The biggest show of the summer has come around again for two nights in Minnesota, welcome to night one of WWE SummerSlam 2026! We’ll see Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk for the Undisputed WWE Championship; Oba Femi battles Brock Lesnar inside the Hell in a Cell; Nick Aldis puts on the boots to take on Gunther in a grudge match; The Bloodline face off against Solo Sikoa, Royce Keys and LA Knight; The Bella Twins and Paige take on Fatal Influence; and Liv Morgan defends the Women’s World Title against Iyo Sky! Join us for a live recap of WWE SummerSlam Saturday tonight at 6 PM ET on ESPN (USA) and Netflix (worldwide). Hit F5 or refresh as often as you like for the latest updates!
We are LIVE in Minneapolis, Minnesota for SummerSlam! Alicia Taylor is the ring announcer, and Michael Cole and Wade Barrett are the commentators for the event. Iyo Sky is the first competitor to head out to the ring for the first match of the night, and it’s for the championship! Speaking of, here comes the champion herself, Liv Morgan comes out with her Women’s World Championship around her waist. Jessika Carr is the referee for this match.
* Women’s World Championship: IYO Sky vs. Liv Morgan {C}
They lock up collar-and-elbow, Liv slams her to the mat, stomp her down and clobbers her on the back as Michael Cole notes that this is her first defense since winning the title at WrestleMania. Iyo reverses an Irish whip, knee to the gut, and kicks her down in the ropes, followed by a stalling dropkick in the corner. Liv blocks the double underhook, takes her down, and hits a basement dropkick. Liv pulls her off the apron, Iyo knocks her down, CVV and Green Shirt Guy help her up onto the barricade, but Liv trips her up to drop her on the barricade, gets her back in the ring, hits a basement dropkick, and stomps her down in a corner. Liv hits a running kick to the gut, delivers a suplex, floats over, another suplex, rolls over, and finishes the Three Amigos. She hits a shining wizard, covers for 2, back-splash in a corner, Iyo rolls her up, rolls through and hits the double stomp.
Both women are down, Iyo hits the Shotei uppercut, flapjack, kicks her in the head, Liv reverses the Irish whip, Iyo drapes her arm over the ropes, hits the missile dropkick, kips up and emotes! Iyo hits the Bullet Train Attack in the corner, Liv rolls onto the apron, Iyo kicks her through the ropes, and runs through the ropes for a sunset flip powerbomb onto the floor! Iyo gets the champ back into the ring, pops up top, Roxanne Perez distracts ref Jess, Raquel shows up to toss Sky off the apron behind the ref’s back, and Liv covers for 2.5! Iyo knocks Perez off the apron, and back drops Liv over the ropes into Raquel’s arms, and hits a diving moonsault onto Raquel and Roxanne! Liv safely made it back into the ring, hits a running hurricanrana in the ropes, goes up to the top, Iyo hits the Shotei, climbs up to her, hits the TOP ROPE SPANISH FLY and covers for 1-2-NO!!
Both women trade shots back and forth in the center of the ring, Iyo delivers the double underhook sit-out facebuster, hits the double underhook backbreaker, Liv avoids the Bullet Train Attack, Iyo blocks the Oblivion, hits a spinning faceplant, Liv gets up ton the ropes, IYO HITS THE OBLIVION to the originator, and covers for 2.9! Iyo pops up top, goes for Over the Moonsault, lands on her feet as the champ rolls away, Liv hits the Codebreaker from the middle ropes, and stacks the cover for a near-fall! Iyo side-steps the Oblivion, delivers a German suplex on the apron, and hits the Bullet Train Attack as Morgan was against the ringpost! Iyo is holding her knee in pain, still goes up top, Liv blocks the Over the Moonsault with her boots up, goes for the Oblivion, but Iyo flips through the impact, Liv hits the lungblower, follows up with the OBLIVION, and covers for 3!! WINNER, and STILL, WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPION: LIV MORGAN!!
Great opening match! The Bloodline is shown in the locker room getting ready for their match. Mark Henry, Sean Waltman, Dan Spivey and Jimmy Hart are all shown in the crowd.
We get a video message of a warning, then mysterious music plays. We get special Gears of War set on the stage, and it’s for The Usos and Jacob Fatu. Next out comes Royce Keys, Solo Sikoa, and LA Knight with the big pop. Darryl Sharma (a/k/a Adrian Butler if you’re simulating) will referee the match.
* The Usos & Jacob Fatu vs. Royce Keys, Solo Sikoa & LA Knight
All three rush the ring to attack The Bloodline! Keys clotheslines Fatu out the ring and goes after him, Knight back drops Jimmy Uso out the ring and hits a dropkick through the ropes to Fatu, and Jimmy dives over the ropes onto Knight, Fatu and Keys as well. Jey Uso and Solo Sikoa battle each other in the ring, Solo hits the big uppercut, then as the ultimate troll that he is SOLO RUNS IT BACK to Jey Uso’s music! More people are Yeet’ing with Solo than they did with Jey, including Wade Barrett!! Jey gets upset, charges at him, Solo hits a shoulder tackle, and Jey tags out. Jacob steps in, Solo mocks Jacob’s movements, Fatu stares him down, Solo gives him a Samoan drop, mocks Fatu, but Jacob is back up behind him and superkicks him for his antics followed by a pop-up Samoan drop. Fatu hits a running senton, beats him down, chokes him on the ropes, and Jey gets in a cheap shot with a kick. Jimmy tags in, stomps down his little brother, Jey tags in, splashes Sikoa in the corner, attacks him in the ropes, and Fatu gets in a cheap shot headbutt behind the ref’s back. Fatu tags back in, stomps on him, and talks trash saying “Come back to the family! We loved you!” He hits the running hip attack for a 2-count, gets in a superkick on Knight to knock him off the apron, and mouths off to Keys. Solo fights back, knocks Jey off the apron, then Solo and Jacob collide in the middle of the ring with clotheslines and both men are down.
Jimmy and Keys get their hot tags, Keys clotheslines him two times, running splash in the corner, Jimmy reverses the Irish whip, but Keys clotheslines him, delivers the World’s Strongest Slam with Mark Henry in attendance, hits the Sky High spinebuster to Jey, punches Jimmy in a corner, and knocks Fatu off the apron. Jimmy takes advantage of the distraction and superkicks him three times, goes up top, Keys cuts him off, dead-lifts him up, and hits the avalanche swinging powerslam! LA Knight gets back on the apron waiting for the hot tag, as well as Jey Uso, and they get their hot tags!
Knight clotheslines Jey, hits a back elbow, delivers a scoop slam, knocks Fatu off the apron, hits the Superstar Elbow Drop, kicks Fatu off the apron, Jey blocks the BFT, hits the SPEAR, and covers for 2.5! Jey goes up top, Knight runs up, delivers the SUPERPLEX, crawls to make the cover, but Jimmy hits the USO SPLASH onto Knight’s back! Solo hits Jimmy with the Spinning Solo and Yeets! Jacob drops Fatu with the IMPALER DDT and does his shimmy! Keys is back up behind him, takes the straps down, and plants Fatu with THE ULTIMATE SPINEBUSTER!! Fatu rolls out the ring, Keys goes after him, Fatu superkicks him, sees him against the barricade, charges, but Keys counters with a POWERSLAM INTO THE TIMEKEEPER’S AREA! Knight rolls Jey up in the schoolboy for 2, Jey hits another SPEAR, Jimmy tags in, hits another USO SPLASH, covers, and gets the 1-2-KICKOUT!! The Usos plan for the 1-D, Jey tags back in, they set it up, but Solo hits Jimmy with the SAMOAN SPIKE from the apron! Solo taunts Jey with a Yeet, Jey swings at Solo who drops off the apron, Knight hits Jey with the BFT, and covers for the 1-2-3!! WINNERS: ROYCE KEYS, SOLO SIKOA & LA KNIGHT!
That was a fun 6-man tag match! Knight looks on at Sikoa with apprehension, but he kept his part of the bargain against The Bloodline as Solo raises Knight’s arm in victory. Sikoa asks for a handshake, Knight hesitates, walks away, then hugs him to celebrate. “YEAH!”
“The Ring General” Gunther walks out to the ring ready for his match. The SmackDown General Manager comes out as a wrestler, billed as “The National Treasure” Nick Aldis, making his WWE in-ring debut! Cole plugs Aldis’s interview with Chris Van Vliet who is in the front row. The referee for this match is Dan Engler.
* GUNTHER vs. Nick Aldis
The bell dings, they lock up, Gunther takes the arm, takes his down, Aldis kips up, Gunther puts him in a side headlock, Aldis pushes him off and Gunther hits a shoulder block. The crowd starts a light “Let’s go Aldis” chant as Gunther has him back in the headlock, Aldis pushes him off, Gunther slides out the ring and gloats on the announce table. Gunther steps back into the ring, they lock up, Gunther backs him in a corner, cheap shot, Aldis fights back, side headlock, catches him into a delayed vertical suplex, and covers for 2. Gunther kicks him off to block the cloverleaf, Aldis gets on the middle ropes, but Gunther hits the hard CHOP to the chest that sends him out the ring. Gunther sends Aldis into the barricade, right in front of Nick’s wife Mickie James and their son.
Back in the ring, Gunther remains in control with arm wrenches and chest chops until Aldis battles back, but Gunther gives him a couple of hammer throws into the turnbuckles. Aldis reverses a hammer throw, hits a backbreaker, goes for the cloverleaf, Gunther kicks him off, puts him in the Sleeper in the middle of the ring, Aldis is down to a knee, gets back to his feet, and sends him into the turnbuckles. Gunther clotheslines him, goes up to the top rope, Aldis cuts him off and delivers a SUPERPLEX. “You still got it! You still got it!”
Both men are down, Aldis takes control, Gunther chops him over and over, Aldis fights through and clotheslines him, Gunther clotheslines him back, Aldis hits another clothesline, picks him up, delivers the running powerslam, and covers for 2. Aldis goes up top, Gunther ducks under a dive, Aldis side-steps the big boot, scoop slams him, goes up top, hits the diving elbow drop, goes back up, hits another diving elbow drop to the spine, and locks in the KINGSLAND CLOVERLEAF!! Gunther reaches for the ropes, but Aldis drags him to the middle of the ring, and Gunther crawls to get the rope break. Gunther slips off his shoulders, Aldis reverses the Sleeper, Gunther counters with a back suplex, plants him with the POWERBOMB, covers for 2, hits elbows to the neck, and locks in the SLEEPER! Aldis gets to his feet, Gunther drops back down, and Aldis taps out. WINNER: GUNTHER!!
What a great showing for Nick Aldis in his WWE in-ring debut! After Gunther takes his leave, Aldis gets to his feet and the crowd gives him a standing ovation with chants of “You still got it!” Aldis is joined in the ring by his son and Mickie James who show him support along with the crowd.
Cole and Barrett give Nick Aldis praise for his efforts in the ring a while ago. Marcelo Rodriguez and Jerry Soto are here as well doing the Spanish commentary. Michael Chandler, Zac Brown and Kendra Scott as well as the hosts of the Busted Open Radio Show are all in the crowd.
The Bella Twins and Paige head to the ring next in all matching red and black gear. The Fatal Influence head out next with the Women’s Tag Team Championship gold, and they’re all in matching silver and black. Daphanie LaShaunn is the referee assigned for this 6-woman tag match.
* Paige & The Bella Twins vs. Fatal Influence {Women’s Tag Team Champions}
Brie Bella and Fallon Henley start the match, Fallon with a big strike first, mocks the “Yes” chant, hiptoss blocked, Brie hits a Russian legsweep, and hits the Yes Kicks. Jacy Jayne and Lainey Reid rush the ring, but Paige and Nikki Bella wipe them out sending them into the steel steps, Paige hits Reid with a running crossbody off the apron, and Nikki takes out Jayne with a flying clothesline off the apron. Brie hits Henley with a back elbow, goes up top, Fallon distracts the ref, Jacy yanks Brie down behind the ref’s back, and Lainey stomps Brie’s face on the steel steps. Jacy tags in and hits a running cannonball against the steps! “And that’s why we’re taking over the division! Out with the old and in with the new, baby!” Jacy gets Brie back into the ring, hits the running senton, covers for 2, and splashes her in her corner. Lainey tags in, hits a back-splash, covers for 2, puts her in a chinlock, Brie gets to her feet, sends her back into the corner, Brie fights out knocking Henley and Jayne off the apron, and sends Lainey out the ring. Brie is in pain as she crawls to the corner, Lainey slides back in to cut her off, knocks Paige off the apron with a southpaw elbow, Nikki ducks a swing, and Brie clotheslines Reid.
Nikki gets the hot tag, clotheslines Reid twice, gives her a facebuster to the knee, throws Henley into Jayne, and hits a neckbreaker to Jacy making her DDT Fenley. Nikki plants Reid with the Bella Buster, covers, and gets a near-fall. Nikki picks her up for the Rack Attack 2.0, but instead she knocks Jacy off the apron, Lainey with an inside cradle for 2, and Nikki hits her with a big forearm smash. Fallon grabs her partner’s leg to prevent the Rack Attack 2.0, Paige kicks Henley off the apron, hits her with a cannonball, Nikki drops Reid with the RACK ATTACK 2.0, covers, and Jacy breaks up the count! Jacy superkicks Paige, Brie clobbers Jayne with a forearm smash, still holds her shoulder in pain, helps Nikki up to her feet for a double team, Fallon pulls Brie out the ring, Lainey drops Nikki with a knee to the face, and tags out. Fallon and Lainey plant Nikki with a double-team pumphandle suplex, and Paige breaks up the count! Lainey drops Paige with a springboard stunner, Brie hits Lainey with the Brie Mode running knee in the ropes, sends Jacy out the ring, Fallon hits Brie with a hairmare facebuster, then Fallon and Nikki punch each other at the same time. Jacy gets the tag, Paige gets the blind tag while moving Nikki out the way, kicks Jacy in the face from the apron, sunset flip over the ropes for a 2-count, Fallon causes a distraction, Paige kicks her off, Jacy hits Paige with the ROLLING ENCORE and covers for 3! WINNERS: FATAL INFLUENCE!
The Bella Twins hug Paige in the ring post-match, then Nikki decks her turning heel again!! Brie even gets in a couple of kicks, Nikki beats down Paige in the ring, then drops her with the Rack Attack 2.0! Brie just looks down on her former championship partner, holding her shoulder. Nikki says “Lesson learned, don’t ever take my spot.” Let’s hope Brie Bella is okay.
We get several shots of fans enjoying SummerSlam worldwide, then we get an ad for AAA Triplemanía 34 in Las Vegas for night one on September 11th and in Mexico City for night two on September 13th.
We get a short video to promote the new Street Fighter movie coming to theaters soon. Cody Rhodes heads out first wearing a new black jacket and a new silver helmet with a gold Guile afro (as he plays the character Guile in the movie) rising up on the stage, and walks out with the crowd singing his song. CM Punk walks out to silence next in a new green jacket and green gear representing the Minnesota North Stars NHL team with the crowd already chanting his name, celebrating 20 years since his WWE debut. “It’s clobbering time!” Time for his entrance music! Alicia Taylor is in the ring, does the proper title match introductions, Cody gets a mixed reaction, Punk gets heavy cheers, senior official Charles Robinson will referee this match, he shows off the prize, and calls for the bell.
* Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk {C}
Cody walks up to him for a staredown, backs up, they lock up collar-and-elbow, Punk backs him into a corner, they lock up again, Rhodes backs him up, they chop each other on their chests, Punk jumps over him, low hiptoss, headscissors, kicks him on his left arm, goes on the attack with stomps and a hammerlock, Cody switches to a side headlock, Punk pushes him off, Cody hits a shoulder tackle, another shoulder tackle, Punk picks him up, Cody counters and puts him in a grounded headlock. Punk gets back to his feet, Punk pushes him off, Cody with a shoulder block, headlock takeover, Punk backs him up to the ropes, and a non-clean break with a slap to the chest. Cody sends him into a corner, slaps him back on the chest, hits an armbreaker, and wrenches his arm to gain the advantage. Punk with chest kicks, yanks his arm, snapmare to chop him on the back, kicks him in the chest, Cody back to the headlock, hammerlock, Punk reverses, and Cody sends him out the ring.
Punk hits a shoulder to the midsection from the apron, Cody with a knee to knock him down, hits a suicide dive, breaks the ref’s count, throws him into the timekeeper’s area, breaks the count again, Punk with a big forearm, and hits a flying clothesline from the barricade. Punk throws him back into the ring, goes up top, hits a double axe handle to the left shoulder, delivers a suplex, floats over to cover for a 1-count, then goes back to the arm and shoulder. Cody hits the drop-down uppercut, Punk reverses the Irish whip, hits the calf kick, and Punk is holding his knee after tweaking it. Punk hits the running knee, Cody counters the bulldog with a kneebreaker, kicks his leg from under him, drags him away from the rope, Cody blocks the GTS, hits the dragon screw, and hits a kneedrop onto Punk’s leg.
Cody backs him into a corner, Punk clubs him on the back, Cody wraps his leg in the ropes and kicks it, hits a headlock punch, then pulls him out the corner for a dragon screw. Cody works over the left leg, Punk fights him off, kicks him off, picks him up, Cody blocks the GTS with elbows, and Punk hits a boot to block a springboard. Punk hits the bulldog, hops towards him, body slams him, goes up top, Cody cuts him off, goes up to him, Punk with a forearm to knock him down, stands on the top rope, hits the Macho diving elbow drop, and covers for 2. Punk calls for the GTS, but Cody blocks it, hits the Cody Cutter, and gets a near-fall! Cody headbutts him on the leg, hits the Disaster Kick, covers for 2.5, punches him on the leg, hits the Super Cody Cutter, and covers for 2.9!
Punk blocks Cross Rhodes, kicks him off to avoid the figure-4, rolls him up for 2, picks him up, Cody blocks the GTS, then locks in the Figure-4 Leglock! Punk turns him over to switch the pressure and pain, they roll some more until a rope break, and Punk counters the figure-4 to lock in the Anaconda Vice! Cody gets his foot on the bottom rope, Punk kicks him in the midsection, knees him in the head in a corner, Punk calls for the GTS again, Cody grabs the top rope to block, picks him up for the Alabama Slam, Punk counters and locks in the Anaconda Vice in the center of the ring! Cody escapes, Punk with a jackknife pin for 2, Cody hits the CROSS RHODES, and covers for 1-2-KICKOUT! Cody sets him up on the top rope facing the crowd, goes up behind him, Punk fights him off, Punk goes for a moonsault that practically misses, goes for a cover but Cody kicks out. Punk clotheslines him, covers for 2, paintbrush combo to the face, picks him up, hits the GTS with his injured knee, finally covers, 1-2-KICKOUT!
Rhodes rolls out the ring, Punk slams his face on the Spanish announce table, starts to take it apart, Cody fights him off, Punk blocks the Cross Rhodes, shoves him into the steel steps, breaks up the ref’s count at 8, takes apart the English announce table, sends Punk back into the ring, steps back in, Punk picks him up, hits the GTS, covers, and Cody grabs the bottom rope! to stop the count! Outside the ring again, Punk lays Rhodes on the English announce table, looks at the turnbuckle/ringpost, gets back in the ring, goes up top, dives for the elbow drop but Rhodes moves out the way!! Punk landed on his feet on his back knee! Cody breaks the count again, pulls up the champ to bring him back into the ring, Punk gets back to his feet, Rhodes goes for the Cody Cutter again, but Punk moves out the way and Cody hits referee Robinson! Punk hits the GTS, Cody bounces off the ropes back onto Punk’s shoulders, Punk picks him back up, Cody counters with CROSS RHODES, and Punk falls out the ring!
RANDY ORTON SHOWS UP TO HIT CODY RHODES WITH THE RKO!!! Orton gives a little wink before he exits without a trace. Punk has no idea what just happened as he pulls himself back up and into the ring at the same time as Charles Robinson also pulls himself back up. Punk hits Rhodes with the GTS, covers, Robinson slowly counts the 1… 2… 3!!! WINNER, and STILL, UNDISPUTED WWE CHAMPION: CM PUNK!!
What a match as CM Punk retains the WWE Championship!! We haven’t seen Randy Orton since he punted Cody in the head at WrestleMania!
We get the announcement that while WrestleMania 43 is in Riyadh this year, fans in New York City can join the watch party in the Infosys Theater since it starts mid-day, then stick around for AAA Eternal Glory and NXT Stand & Deliver 2027 in New York! Cole and Barrett plug the card for SummerSlam Sunday tomorrow.
Oba Femi comes out first and steps into the ring to aura farm in his big main event, looking up at the cage hanging just above the ring. Referee Chad Patton steps in the ring as the official for the main event. Brock Lesnar steps out next with Paul Heyman after a long delay, he takes his time to look around and take it all in, then he walks around the ring getting ready for the main event. Alicia Taylor does the proper main event introductions, first for the 2026 King of the Ring Oba Femi, and Paul Heyman takes the microphone away from Taylor to make his own personal grandiose introduction for Brock Lesnar. The Hell in a Cell cage lowers, both men circle each other, Chad Patton calls for the bell to ding, and the main event is underway!
* Hell in a Cell Match: Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar
The fight is on! Femi is on the attack, hits a running uppercut in the corner, Lesnar side-steps him, delivers the first German suplex, a second German suplex, a third German suplex, and Oba is back on his feet! Femi clotheslines him out the ring, slams his head on the apron, sends him into the cell wall, then Lesnar Irish whips him into the steel steps. Lesnar sets up a suplex, Femi blocks it, delivers his own suplex on the floor, and sends him into the steps in front of Heyman. Femi pulls out a table from under the ring, leans it against the cell wall, and hammer throws him into the table!
Femi sends a couple of chairs into the ring, brings Lesnar into the ring, Lesnar hits him with the steel steps, hits him again, Femi gets to his feet, Lesnar bashes him with the steps for the third time, and delivers another German suplex. Femi gets back to his feet, Lesnar hits another German suplex, whacks him on the back with a steel chair, Oba is back on his feet, Lesnar delivers a snap suplex, puts a couple of chairs together, and delivers a snap suplex onto the chairs. Brock takes applause from his hometown crowd, picks Oba up, Femi lands on his feet to avoid the F-5, and plants him with a spinebuster! Femi blocks a right, hits body shots, running uppercuts in the corner, Lesnar catches him, Femi counters, hits a CHOKE SLAM, picks back up, tosses him with a shotput suplex, hits the FALL FROM GRACE, and gets 2.9!!
Lesnar sits up, kicks him away, picks him up, hits the F-5, Femi is back on his feet, Lesnar hits another F-5, Femi is back up again, Lesnar with a third F-5, and covers for 1-2-KICKOUT!! Lesnar hits him on the back with the chair over and over, rips apart the mat canvas to expose the wooden boards underneath the padding, picks him up on his shoulders, does the cut-throat, and hits the TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER ONTO THE EXPOSED BOARDS!! Lesnar crosses Oba’s arms, sticks out the tongue Undertaker-style, ref makes the count, and Femi kicks out at 2.99!!! Lesnar is shocked, picks up the chair again, Femi punches the chair away, plants him with the FALL FROM GRACE, and gets the 3-count victory!!! WINNER: OBA FEMI!!
The feeling in and out of the ring is that this could be Brock Lesnar’s final match. That was a great showcase for Oba Femi and a good ending to SummerSlam Saturday!
But wait, it’s not over yet. Brock Lesnar walks back to the ring, Oba Femi looks on with wonder, Lesnar steps in the ring, calls for a handshake but instead hugs Femi, then raises his arm in victory. Lesnar calls for a microphone: “Minnesota! And the whole wide world watching this shit tonight – come here Oba, here is the future of WWE. Oba, congratulations. This is the future ladies and gentlemen. This is the past (points to himself), and this is the future (points to Oba).” Lesnar leaves and gives Femi the ring to celebrate his big victory to close out night one of SummerSlam.
