MINNEAPOLIS, MN. -- After months of chatter about SummerSlam 2026, whether it be negative things like the lack of tickets sold, or positive things like the dream matches on the card, it finally began Saturday, in the second ever two-night SummerSlam.
Everything about the event made it feel like the big deal that it is, featuring a huge stage with a gigantic titan tron that showed each competitor during their match. Most importantly, the Minnesota crowd showed up 35,000+ deep, and made their mark felt for every part of the night.
In terms of the product delivered, there weren't a lot of ‘shenanigans’ or anything out of the ordinary, but that’s what made this card special. The actual wrestling was the spotlight, which it hasn’t always been lately, and because of this, the superstars did what they did best, and performed. It led to us fans seeing one of the best nights of wrestling of the year from front to back, including an uber-important passing of the torch moment at the end.
Let’s recap the three most important moments from SummerSlam Night 1.
Oba Femi slays the Beast once and for all.
Possibly the best feud in wrestling this year has seemingly come to an end, as Oba Femi defeated Brock Lesnar in their Hell-in-a-Cell main event grudge match Saturday. While I do wish this match featured more violence using the cell, which was used just once in the match, it told the perfect story. Brock could bring his best remaining stuff, from german suplex’s to steel chair shots to a trio of F5’s, and it would not be enough. Even when he went too far and hit a tombstone piledriver onto the exposed ring boards, Femi kicked out, powered himself back up like a madman, and quickly finished a stunned Lesnar off with a Fall From Grace. After the match, Lesnar, just like at WrestleMania, shook Femi’s hand and acknowledged him as the winner, before this time requesting a mic, and saying that he was the past, and Femi was the future. The amazing performance in his first PLE main event and the Lesnar co-sign will take Femi far, but Brock was wrong about one thing. Oba Femi is no longer the future, he is the right now of the WWE. Oba Femi has been undeniable since arriving on the main roster. He has crowds in every city singing to his wordless entrance and strutting with him to the ring. He has cut amazing promos against some of the best, and is completely believable on the mic. Most importantly, he has now gotten past Brock Lesnar, and no longer has to be restricted to this feud. It helped develop him and established him as a star right away, but there’s no more excuse to keep him away from a world title anymore. The Oba Femi era starts right now, there is no more looking back.
Randy Orton returns, costs Cody Rhodes the WWE Championship vs CM Punk.
Night one of WrestleMania 2026 back in April ended with a bang. After Cody Rhodes beat Randy Orton to retain his WWE Championship, Orton snapped, hit Rhodes with his signature punt, the first time he had used it in nearly six years, and ended the show standing tall holding the title. We haven’t seen Randy on WWE TV since that moment. Until last night that is. This match was a slow paced, grueling battle between two of the darlings of the WWE, but really allowed each one to shine and the tension to build toward the end of the match. Cody had a beautiful moment where he bridged himself up from a Punk pin attempt, countered it and turned it around into a Cross Rhodes. Punk hit multiple GTS’ but couldn’t capitalize. That’s when possibly the biggest pop of the night came. Punk and Rhodes inadvertently hit the referee, before Rhodes hit one more Cross Rhodes on Punk, sending him out of the ring. As Cody stood alone in the ring, the crowd came unglued, and I realized it could only be for one reason. We then saw Randy Orton run into the ring, surprise Cody with an RKO, wink at the camera and run away. Punk then came back in and ended the match with one more GTS. So Randy Orton is back to exact his vengeance on his old friend Cody Rhodes. I’m interested to see where this goes, as Cody no longer has the championship that Randy was chasing. Will Randy get involved in the Cody and Punk feud? Will he forfeit going for the title for now and just try to destroy Cody? Only time will tell, but at the least, the ‘Apex Predator’ is back, and fans couldn’t be any more excited.
Liv Morgan wins in possible match of the night against Iyo Sky
Liv Morgan beat Stephanie Vaquer to win the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania earlier this year. Last night, over 100 days into her title reign, was the first time she defended that title. Whatever happened in the first 100 days, with all the Judgement Day and Queen of the Ring drama is over now. Ladies and gentlemen, SummerSlam was the real start to Liv’s reign. Her and Iyo went out there and absolutely set the place on fire to open the weekend. Their match a month ago at Night of Champions was merely a teaser to the fast paced, hard hitting banger that they put on here. One of the best parts of this match was Judgement Day’s early and quick involvement. They didn’t stay ringside for the whole match and mess up the outcome, but after Iyo handled them, that was it for them. Iyo as usual proved why Michael Cole calls her the best wrestler in the world, displaying her high-flying and quick witted expertise against the champ. She even hit Liv with an Oblivion of her own, which sent the crowd into a frenzy. The finish to this match was electric, with Liv Morgan trying to hit Oblivion, before Iyo somehow flipped out of it. Liv then continued to attack, giving Iyo a nasty codebreaker, sending her back to the ropes, where she would finally land the Oblivion, picking up the victory in a relatively clean manner. To me, this shows that the WWE knows Morgan is their champion for the near future. Sure the reign so far has been lackluster, but having her beat Iyo like that on this stage says they want to flush the first 100 or so days, and start new going forward. If we can get a Liv Morgan who is actively defending the title now, and engaged in feuds other than DanHausen, I will be extremely happy. This match was amazing, and set the tone for a truly amazing first night of SummerSlam.
Night two kicks off tonight at 3:00 p.m. ET, be sure to check back in here after the show for a breakdown with results.