SummerSlam (2026)

Background

SummerSlam is an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event traditionally held in August by WWE since 1988. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer",^[1] it is one of the promotion's five biggest events of the year, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, and Money in the Bank, referred to as the "Big Five".^[2][3] Out of the five, it is considered WWE's second biggest event of the year behind WrestleMania.^[4][5]

Announced on May 23, 2024, the 39th SummerSlam is scheduled to be held across two nights on Saturday, August 1, and Sunday, August 2, 2026, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota and feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. This will be the second SummerSlam to be held across two nights (although the first one to be announced) and the first WWE stadium event held in Minneapolis.^[6] This will subsequently be the second SummerSlam held in Minneapolis, after the 1999 event, which was held at the Target Center.^[7]

Broadcast outlets

In addition to airing on traditional pay-per-view worldwide, SummerSlam will be available to livestream on the ESPN streaming service in the United States, Netflix in most international markets, SuperSport in Sub-Saharan Africa, and Abema in Japan.^[8] This marks the first SummerSlam to livestream on ESPN in the United States, as WWE's contract with Peacock to air main roster PPV and livestreaming events expired at the conclusion of Clash in Paris in August 2025.^[9]

Storylines

The card will include matches that result from scripted storylines. Results are predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines are produced on WWE's weekly television programs, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.^[10][11]

Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi will fight each other at the event inside Hell in a Cell.

At Night of Champions on June 27, 2026, Oba Femi won the King of the Ring tournament final for a world championship match at SummerSlam.^[12] Two nights later on Raw, Brock Lesnar made a surprise return and attacked Femi with a low blow and an F-5. Immediately after, Femi rose to his feet, insulted Lesnar and challenged him to a match at SummerSlam. Lesnar accepted on the condition that the match would be inside Hell in a Cell. The match was made official later that night with Femi forgoing his championship match at the event.^[13]

2026 Queen of the Ring Iyo Sky will challenge Liv Morgan for the Women's World Championship

On that same night, Iyo Sky defeated Women's World Champion Liv Morgan in the Queen of the Ring tournament final for a women's world championship match at SummerSlam. Following their match, Sky chose to challenge Morgan for the Women's World Championship.^[12]

In the final chapter of their twelve-year blood feud, Roman Reigns will defend the World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins.