WWE SummerSlam: Finn Balor Turns on Damien Priest, Gunther Wins WWE Heavyweight Championship

A WWE World Heavyweight Champion has been crowned at WWE SummerSlam 2024 after a surprise interference from Finn Balor. It's been a wild road for Damien Priest ever since he successfully cashed in the Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania 40 earlier this year. Though he has managed to successfully defend the WWE Championship to this point, the end of the road seemed kind of clear once Gunther won a shot at the title after the King of the Ring tournament. All signs seemed like Priest's reign as champ would be coming to an end, and Gunther's run up to WWE SummerSlam seemed to further highlight that fact.

It was a much more even story during the actual premium live event , however, as Priest was ready to counter Gunther with just as many hard hits as Gunther could dish out. The two WWE Superstars chopped and kicked each other left and right, and there was a high level of aggression throughout the match. It even resulted in blood at one point through the strength of their various chops, and seemed like it could go either way. That was until Finn Balor interfered and cost Priest the win.

WWE SummerSlam 2024 Match Card and Results

This match between Priest and Gunther was Priest's first real challenge as WWE Heavyweight Champion, and it was clear that he was ready to face off against someone like Gunter as even the Ring General was taken by surprise at how far he was being pushed. It was a highly physical match, and things took a turn when Finn Balor showed up on the sidelines and seemed to go against Priest's wishes to win his big matches on his own.

When Finn came out to support Priest, it helped him to rally against a bloody Gunther. But it was soon revealed that Finn was there to interfere as he saved Gunther from being pinned by putting his leg on the rope during Priest's attempt. Angered at this, Priest was temporarily distracted by Finn and this helped Gunter to clinch the win by choking out Priest.

WWE SummerSlam 2024 is now taking place at the Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, OH, and is now streaming live exclusively with Peacock. The match card and results thus far for the premium live event are as follows:

• WWE Women's World Championship: Liv Morgan def. Rhea Ripley
• WWE Intercontinental Championship: Bron Breakker def. Sami Zayn
• WWE United States Championship: LA Knight def. Logan Paul
• WWE Women's Championship: Nia Jax def. Bayley
• Drew McIntyre def. CM Punk with Seth Rollins as special guest referee
• WWE World Heavyweight Championship: Damien Priest vs. Gunther
• Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa (Bloodline Rules Match)