SummerSlam (2026)

Main event matches

Roman Reigns defended Raw's World Heavyweight Championship against career rival Seth Rollins.

On the June 29 episode of Raw, Seth Rollins confronted World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns. Rollins, who never lost the World Heavyweight Championship when he last held it as he had to vacate it in October 2025 due to an injury, claimed that Reigns possessed something that belonged to him. Reigns rejected this assertion, arguing that Rollins had not earned a title shot. Rollins countered by insisting he had always dominated Reigns since striking his back with a steel chair in June 2014 and ultimately ending their former stable, The Shield. He subsequently offered Reigns a chance to defeat him in what might be his "last chance". Reigns responded that he wanted his entire family to witness him defeat Rollins before accepting Rollins's challenge for the title at SummerSlam.^[15] The match was scheduled as the main event of night two.^[16]

Oba Femi relinquished his 2026 King of the Ring championship opportunity to instead face Brock Lesnar in a Hell in a Cell match.

At WrestleMania 42 Night 2 on April 19, Oba Femi defeated Brock Lesnar. Following the match, an emotional Lesnar removed his gloves and boots and left them in the center of the ring, seemingly retiring from professional wrestling. In the weeks that followed, Femi held weekly open challenges on Raw where he remained unbeaten.^[17][18] As Femi was about to have another open challenge on the May 18 episode, he was attacked by a returning Lesnar, who performed four F-5s on Femi. Later that night, Lesnar's advocate Paul Heyman handed Raw General Manager Adam Pearce a contract for a rematch between Lesnar and Femi at Clash in Italy on May 31,^[19][20] where Lesnar defeated Femi after seven F-5s.^[21] At Night of Champions on June 27, Femi won the King of the Ring tournament to earn a world championship match of his choice at SummerSlam.^[22] As Femi was celebrating his win on the following Raw, Lesnar attacked Femi with a low blow and an F-5. Femi immediately recovered and challenged Lesnar to a match at SummerSlam. Lesnar accepted on the condition that it would be a Hell in a Cell match. The match was made official later that night with Femi relinquishing his championship opportunity to instead face Lesnar at the event,^[15] later explaining that Lesnar would have cost him his championship match anyway.^[23] The match was scheduled as the main event of night one.^[24]

Undercard matches

CM Punk defended SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship against Cody Rhodes.

At Night of Champions on June 27, Sami Zayn defeated defending champion Cody Rhodes and Gunther in a triple threat match to win the Undisputed WWE Championship.^[22] On the July 3 episode of SmackDown, Raw General Manager and interim SmackDown General Manager Adam Pearce scheduled a match between Rhodes and Jey Uso for the right to challenge for the title on the following episode of Raw, which was won by Rhodes later that night.^[25] On the July 6 episode of Raw, Gunther attacked Rhodes backstage. Later that night, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis appeared and found Rhodes's replacement for the scheduled title match. In the episode's main event, a returning CM Punk, who had been on hiatus since the Raw after WrestleMania 42, replaced Rhodes and defeated Zayn to capture the Undisputed WWE Championship.^[26] On the July 10 episode of SmackDown, Punk challenged anyone to face him. Rhodes appeared and recalled that when he was the champion, he told Punk he would face him anytime Punk wanted. Punk then asked "when" which Rhodes responded with "SummerSlam" before they shook hands, and the title match was later made official.^[27] The following week, it was announced that should Gunther and Zayn defeat Punk and Rhodes in their scheduled tag team match at Saturday Night's Main Event XLV the next night, then Gunther and Zayn would be added to the title match at SummerSlam to make it a fatal four-way match.^[28] Punk and Rhodes defeated Gunther and Zayn to keep their title match one-on-one.^[29] The match was scheduled for night one.^[24]

Raw's Women's World Champion Liv Morgan defended her title against 2026 Queen of the Ring winner Iyo Sky.

Throughout June, the 2026 Queen of the Ring tournament was held where the winner would earn a women's world championship match of their choice at SummerSlam. Despite holding Raw's Women's World Championship, Liv Morgan entered the tournament as she wanted to ultimately win SmackDown's WWE Women's Championship to become a double world champion.^[30] Both Morgan and fellow Raw wrestler Iyo Sky made it to the final at Night of Champions where Sky defeated Morgan. Following their match, Sky chose to challenge Morgan for the Women's World Championship.^[22] The match was scheduled for night one.^[24]

On the July 13 episode of Raw, Chad Gable won a gauntlet match to earn a WWE Intercontinental Championship match against Penta at SummerSlam in Gable's hometown of Minneapolis.^[23] This setup a rematch between the two from January 2025, where Penta defeated a then-heel Gable in Penta's WWE debut,^[31] which ultimately led Gable to become the original El Grande Americano and coming to respect lucha libre after Gable was unmasked in May 2026.^[32][33] The match was scheduled for night two.^[16]

In April 2026, Roman Reigns began reforming The Bloodline with his cousins The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso). Their cousin Jacob Fatu then joined after Reigns defeated him in Tribal Combat at Clash in Italy the next month.^[21] Before the reformation, LA Knight had teamed up several times with The Usos, however, Knight was against the reformation of The Bloodline due to his past issues with the group. Royce Keys, an old friend of Fatu's, also tried convincing Fatu not to join the group. After Fatu joined, he and The Usos went over to SmackDown to try and convince Solo Sikoa to rejoin^[27]—after Reigns went on hiatus in April 2024 and left The Bloodline fractured, Sikoa formed his own version called The MFTs, which had included Fatu until mid-2025 before the group disbanded in June 2026.^[34] Sikoa appeared on the July 13 episode of Raw to seemingly rejoin, but instead attacked his older brothers The Usos and cousin Fatu. Following this, Knight challenged The Bloodline (Fatu and The Usos) to face himself, Keys, and Sikoa in six-man tag team match at SummerSlam, which was subsequently confirmed.^[23] The match was scheduled for night one.^[24]

At WrestleMania 42 Night 2, Rhea Ripley defeated Jade Cargill to win the WWE Women's Championship.^[17] Ripley retained the title in a rematch at Clash in Italy, however, she sustained a torn meniscus.^[21] Due to her injury, Ripley was largely absent from SmackDown following the event. On July 17, Raw General Manager and interim SmackDown General Manager Adam Pearce confirmed that Ripley would not compete at SummerSlam and instead, it was announced that an interim champion would be crowned until Ripley's return, determined by a five-woman ladder match at SummerSlam.^[35] Qualifying matches began that night on SmackDown, where Tiffany Stratton and Cargill advanced by defeating Jacy Jayne and Nia Jax, respectively; Cargill advanced after Charlotte Flair attacked her, causing a disqualification win for Cargill. Jax was then given another chance in a qualifying match on the following week's episode against Flair,^[28] who also won by disqualification after Cargill's interference. Also on that episode, Chelsea Green qualified by defeating Kiana James.^[36] The ladder match was then scheduled for night two.^[16] The final qualifying match took place on the SmackDown the night before SummerSlam, where Lash Legend defeated Giulia.^[37]

Nick Aldis, who had served as the on-screen general manager of SmackDown since joining WWE in 2023, temporarily gave up his executive position to face Gunther, marking Aldis's WWE in-ring debut.

After a controversial loss to then-Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes at Clash in Italy,^[21] Gunther threatened SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis with a lawsuit if he did not get a rematch.^[38] On SmackDown two weeks later, Gunther failed to capture the title again because of Sami Zayn, who Gunther chose as the special guest referee. Later that night, Gunther accused Aldis of being the only reason he failed to win the title, demanding another rematch at Night of Champions.^[39] After Zayn won the title against Rhodes and Gunther in a triple threat match at the event,^[22] Gunther had a physical confrontation with Aldis on the post-show, calling Aldis a "failed wrestler".^[40] On the following episode of Raw, commentator Michael Cole announced that Aldis was placed on administrative leave.^[41] After Aldis was reinstated as SmackDown General Manager on the July 10 episode of SmackDown, Gunther demanded a spot in the Undisputed WWE Championship match at SummerSlam. Later that night, Aldis announced that Gunther and Zayn would face Rhodes and CM Punk, who had defeated Zayn to win the title, at Saturday Night's Main Event XLV. Aldis told Gunther that he needed to fix the mistake of thinking that he would not be a big issue on SmackDown before Gunther attacked Aldis, repeatedly applying the sleeper hold as referees and producers tried to pull him away.^[27] It was subsequently revealed that if Gunther and Zayn could defeat Rhodes and Punk, they would be inserted into the title match between Punk and Rhodes at SummerSlam to make it a fatal four-way match. At the event, Aldis prevented Gunther and Zayn from winning the match, pulling out a referee as Gunther attempted a pinfall and hitting Gunther with the title belt.^[29] During the SummerSlam Kickoff show the next day, Gunther frustratingly asked WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque what he would do to Aldis for causing the loss. Gunther and Aldis then brawled until security pulled them apart. Triple H then announced that Gunther would face Aldis at SummerSlam, which would be Aldis's WWE in-ring debut and his first match since October 2023, which was on the independent circuit.^[42] During the contract signing on the following SmackDown, it was revealed that in order for the match to be made official, Aldis would have to relinquish his position as SmackDown General Manager, the duties of which would transfer fully to Adam Pearce, and Aldis agreed.^[36] The match was scheduled for night one.^[24]

On the June 15 episode of Raw, Women's World Champion Liv Morgan unsuccessfully attempted to pay Danhausen US$100,000 to curse Oba Femi, the opponent of her on-screen boyfriend and Judgment Day stablemate Dominik Mysterio in the semifinals of the King of the Ring tournament. Danhausen subsequently stole the money and cursed the entire group (Morgan, Mysterio, JD McDonagh, Raquel Rodriguez, and Roxanne Perez) as they went on a losing streak.^[43] At Saturday Night's Main Event XLV on July 18, Danhausen defeated McDonagh in a No Disqualification match.^[29] On the following Raw, Danhausen and The Judgment Day continued to fight over the money. It was subsequently announced that Danhausen and Mysterio would face each other at SummerSlam, where the winner would keep the $100,000.^[44] The match was scheduled for night two.^[16] On the final Raw before SummerSlam, Danhausen was attacked by Mysterio and McDonagh. Raw General Manager Adam Pearce then stated that Danhausen should return the money to Mysterio, however, Danhausen declined, and instead stated that he wanted his match against Mysterio to be a Human Monies on a Pole match, which Pearce agreed.^[45]

At Night of Champions, Sami Zayn won the Undisputed WWE Championship, however, he lost the title just nine days later to a returning CM Punk.^[22] At Saturday Night's Main Event XLV, Zayn and Gunther faced Punk and Cody Rhodes, where had Gunther and Zayn won, they would have been added to Punk and Rhodes' title match at SummerSlam; however, they lost after interference from Nick Aldis, who attacked Gunther.^[29] On that week's SmackDown, Zayn demanded to new SmackDown General Manager Adam Pearce to be inserted into Punk and Rhodes's match, however, Pearce declined and announced that at SummerSlam, Zayn would face the winner of a fatal-four-way match, scheduled for later that night, to determine the #1 contender for the Undisputed WWE Championship, which Zayn reluctantly accepted. The fatal-four-way was won by Finn Bálor.^[36] The match was scheduled for night two.^[16]

On the April 24 episode of SmackDown, Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, and Lainey Reid) made their main roster debut, attacking WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Brie Bella and Paige. Afterwards, both teams began a rivalry, culminating in a match for the title at Saturday Night's Main Event XLV where Henley and Reid won the championship.^[29] On that week's SmackDown, Brie defeated Reid, but after the match, Brie and Paige were attacked by the rest of Fatal Influence. Brie's twin sister Nikki Bella, who had been dealing with an injury since April, made a surprise return, aiding Brie and Paige. Nikki subsequently announced that herself, Brie, and Paige would face Fatal Influence in a six-woman tag team match at SummerSlam.^[36] The match was scheduled for night one.^[24]

On the July 10 episode of SmackDown, Baron Corbin, who had left WWE in November 2024 after his contract expired, made a surprise return to WWE by attacking Trick Williams and Carmelo Hayes before holding up Williams's WWE United States Championship, signaling his intention to challenge for the title.^[27] Two weeks later, after SmackDown went off the air, Corbin once again attacked Williams, leading the champion to challenge him to a match with the title on the line at SummerSlam, which Corbin accepted, and it was subsequently made official.^[46] The match was scheduled for night two.^[16]

Preliminary matches

Night 1 opened with Liv Morgan defending Raw's Women's World Championship against Iyo Sky. As Sky climbed to the top turnbuckle, Morgan's Judgment Day stablemate Roxanne Perez distracted the referee, which allowed Judgment Day member Raquel Rodriguez to shove Sky off the ropes. Sky later neutralized Perez and Rodriguez by diving onto them on the outside. She attacked Morgan with Morgan's own finishing maneuver the "ObLIVion", in which Sky jumped up to Sky as she stood against the ropes before pulling her head into the mat, for a near-fall. When Sky attempted a dive onto a supine Morgan, Morgan countered it with her feet and executed the "ObLIVion" to retain the title via pinfall.^[47]

Next was an interpromotional match in which the team of Raw's LA Knight and SmackDown's Royce Keys and Solo Sikoa battled Raw's The Bloodline (Jacob Fatu, Jey Uso, and Jimmy Uso). Keys powerbombed Fatu, in which Keys lifted Fatu up to his shoulders before slamming Fatu down, into the timekeeper's area. In the ring, as Jey and Jimmy prepared for a double-team maneuver on Knight, Sikoa neutralized Jimmy with the "Samoan Spike", striking Jimmy's throat with his thumb, which distracted Jey. Knight took advantage and performed the "BFT" on Jey, in which Knight drove Jey's head into the mat while falling forwards, to win the match via pinfall.^[47]

After that, Gunther faced Nick Aldis. Aldis applied a submission hold on Gunther, however, Gunther reached the ring ropes to void the submission. Gunther then shoved Aldis into the corner and applied a sleeper hold. Aldis reversed it, however, Gunther re-applied the hold and forced Aldis to tap out. Thus, Gunther won the match via submission.^[47]

In the fourth match, Paige and The Bella Twins (Nikki Bella and Brie Bella) faced SmackDown's Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, and Lainey Reid). As The Bella Twins attempted a double-team maneuver on Reid, Henley pulled Brie out of the ring. Henley and Reid then worked together to attack Nikki, however, the ensuing pinfall attempt was broken up by Paige. After Paige tagged in, Henley distracted her, and Jayne executed the "Rolling Encore", in which Jayne spun around before punching Paige's face, to win the match via pinfall. Following the match, The Bella Twins attacked Paige, turning heel in the process; Nikki particularly targeted Paige's surgically repaired neck.^[47]

In the penultimate match, CM Punk defended SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship against Cody Rhodes. After Punk kicked Rhodes with his leg, Punk was noticeably holding his left knee, which Rhodes began to target. Punk later placed Rhodes on the announce table before attempting an elbow drop off the top rope, however, Rhodes dodged and Punk crashed through the table and landed on his damaged knee instead. When Punk evaded Rhodes' attack, Rhodes accidentally incapacitated the referee instead. Punk performed the "GTS", in which Punk placed Rhodes on his shoulders before striking Rhodes' face with his knee, and attempted a pin, but no referee was available to count a pinfall attempt. Rhodes then executed the "Cross Rhodes", bending Punk backwards before twisting Punk to make him fall face-first; however, Punk rolled to the outside. Randy Orton, who had been absent since his loss to Rhodes at WrestleMania 42 in April, then appeared in the ring and attacked Rhodes with the "RKO", jumping up to Rhodes and grabbing his head to force him to fall face-first. Punk then returned to the ring and performed the "GTS" on Rhodes to win the match via pinfall and retain his title.^[47]

Main event

The main event was the Hell in a Cell match between Raw's Oba Femi and Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman), where the competitors were locked in a caged structure of 20 ft (6.1 m) and five tons that enclosed the ring and ringside area with no disqualifications; the only ways to win were by pinfall or submission. Lesnar executed three consecutive German suplexes, in which Lesnar lifted Femi up from behind before bridging backward and slamming Femi shoulder-first. However, Femi recovered quickly to attack Lesnar with a clothesline, in which Femi charged at Lesnar with his outstretched arm to strike Lesnar's torso, to send him to the outside. Femi later drove Lesnar into a table positioned against the cell. Lesnar then responded by striking Femi with the steel steps. Lesnar later exposed the wooden boards in the ring before executing a tombstone piledriver onto the exposed boards, in which Lesnar positioned Femi upside down before kneeling down to drive Femi's head down for a near-fall. When Lesnar attempted to strike with a steel chair, Femi knocked it out of Lesnar's hands before performing the "Fall From Grace", in which Femi lifted Lesnar up to his shoulders before slamming Lesnar down. Femi then pinned Lesnar to win the match. Following the match, Lesnar embraced Femi and endorsed him as the future of WWE.^[47]

Preliminary matches

Night 2 opened with Sami Zayn versus Finn Bálor to determine the number one contender for SmackDown's Undisputed WWE Championship. Before the match began, reinstated SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis added Gunther to the match before also adding a returning Kevin Owens, who had been out with an injury since April 2025, making it a fatal four-way match, where the first competitor to pin or submit an opponent wins. As Gunther applied a sleeper hold on Zayn, Bálor performed a "Coup de Grâce" on Zayn, in which Bálor dove off the top rope to stomp Zayn's chest with his feet, to void the submission. Balor followed with a pin attempt, however, Gunther voided the pin attempt. Owens then attacked Bálor and Gunther with stunners, grabbing his opponent down before dropping down to a seated position to force his opponent's jaw to hit his shoulder. As Owens attempted a stunner on Zayn, however, Zayn countered and performed the "Blue Thunder Bomb", in which Zayn lifted Owens up to his shoulders as he spun around before slamming Owens down, for a near-fall. Zayn prepared to kick Owens' face, however, Owens attacked Zayn's chin with a kick instead. Owens then performed a stunner on Zayn to win the match via pinfall.^[48]

Next, Trick Williams (accompanied by Lil Yachty) defended SmackDown's WWE United States Championship against Baron Corbin. After raking Williams' eyes, Corbin ran towards the ropes, but Yachty hit him with a kendo stick; the referee missed both attacks. Corbin later grabbed the title belt, which prompted Yachty to confront him. Corbin then hit Williams with the title belt while the referee was distracted from dealing with Yachty. Corbin then executed the "End of Days", in which Corbin grabbed Williams mid-air with his right arm before falling backwards to plant Williams face-first into the mat, to get the pinfall victory and win the title.^[48]

The third match was a five-way ladder match for SmackDown's Interim WWE Women's Championship, featuring Chelsea Green, Charlotte Flair, Jade Cargill, Lash Legend, and Tiffany Stratton. In this match, the first competitor to climb a ladder and retrieve the title belt that was hung above the ring would win the match. As Stratton climbed a ladder to retrieve the belt, Green tipped the ladder over to send her crashing down onto the other competitors on the outside. B-Fab and Michin ran out to stop Green from climbing, which led to Green being trapped upside down while her legs were hooked to the ladder. They then tried helping Cargill climb the ladder before Flair neutralized them and began climbing the ladder. Flair and Cargill knocked down Stratton and Legend, who tried to join them on the ladders, before they knocked each other off the ladder. Green then recovered and climbed the ladder to retrieve the belt and win the interim title.^[48]

Next was a match from Raw, in which Danhausen and Dominik Mysterio in a Human Monies on a Pole match, where the first competitor to retrieve the money bag off the pole in a corner of the ring would win the match. Mysterio's Judgment Day stablemate JD McDonagh came out to stop Danhausen from retrieving the money bag. Three Minihausens appeared to attack McDonagh and Mysterio. Danhausen went for the bag again, but McDonagh stopped him. Joe Hendry appeared and slammed a guitar on McDonagh's back. As Mysterio went for the bag, Danhausen cursed him, which set off pyrotechnics from the ring post that caused Mysterio to fall off the ropes. Danhausen then retrieved the money bag to get the victory.^[48]

In the penultimate match, Penta defended Raw's WWE Intercontinental Championship against Chad Gable. Penta pulled Gable into the turnbuckles, which caused significant damage on Gable's injured shoulder. After performing a diving headbutt off the top rope, he attempted a pinfall but could not do a proper cover due to his damaged shoulder, which allowed Penta to kick out. Penta hit Gable with a "Mexican Destroyer", in which Penta flipped over to drive Gable's head down, on the ring apron for a near-fall. When Penta tried it again, Gable countered with an ankle lock, which forced Penta to tap out. Thus, Gable won the title via submission.^[48]

Main event

In the main event, Roman Reigns defended Raw's World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins. They fought into the crowd, where Reigns suplexed Rollins onto a steel object, lifting Rollins over him before slamming Rollins down back-first. At ringside, Reigns powerbombed Rollins through the Spanish announce table, but Rollins responded by powerbombing Reigns through the English announce table; both men returned to the ring just before the ten-count. Reigns and Rollins later traded punches, which led to Rollins unintentionally knocking down the referee. Reigns hit the "Dirty Deeds", the signature move of their old Shield stablemate Dean Ambrose. Reigns then attempted to charge at Rollins, but Rollins evaded; thus, Reigns hit the referee instead. Rollins prepared to hit Reigns with a steel chair, but Reigns anticipated it and struck first instead. Rollins urged Reigns to hit him with the chair, but Reigns tossed it aside. Rollins later attempted the stomp on Reigns' head off the top rope, but Reigns evaded and connected with a spear, charging at Rollins before driving his shoulder into Rollins' midsection to force them to fall back into the mat. He went for another spear before making the cover to win the match and retain the title via pinfall. After the match, Reigns and Rollins showed respect to one another by doing their signature Shield fist bump as English commentator Michael Cole called it the "final chapter" of their rivalry.^[48]