Best and Worst Booking Decisions of 2023 WWE SummerSlam Results

Any premium live event the magnitude of WWE's SummerSlam is destined to contain booking decisions that earn the approval of fans and analysts, as well as those that leave viewers scratching their heads.

Some make sense and elevate all involved. Others create questions about logic or why something was even added to the card given the execution.

Saturday's extravaganza, live from Detroit's Ford Field, had some of both.

Best: Brock Lesnar Acknowledges Cody Rhodes

Moments after Cody Rhodes pinned Brock Lesnar to win the third and deciding match in their rivalry, The Beast Incarnate removed his gloves, approached the victor and embraced him.

Then he offered up his hand to a surprised Rhodes and proceeded to walk him around the ring, raising his arm and acknowledging Cody as the guy.

It was an unexpected moment, sure, but it was also something we rarely see out of Lesnar. After a defeat, he showed Rhodes respect and his actions announced to the world that the second-generation star is every bit the top-tier competitor that he has been made out to be since returning to the company.

Perhaps crediting Lesnar's actions to a booking decision is premature because The Beast has a tendency to do things on the fly and there was a moment when the look on Rhodes' face suggested that may be the case.

Still, even if it was the case, the commentary and productions teams did a great job of selling the enormity of the moment while the crowd's reaction reflected as much.

Rhodes remains as hot as he has ever been and now, with the sign of approval from a massive star who fans trust and invest in, there is little doubt that he is one of the two or three biggest stars in WWE.

Worst: Ronda Rousey vs. Shayna Baszler Makes the Card

The fans in Detroit were relatively hot for the majority of Saturday's show, with one exception: the grudge match between former friends Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler.

There are a couple of reasons why that could be the case, most notably the lack of time to actually build a quality feud. Another could be that neither Rousey nor Baszler was presented as a clear-cut babyface, giving fans no indication as to whom they should root for.

With no obvious hero, a story that was rushed at best, and a match style that was more reflective of an MMA fight than a pro wrestling match, fans chose not to approach the match with the same energy and excitement they did for the night's other bouts.

Adding Rousey vs. Baszler, with a limited build outside of a great video package, was a creative mistake. Yes, it is entirely possible it was Rousey's final match with the company, but that did not warrant its addition to a card that noticeably lacked the expected dream match between Trish Stratus and Becky Lynch.

The fans' stubborn, though understandable, refusal to invest proved as much.

Best: Seth Rollins Bests The Judgment Day

The Judgment Day has been a dominant force all summer long, with Finn Balor, Damian Priest, Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley earning key victories and eating up considerable television time as the hottest act on Monday Night Raw.

The faction encountered a speed bump Saturday as miscommunication between Balor and Priest allowed Rollins to deliver a stomp to the former, onto the latter's Money in the Bank briefcase, and intensify the dissension we have seen at times between them.

There were moments when it looked like Balor may avenge the injury Rollins had dealt him seven years earlier by dethroning him but, ultimately, The Visionary was able to successfully defend the World Heavyweight Championship.

It was the right call, too.

So much of the build to the match was the underlying tension between Balor and Priest that would rear its head on occasion before they refocused and continued their domination of the flagship show. This finish was proof that it was not a storyline element that was disappearing with no payoff.

Furthermore, Rollins worked for four years to get back to the position of world champion and though it has been nearly three months, it feels far too early for him to drop it.

How Judgment Day weathers the storm, and what role Rollins may have in it, is the story moving forward and that is a good thing for Raw and its fans, who have embraced the rivalry and will be interested in seeing if Balor and Priest really can put their differences aside at this point.

Worst: Jimmy Uso Betrays Jey, Costs Him the Win

Roman Reigns, Paul Heyman, and anyone else with hands in The Bloodline Saga has earned the benefit of the doubt in regard to the latest storyline developments in that particular program.

It is one that has captivated audiences for three years now, lifted the business to new heights, and produced some of the best television fans of the industry have ever seen.

With that said, the shocking betrayal of Jey Uso by his brother Jimmy at the conclusion on Saturday's SummerSlam feels, at least on the surface, like a creative misstep.

Yes, the explanation will likely be something along the lines of Jimmy hearing Paul Heyman blame Jey for the beating he endured at the hands of Reigns and Solo Sikoa. It will probably feature Jimmy questioning where his brother was when he was healing in a hospital bed.

He may even question why Jey was out challenging for title shots instead of supporting him in his recovery.

All of that would make sense, but what does not is that it was Jimmy that necessitated the split of The Bloodline in the first place. He was the one that championed the brothers moving on from Reigns and his manipulative ways. He was the one that initially took a stand against The Tribal Chief and motivated Jey to break from his cousin to support his brother.

To throw away that enormous storyline development and execute a shocking swerve like we got here feels like the wrong move in a program that has been filled with nothing but the right ones.

Perhaps it is revealed that Jimmy was acting alone, no longer under the rule of The Head of the Table but, rather, his own man. There will be a sibling rivalry, fans will be asked to choose between Jey and Jimmy and the result will likely be a one-on-one match few ever expected they would see.

That is all well and good, but it is difficult to get over the idea that an entire three-week span of television that was so hugely significant in historic television rating feats and fan interest, was rendered meaningless by Jimmy's actions.

At least on the surface.

In Reigns and Heyman we trust because, well, they have earned it with this storyline. In the moment and on the surface, though, it feels like a questionable creative choice at best.