance Center,[12] the promotion put out an official statement on July 23 that the announcement of a new location would be forthcoming.

[14] On August 17, it was made official that SummerSlam would emanate from the Amway Center, a larger venue also located in Orlando.

according to WWE Executive Vice President of Television Production Kevin Dunn, who further noted that "We can now do things production-wise that we could never otherwise do".

[20] At Money in the Bank, Braun Strowman retained the Universal Championship against Bray Wyatt, who wrestled as his Firefly Fun House character.

[28] On the July 27 episode of Raw, Randy Orton cut a promo listing many of his accolades before declaring that he wanted the WWE Championship again.

[38] At The Horror Show at Extreme Rules, the Raw Women's Championship match between Sasha Banks and defending champion Asuka ended in controversy when Asuka inadvertently spat green mist in the referee's face, which led to Bayley removing the referee's shirt and counting the pin for Banks to unofficially win the title.

[30] During the ensuing match, Bayley attacked Asuka's tag team partner Kairi Sane backstage.

Asuka then left the match to check on Sane, resulting in her losing by count-out, thus Banks won the title for a record fifth time.

[27] On the August 21 episode of SmackDown, both Banks and Bayley faced Naomi in a Beat the Clock Challenge to determine the order of their respective title defenses against Asuka with the loser defending first; Banks subsequently won as she defeated Naomi, who in turn defeated Bayley.

[39] This stipulation change was brought about due to a real life incident involving Deville; her home had been broken into by a stalker in Florida.

[45] The actual pay-per-view opened with Bayley (accompanied by Sasha Banks) defending the SmackDown Women's Championship against Asuka.

[46] Next, The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) defended the Raw Tag Team Championship against Andrade and Angel Garza (accompanied by Zelina Vega).

[46] In the main event, Braun Strowman defended the Universal Championship against "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt in a Falls Count Anywhere match.

In the closing moments, Strowman used a box cutter to cut the top ring canvas to expose the wooden flooring.

[47] The following night on Raw, WWE Champion Drew McIntyre gloated how he had defeated "the greatest wrestler ever" with a wrestling move, and stated that he knew that Randy Orton wanted a rematch.

[48] On the August 31 episode, Orton earned himself another title opportunity against McIntyre for the WWE Championship at Clash of Champions.

[52] On August 24, United States Champion Apollo Crews was scheduled to defend his title against The Hurt Business' Bobby Lashley at Payback.

[53] On Raw that night, the two had an arm wrestling match that Crews won when he took a cheap shot by stomping on Lashley's foot.

[48] The day after SummerSlam, it was announced that new Universal Champion "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt would defend the title against Braun Strowman and Roman Reigns in a no holds barred triple threat match at Payback.