Summerslam 2026 Night One
Date: August 1, 2026
Location: US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Michael Cole

It’s the first half of one of the biggest shows of the year and for once we have a genuine double main event. That includes Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar inside the Cell, plus Cody Rhodes challenging CM Punk for the Smackdown World Title. Those two matches should be more than enough to carry the show but the undercard doesn’t look bad either. Let’s get to it.

The wrestlers arrive, with Michael Cole saying the two night Summerslam takes place tonight. That’s not how nights work.

The opening video is hosted by a Minnesota Viking (I believe Justin Jefferson), who talks about the effort that everyone puts in to get here, with the focus on their training.

Raw Women’s Title: Iyo Sky vs. Liv Morgan

Morgan is defending and goes after her to start, only to be knocked into the ropes. Sky dropkicks her out to the floor, where she uses Green Shirt Guy to get on the barricade and dive onto Morgan. Back in and Morgan goes after the banged up ribs to take over, setting up Three Amigos. An enziguri gives Morgan two but Sky is right back up with a flapjack. A missile dropkick has Morgan in more trouble and Sky sunset bombs her out to the floor.

Cue Judgment Day for a distraction to shove Sky off the top for two but Sky is fine enough to send Morgan outside. A moonsault to the floor takes the villains out but Morgan kicks her down back inside. Cole: “You have to give credit to Morgan for staying in this fight thanks to the Judgment Day.” As I try to figure out what we’re crediting Morgan for if the other people did the work, Sky catches her on top with a super Spanish Fly for two and they slug it out.

Oblivion is broken up and Sky faceplants her for two, followed by her own Oblivion for two on Morgan. Over The Moonsault misses though and Sky bangs up her ankle, allowing Morgan’s middle rope Codebreaker to connect for two. They head to the apron with Sky hitting a German suplex, setting up the Bullet Train Attack against the post. That leaves Sky favoring her knee again, meaning Over The Moonsault misses. Back to back Oblivions (though the first one might have been blocked) retain the title at 13:34.

Rating: B. Morgan did a lot better than I was expecting here and it was nice to see her actually defend the title for a change. Beating Sky as close to clean as she got here is a bit of a surprise and it was a good way to open the show. If nothing else, the fans are always going to respond to Morgan and they had a hard hitting match in the process.

Mark Henry, Sean Waltman, Dan Spivey and Jimmy Hart are here.

Bloodline vs. Royce Keys/LA Knight/Solo Sikoa

The Bloodline gets the Gears Of War inspired entrance (never played the games so I’m going to assume the entrance was good). The non Bloodline rush in to start fast and it’s Sikoa hammering on Jey to officially get things going. That lets Sikoa mock Jey’s entrance and even tease running it back. Fatu comes in to hammer on the rather cocky Sikoa and the running Umaga Attack in the corner gets two.

Sikoa punches his way to freedom and it’s a double clothesline to leave both of them down. Keys gets the tag and starts to beat up Jimmy, including a spinebuster. Jimmy finally gets in a shot to the head and goes up, where Keys hits a super fall away slam. Jey comes in to spear Knight for two but Knight runs the corner for the superplex.

It’s time for the parade of secondary finishers until Keys powerslams a charging Fatu into the timekeeper’s area for the awesome crash. Jey spears Knight again and Jimmy’s Superfly Splash gets two. Sikoa is back up to Spike Jimmy though and the BFT to Jey gives Knight the pin at 11:04.

Rating: B-. I’m surprised by the result but it’s nice to see the Bloodline lose for a change, with Knight even getting the pin. That’s a good sign for his future and maybe we can FINALLY get Knight in the main event picture. That powerslam to Fatu looked great too and it’s nice to see things going the other way for once.

Post match Knight eventually hugs Sikoa as a thank you.

Gunther vs. Nick Aldis

Gunther wasn’t happy when Aldis, then Smackdown GM, wouldn’t put him in the World Title match so Gunther attacked him. Now Aldis is back in the ring for one night to get some revenge. Aldis even gets to come to the ring to Oasis and Barrett absolutely loses it. Gunther backs him up against the ropes to start and takes over, allowing for a celebration on the announcers’ table.

Gunther gets back inside and gets suplexed for quite the reaction from the fans. The King’s Lynn (modified Texas) Cloverleaf is broken up though and Gunther chops him out to the floor. We pause for Gunther to yell at Aldis’ wife (Mickie James) and son before he rocks Aldis with another chop.

Aldis’ chop doesn’t do much good as Gunther sends him hard into the corner. A backbreaker works a bit better for Aldis, who tries and fails at the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf again. Gunther’s sleeper is broken up with a ram into the buckle and Aldis hits a nice superplex. The top rope elbow to the back sets up the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf and the fans go nuts, only for Gunther to make the rope. The sleeper is broken up again so Gunther hits a powerbomb into another sleeper, with Aldis tapping at 11:14.

Rating: B. This was pretty much exactly what it was always going to be, with Aldis doing as well as he could have and giving Gunther a sweat before falling in the end. Aldis certainly didn’t embarrass himself out there and had a heck of a match, with the whole thing being about the King’s Lynn Cloverleaf, which just wasn’t enough. Good match, and if Aldis wants to wrestle on occasion, he’ll be fine.

Post match Gunther leaves and Aldis’ family gets in to celebrate with him.

Bella Twins/Paige vs. Fatal Influence

Brie and Henley start things off with Brie taking over off a Russian legsweep. The YES Kicks connect and they quickly go outside, with Brie being sent into the steps. Jayne adds the running cannonball and the villains get to pose. Back in and Reid grabs a chinlock but is smart enough to cut off Paige to prevent the tag. She doesn’t cut Nikki off though and the tag allows Nikki to come in and take over on Reid.

The Rack Attack 2.0 is broken up though and Paige cannonballs off the apron onto Henley. Jayne has to come in for the save so Brie decks her, despite her arm looking like it’s just hanging there. Henley pulls Brie to the floor, leaving Reid to give Nikki a hard knee to the face. But Jayne misses the Rolling Encore. Paige sunset flips her for tow, only to walk into the Rolling Encore for the pin at 7:33.

Rating: C. Well, I’ll certainly take being completely wrong about the result here. I was sure the Bellas would get their big moment but it’s nice to be wrong here. This started off fine but got bad near the end. As usual, the Bellas are only so good in the ring and it doesn’t help when Brie clearly got hurt in the process. Not good here for the most part, but at least it didn’t go on that long.

Post match the winners leave and the Bellas….turn on Paige to lay her out. Nikki says the lesson is to never take her spot. Wait. Does Brie possibly being hut mean we might have to keep waiting on the Bellas to get their big title win? Good grief.

Smackdown World Title: Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk

Punk is defending and sporting a Minnesota North Stars themed jacket. Since Rhodes is Rhodes though, he gets a big Street Fighter entrance, complete with a themed mask and helmet. They chop it out to start and Punk knocks him into the corner, with Rhodes suddenly favoring his arm. Punk immediately slaps on the hammerlock, which is reversed int a headlock.

That’s broken up so Rhodes sends him into the corner, meaning they can fight over a wristlock. Rhodes takes over and sends him outside, though the arm is still bothering him. Punk gets in a clothesline off the barricade and drops an ax handle to the arm back inside. Another shot drops Rhodes again but Punk comes up favoring his knee. The running bulldog out of the corner is blocked and Rhodes gets in a shinbreaker to start in on the leg. Rhodes gets in a dragon screw legwhip and it’s time to stomp away. A half crab is blocked but Punk can’t hit the GTS.

Punk can break up a Disaster Kick by kicking him out of the air though and they’re both down. That’s enough for Punk to get up and drop the elbow but the GTS is escaped again. The Cody Cutter, Disaster Kick and a top rope Cody Cutter combine for a series of near falls and the Figure Four goes on. Punk turns it over until Rhodes gets to the rope, but another Figure Four attempt is countered. Instead Punk pulls him into the Anaconda Vice, with Rhodes getting out again.

Back up and Rhodes tries a swinging Alabama Slam but without the Alabama or the Slam, as Punk pulls him into another Anaconda Vice. Rhodes gets up and grabs a Cross Rhodes for two so Punk goes up for a moonsault and another near fall. The GTS connects but Punk hurts his knee, allowing Rhodes to kick out. They head outside with the announcers’ table being loaded up. Neither finisher can hit so Rhodes sends him into the steps. Back in and another GTS drops Rhodes, though he’s able to grab the rope for the break this time.

Punk sends him outside again and loads up the top rope elbow…but completely misses Rhodes for the massive crash, with the knee taking most of the impact. Rhodes throws him back inside but accidentally kicks the referee. Punk hits a GTS and tries another, which is reversed into Cross Rhodes. With both of them down, Randy Orton runs in for the surprise return and drops Rhodes with an RKO. Punk, who didn’t seem to see what happened, gets back inside and hits another GTS to retain at 29:45.

Rating: B+. I liked the ending with Orton running in as that’s certainly a big surprise worthy of Summerslam. At the same time, this started rather slowly and eventually worked with the Punk crash through the table being a huge spot. The good thing is that Punk retained in the end as we need a break from Rhodes as champion. Rhodes vs. Orton non-title is fine and should open up some doors for Punk to face a few of those people he’s been talking about. The match took its time to get going but they got it rolling in the end, which is not surprising given the talent involved.

We recap Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi. They’ve fought twice before and split the matches, so it’s time for the two of them to hurt each other really badly inside the Cell.

Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar

In the Cell and Paul Heyman is here with Lesnar. Femi fires off the uppercuts to start so Lesnar snaps off the German suplexes. That’s shrugged off though and Femi clotheslines him out to the floor. A suplex drops Lesnar on the floor and Femi sends him into the steps. Lesnar doesn’t seem to mind as he picks up the steps for some HARD shots to Femi’s head

Another hard shot, this one with a chair, puts Femi down again and Lesnar suplexes him onto the chairs. Femi escapes an F5 though and gets in a chokeslam for the needed breather. Another chokeslam sets up a toss powerbomb as Lesnar is rocked for a change. The Fall From Grace (without the lift) gets two so Lesnar does and Undertaker sit up and hits an F5, but Femi pops up.

Lesnar does it again and Femi pops up again, so it’s a third F5 to finally get two. The frustrated Lesnar rips up the mat and exposes the boards, with a Tombstone onto the exposed wood (yes including the tongue out) gets two. Femi has had it and pops up, knocks a chair out of Lesnar’s hands, and hits a Fall From Grace for the pin at 11:41.

Rating: B+. Yeah it was kind of short, but this isn’t the sort of match that needs to go long. Sometimes you need to get in there and get out and that was the case with this match. Femi survived everything from Lesnar and won clean in the end, though I was expecting it to take a bit more. There was no reason for Lesnar to win here so it was cool to see them do the right thing in the end.

Post match the Cell is raised and Lesnar leaves, but comes back to hug Femi. Lesnar grabs the mic and offers congratulations and calls Femi the future. He himself is the past and Femi is the future. That felt like a retirement, but then again so did Wrestlemania so we’ll have to wait and see

Overall Rating: B+. It was another rather good one night event, which has me scared for the second night. The good thing is the big matches delivered and most of the rest worked too, though there was nothing that stole the show. I’ll take a show that is a steady supply of good though, even with the constant breaks and ads and all that time being wasted. The show was a strong one though and it was over before 9:15, which I’ll take any day. Rather good first half for Summerslam here.

Results
Liv Morgan b. Iyo Sky – Oblivion
LA Knight/Royce Keys/Solo Sikoa b. Bloodline – BFT to Jey
Gunther b. LA Knight – Sleeper
Fatal Influence b. Bella Twins/Paige – Rolling Encore to Paige
CM Punk b. Cody Rhodes – GTS
Oba Femi b. Brock Lesnar – Fall From Grace

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Summerslam 2025 Night Two
Date: August 3, 2025
Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Attendance: 60,561
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

So the big story of 2025 was the John Cena heel turn as he was on his way out of the company and on his way to retiring. That had been going on for about six months, and then on the Smackdown before this show, Cena basically threw the whole thing out the window and he’s a good guy again. So now he’s defending the title against Cody Rhodes in a street fight, hero vs. hero. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the bigger matches of Night One.

Druski welcomes us to the show and talks about how things are going to be bigger tonight. We get some short previews for the bigger matches as well. I still can’t stand this whole “it’s all about the moments” jazz as it takes the focus off of the matches and makes it more about one tiny part.

Here is HHH to get things going. You haven’t seen anything yet and this is going to be big. And that’s about it.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley vs. Naomi vs. Iyo Sky

Naomi is defending and her father gets to play her to the ring in a really cool moment. You can see how much it means to Naomi and she looks to be having a blast out there. The bell rings and Naomi bails out to the floor, so the other two stare down at her. The case doesn’t go well for Naomi, who gets caught on the way back inside. Ripley accidentally kicks Sky down by mistake though and Naomi is right there with a double high crossbody.

Naomi goes after Sky but Ripley is up to grab Naomi’s hair to quite the reaction. A bite to the hand seems to put Ripley on the floor though and Naomi gives Sky a hanging X Factor for two. Ripley is back in and grabs a front facelock on Sky, with Naomi’s springboard spinning kick to the head knocking both of them down. Naomi kicks the heck out of Ripley and does the same to Sky as this is pretty much all Naomi thus far. She even mocks Sky’s dance…but realizes Ripley is waiting on her.

Ripley fires off the clotheslines and Sky is back in with a 619 to put Naomi outside, leaving us with quite the showdown. An electric chair faceplant gives Ripley two but the Riptide is countered into a small package. The crossface has Ripley in more trouble so she’s right back up, only for Sky to SPIKE HER with a poisonrana. Naomi has to make the save so Ripley kicks her in the head.

A Razor’s Edge gets two on Sky, with Naomi making another save. They fight on the floor until Sky takes them out with an Asai moonsault, which is all the more impressive as you see Sky’s toes catching the rope on the way up. Back in and Sky hits some running Bullet Train Attacks to both of them but Naomi catches her up top. Naomi’s split legged moonsault hits Ripley but Sky’s Over The Moonsault lands on Ripley as well, with Naomi rolling Sky up for a fast two.

Sky gets kneed in the face to send her outside, leaving Ripley to grab Riptide for two, with Sky making a great looking diving save. Sky and Ripley strike it out, with Naomi being knocked outside for daring to interfere. Ripley cannonballs onto Naomi and then breaks up Over The Moonsault. That means a super Riptide to Sky but Naomi runs in to roll Ripley up, with trunks, and steal the pin to retain at 16:23.

Rating: A-. This was great stuff, with everyone working hard and a feeling that any of the three could leave with the title. It was just a hair behind the Wrestlemania triple threat but dang this worked, with Naomi deserving all kinds of credit. She was more than hanging with the other two and that is more than worth some praise. Outstanding opener here and probably Naomi’s best match ever.

Post match Ripley is TICKED, as she should be.

It’s 25 years since the first TLC match so the Hardys and the Dudleys are both here.

Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Street Profits vs. Wyatt Sicks vs. Andrade/Rey Fenix vs. DIY vs. Fraxiom vs. Motor City Machine Guns

The Wyatts are defending in a TLC match and my goodness does that entrance not really work in the daylight. Everyone looks up at the titles to start and everyone else jumps the Wyatts to start fast. The Wyatts are sent outside and the Guns dropkick a ladder into DIY. Fraxiom and Sabin hit some dives and it’s Fraxiom bringing in the first ladder. After the Guns are dispatches, the Wyatts are back in to throw some chairs and clean house.

The Profits come back in to backdrop Gacy….next to a ladder, so they do it again and this time it connects. We get a tribute to the Dudleys as Dawkins tells Ford to get the tables (the Dudleys approve). That means building a big pile of tables at ringside as Ciampa hits Sabin with a chair. Andrade and Fenix remember they’re in the match and clear the ring, with Andrade trying to throw Fenix up to the belts in a brilliant bit.

That doesn’t work though so we get stereo Three Amigos to the Profits instead. DIY come back in with the chairs to start wrecking things, including throwing Ford into the corner…where he flip dives onto Fraxiom on the floor. Gacy gets missile dropkicked/Downward Spiraled into an open chair and Gargano makes it worse with One Final Beat through a table.

Lumis guillotine legdrops (kind of) Ford through another table and Fenix hits a heck of a frog splash to put Frazer through another table. Dawkins goes up (oh dear) and gets super Spanish Flied by Axiom through two tables (with Ciampa being smart enough to get out of the way). Cue Candice LeRae (Gargano’s wife) to go up the ladder (because reasons) but B-Fab (friend of the Profits) runs in for the save. Nikki Cross (of the Wyatts) goes in to suplex B-Fab off the ladder so LeRae goes up again, with Gargano holding the ladder for her.

Ford kicks Ciampa into Gargano though and LeRae gets sent crashing through a bridged ladder at ringside (Ford’s OH DANG look is great as LeRae is mostly dead). Naturally Gargano gives her a thumbs up and he goes up, with Ford cutting him off again. Cue Erick Rowan (a Wyatt not in the match) to make the save. Ford gets thrown into Dawkins but they get back up to beat on Rowan with some chairs. He’s put through a table as well, which should put him down for a bit. Ciampa goes up and grabs the belts but winds up hanging there.

Frazer tries a dive but Ciampa pulls himself up (geez), allowing Gargano to set up a ladder. Ford springboards onto the ladder and Ciampa is knocked down, leaving a bunch of people to go up for the belts. Uncle Howdy comes in to shove the ladders over, with DIY getting the big crash through the four (well three of them) tables. Frazer gets Mandible Clawed on top of the ladder and Fenix gets the same treatment, with Andrade making the save. A sunset bomb sends Howdy onto the ladder but the Wyatts who are actually in the match make the save with some chairs. Gacy goes up and retains the titles at 16:03.

Rating: B+. I vaguely remember not being overly impressed with this but it was a rather awesome spectacle that could have been even better with one less team. The spot with the women was a good little bonus and it makes sense that the Wyatts would use their numbers advantage since they had so many challengers. Rather good stuff here, with some crazy big spots throughout.

We recap Becky Lynch vs. Lyra Valkyria. They were partners for all of a day, winning the Women’s Tag Team Titles at Wrestlemania and losing them back the next night. Lynch turned on her but Valkyria got the big upset at Backlash. Lynch took the Women’s Intercontinental Title from her and Valkyria had to raise her had. That was in addition to a German suplex though so we’ll do it one more time, with No DQ/No Countout in Valkyria’s last chance at the title.

Women’s Intercontinental Title: Lyra Valkyria vs. Becky Lynch

Lynch is defending and anything goes. Valkyria starts fast with some whips into the corner and they’re quickly on the floor. Lynch sends her into the announcers’ table a few times and grabs a kendo stick, only for Valkyria to come back with a crowbar. Believe it or not the metal crowbar wins over the stick and Valkyria takes over.

Lynch is whipped into various things, including a photographer (with Valkyria immediately apologizing as that seemed to be a genuine accident) and over the announcers’ table. A dropkick puts Lynch down again so Valkyria loads up a table, only for Lynch to wrap a chain around her mouth. Back in and Lynch fires off some kendo stick shots but misses a golf swing to the head. Instead it’s a reverse layout DDT for two so let’s grab a toolbox and some chairs.

A drop toehold sends Valkyria face first into the open chair and the toolbox to the ribs gets two. Lynch opens the toolbox and finds a zip tie to basically handcuff Valkyria. That lets Lynch beat on her with a wrench and then tie her over the post, meaning it’s time for the kendo stick to the ribs. Back in and Valkyria tries to find something in the toolbox to cut the tie but somehow manages to get her arms around Lynch for a belly to belly suplex. The tie breaks…but that’s not supposed to happen, so Valkyria has to tie her own hands back together to start the comeback.

Valkyria strikes away and uses a chair for a step up dropkick, followed by a moonsault for two. Lynch is sent into the chair over and over and Valkyria takes a turnbuckle pad off, again having to make sure that her wrists stay together. Valkyria gets sent into the post though and goes outside, where she rolls underneath the ring. That lets her get in a blast with a fire extinguisher to blind Lynch, but more importantly Valkyria can use the sharp part of the extinguisher to cut her arms free (and on purpose this time).

The kendo stick comeback is on, with the stick being mostly broken over Lynch’s back. They fight outside again with Valkyria escaping the Manhandle Slam to put Lynch onto the steps for a big crash. Back in and Lynch manages to send her into the exposed buckle, setting up a Manhandle Slam onto the open chairs….for two. Lynch can’t believe it so they go outside again, with Valkyria being tied into a chair and rammed into the announcers’ table. The threat of a crowbar to the head is broken up by Bayley, with Lynch begging her to take out Valkyria.

With that not working, Lynch tries to hit Bayley with a chain and gets beaten up for her efforts. Lynch avoids a charge but goes over towards a table, with Valkyria diving out of nowhere to send her crashing through it, with Wade Barrett sounding stunned on commentary. Bayley is back up to swinging (complete with chain) at Valkyria but accidentally knocks Valkyria into the Manhandle Slam to retain the title at 25:05.

Rating: C. Dang I feel sorry for them as there was no coming back from that zip tie fiasco, but my goodness who thought this needed 25 minutes? It’s a match that desperately needed to have about ten minutes shaved off as they ran out of things to do somewhere in the middle. Valkyria was trying and punching over her head with a legend like Lynch, but no one was coming back from that zip tie mess.

We recap Solo Sikoa vs. Jacob Fatu. Sikoa has the MFT’s and the US Title but doesn’t think much of Fatu, who left the team after not liking Sikoa’s leadership. This includes framing Fatu for a crime, which didn’t work in the end as Fatu was out the same night. Fatu then wrecked Sikoa and company, setting up a title match inside of a cage. Makes enough sense, with the idea mainly being Fatu getting to wreck Sikoa once and for all.

US Title: Jacob Fatu vs. Solo Sikoa

Fatu is challenging inside of a cage. Sikoa actually tries to get Fatu back on the team and gets beaten up for his efforts. A running headbutt drops Sikoa but he’s able to block a ram into the cage. Instead Sikoa backdrops him into the cage and splashes him against it as things slow back down.

Sikoa calls for the door to be opened but opts to try the Samoan Spike, meaning it’s a double clothesline to put them both down instead. Fatu is back up to send him into the cage a few times and it’s an implant DDT into the moonsault…for two. Cue the MFTs so Jimmy Uso runs out to give them some superkicks.

Talla Tonga kicks him down but Fatu orders the cage door closed. The distraction lets Sikoa get in the Samoan Spike for two more. Fatu gets up and climbs, only to get chained to the cage by Talla. Naturally Fatu breaks the handcuffs (second match in a row with a similar theme) and goes after Sikoa, with Talla kicking the door into Fatu’s head. Sikoa falls out to retain at 13:06.

Rating: C. I’m not sure why they decided to take away the insanity that made Fatu feel like a star but it was missing here. Sikoa using all of his MFTs to retain is fine, but this didn’t feel like Sikoa escaping as much as he just won. I wasn’t into this one the first time around and that was the case again here. Just not much of a cage match.

Post match Jimmy Uso jumps JC Mateo and throws him inside, where Fatu gets to beat up the MFTs. Fatu goes up and moonsaults onto them for quite the huge crash.

We recap AJ Styles challenging Dominik Mysterio for the Intercontinental Title. Styles came back from an injury, got hurt again in his first match back, and then came back again, with Mysterio interrupting him. Styles wanted the Intercontinental Title but Mysterio kept claiming injury to avoid the match. For some reason Styles wore various disguises and attacked Mysterio, with the match being officially set.

Intercontinental Title: Dominik Mysterio vs. AJ Styles

Styles is challenging and comes to the arena in an Eddie Guerrero style low rider (and in an Eddie style Styles shirt) for the 20th anniversary of the Custody Of Dominik ladder match. Mysterio bails outside to start and gets chased back inside, where Styles hits a backbreaker. The chase is on again, with Mysterio 619ing Styles onto the apron, where a baseball slide puts him on the floor.

A big dive takes Styles down again and the slingshot hilo…doesn’t even give Mysterio one. They go up top and a super hurricanrana and super Styles Clash are both blocked, so Styles settles for a tornado DDT to put them both down. The Pele Kick rocks Mysterio again as the Fireflies are out for some reason. Mysterio is right back with a Michinoku Driver for two more so Styles grabs a nice brainbuster.

The frog splash misses so Mysterio hits a 619. This time Mysterio’s frog splash hits raised knees though and we’re off to the Calf Crusher. That’s broken up and the fans seem to be getting behind Mysterio. The referee gets distracted so Mysterio grabs a chair and throws it to Styles before dropping down.

Styles is smart enough to wrap the chair around his own head and fall down, leaving the referee unsure of what to do. Mysterio tries to go up so Styles kicks the rope into the low blow, setting up another Calf Crusher. This time Styles pulls Mysterio’s boot off, with the referee getting distracted again, allowing Mysterio to hit him with said boot. The frog splash retains the title at 10:47.

Rating: B. Now this was rather interesting as the fans got WAY behind Mysterio here, even openly cheering for him near the end. I don’t think that’s so much anti-Styles as much as it was Mysterio is rather good at his job. He is a lying cheater, but he’s just so good at being a lying cheater. How can you not like him at least a little bit? If nothing else, Mysterio is going to get to brag about the win for weeks and that’s entirely the point.

A replay shows Mysterio unzipping his boot, making it clear that Mysterio completely outsmarted Styles. That’s a great catch as that wasn’t obvious in the original airing.

Stephanie McMahon does the attendance announcement: 60,561, for a two night total of 113,722. Noted.

We recap John Cena defending the Smackdown World Title against Cody Rhodes. Evil Cena won the title from Rhodes at Wrestlemania and has beaten up various heroes since then. Now Rhodes wants one more title shot and wants to face the REAL Cena in a street fight. This led to Cena saying “ok then” and abandoning the heel turn in one of the funniest things I’ve seen in wrestling in years.

Smackdown World Title: Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena

Cena is defending in a street fight and Rhodes has a Dusty promo playing before his entrance, as you do. They hug to start and Cena whispers something to him before the brawl is on. They’re quickly on the floor with Cena being sent shoulder first into the steps. Back up and Cena grabs Tyrese Haliburton’s crutch and knocks Rhodes silly to take over. The steps are taken in and Cena drops Rhodes onto them, followed by throwing said steps over the top onto Rhodes, who comes up favoring his arm.

Back in and Rhodes snaps off a powerslam for two but Cena backdrops him right back to the floor for the big crash. They both grab chairs for the duel back inside, with Rhodes managing to get in the shot to take over. The chair is wedged into the corner and of course that doesn’t work, as Cena initiates the finishing sequence. The AA is broken up and Rhodes starts striking away, including the Bionic Elbow.

Rhodes gets two off the Cody Cutter but walks into the AA for the same. An electric chair gets two more so Rhodes is right back up with a piledriver. We pause for Cena to appear mostly dead, which is a way to sucker Rhodes into another AA. Back up and they slug it out until Rhodes grabs a pop up powerbomb of all things. Cena is right back with the STF though, sending Rhodes crawling over to the rope.

They’re back on the floor, where Rhodes sends him into the timekeeper’s area but Cena comes back up with a microphone. Naturally that sets up a Canadian Destroyer on the floor, setting up the AA through the announcers’ table. Naturally Rhodes kicks out at two and grabs a quick Cross Rhodes for two of his own. Cena knocks him off the top and hits the top rope Fameasser, followed by the AA for two more. With nothing else working, Cena puts a table in the corner but Rhodes fights back up and they go outside.

The fight heads into the crowd with Cena hitting him with a piece of barricade. Cena takes him underneath the stage….and they rise up on Rhodes’ elevator (with Cena giving an incredible smirk) for the AA onto the ramp. Unfortunately that means Cena has to grab him in a fireman’s carry and walk him all the way back to the ring, which is rather draining. It also lets Rhodes rest enough to send Cena through the table in the corner. The Cross Rhodes gets two and it’s time to unhook a turnbuckle.

Rhodes hits him in the face for two but Cena gets the STF with the rope. That’s reversed into a choke from Rhodes, who hits three straight Cross Rhodes for….two, as this keeps going. The frustrated Rhodes grabs the belt but walks into a pair of AA’s. Cena picks up the belt but throws it back down, instead going with the super AA for the rather near fall. Let’s get another table so Cena tries another super AA, which is reversed into a cutter through the table. After a salute, one more Cross Rhodes gives Rhodes the title back at 37:42.

Rating: B-. Uh, well, at least Travis Scott wasn’t here. The biggest issue here is of course that it was almost forty minutes long and really didn’t need to be even half of that. It didn’t help that they threw the personal issues out the window two days before. Cena did his part well enough and Rhodes felt like the better man, but this show had two No DQ/street fight matches that combined to go over an hour. That’s quite a bit of time to spend on such similar matches. What we got was good, but it never got beyond a certain point and then kept going.

Post match Cena presents Rhodes with the title and they say something to each other. Rhodes leaves and Cena soaks in the cheers…..and Brock Lesnar is back for the first time in I believe two years. Cena gives a look that says “oh man this is going to suck” and it’s an F5 to let Lesnar stand tall to end the show. I’m assuming that explains the rapid face turn and I’ve heard worse ideas. Like Lesnar squashing Cena next month and Cena never getting any revenge before retiring.

Overall Rating: B. The big problem here is the lack of regular wrestling. You had a No DQ match, a street fight, a cage match, a TLC match, a triple threat and one regular match. That isn’t exactly focusing on the traditional stuff and it made for a bit of an unbalanced show. Maybe swap one of these matches to the other night, just to mix things up a bit. Either way, the opening two matches and main event are enough to carry this, but the two No DQ matches went WAY too long and it hurt things a good bit.

Overall Overall Rating: B. As usual, there is a heck of a show in there if you combine the two nights together. There is also a good bit of filler and that holds things down a lot. What matters here is the bigger matches mostly delivered, with Punk vs. Gunther and the women’s triple threat being show stealers. It’s a rather nice first two night show, though it would still be better as a big show without all of the filler involved, also as usual.

Results
Naomi b. Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky – Rollup with trunks to Ripley
Wyatt Sicks won a TLC match – Gacy pulled down the titles
Becky Lynch b. Lyra Valkyria – Manhandle Slam
Solo Sikoa b. Jacob Fatu – Sikoa escaped the cage
Dominik Mysterio b. AJ Styles – Frog splash
Cody Rhodes b. John Cena – Cross Rhodes

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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To put it mildly, the Summerslam card is looking stacked. There are some major matches on both nights of the show, but for some reason the more interesting thing is how badly the ticket sales have gone. That’s become the big story outside of the actual WWE programming, which is a shame as the card is looking good. That is certainly the case for the first night so let’s get to it.

Raw Women’s Title: Liv Morgan(c) vs. Iyo Sky

Why does it feel like the big plan was originally going to be Sky vs. Rhea Ripley at the Crown Jewel show in Saudi Arabia? It would certainly fit and serve as a way to do champion vs. champion, though I’m not sure if that’s going to be possible for a few reasons. Not only is Ripley injured, but there is still the question of who leaves with the title here. Morgan has gotten a lot more serious about this one and that has me curious.

As much as it would make sense for Sky to win here, I’m not sure I can imagine Morgan dropping the title. I’ll take Morgan to actually retain the title, even though I don’t think she has defended it in almost four months at this point. It feels like Morgan’s Judgment Day cronies are going to be involved here to help Morgan out and that should be enough to retain the title. At least in theory.

LA Knight/Royce Keys/Solo Sikoa vs. Bloodline

Yeah you knew there was going to be a Bloodline match on here as they are required to be on just about every show somewhere in there. That’s going to be the case again here, as Knight has been having issues with the team for a very long time now. This time though he actually has some help, in the form of a completely randomized team which feels like it was pulled out of a hat.

All that being said, I can’t imagine the Bloodline loses here as it’s just not their nature. Knight has lost time after time and it seems likely to be the case again, probably with Keys taking the fall. This one has me intrigued at least and it’s good to see Keys getting a chance on the bigger stage. Knight still needs to get a big win somewhere in there, but I don’t think it happens here.

Gunther vs. Nick Aldis

Now here we have something interesting as Aldis hasn’t wrestled in years, including at all in WWE. The good thing though is that he is quite the successful wrestler in his own right so this is hardly one sided. It’s a story that has been done for years before and I could go for seeing it again here. Gunther can work with anyone and Aldis is a bit better than most anyone, so they have some potential.

There’s no reason to think that Aldis has a real chance here, but he should put up a good effort in defeat. Let us see what he can do in this kind of a spot, as it’s been set up for a long enough time. I’m not sure how well this goes for Gunther at a show this big, but it should be good for a showcase for both of them. At the same time, at least it feels unique and that’s better than just having him smash through someone as usual.

Bella Twins/Paige vs. Fatal Influence

Ok. You’ve known where this was going the second that Nikki wasn’t able to wrestle at Wrestlemania. They haven’t tried to hide the story in any way and the entire Brie/Paige title reign was just a bridge to get us here. The whole thing has been about the Bellas getting their big title win because it’s been far too long before they get their big moment. That’s what we’re waiting on and this is just a means to get us to that end.

Of course I’ll go with the Bellas and Paige winning here, because it’s the BELLAS and therefore we have to treat them like the all time legends that they have always been. So what if Fatal Influence are the new Women’s Tag Team Champions? The Bellas need the win more and while I’d love to be wrong, it’s hard to fathom that this winds up going anywhere else because of course.

Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar

There are some matches where you know what you’re going to get and it’s just exciting to see it coming. That’s what we have here as the two of them are going to beat the living daylights out of each other. While I still do not like the whole King Of The Ring thing with Femi, at least they should be in for a heck of a fight here as Lesnar should know exactly what to do with this one. He certainly seems interested in making Femi look like a killer and this is the best place to do it.

In theory, this should be Femi being the one to finally beat Lesnar in his own big match and I’ll go with that happening. Having Lesnar beat Femi once was questionable enough and I really don’t want to see it happen again. The good thing is I don’t think they’ll do that here so I’ll take Femi to win. I have no idea what either of them do next, but it’s Lesnar vs. Femi in the Cell. That’s all you really need yes?

Smackdown World Title: CM Punk(c) vs. Cody Rhodes

I’m assuming this is headlining but honestly it’s far from a guarantee. The interesting thing is they could easily go with either of them winning and that’s not a place you find yourself in very often. The problem though is Rhodes is in something of a dry spell right now. He’s just kind of there as a top star and there isn’t much about him that makes me want to see what he’s doing next. Granted it doesn’t help that while he’s a good talker, he’s in there with one of the best of all time. How is he supposed to survive that?

Honestly this is kind of a coin flip for me, and while they have planted the seeds of Rhodes turning heel (as per Paul Heyman a month or two ago), I don’t think they’re ready to do that yet. With that not being the case, I’ll take Punk to retain here. You don’t want him losing in his two biggest title matches of the year and really, I think we need a pretty long break from Rhodes atop the title picture. He’ll be fine and there are a bunch of people he could face, but it doesn’t need to be for the World Title right now. Punk retains in a match that really could go either way.

Overall Thoughts

The potential is absolutely here for this, with the World Title match likely being awesome and Femi vs. Lesnar having all of the hype needed. You also have the Women’s Title as a potential sleeper hit and Aldis vs. Gunther should be good. I’m not wild on the two night structure, but the pieces are absolutely in the right place for this to work.

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Summerslam 2024
Date: August 3, 2024
Location: Cleveland Browns Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
Attendance: 57,791
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Pat McAfee

This is the biggest Summerslam to date and that should make for a fun look back. Believe it or not, the main event features Cody Rhodes, but we also have the big in-ring return of CM Punk after his latest injury. On top of that, Gunther is challenging Damian Priest for the Raw World Title so let’s get to it.

I was in the stadium for this show, sitting in the lower bowl with the entrance on my right.

Here is HHH to get things going and introduce Jelly Roll for a live performance of “Liar”. This also serves as the opening video, with clips of the people involved in the show’s bigger matches. Roll also performed God Bless America before the show went on the air. Non-wrestling note: Roll deserves credit for losing so much weight in the last year. He looks like a different person from this year compared to the build for the following year’s Summerslam.

The Miz, the host for the show, is with the fans. That’s pretty much going to be all he does over the course of the night.

Raw Women’s Title: Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan

Ripley, with Dominik Mysterio, is challenging. Morgan injured Ripley’s shoulder earlier in the year, causing her to vacate the title and has also suggested that she’s going to steal Mysterio from Ripley. Morgan runs away to start and Ripley pauses to vent some frustration on the floor. Back in and Morgan runs away again, this time pausing in front of Green Shirt guy.

They get back in again and Ripley head fakes her and the chase is over. Ripley knocks her back to the floor and the beating is on against the barricade. Ripley sends her into the steps and the confidence is high. Morgan is taken back in but manages to send the shoulder into the post, leaving Ripley in a lot of trouble. Ripley screams that IT’S OUT but insists that she does not want the match stopped.

They go outside again, with Morgan kicking her into the steps as Ripley is in trouble. The armbar goes on but Ripley uses the good arm to slam Morgan down and roll outside. Mysterio shoves Ripley out of the way of a dive, leaving Ripley to ram her bad shoulder into the announcers’ table. The pain on her face goes away and Morgan realizes what just happened.

Back in and Ripley unloads on her with right hands before grabbing the Prism Trap. Morgan gets in another shot to the arm though and tries a cross armbreaker. Ripley powers out and powerbombs her down for two but Morgan is back with a headbutt. Morgan snaps her throat first across the rope and it’s time for a chair. Ripley rams her shoulder into the buckle again and grabs Riptide, but she looks at the chair instead of covering.

The chair is loaded up but Mysterio takes it away. That earns him a death glare from Ripley, but he reminds her about the title. The distraction lets Morgan ram Ripley into Mysterio and hit Oblivion for two. Mysterio slides the chair back in and gets on the apron, which is enough for Oblivion onto the chair to finish Ripley at 15:57.

Rating: B. This was a good story with Morgan having to find a way to survive against the monster Ripley. Ultimately there is only so much that can be done with people of such different size and power, but the shoulder was a great way to go. The ending was a big twist as well, with Mysterio finally turning on Ripley. It continued what was already a good feud, as Ripley again feels like she can carry anything.

Also of note: Ripley’s facial expressions don’t get enough credit. She has those eyes that make everything she does feel intense, but at the same time, she can tell all kinds of stories with just the look on her face. Not everyone can do that and she does it as well as anyone going today.

Post match Mysterio is smiling and helps Morgan up before kissing her. Ripley looks like she’s ready to kill them both (and she would sure try).

We recap Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker. Zayn is the champion and Breakker is the new monster force of nature. Breakker barely lost at Money In The Bank and now it’s a rematch with a more focused challenger.

Damian Priest storms into the Judgment Day clubhouse looking for Dominik Mysterio. Finn Balor says cool down because he’s got this. Priest is really not happy.

Intercontinental Title: Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker

Breakker is challenging and Cole lists off how many legends won their first Intercontinental Title at Summerslam, including Ultimate Warrior in 1990. Breakker misses a spear at the start and hits the post before crashing out to the floor. Zayn hits a big flip dive but misses something coming off the top, allowing Breakker to hit a running corner clothesline.

The Helluva Kick misses so Breakker blasts him with a jumping clothesline. The super Frankensteiner gives Zayn two but the middle rope bulldog is countered into a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. Zayn exploders him into the corner, only to walk into a spear. The Super Spear gives Breakker the pin at 5:43.

Rating: C+. That’s exactly what this should have been, with Zayn trying to run and outsmart Breakker but ultimately getting overwhelmed by the power. This was about Breakker getting a big win on the major stage and Zayn was the sacrifice to make that happen. Good stuff here, with no reason for it to go any longer.

The Slim Jim Savage Moment Of The Summer is Drew McIntyre laying out CM Punk and taking his bracelet.

We recap LA Knight vs. Logan Paul for the US Title. Knight is on a roll and wants the US Title but Paul won’t show up. Knight even went to Paul’s house and got in his pool, which was enough to get Paul to come back. The brawl was on and it’s time for the big showdown in Paul’s hometown.

US Title: Logan Paul vs. LA Knight

Knight is challenging. Paul comes to the ring with rapper Machine Gun Kelly but Knight rides into the back in Paul’s Prime truck, which he had recently stole. The window has been bothering him all day though so he puts a steel pole through said window. The brawl starts on the floor with Paul getting the better of things and loading up the announcers’ table. Knight fights back and sends him into the table over and over (ignore the camera angle showing that Paul’s head wasn’t coming close).

A torture rack neckbreaker sends Paul HARD onto the table and they’re both down. They get inside for the opening bell (because all of that was pre-match stuff) and Knight hammers away but the jumping elbow hits knees. Knight gets sent hard into the corner and Paul gets to mock both Knight and the crowd. The hand to the ear sets up a big boot into a legdrop for two and a tilt-a-whirl slam plants Knight again. An Alley Oop gives Paul two but he spends too much time mocking Knight and walks into the powerslam.

Knight is back up to hammer and stomp away in the corner. A Side Effect plants Paul and the jumping top rope elbow gets two. Back up and Paul sends him to the floor for the springboard moonsault (that looked GREAT) and a big crash. Back in and the big right hand is blocked but Knight’s BFT is countered into a backslide for two. Now the big right hand can knock Knight silly….for two, and Paul’s confidence is suddenly shattered.

Another BFT is blocked but Knight catches him on top for a superplex, which almost goes VERY bad as Paul almost landed on his head, for two. They go outside again where Knight beats up some of Paul’s goons. Paul makes the save and has Machine Gun Kelly give him the brass knuckles. A quick shot to the head staggers Knight but the Buckshot Lariat is countered into a BFT to give Knight the title at 12:02.

Rating: B. The result was what mattered the most here, as Knight absolutely had to win a title at some point. Paul had held the thing long enough and there was no reason to keep the title on him over Knight. As usual, Paul got to do his athletic stuff here and ultimately he put Knight over as he should have. Knight needed this one and it couldn’t have been put together much better.

Some wrestlers shill Manscape products.

We recap Bayley defending the Smackdown Women’s Title against Nia Jax. Bayley won the title at Wrestlemania and Jax is the Queen Of The Ring, earning her the title shot. The idea here is that Bayley is smarter and capable of capitalizing on Jax’s mistakes. At the same time, Tiffany Stratton is running around with the Money In The Bank briefcase and teasing a cash in.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Nia Jax vs. Bayley

Bayley is defending. Jax starts fast with the power but can’t hit a powerbomb. Bayley gets knocked into the corner and then thrown into another corner before Jax sits on her in the ropes. Back up and Jax drops her throat first across the top rope but Bayley avoids a charge to send Jax outside. The big legdrop only hits apron for Jax and Bayley dives off the steps to hammer away. Back in and Jax crotches her on top, only for Bayley to come back with a guillotine choke (how she beat Jax at Takeover: London back in 2015).

Jax powers out but misses a middle rope legdrop, allowing Bayley to hit the Bayley To Belly for a quick two. Bayley gets knocked down again though and the Annihilator connects for two more. An annoyed Jax slams Bayley’s head into the mat and then headbutts her into the corner. Back up and Jax misses a charge into the post to give Bayley a needed breather.

Bayley’s dive is cut off and Jax drives her into the corner for the hip attack. Another Annihilator is broken up and Bayley hits a heck of a powerbomb (the fans approve) out of the corner for the huge crash. The top rope elbow connects….and here is Tiffany Stratton. Bayley knocks Stratton off the apron and kicks Jax in the face but Jax is back with a pair of powerbombs. The Annihilator finishes Bayley for the title at 12:33, with Stratton never cashing in.

Rating: B-. There was a grand total of no way that Bayley was going to leave as champion here and the only question was whether or not Stratton was going to cash in. Jax had been built up as the unstoppable monster and she had to win the title at some point in there. That’s all this needed to be, with the Annihilator at the end being a good way to make it look like Bayley was destroyed.

We recap CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre. Punk has been out of action since being injured by McIntyre at the Royal Rumble. This resulted in the feud of the year, despite Punk not being able to wrestle. Punk cost McIntyre a pair of World Titles so McIntyre attacked him and stole a fan made bracelet that meant a lot to Punk, making it very personal. One of these moments involved costing McIntyre his Money In The Bank cash in, which ultimately cost Seth Rollins a title shot of his own. Now Rollins is the guest referee for Punk and McIntyre’s first match. Match order aside, this is the real main event of the show.

Drew McIntyre vs. CM Punk

Seth Rollins is guest referee. They immediately slug it out at the bell with Punk taking him into the corner for the stomping. Rollins has to pull Punk off and that isn’t likely to go well. McIntyre fights back up and strikes away but a clothesline puts him out on the floor. Punk’s clothesline off the apron connects as the fight moves outside, leaving Rollins to chill on the top rope. Rollins dances to the fans singing his song as McIntyre swings Punk into the announcers’ table.

McIntyre catapults him into the ring frame and adds a snap suplex for two back inside. The overhead belly to belly gets two more as Punk is in trouble. Punk strikes away and is quickly caught in a sitout powerbomb for two. With that not working, McIntyre grabs a chair but Rollins takes it away at the last second. Rollins swings but almost hits Punk, only to pull up. A rollup gives Punk a delayed two and he glares at Rollins, who is back with a neckbreaker for two more.

McIntyre pulls out the bracelet and puts it on, only for the Claymore to be broken up. Punk strikes away and hits the top rope elbow before grabbing the Anaconda Vice. Punk makes the mistake of going for the bracelet though, allowing McIntyre to come back with a Claymore for two. Rollins picks up the bracelet to keep it safe and Punk fights back, even calling for the GTS…but then he notices the bracelet on Rollins’ wrist.

McIntyre knocks Punk into Rollins but the Futureshock is countered into the GTS. The very delayed count gets two so Punk yells at Rollins, even insulting “YOUR STUPID SABU PANTS!”. After that way too low blow, Rollins screams about how this is his company and they don’t want Punk here. That earns Rollins a GTS (thankfully the pants weren’t damaged) and Punk takes the bracelet back. The distraction lets McIntyre hit the Claymore for the pin at 16:58.

Rating: B+. This had the big fight feeling that it needed to have and the ending kept Punk vs. McIntyre going while also setting up Punk vs. Rollins. What mattered the most here though was getting Punk back in the ring, as you can only have him sitting on the sidelines for so long. The match was rather good as expected and Rollins was a rather nice addition.

Post match McIntyre steals the bracelet back to keep things going.

Damian Priest apologizes to Finn Balor for yelling earlier but Balor says it’s cool. It’s Judgment Day first and Balor wants Priest to go do his thing. If Priest needs him out there, say the world. Priest is cool with this.

We recap Damian Priest vs. Gunther. Priest won the title at Wrestlemania and is proud of how far he has come. Gunther believes it is his destiny to be the star and got the title shot by winning King Of The Ring. The idea here is a culture clash, as Gunther has called Priest street trash, which hasn’t gone well.

Raw World Title: Gunther vs. Damian Priest

Priest is defending and slugs Gunther into the corner to start fast. South Of Heaven is blocked so Priest hits the lifting Downward Spiral to send Gunther outside. That’s fine with Gunther, who suplexes Priest onto the apron to take over before chopping away. A quick suplex gives Gunther two and he wins an exchange of forearms. Priest catches him going up though and pulls him back down, setting up the Broken Arrow for two.

Priest’s kicks to the chest have Gunther bleeding but Gunther is back up with a pair of very hard clotheslines for two. A boot to the face drops Priest again as the fans are trying to get behind him. Gunther kicks him down to cut off the comeback attempt and here is Finn Balor to cheer for Priest. That earns Balor a shot from Gunther but Priest takes the straps down to make the comeback.

One heck of a lariat hits Gunther and the Razor’s Edge rocks him again. South Of Heaven connects…but Balor puts the foot on the rope. Priest sees the replay on the screen and knows what Balor has done, leaving Balor sneering up at him. Gunther grabs the sleeper but Priest manages to get out. A powerbomb sets up another sleeper though and Priest is out at 16:35.

Rating: B. They beat each other up and the match was a hard hitting fight with Gunther getting the title as he should have. At the same time, the Priest/Balor story is going to make for a good personal feud as Priest is going to want revenge. Gunther needed to win the title here though, as he had dominated the midcard for so long that it was time to try him in the main event.

Here are Miz and R-Truth to announce the attendance of 57,791. A-Town Down Under interrupts, with Austin Theory mocking Jelly Roll. Grayson Waller isn’t having that though, because Roll is the only person to make music worse than R-Truth’s. Somehow R-Truth thinks A-Town Down Under is the Rock N Roll Express but Miz explains things. Roll gets in the ring with a chair and the villains are chaired in the back. Waller gets chokeslammed (and a decent one at that), followed by the triple Five Knuckle Shuffle. This was fine.

We recap Cody Rhodes defending the Smackdown world Title against Solo Sikoa. Rhodes defeated Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania to triumph over the Bloodline but Sikoa has reformed the team in his image and wants the title back. Rhodes is of course fine with this, even with his friends having been taken out so he’s all alone here.

Smackdown World Title: Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa

Rhodes is defending under Bloodline Rules (anything goes) and we see him getting off his bus to take Pharaoh towards the ring. Ont he way there, he runs into Arn Anderson (fresh away from AEW), who gives him a pep talk and says Rhodes has some friends here. They start with some trash talk before Sikoa runs him over with a shoulder and does the point. Rhodes fights up and tries the drop down right hand but Sikoa is ready for him. The threat of the Samoan Spike sends Rhodes outside and we reset again.

The Disaster Kick sends Sikoa outside, where he takes over again as the brawling isn’t working for Rhodes. Back in and a spinwheel kick into the Samoan drop has Rhodes down again. Rhodes blocks the Samoan Spike by kicking him in the hand though and a clothesline sends Sikoa outside. This time Sikoa is allowed back in, where he counters a Disaster Kick into a sitout powerbomb for two more.

The running Umaga Attack connects but Sikoa has to reverse a Pedigree attempt into Spinning Solo for another near fall. The nerve hold keeps Rhodes in trouble and Sikoa ties him in the Tree of Woe for the running headbutt. A second connects as well but the third misses, allowing Rhodes to hit kind of a moonsault crossbody. Sikoa plants him down for two more but Rhodes catches him on top with a superplex.

Sikoa’s Cross Rhodes is reversed into the real thing….and here are Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa to jump Rhodes. The big beatdown is on but Sikoa only gets two. Cue Kevin Owens for the save but he’s beaten down as well. Randy Orton returns (making sure to high five fans on the way) and helps Owens make the comeback. A powerslam sets up the Swanton to Sikoa but Cross Rhodes only gets two. Owens, Orton and the Tongas brawl to the back so Rhodes hits Sikoa in the head with the steps.

Sikoa comes back with a spear for two but the running Umaga Attack only hits steps. Rhodes hits the first two Cross Rhodes and tries a third, only for Jacob Fatu to run in for the save. Fatu wrecks Rhodes and hits a Superfly Splash through the announcers’ table but seems to hurt his own leg in the process. Back in and Sikoa’s Superfly Splash gets two but somehow Rhodes hits a Cody Cutter….and none of that matters because Roman Reigns is back. Reigns immediately Superman Punches Sikoa and gives him a spear before stopping to look at Rhodes. Reigns leaves though and Cross Rhodes retains the title at 29:14.

Rating: C+. The run-ins at the end made it better but dang this was long. They could have easily cut off about ten minutes and done the same thing. The real point here was Reigns running in for the save/his revenge, which made for a long build. It doesn’t help that Sikoa isn’t quite good enough to hang on this stage, but at least the last ten minutes or so were very good.

Overall Rating: B. It’s a good show, though it doesn’t have that one big match to really make it into a great one. The Reigns return and Punk vs. McIntyre are both worth seeing, but the majority of the main event was something of a letdown. The big stage made it feel important, but outside of that Reigns part, the main event didn’t really feel like it belonged in that spot. Other than that, the opener was good, Breakker and Knight got their titles and the weakest match was fine. Good show overall, but definitely not an all timer.

Ratings Comparison

Rhea Ripley vs. Liv Morgan

Original: B-
Redo: B

Sami Zayn vs. Bron Breakker

Original: B-
Redo: C+

LA Knight vs. Logan Paul

Original: B
Redo: B

Bayley vs. Nia Jax

Original: B-
Redo: B-

CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre

Original: B
Redo: B+

Gunther vs. Damian Priest

Original: B
Redo: B

Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa

Original: B-
Redo: C+

Overall Rating:

Original: B
Redo: B

Yeah pretty much all in the same range here with nothing really going in one direction or another.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Smackdown
Date: July 24, 2026
Location: Oakland Arena, Oakland, California
Commentators: Wade Barrett, Joe Tessitore

We’re done with Saturday Night’s Main Event and the main event of Summerslam is staying the same. CM Punk and Cody Rhodes defeated Gunther and Sami Zayn to avoid the title match becoming a four way, albeit with some help from Nick Aldis. That won’t sit well with Gunther so let’s get to it.

Here is Saturday Night’s Main Event if you need a recap.

We look at HHH making Gunther vs. Nick Aldis official for Summerslam.

Adam Pearce and Aldis are in the ring for the contract signing with Gunther, who joins them. Pearce gets to the point: Aldis has to vacate his role as GM to face Gunther and WWE is not responsible for what happens in the match. That’s fine with Aldis, who signs without a second thought, saying he’s willing to accept those terms. Gunther says that the match will be the greatest moment of Aldis’ career and this is beneath him.

The reality is that Aldis is jealous of him. Gunther knows that Aldis is a former NWA World Champion but he never really made it. But Gunther walked in and became a huge star, with a watch worth about half of Aldis’ salary. Gunther signs, saying that he’ll put Aldis’ name on a list of legends dumb enough to face him. As Gunther goes to leave, Aldis says that Gunther is trying to buy into this himself. Aldis knows that Gunther is scared because he can’t get out of this situation.

The reality is that Aldis hasn’t had a match in three years and has nothing to lose. When he beats Gunther, all that makes Gunther is the guy whose boss made him a little b****. The brawl is on and Gunther kicks him low, with the powerbomb putting Aldis through the table. The match should be pretty much a lock for Gunther, but it does help that Aldis is an accomplished wrestler so it’s not going to be some big mess.

Post break Sami Zayn interrupts an update on Aldis and says he won the title at Night Of Champions. It became clear that the higher ups didn’t want to be champion and he wound up facing Punk on a show they weren’t supposed to be on. Aldis and Gunther have a match at Summerslam but the guy who was champion EIGHTEEN DAYS AGO isn’t on the card? Adam Pearce comes in and Zayn wants it made right. Make the title match a triple threat

Pearce shuts that down and yells at him, but says that there is a four way match tonight. The winner of that can face Zayn at Summerslam in a #1 contenders match. Zayn hates having to earn it but takes it as Pearce says that’s all he’s getting. WWE doesn’t often do #1 contender matches on PPV so that’s a change of pace.

Brie Bella vs. Lainey Reid

Their associates are her too. Before the match, Reid says Saturday was a big night for them but Bella and Paige are the ones who will remember it forever. Jacy Jayne wants gold around her waist too so she wants the Women’s US Title. Reid jumps Bella to start and they go to the floor, with Bella sending her into the announcers’ table. Back in and the bell rings, with Bella being sent face first into the buckle. A cutter drops her again and we take an early break.

We come back with Bella hitting her running knee in the ropes, followed by a bulldog out of the corner. Bella tries a sunset flip out of the corner but Reid grabs the rope. That doesn’t work and said sunset flip gives Bella the pin at 5:48. Not enough shown to rate but they kept to the point here.

Post match Fatal Influence runs in to beat down Bella and Paige but Nikki Bella runs in for the save. The six woman tag is set for Summerslam.

Finn Balor, in the four way tonight, can’t help but think about his first Summerslam in 2016, when he won the title but got hurt. He has spent ten years trying to get back to that moment and now he is so close. Gunther comes in to say he’s next in line and says ten years is a long time.

Video on the six man tag at Summerslam, with LA Knight/Solo Sikoa/Royce Keys vs. the Bloodline.

Keys is warming up when Sikoa comes in to say Keys might be working twice at Summerslam. That’s fine with Keys, who is from this area and ready to fight in front of his friends and family. Knight comes in to say Keys can handle his business tonight as long as he stays ready for Summerslam. Sikoa continues to talk about the team, sounding more and more like an Uso every day.

Chelsea Green and Tiffany Stratton both want to win, with Green wanting the Interim Women’s Title. With Green gone, Bake Monroe comes in to say she likes Stratton, but wants her to shine that title up for her.

Interim Women’s Title Qualifying Match: Chelsea Green vs. Kiana James

James powers her into the corner to start but gets dropkicked out to the floor. They fight on the floor with James firing off some knees to the ribs and it’s time to go back inside. Green gets in a faceplant but James superkicks her into a Falcon Arrow for two. The Codebreaker connects for James, only for Green to come back with the Unprettier for the pin at 3:27.

Rating: C. They didn’t have much time here but Green going on to the ladder match is a great way to go, as she has done some very good things in previous ladder matches. The fans are behind her right now and that should be the case again at Summerslam. James is pretty firmly locked into this spot as the designated jobber of the division, which isn’t overly surprising.

R-Truth is confused about what Damian Priest is doing (hot dogs and four ways are involved) but Cody Rhodes comes up. Rhodes and Priest say they’ll be winning at Summerslam and Priest promises to win the title. That’s an attitude Rhodes can appreciate and he leaves in peace, which seems to surprise Priest.

We look at the Saturday Night’s Main Event tag match, where Cody Rhodes accidentally hit CM Punk, and the ensuing issues between the two of them.

Here is Rhodes for a chat and he’s in a hurry tonight, as he hits the catchphrase and brings in Punk to join him. Rhodes drops the mic as he hands it to Punk, which Rhodes calls an accident. Punk takes his jacket off though and they go face to face but goes to get his own mic. Punk says it’s a shame that it’s come to this because he doesn’t know if he can trust his friend. Rhodes says he’s going to explain why he needs to win and it isn’t about the title.

That’s what Punk doesn’t get, because the title is more than a good enough reason. Rhodes talks about how they respect each other but he doesn’t like Punk. Back in 2011, Punk cut the Pipe Bomb and Rhodes followed what he said to the letter. What Rhodes also knows is that while he was going around the world doing everything Punk talked about, everyone wanted it to be Punk instead of him.

Rhodes is tired of apologizing though because he’s become the star of WWE. He was on the Tonight Show and he’s going to be on ESPN. Everyone has come for him but the only one he worries about is Punk. For the story to have the proper ending, he has to beat Punk. With Rhodes done, Punk talks about how he casts a big shadow around here and it’s up to the people to decide what he’s done.

Back in 2022, Punk was learning from Rhodes as he showed Punk that there was a way back here. Now though, Punk knows that Rhodes is lying because he has to make himself the victim. If everyone is Rhodes’ enemy, Punk is his only friend but at Summerslam, he’s breaking Rhodes’ heart. Rhodes unbuttons his collar and talks about how they’re going to be teaming on the upcoming live events and he’ll give Punk the traditional main event gift.

Punk says he’s got a gift for Rhodes at Summerslam in the form of a loss. He’s CM Punk and no one can touch him in the ring or on the mic, including Dusty’s kid. Punk goes to leave but Rhodes stops him, saying we’ll play Kingdom so Punk can get a preview of what he’ll hear at the end of their match. Good exchange here and it was easy to follow, though Rhodes’ last ling was pretty weak.

Charlotte doesn’t regret costing Nia Jax a match last week. What she does regret is Alexa Bliss being injured and promises payback on Jade Cargill.

We look back at Fanatics Fest.

Charlotte vs. Nia Jax

Jax powers her into the corner to start so Charlotte kicks her in the face. Charlotte’s Flair Flip in the corner doesn’t do much good as Jax grabs a sitout powerbomb and we take a break. We come back with Jax knocking her down and hitting a middle rope legdrop for two. The Annihilator is countered into a better powerbomb for two more but here are Jade Cargill and the Baddies. Charlotte fights them off and escapes Jax’s Samoan drop, only to get hit in the face by Cargill for the DQ at 8:14.

Rating: B-. This was about all it needed to be as Cargill has a reason to go after Charlotte after last week. The good thing here is that Charlotte has evolved a good bit, as back in the day it wouldn’t have been insane to expect Charlotte to win here despite being down 4-1. It’s nice to see that isn’t the case anymore, as Charlotte has evolved a good bit and it has been a notable improvement.

Post match Cargill and the Baddies beat Charlotte down but Jax freaks out, as she’s lost another match due to a feud she isn’t involved in two weeks in a row.

Summerslam rundown.

Damian Priest vs. Trick Williams vs. Royce Keys vs. Finn Balor

Non-title and for a shot against Sami Zayn at Summerslam in the #1 contenders match. Keys takes over to start fast and we take a break about thirty seconds in. We come back with Balor escaping Keys’ powerslam and Priest faceplanting Williams. Back up and Williams sends Balor and Keys into the corner for a double stomping but has to deal with Priest. With everyone else on the floor, Balor is up with a big running flip dive but here is Solo Sikoa as we take another break.

We come back again with the Usos coming out to brawl with Sikoa so here is LA Knight to even things up a bit. Priest dives onto all four of them and Balor misses a Coup de Grace on Williams. That means a Trick Kick for two as Knight, Sikoa and the Usos brawl to the back. Priest gives Williams the South Of Heaven for two so Keys grabs the USB, only to be pulled out by Jacob Fatu. Keys is quickly wrecked and Balor Coup de Graces Priest for the pin at 12:03.

Rating: B. There was A LOT going on here but the good thing is that it all tied together and made sense. They had all of those other people involved and it fit with Keys being involved in both stories at once. Balor is the logical choice to move forward and I’m not completely sure who wins when he faces Zayn. Good main event here after a show without much wrestling.

Overall Rating: B. The wrestling wasn’t the focus here, as they pushed the stories towards Summerslam quite a bit. The six man got a nice bump and Balor vs. Zayn is interesting. Other than that you had the good talking segments and the Jax story has me oddly intrigued. They’re doing a nice job with Summerslam, though unfortunately it isn’t leading to the best in ticket sales. Either way, good PPV build show here.

Results
Brie Bella b. Lainey Reid – Sunset flip
Chelsea Green b. Kiana James – Unprettier
Charlotte b. Nia Jax via DQ when Jade Cargill interfered
Finn Balor b. Damian Priest, Trick Williams and Royce Keys – Coup de Grace to Priest

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 20, 2026
Location: Little Caesar’s Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re done with Saturday Night’s Main Event, meaning we have less than two weeks to go before Summerslam. The big stories here continue to be Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns, with the latter getting quite the focus on Saturday. We have some more building to do though so let’s get to it.

Here is Saturday Night’s Main Event if you need a recap.

Long Saturday Night’s Main Event recap.

Je’Von Evans/Dragon Lee vs. Vision

Non-title and the rest of the Vision is here too. Lee and Evans hit dives before the bell, with Lee taking over on Theory to officially start. Evans comes in for a great looking slingshot hurricanrana to Theory but Breakker is in for a double faceplant. It’s back to Lee to dropkick Theory off the apron and then superkick Breakker. Lee rolls up Breakker into a DDT for two but Breakker World’s Strongest Slams him out of the air.

We take a break and come back with Lee kicking Theory out to the floor, allowing Evans to come back in. That means the big dive to take Theory out. Evans talks to the camera and avoids a spear from Breakker, who crashes into the timekeeper’s area. Another dive cuts Breakker off and a big springboard clothesline takes Theory down. Lee gets in his top rope double stomp but Maxxine Dupri grabs the leg, allowing Breakker to hit a clothesline. Theory’s brainbuster onto the knee gets two and Breakker’s Super Spear finishes Lee at 9:42.

Rating: B. This was a rather hot opener with Evans and Lee getting to throw everything they could at the Vision but coming up short. There is a lot to be gained out of having a match like this every so often, with the fans getting the chance to enjoy a fast paced match while the champs get to win in the end. Good opener.

Post match the beatdown stays on but the Alpha Academy come in for the save. Dupri slaps Otis in the face (Logan Paul’s jaw drops in a good visual) but Otis wrecks the Vision anyway. The announcers’ table is loaded up but Breakker spears the heck out of Otis. Another Super Spear drops Otis again. Commentary again tries to make Dupri the villainess in all of this and….yeah I’m not minding seeing the Academy getting wrecked again.

We look at Fanatics Fest.

The Judgment Day jumps Danhausen, who want their money back. He has thirty seconds to go find it.

Big Cass is still coming back. Playing up that he was mostly a bust in his previous run is an interesting way to go. Now just have it be him and not Enzo Amore tagging along.

We look at Danhausen’s uncursing parade over the weekend, plus his match with JD McDonagh. This included New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns.

Here is Danhausen, with a briefcase, for a chat. This money is driving him crazy and he’s sick of it but he doesn’t want the Judgment Day to have it, so let’s give it to the Fanhausens. Cue the Judgment Day (with JD McDonagh in an old Scott Hall shirt) to say the fans aren’t getting their money so Danhausen curses them all. Joe Hendry runs in for the save but Judgment Day gets the (still closed) briefcase.

We continue the Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins history with the Wrestlemania Money In The Bank cash-in.

In the back, Joe Hendry and Danhausen yell at Judgment Day, who open the briefcase and find….fake money. JD McDonagh throws the briefcase but accidentally hits Oba Femi. McDonagh knows he screwed up, with Femi saying “you know I should kill you for this.” The match is made for right now. Dominik Mysterio protests and gets a match with Hendry later tonight as a result.

Oba Femi vs. JD McDonagh

Danhausen and Joe Hendry throw Judgment Day inside, with Femi throwing Dominik Mysterio outside. McDonagh chops Femi, earning one of the biggest backdrops I’ve seen in a long time. Some running uppercuts knock McDonagh silly and it’s a toss powerbomb into the Fall From Grace to finish McDonagh at 54 seconds.

We look at Jalen Brunson at Fanatics Fest.

Commentary is interrupted by Solo Sikoa, who says he isn’t supposed to be here but wants to talk to Seth Rollins. This brings out Rollins to welcome him to the show, but Rollins gets in the important question: are they here to talk or to fight? Sikoa says he’s just here to talk and says that Summerslam is going to be Rollins vs. the entire Bloodline. Rollins seems to accept this but Sikoa says it doesn’t have to be that way. Sikoa can have his back at Summerslam, with Rollins saying he’ll think about it.

That doesn’t work for Sikoa, who says he can be for Rollins what Rollins was for Cody Rhodes. That has Rollins thinking but here is Jacob Fatu to interrupt, with Sikoa bailing out into the crowd. Rollins drops Fatu with a superkick and leaves him in the corner. This was the dramatics portion and Rollins seems interested in Sikoa’s help. I’m mostly expecting Sikoa to join the Bloodline at Summerslam, but it’s not a lock.

We look at Chad Gable and Penta having a staredown at the Summerslam Kickoff.

Ethan Page/Rusev vs. Penta/Chad Gable

Rusev jumps Penta to start fast and a double suplex gets two. Everything breaks down and Rusev backdrops Penta onto the apron. We take a break and come back with Penta hitting a high crossbody. That’s enough for Gable to come in and roll some German suplexes on Page. The moonsault misses though and Rusev plants Gable for two, with Penta making the save. Everything breaks down and Gable gets caught in the Accolade, which is reversed into an ankle lock. Penta uses them as a launch pad for a Mexican Destroyer to Page, leaving Rusev to tap at 8:38.

Rating: B-. This was a good back and forth match and Penta getting the win gets him even closer to winning the title at Summerslam. I’m not sold on him doing it while staying completely on the side of good, though that very well may be where it goes. At least they’re making it feel important, which isn’t surprising given how well Gable has gotten over lately.

Video on Seth Rollins beating Roman Reigns at Money In The Bank 2016.

Rollins taunts Jacob Fatu in an effort to get him to break Roman Reigns’ orders. Fatu says what happened earlier tonight won’t happen again and violence is promised for after Summerslam.

Yet even more from Fanatics Fest.

Paul Heyman sits down to talk about being the advocate for Brock Lesnar. He has been asked to not use the word violence but how does he sell the Cell without it? Heyman hypes up Lesnar being undefeated in the Cell and how many people think it’s ending at Summerslam. Femi has had the greatest rookie year in WWE since Lesnar, but it comes to an end at the hands of Lesnar himself.

Then Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns got back together for a bit.

We look at Gunther vs. Nick Aldis being set up at yesterday’s Summerslam Kickoff.

Dominik Mysterio vs. Joe Hendry

Mysterio, with Liv Morgan, isn’t defending his AAA Mega Title here. Hendry gets stomped down in the corner to start but comes right back with a rather delayed vertical suplex. Back up and Mysterio sends him outside, only for Hendry to pull a dive out of the air. That earns Mysterio a quick toss but Morgan posts Hendry. Cue Danhausen to load up the Curse but Morgan hits him in the face.

We take a break and come back with Hendry muscling him up for another suplex. A discus lariat gives Hendry two but Mysterio is back with a springboard tornado DDT. Cue the Danhausenmobile with Iyo Sky, who brawls with Morgan. They go inside and Danhausen gives Mysterio a Triple D to give an appreciative Hendry the pin at 10:21.

Rating: C+. This was quite the messy situation with Danhausen showing up twice, but the good thing is that Hendry actually got a win. He has something going on and that’s more than you could really say about a lot of his time on the main roster thus far. The match wasn’t exactly outstanding, but they were focusing on almost everything but the wrestling anyway.

We look at Cody Rhodes and CM Punk getting into it at the Summerslam Kickoff event and having to be held apart.

We look at Roman Reigns and Jalen Brunson fending off Seth Rollins and Tyrese Haliburton at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Danhausen vs. Dominik Mysterio is confirmed for Summerslam.

Here’s what’s coming next week.

LA Knight vs. Jacob Fatu

Before the match, Knight isn’t sure how Solo Sikoa can be out here offering to help Seth Rollins because it’s making him sick. The fans chant for Reigns, with Knight saying he can’t even blame them for that because Reigns has begged for acceptance for years. Knight is everything WWE wanted Reigns to be for years. Now though, Sikoa is wanting to help a cross eyed goof like Rollins. The idea should have been destroying the Bloodline for good but Fatu is not going to be able to beat him, even with the Mortal Kombat music and the shaking.

Cue Fatu and we’re ready to go, shockingly with Fatu hammering away in the corner to start. It’s too early for the running Umaga Attack though and Knight wraps the leg around the post. That just earns him a suicide dive but Fatu is sent knees first into the steps. A Samoan drop onto the apron cuts Knight off again, only to have him come back with a dropkick through the ropes. Knight gets in a clothesline off the apron and we take a break. We come back with Knight’s neckbreaker getting two but Fatu catches him up top.

That lets Fatu go up, with Knight running the corner for the top rope superplex. They’re both down so here is Jimmy Uso, with Solo Sikoa showing up to go after him. Fatu hits the suicide dive to cut Sikoa off but he walks into the BFT. Uso distracts the referee but here is Royce Keys to cut him off. Jey Uso runs through the crowd and fires off some superkicks to Keys until Knight is back up with a dive. Back in and Fatu gives Knight a pop up Samoan drop. The triple jump moonsault finishes for Fatu at 11:55.

Rating: B-. This was the rather wild main event to wrap up the show and that’s a good way to build up the Summerslam six man. Knight losing again isn’t the best look but he seems to be in for something a bit bigger at the moment. That being said, Fatu is still a monster and the fact that he has such a good looking moonsault makes it that much better.

Post match Sikoa runs in but gets taken out by the Usos. Keys is back in to slug it out with Fatu, with the USB putting Fatu down. The Usos superkick and 1D Keys but Knight is back up as well. That earns him a Tongan Death Grip from Fatu and a string of running Umaga Attacks. The Bloodline stands tall to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. The important thing here is that it felt like they were trying, as you could tell the vast majority of the show was built around setting up Summerslam. The two top matches are both pretty much made for Summerslam so this was about almost everything else. I’d call that a success, as you could feel the energy and effort here to make things that much better. Rather good show here, and Summerslam gets a needed push forward.

Results
Vision b. Dragon Lee/Je’Von Evans – Super Spear to Lee
Oba Femi b. JD McDonagh – Fall From Grace
Chad Gable/Penta b. Rusev/Ethan Page – Ankle lock to Rusev
Joe Hendry b. Dominik Mysterio – Triple D
Jacob Fatu b. LA Knight – Triple Jump moonsault

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 13, 2026
Location: American Airlines Arena, Dallas, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re on the way to Saturday Night’s Main Event and that means it is time to finalize the Raw side of the card. The show is only feeling so important with Summerslam coming a few weeks after but that is often an issue with these specials. Hopefully they can put something together here with Brock Lesnar in the house. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Here are Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar, with a bunch of cops, to get things going. The fans keep chanting for Oba Femi, with Heyman explaining how obsessed Femi is with facing Lesnar. Heyman finds it interesting to see Femi being obsessed because so many people are until they get hit in the face.

This time though, Lesnar is obsessed with Femi and has been looking past hunting trips and training camp to get his hands on Femi in the Cell. Before then though, Heyman has gone to a judge and gotten a restraining order to prevent any violence. Lesnar takes his hat off because he’ll be abiding by the judge’s orders, but here is Femi (in a RUN FROM THE RULER shirt, making me picture him as the nun in the Blues Brothers) to interrupt.

Femi is here to fight so Lesnar and Heyman leave, with Femi beating up the cops. With Lesnar and Heyman on the stage, Femi says he would have gotten his title shot but Lesnar would have cost him anyway. At Summerslam, there is no more running. Not much here, but the match has already been set up.

We get the start of a series on Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, with the formation of the Shield. This is basically “here’s the Shield, they’re awesome”.

Iyo Sky vs. Roxanne Perez

Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez are here with Perez. It’s a brawl to start with Sky taking her down for some knees to the ribs. Back up and they trade some rollups for two each until Perez kicks her in the ribs. They head outside for the fight over a suplex, with Sky dropping her down to the floor. An Asai moonsault connects but Morgan offers a distraction, allowing Perez to twist the leg as we take a break.

We come back with Perez tying her in the Tree Of Woe and kicking at the knee some more. Sky gets her knees up to block a moonsault and hitting a butterfly backbreaker for another two. There’s the missile dropkick but the running knee only hits buckls. Perez grabs a Haas Of Pain, with Sky reversing into a crossface. That’s broken up as well so Judgment Day offers a distraction, only for Sky to roll through a rollup and pin Perez at 9:35.

Rating: B-. This was one of those basic steps in a long story as Sky is on her way to a title match at Summerslam but they have so long on the road to the title match. Sky beating Morgan’s friends is a good way to go and she outsmarted the Judgment Day to win here. They have a few weeks to go and at least this first part went well.

Post match the beatdown is still on until Sol Ruca runs in for the save. That earns her a swing into the barricade and a powerbomb against the post, followed by a belt shot to leave Sky laying.

We recap the issues with the Bloodline on Smackdown.

Here is the Vision, now with Maxxine Dupri, to brag about getting the Tag Team Titles back. Dupri goes to explain but here is the sad looking Alpha Academy to interrupt. They want an explanation and beg her to come back but she didn’t think it was fair that she had to pick between them. Otis told her that Austin Theory was bad news but she insists that they don’t even know Theory. As Otis seems ready to confess his feelings for Dupri, Theory gets on the apron to laugh the whole thing off.

The fight is on with Tozawa diving at Bron Breakker, who suplexes him clean over the announcers’ table. Back in and the beatdown continues but Otis fights back in the corner. Otis goes to kiss Dupri but Theory gets in a low blow. Breakker hits a huge spear to Tozawa and another drops Otis as well. This is supposed to be some big sad moment but I’m really not that mad about Dupri getting to be happy with the successful team over some comedy losers.

Survivor Series is in Houston.

The people in the gauntlet match for an Intercontinental Title shot want to win the gauntlet match for an Intercontinental Title shot.

Royce Keys vs. Jimmy Uso

This is an impromptu match and we’re joined in progress after a break, as the two got in a fight in the aisle during the commercial. Keys hammers away as we recap how the match was set up. A high crossbody gives Jimmy a breather and he enziguris Keys outside. That earns Uso some rams into various objects on the floor, only to come back with a Samoan drop onto the announcers’ table. We take a break and come back with Keys catching him in a powerslam as Jacob Fatu arrives in the back. Fatu comes into the arena and lays Keys out for the DQ at 6:53.

Rating: C. They didn’t have time to do much here as so much of the match was spent in the break. At the same time, Keys is the latest name to be pulled into the Bloodline Vortex, which might seem like a good thing but will likely only lead to a bunch of beatdowns. You really couldn’t have him pin Uso here before the big beating?

Post match Fatu wrecks Keys and wraps a chair around his neck in the corner. Solo Sikoa pops up to call Fatu off though, saying blood is thicker than water. That’s why he’s coming home to the family. They do the big pose and Sikoa Spikes Uso but the Bloodline is back up. LA Knight comes in for the real save, though a chair to the back just wakes Fatu up. Knight chairs him to the floor and says that’s not enough because he wants the two of them in this ring. Throw in Jey Uso too and let’s do that six man thing at Summerslam.

Paul Heyman applauds the Vision for their efforts but says that Maxxine Dupri was so great tonight….that they don’t need him anymore. And Heyman walks away. If that’s it for the team, fair enough, as it really wasn’t working and needs a new direction.

Video on the Cell.

Oba Femi comes up to Adam Pearce and threatens a lot of violence in the Cell.

Bayley is in the ring and invites Lyra Valkyria to join her. Valkyria does show up and Bayley asks for an apology, but Valkyria thinks she deserves the apology. If Bayley could realize her own problems, she would realize why so many people turn on her. Valkyria has always lied to Bayley to make her feel good because the reality is Bayley is a doormat. Her face shouldn’t be on the posters and she drags everyone down.

Bayley has always been the worst of the Four Horsewomen but she lists off some of her own accomplishments. She’s going to add beating Valkyria at Madison Square Garden, because their match is set for Saturday Night’s Main Event. Valkyria’s cheap shot is cut off but she beats Bayley up anyway. They were doing it there or at Summerslam so this makes sense.

We look at the Shield splitting up, with the chair shot that ultimately lead to the creation of the Bloodline.

Big Cass is back on August 3. If he’s alone, it’ll be fine. Therefore, it won’t be fine.

Gauntlet Match

Seven entries for an Intercontinental Title shot at Summerslam and it’s Dominik Mysterio in at #1 and Joe Hendry in at #2. Hendry starts fast and takes over, including a slam to put Mysterio down. They go outside with Hendry being whipped hard into the steps and the fans are all over Mysterio. Back in and the slingshot hilo connects but Hendry blocks the Three Amigos. Hendry gets in the fall away slam but JD McDonagh offers a distraction. The 619 into the frog splash gets rid of Hendry at 4:52.

Je’Von Evans is in at #3 and, after a break, is taken down by McDonagh on the floor. Evans sends Mysterio into the announcers’ table though and a spinning enziguri gets two back inside. McDonagh gets caught interfering so Evans hits him in the face, only to get 619ed. Mysterio goes up….and here is Danhausen to CURSE him. The pyro goes off in the wrong corner (Danhausen realizes he messed up) but it’s the OG Cutter to give Evans the pin at 11:10.

Dragon Lee is in at #4 and sends Evans outside for the big running flip dive as we take another break. We come back with Evans winning a slugout and taking it outside. Lee is sent into the timekeeper’s area, where a big dive takes him down again. They get back inside where Lee plants Evans for two, only to get rolled up for the pin at 15:36. Rusev is in at #5 and we take a break.

We come back with Rusev unloading on Evans, at least until he knocks Rusev outside. The big no hands dive gives Evans two back inside but Rusev slams him down. The Accolade goes on, with Evans making the rope. That’s not acceptable for Rusev, who pulls him back in, only to have Evans stand up (!) and drop down for the save. Rusev pulls him right back in though and Evans is out at 27:15.

Chad Gable is in at #6 and the rolling suplexes have Rusev in trouble. Rusev is able to catch him with a release Rock Bottom though and we take a break. We come back with a superplex and Angle Slam being blocked. Instead Rusev superkicks him into the Accolade but Gable slips out for a German suplex into the corner.

A victory roll pins Rusev at 34:26 but Rusev Accolades Gable again. Ethan Page is in at #7 and Page’s running big boot gets two but he’s caught in the ankle lock. That’s reversed into a Confidence Breaker for two, only for Gable to reverse an Egoplex into the Angle Slam for two. The ankle lock gives Gable the win at 38:18.

Rating: B. This worked well as I wasn’t sure who was going to win. Gable going forward is the right way to go, as he is long overdue for some singles success of his own. I’d assume he wins the title, but the question would seem to be how. For right now, he’s having good matches and the fans are behind him so you can only ask for so much more than that. This was rather long but flew by and that’s a nice feeling for the big featured match designed to eat up a bunch of the show’s time.

Post match Penta comes in for the staredown.

We look at the recent Smackdown World Title issues, leading to a tag match at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Roman Reigns arrives.

Saturday Night’s Main Event rundown.

It’s time for the contract signing with Roman Reigns coming to the ring (already containing Adam Pearce) first. After the catchphrase, here is Seth Rollins to interrupt and join in. Rollins signs before his music finishes playing and says him beating Reigns is one of those things you can’t avoid. With his feet on the table, Rollins tells Reigns to get on with this but Reigns says he wishes Rollins that last week.

Last week Rollins proved himself to be Reigns’ #1 hater (the fans like that one) and Reigns doesn’t like that because it has people believing they’re on the same level. Reigns will prove the difference between the two of them at Summerslam, where he’ll show Rollins what #1 looks like. That’s enough for Reigns to sign and we’re officially set. Rollins is rather pleased with him for keeping the title warm and he’ll see Reigns the next time he wants to show up for work.

Reigns cuts him off and asks what happens if Rollins does win. Is he going to hold the title for a few months and then get hurt again? It’s what happens every single time because some people just can’t handle the pressure of being the top guy around here. That brings Rollins back inside to tell Reigns to just say something. Reigns says he knows Rollins is #2 because after all of these years, he still needs Money In The Bank and a fake injury to win the title. If there was ever a time to be #1, Rollins’ work daddy HHH is basically running the place!

They gave Rollins all of Reigns’ stuff but he still couldn’t walk in Reigns’ shoes. Reigns will always be #1 and Rollins will always be #2 so just acknowledge it b****. Rollins asks if that’s all he has, and says that they’re not doing the same thing. He’s glad that he isn’t Reigns and the fight is on, with Rollins beating him down. The Stomp is countered with a Superman Punch but Rollins uses a microphone to get out of a powerbomb. Now the Stomp connects and Rollins stares down at him to end the show. This went on for a bit and Reigns basically destroyed him on the mic, as Rollins didn’t have much to respond to him.

Overall Rating: B. They were in a rough spot (again) because they’re trying to build to a few things at once. Saturday Night’s Main Event does feel bigger this time around, but when you already have Summerslam mostly set, the Saturday special only matters so much. The wrestling was a big different here too, with one scheduled match, an impromptu match (that’s not a bad thing) and then a very long six fall match. It worked out fine, but this was definitely something a bit different and I’m not sure how often they could pull it off.

Results
Iyo Sky b. Roxanne Perez – Rollup
Royce Keys b. Jimmy Uso via DQ when Jacob Fatu interfered
Chad Gable won a gauntlet match last eliminating Ethan Page

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Smackdown
Date: July 10, 2026
Location: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Commentators: Joe Tessitore, Wade Barrett

And then everything changed, as CM Punk won the Smackdown World Title on Raw, despite not being a Smackdown wrestler. He might be now, but it’s not sure if that’s the case or not. Odds are we’ll hear something about that tonight as there is a good chance that Punk will be on the show. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of the Smackdown World Title situation on Raw, with Gunther attacking Cody Rhodes and costing him a chance to challenge Sami Zayn for the title. CM Punk stepped in and got the title shot instead, beating Zayn to become champion.

Here is Nick Aldis, who got Punk to challenge for the title, to say that he is officially back as Smackdown GM. With that out of the way, here is Punk for a chat. Aldis welcomes Punk to the show and steps aside, with Punk saying he missed the Smackdown fans. Punk has been negotiating to come to Smackdown and those discussions were expedited on Monday, when he got into his gear at his house and drove to the Allstate Arena where he won the title. When title opportunities fall out of the sky, he’s there to catch them and he’s ready to defend this title anytime.

If someone thinks he has something that belongs to them, come try and take it. Punk brings up Sami Zayn, who deserves a rematch, Gunther, knowing it’s a mistake to bring up, and Finn Balor, who can come get a third shot any time. He lists off a few other names but here is Cody Rhodes to interrupt. Rhodes asks about Punk’s black eye, with Punk saying he knows Rhodes wants to know something else…so what does he want to talk about?

Rhodes brings up the title matches falling out of the sky, but there are other matches that have been built up for years. Punk: “You mean like CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes?” That sounded like a Wrestlemania main event but they can’t run from each other much more. The challenge is made for Summerslam so they shake hands, with Aldis making it official. Yeah that’s a big time Summerslam match and worthy of a main event.

Jade Cargill, with Michin and B-Fab, has requested and received a match with Alexa Bliss tonight. This is part of Cargill ruining Charlotte’s life and she’s not responsible for taking Bliss out.

Finn Balor vs. Tama Tonga

Talla Tonga is here with Tama and this is fallout from the Tongas attacking Balor last week. Balor double legs him to start and hammers away but Tama gets in an elbow to the face. A clothesline puts Tama on the floor but Talla breaks up the big dive, allowing Tama to get in the shot from behind.

We take a break and come back with Balor striking away, setting up a Nightmare On Helm Street for two. A spinning belly to back suplex gets Tama out of trouble but Balor puts him right back into it with the Sling Blade. Tama cuts him off again and hits a spinning Pedigree for two so Balor backdrops him to the floor. The big running flip dive hits both Tongas and the Coup de Grace gives Balor the pin at 9:47.

Rating: B. I’m not sure what happened but they flipped a switch in the last few minutes and turned on the jets. The final two or so minutes here was an awesome fast paced slugfest with one big move after another. Balor can work well with anyone and Tama held up his end rather well here. It started good and then got very good, which made it even more fun than I was expecting.

Carmelo Hayes is ready to prove himself again because he wants to get his hands on Trick Williams.

R-Truth pays off Fraxiom over a lost bet but the War Raiders come in to say these games need to end. Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu come in, saying they’re looking for Solo Sikoa. R-Truth agrees to tell Sikoa they’re looking for him. Damian Priest comes up and seems ok with them, while also saying Royce Keys is here. R-Truth doesn’t like that, but Priest says Keys isn’t with them.

Sami Zayn, on a mental health break, is on the phone with Nick Aldis, who says he does have the authority to make a match between CM Punk and Cody Rhodes. Gunther comes in to slap the phone away and says he belongs in the World Title match. Aldis has until the end of the night to fix that.

Here are Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu to call out Solo Sikoa. Instead they get Royce Keys, who Fatu doesn’t think looks like Sikoa. Keys says their family business is starting to affect him and Fatu doesn’t like that. Fatu says Keys can say a lot, but please don’t go there about OTC business. Uso clarifies that Keys isn’t part of this family but Keys talks about all of the family members he has lost.

Fatu has been his brother and Keys isn’t letting him go. Uso says this is crossing a line that he can’t come back from and he doesn’t want to do this. Keys isn’t here to fight…but steps forward over a line. Uso says that the two of them are going to give Keys the worst beating they’ve ever given anyone. Keys: “We?” This is all on Uso so he says get a referee out here. Keys knocks Uso outside with a clothesline and we take a break with the referee arriving.

Jimmy Uso vs. Royce Keys

Keys knocks him down to start and fires away right hands in the corner. A suplex puts Uso down but they head outside, with Uso sending him into the steps. The chinlock goes on back inside but Keys is up, only to be sent back to the floor. Keys is sent over the announcers’ table and we take a break.

We come back with Keys getting two off a powerslam so it’s time for the straps to come down. Keys plants him onto the announcers’ table but gets posted to cut off the momentum. Cue Solo Sikoa behind Uso to load up the Spike, which brings out Jacob Fatu. The brawl is on, allowing Uso to spear Keys for the pin at 9:25.

Rating: C+. I’m not wild on Keys losing, though it’s even worse when he loses to Jimmy Uso’s spear. Trying to make it the family move is quite a stretch when only Reigns really has the power/explosiveness to make it look good and the Samoan drop already exists. Anyway, this was more of the Bloodline drama, which is going on underneath everything Roman Reigns has going on with Seth Rollins for Summerslam. That’s a lot at once and I’m still not even sure where this part is going.

Post match Fatu lays out Sikoa and then superkicks Keys. Fatu loads up the Umaga Attack on Sikoa, who has a chair around his neck, but hits the brakes and yells at him instead.

After losing the title on Monday, Sami Zayn went on a rant about how unfair the whole thing was.

CM Punk wants everyone to get in line to come after the title but here are Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano. LeRae yells at Punk for taking away their hope of Gargano getting better. Punk remembers him as Johnny Wrestling and says whatever this is, it isn’t working. As Punk goes to leave, Finn Balor welcomes him to the show, with an eye on the belt.

Fatal Influence have had fun taking out Brie Bella and Paige and they’re ready to do it again for the Women’s Tag Team Titles at Saturday Night’s Main Event. I’d certainly hope so.

Alexa Bliss vs. Jade Cargill

Charlotte and the minions are here too. An early Charlotte distraction lets Bliss go after Cargill’s leg and a knee to the face puts Cargill down. That just earns Bliss some backbreakers and we take a break. We come back with Cargill missing a boot in the corner so Bliss can hammer away. The running Blockbuster gives Bliss two but Sister Abigail is broken up. Charlotte gets in a neck snap across the top to give Bliss two so it’s time for the seconds to get in a fight. Cargill gets in a pump kick into Jaded for the pin at 7:04.

Rating: C+. This was another way to continue the path towards Cargill vs. Charlotte, which absolutely feels like a big showdown. I could go for seeing the two of them fight and hopefully they manage to make it work. Bliss and Charlotte have come incredibly far as a team and this was a good use of a story that has worked for years in wrestling.

Post match Charlotte fights off the minions for a bit but Cargill uses a chair to snap Bliss’ arm, allowing Bliss to do her arm out of joint deal.

Trick Williams can’t find his title but Lil Yachty comes up to present him a custom fur lined title.

Alexa Bliss is taken to the trainer’s room. I’m not sure why we needed to see this.

Carmelo Hayes vs. Trick Williams

Non-title and Lil Yachty is here with Williams. Hayes gets knocked into the corner to start so Williams can stomp away. Back up and Hayes gets in a spinning crossbody, earning himself a Trick Slap as we take an early break. We come back with Hayes grabbing Dirty Diana for two and they both need a breather. Williams gets in some leg lariats, followed by a Rock Bottom for two.

Hayes flips out of a fireman’s carry though and grabs a middle rope DDT for two of his own. The jumping neckbreaker gives Williams two but Hayes knocks him off the top, setting up a frog splash for another near fall. The Trick Kick gives Williams two more but he misses a charge in the corner. Yachty gets dropped and the First 48 takes Williams down. Hayes goes up top…but Baron Corbin of all people is back to pull him into the ropes for the DQ at 10:30.

Rating: B-. They were having a good match before the big surprise return. Corbin isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but he could be a great addition to the midcard. As long as he doesn’t become the focal point of the show, he should be perfectly fine and could have some good matches with Williams, Hayes and more. The match itself was good, but these two are likely to have a big PPV match somewhere down the line after their lengthy history together.

Post match Corbin lays both of them out and drops the furry title on Williams.

Here is Gunther, with Nick Aldis coming in to say Gunther can have what he wants. Gunther can have Punk and Rhodes…at Saturday Night’s Main Event in a tag match, when he teams up with Sami Zayn. Summerslam isn’t changing one bit, which earns Aldis a beatdown. Gunther boots him in the face and grabs the sleeper a few times. Cody Rhodes runs in for the save (though the show cuts off when he’s still in the aisle) to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was designed to set up a few big matches for Summerslam, which certainly needs the help to boost things up with a few weeks ago to go. Punk vs. Rhodes being set up is a good move, as that’s absolutely a main event level match. Other than that, some of the matches which were either already set or close to it got a few nice upgrades. I liked this show, as it’s nice to have a more clear direction after everything has been shaken up in recent weeks.

Results
Finn Balor b. Tama Tonga – Coup de Grace
Jimmy Uso b. Royce Keys – Spear
Jade Cargill b. Alexa Bliss – Jaded
Carmelo Hayes b. Trick Williams via DQ when Baron Corbin interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 29, 2026
Location: Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re done with the Saudi Arabian excursion and the big story for the red people is Oba Femi and Iyo Sky winning their respective crowns. Sky has already announced that she is challenging Liv Morgan at Summerslam but Femi has a choice to make. Other than that, Roman Reigns is back so let’s get to it.

Here is Night Of Champions if you need a recap.

We open with a long Night Of Champions recap, capped off by Sami Zayn getting the long awaited WWE Title win.

Here is Femi to get things going. He appreciates the chants but those are for a ruler. Now he deserves a reaction for a king. Lady Destiny is not done with him and a choice has to be made…and here are Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman to interrupt. Lesnar actually handles his own introduction and says that while he doesn’t watch the show, he knows that being King Of The Ring is an accomplishment.

Heyman has told Lesnar that Femi has a big decision to make and maybe Lesnar can help him with that. Lesnar understands that Femi called him a coward and a b**** while he was gone. Heyman has said that Femi is a h*** of a promo and Lesnar could never do that, which is why he has Heyman around.

As the saying goes though, talk s***, get hit, so it’s a low blow and F5 to leave Femi laying. Heyman: “NOW THAT WAS A GREAT PROMO!” The two of them go to leave but Femi calls Lesnar a b**** one more time. He wants to fight Lesnar at Summerslam to settle the score. That’s fine with Lesnar….who wants it in the Cell. Heyman panics as you would expect. That’s a heck of a match, but dang I hope they don’t just pull a bait and switch with the King Of The Ring title shot.

Post break we recap what we just saw.

Heyman is in the back with Adam Pearce, saying that the match was just given to him (imagine the t-shirt sales). They have the biggest match of all time in the Summerslam main event. Austin Theory comes in to say that he didn’t know Heyman was back and he has a match tonight. Heyman: “Well now you know.” Heyman goes off and Pearce goes to talk to Femi, who says he can get the title shot later. I really, really hope they aren’t just going to say that the King Of The Ring means nothing and that we wasted all of our time on it.

Ethan Page vs. Rey Mysterio

Mysterio picks up the pace to start and knocks Page down but gets caught up top. Page stomps away in the Tree Of Woe, followed by a backbreaker onto the turnbuckle. We take a break and come back with Mysterio trying a sunset flip, resulting in Page punching the mat by mistake.

Page is sent outside for the sliding splash and Mysterio rains down some right hands inside. A reverse sitout powerbomb gives Page two of his own and a big boot gets the same. Mysterio is fine enough to grab a super hurricanrana, setting up the 619. The frog splash finishes Page at 10:48.

Rating: C+. Mysterio’s ability to have these matches at his age and after all of those injuries is nothing short of remarkable. He’s nowhere near what he once was (of course) but he’s still having absolutely watchable and acceptable matches out there. Page losing clean isn’t the best sign, but at least it gives Mysterio some revenge.

Judgment Day goes to find Danhausen in a search for their money and steal something New York Knicks related.

Here is Joe Hendry for a concert, with special guests the Street Profits. They’re very happy with their title win last week and Ford thanks the fans for always believing in them. They also thank Seth Rollins and call last week’s win a beautiful song. That’s enough for Hendry to sing about how we have new champs and how pathetic the Vision happens to be.

This brings out Austin Theory, who calls the Profits thieves. The rematch is officially set for next week and the Profits approve, but they’re not sure if Bron Breakker is healthy enough. For right now though, Theory wants to face Hendry, who seems to approve. Theory already said he had a match tonight so why is this a surprise?

Joe Hendry vs. Austin Theory

We’re joined in progress with Hendry in trouble but he fights up with the Hit Single (discus lariat). Graves wants to know who declared that a hit as Theory gets in a hard forearm for two. The Last Shot gives Theory two more and he slugs away, only to charge into a Side Effect to give Hendry the pin out of nowhere at 3:34.

Rating: C. That was kind of a sudden finish but I’ll take Hendry getting on the show and getting to do something after weeks of pretty much nothing. They set this up last week as Hendry goes after what is left of the Vision and the song makes it even better. Hendry is still finding his place around here and this is a good enough spot to start, even in a short match.

Raquel Rodriguez complains to Adam Pearce and gets a match with Maxxine Dupri tonight. Liv Morgan and Roxanne Perez come in with Morgan going on about her problems but Rodriguez says she has Morgan’s back. Perez didn’t get to say a word.

Here is Queen Of The Ring Iyo Sky, who is very grateful to be back here with the crown. Sky celebrates her win but Liv Morgan interrupts. Morgan is tired of hearing from Sky and promises to win at Summerslam, where she will remain the greatest Women’s Champions of allllllll (this goes on for about ten seconds) time.

Until then though, Sky is in trouble and here is the rest of the Judgment Day, who are quickly cleared out. An Oblivion attempt is countered and Sky grabs a German suplex. A big kick to the head looks to set up Over The Moonsault but Rodriguez is there to put Sky in the Tree Of Woe. The team works on Sky’s knee and Morgan gets the half crab until agents and referees break it up. They’ve got a long time to build to the match and Sky taking out Morgan’s friends is a good enough way to go.

We recap LA Knight turning down Solo Sikoa’s offer of teaming up from Smackdown.

LA Knight vs. Jimmy Uso

Jey Uso is here with Jimmy so Knight goes outside to yell at him for a bit. Back in and Knight grabs a headlock but gets switched into an armbar. Knight stomps Jimmy in the corner, with a running shot getting two. Jimmy is back up with an enziguri and high crossbody for two, followed by the suicide dive.

We take a break and come back with Knight striking away, followed by the jumping neckbreaker out of the corner. Knight misses something off the top though and Jimmy hits a spear for two. The Superfly Splash is countered as Knight runs the corner for the top rope superplex and the big crash. Knight takes out Jey and hits his jumping top rope elbow on Jimmy. Jey offers a distraction though and Jimmy grabs a rollup for the pin at 11:53.

Rating: C+. And then Sikoa will help Knight after the match and it feels like I’ve seen this story a few dozen times now. This is hardly anything that original and I could really go for Knight not losing so often. He still feels like he’s just on the cusp of breaking through and the kind of thing isn’t helping him. At least he’s doing something though, much like Jimmy for a change.

Post match the beatdown is on but Solo Sikoa runs in for the save. That’s enough for Knight to come back up with a BFT.

We look at Gunther and Nick Aldis getting into a shoving match after Night Of Champions. Aldis and Gunther have been sent home and the former is on administrative leave. For now, Adam Pearce is running both shows.

Jey Uso wants to face Sami Zayn for the title at Summerslam. Jacob Fatu is off to do something about it. Jimmy Uso: “Group text!”

Lyra Valkyria isn’t sure why people are getting on her for turning on Bayley. The anger got the better of her ONE TIME but she isn’t letting it get her down. She wanted to bring Bayley up with her and never hurt her. Last week felt so good though just because she got to close the gap.

Maxxine Dupri passes Chad Gable without saying anything but stops and says she’s sorry, which Gable says isn’t necessary. He wishes her luck in her match.

Maxxine Dupri vs. Raquel Rodriguez

Dupri has to pull a Matrix to avoid an early big boot and they’re quickly on the floor. Rodriguez pulls her down by the hair and hits a slingshot Jackhammer. The back and forth elbows in the corner have Dupri in more trouble and Rodriguez grabs a torture rack. With that broken up, a hard clothesline drops Dupri again. She’s right back up with a kick and the straps come down, only for Rodriguez to counter a second attempt into the Tejana Bomb for the pin at 3:15.

Rating: C. The Dupri experiment seems to be over as Rodriguez shrugged off everything Dupri threw at her here and won in the end. That very well might put Rodriguez on the path to a title shot and there are certainly worse ideas. As for Dupri, she’s got the Theory deal to keep her busy and that should be enough for the time being. It’s probably better for her anyway.

Danhausen finds his lab ruined and his Knicks gift missing. Liv Morgan comes in and Danhausen accuses her of doing this, with Morgan saying it was all of the Judgment Day. She wants their money back and the curse lifted as Morgan flips her hair in his face and leaves.

Chad Gable vs. JD McDonagh

Dominik Mysterio, in the stolen Danhausen jersey, is here with McDonagh. They fight over technical control to start with McDonagh working on the arm. Gable fights up and grabs a backdrop into an armdrag as McDonagh is in trouble. Mysterio has to save McDonagh fro the ankle lock and McDonagh uses the distraction to send Gable into the steps.

We take a break and come back with Gable rolling German suplexes, followed the rolling Liger kicks in the corner. McDonagh is back up with a standing Spanish Fly for two, with Gable rolling him up for the same. A brainbuster gives McDonagh two more but Gable suplexes him into the corner.

The ankle lock goes on again before Gable goes up top, where Mysterio offers a distraction. That lets McDonagh hit a super Spanish Fly for two and here’s Danhausen, complete with a briefcase. That gets a chase from Mysterio, allowing Gable to lock the ankle again for the tap at 11:36 (Gable is favoring his hamstring as he leaves so hopefully that’s nothing).

Rating: B-. Right now it isn’t a question of whether Gable will get to do something but rather what and when. Gable is on fire coming back from Mexico and it seems that they have stripped away a bunch of the stupid stuff and let him be himself. I’d like to see what he can do and right now it seems like he could be in for some kind of a story, which has me hopeful for Summerslam and beyond.

Post match Judgment Day goes for the briefcase, which sprays smoke in their face. Danhausen pops up to steal the jersey back. Danhausen declares that he won but Raquel Rodriguez shows up to jump him and steal the jersey again.

Austin Theory comes up to Maxxine Dupri and doesn’t like what she said to Chad Gable. If Dupri wants to go back down that road, maybe this isn’t working out. Theory leaves and the Alpha Academy come in to ask if she’s ok. Dupri doesn’t know and leaves on her own.

Here are Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu for a chat. Reigns hits the catchphrase and here is Seth Rollins to interrupt immediately. They stare at each other for a long time until Rollins says “hello my brother”. They have been tied together for fourteen years and Reigns is in possession of something that belongs to Rollins. Yes his brother, it is time to collect. Reigns says Rollins is the back of the line but Rollins says he owns Reigns no matter what.

Rollins lists off some of the times he’s been one step ahead of Reigns over the years, going all the way to the chair shot that ended the Shield. Reigns may be as great as the people think he is but he has never beaten Rollins. This may be Reigns’ last chance to do this because they cam through the crowd together and made this place their own together.

Now there is a new generation ready to come in and take over so this may be their last chance to do this together. Reigns is one of the best ever but if he doesn’t accept this challenge, he may never escape Rollins’ shadow. Reigns says that’s the first truth he’s heard from Rollins in a long time and he needs to beat him. The match is set. This was hardly a big shock but Rollins sold the match rather well.

Overall Rating: B. This was the SUMMERSLAM AHOY show as Night Of Champions is basically forgotten about and we’re on to the build to the big show next month. On one hand I can go for that, but at the same time I’m not wild on seeing the King Of The Ring deal just dropped for the sake of a grudge match. The action here wasn’t great but that wasn’t the focus for the most part, as this was all about setting the stage for later. Good enough show here, but they definitely have a new focus and that’s nice to see.

Results
Rey Mysterio b. Ethan Page – Frog splashes
Joe Hendry b. Austin Theory – Side Effect
Jimmy Uso b. LA Knight – Rollup
Raquel Rodriguez b. Maxxine Dupri – Tejana Bomb
Chad Gable b. JD McDonagh – Ankle lock

Remember to follow me on Twitter and Bluesky @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Smackdown
Date: June 26, 2026
Location: O2 Arena, London, England
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re taped from London and it’s the night before Night Of Champions. In this case that means the big final push towards to the pay per view and the previews for the finals of the two Of The Ring tournaments. Things have been looking up a bit around here as of late and it would be great to have that continue. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of last week’s World Title situation, resulting in Cody Rhodes defending against Sami Zayn and Gunther at Night Of Champions.

Here are Trick Williams and Lil Yachty for a chat. Williams was missing last week because he was in Jamaica…where he and Lash Legend got married. After stories about the celebration and what happened all night long, Williams declares it the greatest night of his life. He’s ready to go into Night Of Champions and retain the title and move on to Summerslam.

This brings out a ticked off Ricky Saints to interrupt, with Williams threatening him with his back hand. Saints isn’t impressed and says Williams is overlooking him. Tomorrow, you’re going to be looking at the new US Champion. Williams says the only person Saints needs to be focusing on is his dentist after Williams kicks Saints’ teeth down his throat. Saints gets annoyed at Yachty and gets in a cheap shot, with another dropping a distracted Williams.

Alexa Bliss wants to get revenge for Charlotte, even if it means teaming with Tiffany Stratton. Cue Stratton, who says this is a one night only thing and she wants to be left alone after. That’s a rather specific request.

Tiffany Stratton/Alexa Bliss vs. Michin/B-Fab

Stratton and Michin start things off with Stratton grabbing an early headlock takeover. A running basement dropkick gives Stratton an early two and it’s off to Bliss, who is apparently rather popular. The running Blockbuster puts Michin down but it’s way too early for Sister Abigail.

A not so great tornado DDT puts Michin down on the floor but B-Fab gets in a big boot to Bliss as we take a break. We come back with Michin missing an elbow, allowing Stratton to come back in and clean house. The Alabama Slam gets two on B-Fab and there’s a Regal Roll but cue Jade Cargill to break up the moonsault. A spinning X Factor gives B-Fab the pin at 7:41.

Rating: C+. This was a fine illustration of following the basic playbook to build towards Saturday’s title match. Stratton has a reason to be mad now and we might be seeing her more focused on revenge than retaining her title. It should make for an interesting match and this was a good way to set it up, as well as a good use of the minions.

Post match the villains surround Stratton so here is Chelsea Green…who drops her kendo stick. Green is able to send Cargill outside anyway though and Cargill leaves with her goons.

We look at Solo Sikoa costing Jimmy Uso on Raw.

Sikoa brags about taking Uso out but the MFT’s say he’s obsessed with Roman Reigns. They’re out, which leaves Sikoa ranting about how no one leaves him.

Jade Cargill demands a match with Chelsea Green for tonight and Nick Aldis obliges.

AAA Cruiserweight Title: Nathan Frazer vs. Rey Fenix

Fenix is defending. They run the ropes to start fast and trade the flips and dives into an early standoff. Frazer flips away from him out of the corner so Fenix is up with a springboard crossbody to put Frazer down. Fenix sends him outside for the big dive but Frazer catches him with a kick of his own. The big running flip dive hits Fenix and we take a break.

We come back with Fenix fighting out of a chinlock and firing off the fast chops. A Roode Bomb gives Fenix two but Frazer catches him up top. The superplex connects but Fenix pops up for a double kick to the head and they’re both down. Back up and Frazer’s middle rope reverse Spanish Fly gets two and he kicks Fenix out to the floor for a big crash. Frazer’s big dive is cut off though and the Mexican MuscleBuster retains the title at 10:48.

Rating: B. This is another one of those matches where you knew it was going to be entertaining based on whom was involved. That was the case again here, with Fenix getting to showcase himself and Frazer being a perfect choice to hang in there with him. I still don’t want to see the AAA title involved around here, but this was good while it lasted.

Post match respect is shown.

Damian Priest and R-Truth don’t see things the same way on rebuilding the Judgment Day clubhouse but the War Raiders come in to say they want a winner take all title match. R-Truth gets confused and Priest has to take him away.

LA Knight arrives and is on his way to the ring. He also asks why Cathy Kelley, who is supposed to be on Raw, was waiting on him. Fair question.

We recap the King Of The Ring semifinals.

Here is Knight for a chat. Knight talks about how he laid Jimmy Uso out on Raw but he had an unexpected assist. He’d like an explanation on that so Solo Sikoa needs to get out here right now. Cue Sikoa, with the fans chanting for him and Knight finding it a bit catchy. Sikoa says his entire family has left him but Knight isn’t impressed as the MFT’s were useless. Knight doesn’t know what happened on Monday but maybe it was a Roman Reigns initiation.

Sikoa snaps, ranting about how much he hates the Bloodline and he knows he and Knight have that in common. Knight says they should both hate Roman Reigns, just like everyone else in the Bloodline. They’ve all gone back into the Bloodline though so why should Knight trust Sikoa? What’s different here?

The difference is that Sikoa has nothing to lose and they could watch each other’s back and take out the Bloodline. Knight has heard “it’s just me uce” before and he probably needs help, but he’s going to live and die doing things his own way. Thanks but no thanks. That’s an interesting twist, though I liked it better when Montez Ford turned down Seth Rollins to go after the Bloodline about a month ago.

Sami Zayn talks about how no one listens to him, save for Johnny Gargano, but now he can redeem himself by winning the WWE Title.

Paige vs. Jacy Jayne

Brie Bella and the rest of Fatal Influence is here too. Jayne starts fast with the boot choke in the corner so Paige sends her throat first into the top rope. The fans declare this to be Paige’s house as she sends Jayne face first into the buckle over and over. An STF sends Jayne over to the ropes and Paige has to flip dive onto the rest of the team. Jayne uses the distraction to get in a cheap shot though and we take a break.

We come back with Paige fighting up and hitting a clothesline, meaning it’s time to slug it out. Paige snaps off a suplex and the Paige Turner gets two. Rampaige is broken up though and Jayne kicks her down for two of her own. The Rolling Encore is broken up so Jayne grabs a rollup, with Bella cutting off the cheating. Paige takes out an interfering Reid and rolls Jayne up for the pin at 8:34.

Rating: C. It’s nice to see Paige getting a win in her home country, though I could have gone with not seeing Jayne take another pin. She was off to such a hot start when she debuted and has come crashing back down to earth rather quickly. At least Paige and Bella are getting a chance though, as they certainly never have before.

Danhausen continues his experiments on Miz and Kit Wilson when Matt Cardona comes in. Cardona is happy with the New York winning but Danhausen steps away. Los Garza come in to ask where Danhausen is but Cardona tells them to get lost. Danhausen is back to Cardona not to touch whatever is under the sheet.

Finn Balor runs into the Tongas, with Tama saying they do have a past. He has one with Shinsuke Nakamura too and look how that went. The Tongas leave together.

Here are Danhausen and Miz and Kit Wilson (still mostly catatonic) for a chat. Danhausen greets the fans and calls the two of them the Legion Of Danhausen, meaning we get the zombified catchphrases. Los Garza interrupts and jumps Miz and Wilson but Matt Cardona makes the save. Nick Aldis comes in to make the tag match.

Matt Cardona/Danhausen vs. Los Garza

We’re joined in progress with Cardona beating up Berto but getting sent out to the apron. Angel gets in a cheap shot to take over and the alternating beating begins. With that not working, Los Garza beat up Wilson on the floor but the distraction lets Cardona get in a flapjack. Danhausen gets to come in and clean house as everything breaks down. Miz won’t let Angel get a chair so Danhausen grabs a rollup for two on Berto. A kick to the head puts Danhausen down but he curses Berto on top, causing pyro to go off. That and a reverse DDT give Danhausen the pin at 4:32.

Rating: C. This is a completely acceptable way of putting one of the hotter stars on the show as the fans get to see Danhausen live. It’s not like there was anything serious to the whole thing as you had curses, zombies and…whatever Danhausen is this week. Either way, it’s more fun stuff as they’re keeping Danhausen low on the card where he belongs.

Gunther isn’t pleased with Sami Zayn saying their Night Of Champions match is about Zayn’s redemption. A question about his less than great win/loss record against Cody Rhodes makes it worse and he’s off to deal with Zayn.

Video on Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky in the Queen Of The Ring finals.

Chelsea Green vs. Jade Cargill

Green strikes away to start and gets in the salute. James sends her outside and grabs a fall away slam as we take a break. We come back with Green striking away again and hitting a missile dropkick for two. Cargill isn’t having any of this and hits her in the face, setting up Jaded for the pin at 6:12 (Cargill looking bored after such an easy win is exactly on point for her).

Rating: C. Yeah this was about all it needed to be, as Cargill smashes through Green on the way to her title match against Green’s one sided friend. It’s a perfectly logical way to go, as is Green not being able to do much with Cargill. I’m sure Green having Tiffany Stratton fully on her side will do the trick though and that seems to be the coming up pretty soon. Just like Cargill’s title shot.

Post match B-Fab and Michin run in but Tiffany Stratton and Alexa Bliss run in for the save. That earns Stratton a Jadeding.

Solo Sikoa is asked about being alone but Royce Keys interrupts. Keys tells him good luck and walks off.

Video on Bron Breakker vs. Seth Rollins.

Night Of Champions rundown.

Lil Yachty and Trick Williams are ticked off at Ricky Saints and ready for revenge. Williams is prettier than Saints too.

Giulia vs. Kiana James

They were friends, they got into a fight and now they’re not. James kicks her in the face at the bell and they’re on the floor in a hurry. Giulia takes over on the outside and they go back inside where Giulia connects with some hard kicks. A headbutt sends James outside again, where she gets in a slam onto the steps as we take a break.

We come back with Giulia hitting a missile dropkick to leave both of them down. They slug it out with Giulia getting the better of things and snapping off a headscissors. A belly to back suplex gives Giulia two but James slams her off the top for a big crash. Giulia pulls her down by the hair but the big knee is countered into a powerbomb for two more. James gets her in a fireman’s carry but gets sunset bombed out of the corner. The northern lights bomb finishes for Giulia at 9:43.

Rating: B-. This was a case where Giulia needed the win a lot more than James, who can be fine as a lackey or assistant etc. On the other hand, Giulia has felt like she has been floating all over the place and looking for something to stick. Maybe this is a step forward for her, as she certainly needs something to work.

Post match Giulia celebrates but Blake Monroe runs in to lay her out.

Here is Cody Rhodes for a chat but before he can get anywhere, Sami Zayn cuts him off. Zayn thanks his fans for being with him no matter what and he’s sorry for interrupting but he’s the last good guy around here. He apologizes for what happened last week, including hitting Rhodes with the title by mistake. Rhodes: “Was it a mistake?”

Zayn goes on about how this isn’t about how he wanted things to go and Rhodes doesn’t buy that at all. Look at what is going on. Zayn is getting a title shot in a country where he is beloved. The reality is that Zayn is exhausting as he keeps trying to take things. Rhodes wishes Kevin Owens was here because Owens would at least stab him in the front. And at least Owens has been WWE Champion (not quite).

Zayn gets in his face and yells about how Rhodes needs to keep Owens out of his mouth but here is Gunther to say that he doesn’t care about all of the drama around here. If not for Zayn, Gunther would be the WWE Champion but Zayn isn’t a threat to him as a wrestler. Rhodes needs to enjoy his last night as champion because Gunther is taking the title. This brings out Jey Uso to interrupt but Gunther won’t let him run it back.

Uso brings up making Gunther tap out at Wrestlemania and the brawl is on. Gunther and Zayn are cleared out and Rhodes squares off with Uso…and here is Oba Femi. Gunther Zayn get back in and are taken right back out, leaving Rhodes and Femi to stare it down to end the show. They’re doing something interesting here as you could have a few combinations here and they’re all good enough. Nice job here and I’ll take that over having the obvious result that takes forever to come together.

Overall Rating: B-. This did a good enough job of giving a final push towards the pay per view and that’s all it needed to do. They didn’t really add much of anything but the tease at the end did make me more interested. The best thing out of all of this though is we’re back to two hours next week, which is LONG overdue. That should do wonders for Smackdown and I want to see just how well things go when we’re on the road to Summerslam with one less hour to deal with a week. Not a great show here, but it did what it needed to do.

Results
Michin/B-Fab b. Alexa Bliss/Tiffany Stratton – Spinning X Factor to Stratton
Rey Fenix b. Nathan Frazer – Mexican MuscleBuster
Paige b. Jacy Jayne – Rollup
Danhausen/Matt Cardona b. Los Garza – Reverse DDT to Berto
Jade Cargill b. Chelsea Green – Jaded
Giulia b. Kiana James – Northern lights bomb

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