WWE confirms SummerSlam date, announces remaining tour plans

We now have an almost complete picture of the 25 city summer tour WWE announced last week. The only missing piece is where SummerSlam will take place. All signs have been pointing to Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium, but that reveal is being saved for their partners at NBC.

WWE’s announcement this morning (May 28) tells us SummerSlam’s “summer destination location” will be revealed on the pre-show for June 5’s Belmont Stakes horserace. They do confirm yesterday’s reports the event will take place on a Saturday.

Which is interesting, as Sat., Aug. 21 in Vegas is also the date for boxing legend Manny Pacquiao’s fight with welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. That card would start later in the evening, so in running at their usual 7 or 8 p.m. ET time means WWE wouldn’t go head-to-head Pacquiao/Spence. Like the Saturday date in general, it’s still a different play than we’re used to from Vince McMahon’s company.

According to Sports Business Journal, however, Vegas isn’t a done deal. Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA, NRG Stadium in Houston, MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ and Nissan Stadium in Nashville are all also still under consideration.

Wherever the Biggest Party of the Summer happens, the Saturday date makes it different. Also different is a move to weekend “Supercard” house shows. At least for this tour, WWE’s traveling model is Friday SmackDown, Saturday & Sunday house shows with both rosters, Monday Raw. That will include a non-televised event the day after SummerSlam.

Here’s a look at the entire tour with today’s announcement:

• Fri., July 16: SmackDown – Toyota Center in Houston
• Sun., July 18: Money in the Bank – Dickies Arena in Fort Worth
• Mon., July 19: Raw – Americans Airline Center in Dallas
• Fri., July 23: SmackDown – Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland
• Sat., July 24: Supershow – PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh
• Sun., July 25: Supershow – KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky.
• Mon., July 26: Raw – T-Mobile Center in Kansas City
• Fri., July 30: SmackDown – Target Center in Minneapolis
• Sat., July 31: Supershow – Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee
• Sun., Aug. 1: Supershow – Little Caesars Arena in Detroit
• Mon., Aug. 2: Raw – Allstate Arena in Chicago
• Fri., Aug. 6: SmackDown – Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.
• Sat., Aug. 7: Supershow – Hertz Arena in Fort Myers, Fla.
• Sun., Aug. 8: Supershow – Stephen O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla.
• Mon., Aug. 9: Raw – Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.
• Fri., Aug. 13: SmackDown – BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla.
• Sat., Aug. 14: Supershow – Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.
• Sun., Aug. 15: Supershow – Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C.
• Mon., Aug. 16: Raw – AT&T Center in San Antonio
• Fri., Aug. 20: SmackDown – Phoenix Suns Arena in Phoenix
• Sat., Aug. 21: SummerSlam
• Sun., Aug. 22: Supershow – Ball Arena in Denver
• Mon., Aug. 23: Raw – Pechanga Arena in San Diego
• Fri., Aug. 27: SmackDown – Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock, Ark.
• Mon., Aug. 30: Raw – Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City
• Fri., Sept. 3: SmackDown – VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.
• Mon., Sept. 6: Raw – American Airlines Arena in Miami

SummerSlam tickets go on sale Fri., June 18. For all the other shows announced today, they’ll be selling them a week earlier.

Thoughts?