WWE SummerSlam 2026 Night 1 Review
Women’s World Championship: Liv Morgan VS Iyo Sky
Night 1 of WWE SummerSlam 2026 kicked off with Liv Morgan putting her Women’s World Championship on the line against Iyo Sky! This match, of course, came about due to Iyo defeating Liv in the Queen of the Ring Final back at Night of Champions, so we already knew that the challenger was capable of beating the Champion! As expected, The Judgment Day would sound the interference alarm, although Roxanne Perez and Raquel Rodriguez disappeared quickly after being taken out by an Iyo Sky Moonsault! Back in the ring, the action would continue to get better and better, with a fantastic Codebreaker from Liv followed up by a German Suplex on the apron by Iyo! Sky would then pull out a rather incredible counter to the ObLIVion, landing on her hands (like Mustafa Ali did to counter the RKO at Hell in a Cell 2019), but this only led into Liv Morgan delivering another Codebreaker followed by an ObLIVion to successfully retain her Women’s World Championship! In my opinion, this was the match of the night!
Grade: A-
The Bloodline VS LA Knight, Royce Keys, and Solo Sikoa
The odd trio of LA Knight, Royce Keys, and Solo Sikoa had to get along in order to take down The Bloodline in the second match of the night! Solo Sikoa stole the show in this match, winding up Jey Uso with his own “run it back” movement, whilst the crowd continues to get more and more behind The Street Champion! Royce Keys is still very much struggling to get over, although he did hit a couple of great moves in this match, whilst the crowd absolutely adores LA Knight! I don’t particularly want to keep seeing The Bloodline in action; they’ve been doing the same thing for years, and it honestly feels like Jacob Fatu is stuck right now! Eventually, a BFT from LA Knight was enough to pin Jey Uso, and I’ll be honest, this was a pleasant surprise!
Grade: C+
Gunther VS Nick Aldis
For the first time in 3 years, Nick Aldis stepped into a wrestling ring in gear as he went one-on-one with Gunther in his WWE in-ring debut! I was very excited about this match heading into the show; I was very intrigued to see how good Nick Aldis actually was, given the fact that he’s both a former NWA and Impact/TNA World Champion! Nick is also only 39, which is honestly younger than the large majority of WWE’s top stars, meaning he’s definitely in a position to wrestle more frequently in the future (if he wanted to)! Ultimately, I thought this was a fun match, with Gunther proving once again why he’s one of the very best of this generation! Aldis fought valiantly, with the “King’s Lynn Cloverleaf” proving to be quite a good submission, although The Ring General was eventually able to escape and score the submission win as Aldis was forced to tap out in the sleeper hold! All things considered, this was a success!
Grade: B
Fatal Influence VS Paige and The Bella Twins
Fatal Influence made their SummerSlam debuts in a 6-Woman Tag that saw Nikki Bella return to in-ring action alongside Brie Bella and Paige! This was without a doubt the least interesting match on the entire weekend card, with it only really existing for the post-match angle! Jacy Jayne should’ve been a real contender to win the WWE Women’s Championship in tonight’s Ladder Match, but that hasn’t happened, with us instead getting a Tag Team match that felt very sloppy! In fact, all of this was a disaster until the finish, which saw Jayne beat Paige with a Rolling Encore! Thank goodness for that! After the match was over, The Bella Twins turned Heel on Paige, which is honestly the least surprising thing I’ve seen all year! It was also confirmed after the show that Brie is now out with an injury, so this feud is going to last a long time!
Grade: C-
Undisputed WWE Championship: CM Punk VS Cody Rhodes
To my surprise, the Undisputed WWE Championship was next on the line as CM Punk and Cody Rhodes finally faced each other in a match! I really liked Cody’s Street Fighter-inspired entrance; I thought that was really cool, but that was honestly the best thing about all of this! I found a lot of this match to be quite dull; it felt very “draggy”, and that’s not really a surprise given the fact that it went 30 minutes! For context, the next longest match didn’t even make the 14-minute mark! Anyway, what I will say is this match did get better as it went on, with CM Punk taking a crazy bump through the announce table! A ref bump would then occur, opening the door for Randy Orton to make his long-awaited return, dropping Rhodes with an RKO as Punk followed it up with a GTS to successfully retain his WWE Title! I hope that feuding with Randy Orton will take Cody Rhodes out of the Title picture for a while, but I can imagine that it probably won’t!
Grade: B-
Brock Lesnar VS Oba Femi III: Hell in a Cell
The Main Event of Night 1 of WWE SummerSlam 2026 saw Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi put an end to their rivalry inside Hell in a Cell! The entrances felt big, the introductions felt big; this was a proper Main Event! Honestly, I’m so glad that WWE actually decided to go with this as the Main Event match (instead of Punk-Cody), as it actually made the ending of the show feel fresh for a change! I wouldn’t say that the actual Hell in a Cell structure was used that often, with the only moment of note coming when Oba threw Brock through a table, but the Cell did its job of making this feel big-time! I also thought that this was the best match of their trilogy, with neither guy completely dominating the other like we’d seen at both WrestleMania and Clash in Italy! Brock Lesnar delivering a Tombstone Piledriver onto the exposed wooden ring was pretty insane, as was Femi kicking out, whilst Oba beating Brock with a second Fall From Grace was the right decision! After the match was over, both the commentary team and Brock Lesnar himself acknowledged Oba Femi as the future of WWE, and that is exactly how legends should be booked against up-and-coming talent! I’ve loved this feud; I think it’s been the best thing in WWE this year!
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