SummerSlam 2026 Predictions

SummerSlam is just a few days away. While WWE had not yet announced the order of matches, they did release the cards for each day. Barring another match being added on SmackDown we already know what to expect to see on each day. So I’m going to go over the card for each day, and what I expect from each match. To be clear and transparent before I get into it - I don’t have USA and can’t watch SmackDown. I do read the results and recaps and watch and clips which seem to be “must see” so there might be some nuances I’m missing in some of these builds. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Click here for Night 2 or here for Final Thoughts

Night 1 - Saturday, August 1

Fatal Influence versus Paige & The Bella’s

I would expect this to kick off the weekend. Fatal Influence just won the belts from Paige and Brie, so a great push for a young team. This match adds Jacy and Nikki into the fold after Nikki just returned recently from injury.

I’m expecting Fatal Influence to take this one. It wouldn’t make sense for them to take the loss immediately after winning the belts and while on an upwards trajectory. What I think is interesting is what they can do after the match. Is everyone copaceitc after the loss? Do the Bella’s turn on Paige? I don’t think either of these scenarios really work. The Bella’s came back specifically to win the tag gold together and a heel Fatal Influence and heel Bella’s just isn’t very interesting. The Bella’s can win the belts down the line but there’s really no face teams right now for them to go against if they do turn. I’m expecting Paige to turn on the Bella’s. This can open a short program for Paige to fight both Nikki and Brie over the next several months and then lead to the Bella’s taking the belts back off Fatal Influence towards the end of the year or even around Royal Rumble.

The Uso’s & Jacob Fatu versus Royce Keys, LA Knight & Solo Sikoa

Look for the ragtag team of Keys, Knight, and Sikoa to take the win here. There’s growing frustration between Fatu and the Uso’s and I expect that to come into play here; likely some sort of miscommunication between Jey and Fatu that leads to their downfall.

A win here is also big for Keys and Solo. Keys has mostly treaded water since showing up at the Royal Rumble early this year. This establishes him against probably the top tag team in WWE history as well as the Samoan Werewolf who’s a force himself. Solo on the other hand just recently turned face and has been getting good reactions from the crowd. There’s a lot of people predicting Solo to turn on his team and join the Bloodline. I don’t think he does and overall hope this leads to the brass testing the waters with him and seeing what they can do in terms of a prolonged singles push instead of being part of a faction. Knight has been stuck treading water for a good while now with his character basically boiling down to “BLOODLINE? NUH NUH!”. It’s time for him to move on after this to something new… which is why I think with the tease of Knight and Solo coming together that Knight turns on Solo. To be the actual one to join the Bloodline. “KNIGHT TIME FOR THE BLOODLINE. YEAH!”

Yes. That is a joke.

Gunther versus Nick Aldis

There’s no way Gunther loses this. He’s basically been in a holding pattern all year but still hasn’t really looked bad. I’m not sure what they’re waiting for with him or why this match even has to happen. Aldis hasn’t wrestled in almost 3 years, so what’s the point of having him step into the ring with Gunther? Is it just because he can?

They’ve put too much into Gunther over the years for him to take the L to a general manager. He’s retired Goldberg, Cena, and Styles. He was the backup plan for Rollins for Mania when they weren’t sure if Bron could go - and he got the win. He’s been working with Sami and Cody in a program for the main title on SmackDown. A lot of people will tell you this year has been a waste for him but that’s clearly not the case. However, Gunther could be better used against just about anyone in the locker room this weekend.

Gunther, in what I hope is a quick match.

Liv Morgan (c) versus Iyo Sky - Women’s World Championship

Liv has had a disappointing run with the main woman’s belt on Raw since winning it at Mania. She has, very literally, done nothing with it. Not a single defense since April 18th. Where’s Jack Tunney when we need him to enforce a 30-day rule? Meanwhile Iyo continues to be red hot as a face. Now that Raquel has singles gold, I can see Iyo winning here. This can lead to a program between Liv and Raquel out of Liv being jealous that she no longer has the gold in the Judgement Day, ultimately dissolving the Judgement Day. It seemed they were priming Roxanne to turn face a while ago when Finn was on the show still, but that seems to have stalled and went nowhere so not sure what they do with her here but hopefully turn her face with Raquel.

If Liv wins I worry about the women’s division on Raw. While the IC title is looking good there, the main event for the women is dire right now. Iyo has to win it with Becky coming back soon ™ to challenge her for it.

Brock Lesnar versus Oba Femi - Hell in a Cell

I’m predicting this to be my match of the weekend. I’m with Big E. Keep your five star classics. I want big meaty men slappin meat! And that is exactly what we should get here - two absolute hosses beating the hell out of one another. We already got one Brock retirement this year with him leaving the boots in the ring at Mania. I do think that was authentic. I also think TKO gave him a bag to keep him for a few more months to really sell him in Minnesota, where he went to college and also played in the NFL.. kinda. I fully expect another Brock retirement after this match with him going off to his farm in Saskatchewan to call it a career and watch his kids put together their own careers. And I expect that Brock retirement to come with a victory from Oba.

CM Punk (C) versus Cody Rhodes - Undisputed WWE Championship

Here’s where my caveat at the top of the post comes in. I don’t watch SmackDown so I can’t speak entirely to this one. Are we going to go WrestleMania X-7 with two beloved faces going head to head, and one turning heel because he “has to win”? I can’t see Cody turning heel to win, but I can see Punk doing it. While Punk is a great face, he’s an all-time heel in my opinion. But I also said that Paige turns earlier in this post and I don’t know that I can see two heel turns in one night either (keep in mind, I’m talking Raquel turning face longer term). Meanwhile something deep in me is feeling the Punk turn.

Overall, I will say the build for this match has been pretty horrible. I guess it got better after SNME and the random rogue belt shot. But otherwise the build is based off “When”. Meanwhile, Sami doesn’t sniff a rematch after losing the belt to Punk. And I know, no automatic rematches. But lets face it, that’s something they very rarely follow anyway. It actually feels arbitrary TO follow it this time. And likewise, going back to what Gunther is doing - Gunther destroyed Cody on Raw the night Sami won the belt, allowing Punk to win it. Why wouldn’t Cody want blood on Gunther for screwing him out of that title match?

This entire thing feels so haphazard. When “When” leads to your championship match for the “Hottest party of the summer”, I feel you failed in your build.

I say Punk retains here along with a heel turn, giving Cody another hill to climb as we move towards next spring.

Night 2 - Sunday, August 2

Penta (c) versus Chad Gable - Intercontinental Championship

This match should have a very obvious ending, and that’s with Chad Gable being crowned the new Intercontinental Champion. His build to this moment has been going on for close to two years to this point (minus injury time). This time last year, Gable was playing El Grande Americano (or maybe he was already injured?), masking up after failing to beat Gunther, and failing to beat any luchadores, including losing to Penta in his debut with WWE. His character was that of an antagonizing asshole pretending to be someone he wasn’t, so he could hide his face from his own failures. This lead to an incredible redemption earlier this year when Gable lost a Lucha De Apuestas match for his mask versus the current El Grande Americano (who I miss from weekly WWE TV). After unmasking (and bleeding like a stuck pig), Gable showed humility. He showed respect for his opponent. He showed respect for the people of Mexico. And he went on a journey to make good for anyone he stepped on along his way, including Penta.

Penta is everything WWE needs. Great theme, great entrance, great wrestler, can cut a very decent promo. But having him win here does nothing for Penta and outright hurts Gable’s long-term story. Where Penta goes after a loss I don’t know. Maybe up the card? Maybe to SmackDown to tag with his brother in a dying division, in a hope to resuscitate it. But Gable, without a shadow of a doubt, must win this match.

Trick Williams (c) versus Baron Corbin - US Championship

Ok, let me preface this with I’m as big a Baron Corbin fan as anyone. Legitimately. When he fought Samoa Joe at NXT Brooklyn, I was sat in the top section holding a “Corbin Corner” sign as a nod to Cesaro’s “Cesaro Section” and how I was the one person in the crowd cheering for Corbin. I am an unabashed Corbin mark.

I would love to see Corbin win here. While he always hovered near the top of the card during his first run, I felt like he never got his proper due. He lost his Money in the Bank cash-in, he got a quick run as US champ at one point, then was dredged as being the reason Raw was bad, had Roman dumping dog food on him (and doing it to Roman as well), got tossed into a porta potty. As a honest Corbin mark, I feel like his first run was treated like shit.

I’m happy he’s back in WWE although I’d like him on Raw so I can actually watch him.

All of that said, Trick is getting great reactions and I don’t think he’s ready to move up the card quite yet, although he’s very close to it. I’d like to see Trick take the win here, allow Melo to come back because Corbin screwed him, and let Trick, Melo, and Corbin run it back in a three-way dance.

I’m not joking about being a Corbin mark.

Danhausen versus Dominik Mysterio - Human Monei$ on a Pole

I love comedy wrestling. I always have. Wrestling is at its best when it’s not taken so seriously. And that’s why I love Danhausen.

Dom is a mysterious (no pun intended there) case. Last year he was fighting Gunther and getting cheers. He was fighting John Cena and winning the IC title off him. He fought Finn as the blow-off for the long awaited Judgement Day implosion storyline (which itself seems to have stalled out now).

Now he’s just kinda here on the card, not doing much.

This is truly a toss-up. Danhausen hasn’t lost yet. Dom has been cursed a few times. I don’t believe the curse wears off although maybe it does.

Dom needs to gain momentum. He needs to win this. Danhausen is amazing. Again, I love the guy. But he can take a loss here no issues, it does not at all hurt his character. If Dom loses, then what for him? Then the guy who has chance to be a future top star just put over your lower card comedy act.

Dom needs this win. I’m hopeful he gets it.

Finn Balor versus Sami Zayn - Undisputed WWE Championship #1 Contender

So Sami has to fight for an opportunity to fight for the title he lost only nine days after winning it. Meanwhile Liv hasn’t defended hers in over 100 days. Storytelling needs to be consistent.

This is another one that can really go either way. Sami can lose and go further over the deep end for being put in awful positions. Sami can win and get his due rematch. And I’m not sure which way works better.

Both men have fought Punk recently. If Punk does turn heel and retains as I suspect we’d have a heel Sami versus a heel Punk or face Balor versus heel Punk. WWE has certainly been doing more “shades of grey” characters lately, so it’s possible Sami does win this and plays a more middle ground on Punk of “I earned my way into that title match, won the belt, then got screwed by you taking Cody’s shot after I prepped for him”.

The diehard Finn-fans aren’t going to like this, but I think Sami winning is the more interesting option here.

Charlotte Flair versus Jade Cargill versus Chelsea Green versus Tiffany Stratton versus ?? - Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match

This one is a total toss-up. It basically boils down to once Rhea is healthy again, who is she going to beat for the belt? The WWE is fully behind Rhea as their forever women’s champion. And I mean even losing it for a spell and winning it right back. Rhea really may be the one to win 16 women’s belts even before Charlotte does.

I don’t think Charlotte wins it here. If she’s going to win 16 to tie her father, it will be at WrestleMania.

Since they just ran Jade and Rhea at Mania this year, I don’t think they have them face off again so soon.

I can’t remember any real history between Tiffany and Rhea. This may be the pick.

WWE very clearly values Chelsea. I don’t think they look at her as a top star. I’d like to see the win for her here, even if it’s just a “thank you” reign until Rhea is healthy. The benefit is nobody has to look weak because Chelsea can climb the ladder when everyone else is down to grab the belt, and Rhea just squashing Chelsea is believable and doesn’t hurt any of the other women. I don’t know who the fifth woman is or if there’s even any rumors about it. But my pick, contingent on the fifth woman, is Chelsea.

Roman Reigns (c) versus Seth Rollins - World Heavyweight Championship

These two are Batman and the Joker. They’re destined to do this forever. And that’s fine because they’re two of the top guys of this generation and have a story that goes back more than a decade. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice the build has been very much focused on “Roman can’t beat Seth”. They showed Seth getting the upperhand at Mania 31. They showed Seth getting into Romans head at Royal Rumble ‘22 and Roman getting himself DQ’d. They showed Roman losing his belt to Cody because his hatred of Seth was so much he lost focus.

This is why Roman is going to win. They’re pushing the “he can’t do it too hard”. Roman is going to finally put Seth down. And honestly, I think this one will be clean. It may even come with Jimmy and Jey coming out to help Roman and him telling them no, because he knows he needs to do it himself. And he will finally make Seth acknowledge him.

Final Random Thoughts

A few random thoughts of where we stand. A lot of people are talking about how WWE refuses to build new stars. I won’t say that WWE is doing the best by their young blood but I also don’t think it’s fair to say they’re not making any new stars. Look at just this year with Trick, Je’Von, and Oba. Could they be doing more, especially with someone like Bron? Sure. But to say they’re not building any new stars is not a good faith argument.

Speaking of Bron, it’s baffling that this guy was so over at one point and now he doesn’t even make SummerSlam. And the fact that, as I said in my last Raw recap, he’s the number 3 guy in his own faction. Bron should be on the card even if it’s for the tag titles.

Speaking of - not a single standard tag on the entire show? They do know they have a tag division, right? On top of both sets of tag champs they have the Viking Raiders, Street Profits who lost the belts and disappeared yet again, Otis and Tozawa who got dispatched on Monday, the Creed’s. How do you not do anything with any of these 12 guys on the show - and that includes Truth and Priest.

As for guys not having anything done with them - the usage of Johnny Gargano is incredible. Sure, Gargano is by no means the largest guy on the roster. There’s no reason he can’t compete for a midcard title. Instead he’s laid out on a crate in the back for the better part of the year. I watched his NXT match for the North American title earlier this year and I was really hoping that when he’s slowly meandering unable to get himself motivated that Candace would get Rebel Heart to play to remind him that he’s Johnny Wrestling. Alas, it’s months later and he’s laying on a box every week. I don’t hope for an injury for most anyone - but in this case with the way he’s been used I hope he is injured and is recovering, and him being on the box every week is to remind us he exists for when he gets up and shows the world just how good he is.

Apparently most people didn’t watch the WrestleMania post show this year. They’ve always been clear on the direction with Oba. He said there that he would see Roman in the fall. Roman said he’d see what Oba can do over the summer and then see him in fall. While Oba won King of the Ring to give him an accolade, he was never fighting for the world title at SummerSlam. Outside of Survivor Series I have no idea when, but I expect Oba and Roman later this year.

Finally, there’s a lot of arguments about how Night 1 of a 2-night event doesn’t mean as much as Night 2. This card proves that argument valid. Night 1 has two title matches plus Hell in a Cell. Night 2 has 4 title matches, a number one contender match, and a human monie$ match which I think we can all agree is equally important to being world champion. WWE would do well to move one of the 6-person tags to the start of Night 2, move Trick and Corbin into the 2-spot of Night 1, and move everything on Night 2 forward one match.

Oh well. Not my job to build the cards. Just to watch them. Check back this weekend as I live blog both nights!