WWE has officially announced SummerSlam will take place on August 21, 2021 “from a summer destination location” as WWE continues to expand its reopening efforts. WWE has been running events out of the ThunderDome, with virtual fans, in various parts of Florida including the University of South Florida in Tampa where it currently airs Raw and SmackDown. In fact, SummerSlam’s return to live crowds on August 21 will also mark the one-year anniversary of WWE launching the ThunderDome.
In addition to SummerSlam, which is rumored to take place in Las Vegas, WWE announced its next 21 live events for the summer. Tickets for SummerSlam go on sale June 18, while tickets for remaining live events go on sale June 11. Upcoming venues include the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on July 24, the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville on July 25 and the Fiserv Forum
SummerSlam’s location will reportedly be announced as part of the Belmont Stakes pre-show on June 5 per David Bourne of the Sports Business Journal. The Belmont Stakes airs on NBC, which of course is part of the NBCUniversal umbrella that WWE mostly exists in outside of Friday Night SmackDown on Fox.
WWE ticket sales have moved well after the promotion announced its return to touring, particularly Money in the Bank. As of Tuesday, the pay-per-view had just over 1,000 tickets left after selling over 10,000.
Given the excitement around WWE’s return to live pay-per-views, SummerSlam tickets figure to go quickly as well, and while Las Vegas tends to be a tricky market for pro wrestling, holding the event on a Saturday is ideal for capturing a fly-in crowd, which is a tactic AEW has used in the past with its annual Double or Nothing pay-per-view held in Vegas.
Oddly enough, Double or Nothing will be held on a Sunday this year.
WWE announced its return to touring last week, which will kick off with Friday Night SmackDown inside the Toyota Center in Houston on July 16.