Column
By Zack Heydorn · August 2, 2026
Did WWE make the right call by putting Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar in the SummerSlam Saturday main event rather than Cody Rhodes and CM Punk?
Damn right they did.
That should mean a lot coming from me. World championships should always headline shows. It’s booking 101 — with shades of gray. Those shades of gray clouded up a sea of Viking purple inside US Bank Stadium.
The Punk and Rhodes match was hurt by not being in the main event. No question about it. Because it was in the co-main event slot, it never had a chance to become an epic contest like it was billed to be. Femi needed the spot more than they did.
Perception is everything — especially in WWE. Once the audience or the office perceives characters and stars a certain way, it’s incredibly difficult to break them or change them. Femi has to be perceived by the audience as the top guy and the way to do that is to put him in as many top spots as possible. How wrong would it have felt for Lesnar to call Femi the future of WWE out loud, while Femi sat outside the main event looking in.
The world title shouldn’t take a backseat often, but when it does, there should be a purpose. Getting into the Oba Femi business was the purpose. The night was about him.
Here are my Brass Ring Ratings for the event and here’s how they work … I call it like I see it and grade accordingly. Period.
Awesome opener. The match itself didn’t have a great story going into the show, but Morgan and Sky went to work, which made the audience care a lot. The action was exciting, but also really smooth. As the heel, Morgan sold great for all of Sky’s offense. Sky reciprocated and also fed nearly perfectly into all of the major Morgan spots. Sky gets the award for best Codebreaker sell job because of how she took that top rope move from Morgan. Goodness. The finish stood out strongly. Unique and it left the audience on the edge of their seat. Sky needed to hit that Oblivion counter perfectly for the sequence to resonate and she did.
Solo Sikoa stole the show in this match. The five other guys did their thing, but Sikoa really stood out as the most entertaining of everyone. The audience was with him and hung on everything he did. Sikoa running the yeet entrance back was a nice touch. The Bloodline wrestled this match as heels. That was their tone and stuff like Sikoa doing yeet fanned those flames for heat. Royce Keys is one strong dude. He caught Jacob Fatu in mid-air and then hit a power slam over the freaking barricade and to the floor. One fluid motion. Prior to the match, LA Knight said he wanted this to be it for him and The Bloodline. With the victory, that may just be the case.
Ok, who does Nick Aldis know in the WWE? Oasis? When is the last time WWE shelled out fees for entrance music? It’s a small thing, but that music for Aldis made the fact that he was wrestling feel a little extra special. Aldis looked really good in the match, but it went exactly the way it needed to. Gunther got the submission victory. The action was fine, but never kicked into a third gear. By design, though. For as much as it was a big deal to see Aldis wrestle, to the majority of WWE fans, he’s an office guy. The finish needed to take that into account.
A total filler match with an angle at the end. Fatal Influence needed the dominant victory and they got it. The Bella Twins then turned on Paige. Not sure Paige vs. The Bellas is something we need to see again … unless Paige can find a tag partner. Hmm … I wonder who that could be??? AJ Lee, right? This nostalgia move writes itself.
Well, this was certainly a good match. Better than good. Punk and Rhodes went a little old school and both worked body parts as the key storyline of the action. Everything they did went back to those body parts and the injuries to them. Punk and Rhodes also kicked out of multiple finishers and hit some high spots on the outside of the ring. What the match was missing was the feeling that what everyone was watching was an epic clash. Part of that had to do with the fact that the match wasn’t in the main event slot. Another part had to do with the finish that revolved around the return of Randy Orton more than it did CM Punk proving something to Rhodes by beating him.
A strong hype video helped set the table for this main event. The video captured the intensity of the Lesnar and Femi feud and correctly positioned Hell in a Cell as the final chapter of the story. Lesnar gave a lot in his performance — more than usual. Not just in terms of selling for Femi — though he did that — but with the bumps he took and the length of the match itself. There was elevated violence in this thanks to tables, chairs, and the cell, but the action never crossed the line psychologically to generate a feel of real danger. Femi was victorious in the end, but the Lesnar near-falls, especially the Tombstone on the exposed ring boards, did their job to build a sense of “what if” regarding a Femi loss. Now, all that said, they missed the mark on the finish to the match. Femi was supposed to hit Lesnar with Fall From Grace onto the exposed boards, but he missed. Hey, accidents happen and it’s live TV. I was just surprised Lesnar didn’t kick out and do the spot again correctly. The exposed boards were a main plot point in the match by the end. Those not directly impacting the finish felt off. Finally, Lesnar went out of his way to call Femi the future of WWE on the microphone in front of the live audience after the match. That’s notable. Lesnar has never put his endorsement behind anyone in that way. Can Triple H take Femi all the way now? Time will tell. Should be a wild ride.
What letter grade do you give WWE SummerSlam 2026? Let us know in the comments!
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