According to Sports Illustrated's Dave Meltzer, the initial scripted plan for Day 1 was for Big E to hand over the title to Rollins.
Bobby Lashley defeated Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins and Big E to earn a shot at the WWE championship vs Brock Lesnar.
Brock Lesnar ended the pay per view event by winning the championship by putting Big E down with an F-5 to score the pin.
The show kicked off with Raw women's champion Becky Lynch in a highly anticipated title defense against Bianca Belair.
Big E opened the show, pumping up the Houston crowd before pointing out that he needed a new challenger for the WWE championship.
The show had several highlights, starting with the first bout of the main card, a thrilling Hell in a Cell match between Edge and Rollins.
Roman Reigns defended his Universal Championship title against a charged-up Finn Balor.
SummerSlam 2021 was full of surprises. The returns of Becky Lynch and Brock Lesnar. Lesnar faced off Roman Reigns after his victory.
The latest episode of WWE SmackDown came to fans live from Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida on Saturday (August 7). Get full results here.
The WWE SmackDown that aired on July 17, 2021 will forever be a historic show in the annals of pro wrestling history.