Column
By Zack Heydorn · August 1, 2026
Remember when Bret Hart, Steve Austin, and blah — even Hulk Hogan — used to be the superhero wrestlers? The good guys fighting the bad guys? Simpler times.
On Saturday night, WWE presents the first night of a double shot edition of WWE SummerSlam for the second year in a row. The show emanates from inside US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis and the card is filled with matches that run counter to the tried and tested good guy vs. bad guy formula of pro wrestling.
These matches aren’t bad. In fact, across the two night extravaganza WWE is running out three of the six biggest matches that they have available to them. Not bad for a show that’s slowly becoming the third most important for the company each year.
In reading the signs, it appears that CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship is going to headline Saturday night. You can make the case for Oba Femi vs. Lesnar occupying that slot, but with the title on the line and the fact that they’ve done Femi vs. Lesnar twice already, going with Punk and Cody is the right move.
It’s not a very high bar, but Punk and Rhodes have the best built match going into the show. It’s babyface vs. babyface, but it’s not obnoxious. There appears to have been a conscious effort from both sides to elevate the other. Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins took a different approach.
Punk and Cody have talked about respect and the need to beat the other in order to be the champion. That’s all you need from a babyface vs. babyface match like this. The wrestling audience has wanted to see these guys collide since 2021 and this weekend they get their wish.
The only way Rhodes wins this match on this night is if he turns heel. That’s the only path to success should Rhodes earn the title back. A clean Rhodes win without some background story keeps WWE on an even more monotonous path than they’re already traveling on. A heel Rhodes freshens the entire product up and for that run to be effective, he’d need to have the top championship.
The thing is, WWE isn’t ready to have a heel Cody Rhodes on their television show each week. If you go down that path, you have to commit all the way. That means Cody everywhere and a constant top positioning of him and his character. The company isn’t set for that at the moment. WWE has The Bloodline going on — more on them in a minute. They also are working on getting Oba Femi to the next level. Rhodes would need all the company focus in order to make a heel turn make sense. For as important as Rhodes is to WWE, that type of focus isn’t in the cards.
So? CM Punk wins and retains his title. I’m expecting to see a fantastic match between these two. If Punk is as motivated for this one as he was for Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, this will be the match of the weekend.
The other top bout on night one of SummerSlam is the Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar trilogy match inside of Hell in a Cell. I suppose I’m over the ridiculousness of Femi giving up a world title shot to face Lesnar for a third time? Nah, not ready for that yet. Not there yet!
Femi should be facing Roman Reigns for his title on this show. The momentum of the entire company was heading that direction after WrestleMania this year. Instead of riding the wave, Triple H and his creative cohorts have decided to fight against the wave and that’s been a rocky endeavor.
There hasn’t been anything all that new added into the mix of Lesnar vs. Femi. Hell in a Cell is a solid stipulation, but the promo work and the context put around the trilogy match has been microscopic.
Femi has to win this one. Any finish that isn’t Femi beating a bloody Lesnar in the middle of the ring, clean, is the wrong one. All indications have told WWE brass that Femi is their next guy. Creative has slow played that effort, but the time to go in again is right now. Also, here’s hoping for more of a true match between these two. The first two matches were good, but strongly scripted spectacles instead of an epic struggle between two alphas. Hopefully they can find the latter in this bout and put a huge bright bow on the program.
If you’ve kept count, that’s two top matches and both are babyface vs. babyface. Too many for one pro wrestling show, but there’s yet another one as well.
Jacob Fatu and The Usos against LA Knight, Royce Keys, and Solo Sikoa. It’s a battle of … of ……. hmmm … does anyone know?
This match drives me nuts. Fatu and The Usos are babyfaces one second, but the foil for hilarious babyface Solo Sikoa cracks the next second. Sikoa and Knight present as the good guys, but then run down Fatu and The Usos, who get loud cheers from the WWE audience.
Add into the mix the fact that there isn’t a clear reason why these two teams are fighting and you get a giant mess. Now, the visual at the end of SummerSlam night two is that of The Bloodline standing tall. They aren’t doing jobs this weekend, so look for Fatu and The Usos to secure the W.
Night one this year is rounded out by Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky for the WWE Women’s World Heavyweight Championship and the first-ever WWE match for SmackDown General Manager, Nick Aldis. Aldis is taking on Gunther and if you haven’t stopped yet and watched Aldis’s comments on his return to the ring, do it now.
Night one of WWE SummerSlam 2026 airs live Sunday night on ESPN Unlimited and Netflix, internationally. Preview and predictions from The Takedown on SI and the full card is below.
CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes - Undisputed WWE Championship
Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar - Hell in a Cell
Jacob Fatu and The Usos vs. LA Knight, Solo Sikoa, and Royce Keys
Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky - WWE Women’s World Championship
Gunther vs. Nick Aldis
What will be the match of the night at SummerSlam Saturday 2026? Let us know in the comments!
Subscribe to the Brass Ring Media Newsletter HERE.
Follow Zack Heydorn on Bluesky @zackheydorn.bsky.social.