Wrestling Review: WWE SummerSlam – Sunday (2026)

[Please note: there are vague spoilers for one match constellation which was changed on this very show.]

The U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota continues to play host to two huge nights of wrestling action, as the WWE presents the 39th annual SummerSlam! Here on night two, the main event is a personal showdown between generational rivals as Roman Reigns defends the World Heavyweight Champion against Seth Rollins. Reigns has never defaeted Rollins in a singles contest, and with the weight of 13 years of brotherhood and betrayal weighting on them both, this may be the final chance each have to go one-on-one with the other. Meanwhile, the WWE Intercontinental Championship will be defended as Penta puts the title on the line against Chad Gable, and an Interim WWE Women’s Championship will be determined in a five way ladder match between Jade Cargill, Tiffany Stratton, Chelsea Green, Lash Legend and Charlotte Flair. Also, Trick Williams will defend his WWE United States Championship against the recently returned Baron Corbin, and a new number one contender to the Undisputed WWE Championship will be crowned when Sami Zayn and Finn Balor face off. Finally, in a huge waste of time nobody should watch, Dominik Mysterio and Danhausen will fight in a Human Monies on a Pole match.

+ Penta (c) vs. Chad Gable (WWE Intercontinental Championship): technically this was totally fine, but I really expected more. I think this match was severely hindered by both guys being fan favourites, even if the crowd very strongly preferred one over the other — to that end, I might have suggested that Penta be a bit more of a jerk in the build to make this special. If these two are to run it back any time soon, or indeed any time further in the future, I’d love to see Penta as the all-out bad guy he was back in Lucha Underground, a high-water mark I believe he is still chasing to this day
+ Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargil vs. Chelsea Green vs. Lash Legend vs. Charlotte Flair (5-Woman Ladder Match for the Interim WWE Women’s Championship): good lord, Jade Cargill’s gear was superb. When these four tried to do their planned multi-person moments, this was some of the worst timing and ugly movements you’ve ever seen. But when this was a car crash match, it was a lot of fun and perhaps even over-delivered. Tiffany Stratton was a mad-woman for some of her landings. I enjoyed this a lot, and hope that soon everyone else will be the fans of Lash Legend and Chelsea Green that I am currently
+ Finn Balor vs. Sami Zayn (No. 1 Contendership for the Undisputed WWE Championship): first and foremost, this match did not proceed as advertised. With that out of the way, I’d call this ensuing contest suprisingly short but very sweet with an outcome I am very much okay with. The action was fast paced, all involved played their roles perfectly. If anything, I’d have given this even more time becuase I was totally hooked from the jump

– Roman Reigns (c) vs. Seth Rollins (World Heavyweight Championship): I am sure that the WWE are going to present this as an all-timer, and it will be given all the awards in the world and everyone will tell me I’m wrong for this opinion… but I thought this was garbage. Leaving aside that I never believed the winner was in doubt, this was just nothing new or exciting, especially to close out the two-nights of action. I’d have very strongly preferred Punk/Cody in this spot than these two. Despite being billed as their final match, I’ll be honest, I do not believe that for a single second and when they inevitably run it back, I hope it is better than this match was
– Danhausen vs. Dominik Mysterio (Human Monies on a Pole Match): this was absolute tripe. A garbage, dumpster fire of horrendous shit which has destroyed any of the little goodwill I had from Danhausen’s arrival in the WWE. I didn’t like him previously, and I don’t like him now. Keep him off my screen, but ESPECIALLY out of a wrestling ring if you still insist on forcing him into the show. I’ve given double negative scores before, and lord, this one came close
– Trick Williams (c) (w/ Lil Yachty) vs. Baron Corbin (WWE United States Championship): overall this was acceptable, but it was short and more pressingly felt short. I’ve made no secret that I think Trick Williams is a bonafide ultra-giga-megastar in the making, and while I am far from a Corbin hater (in fact, I quite like him) this really did not feel right for either guy. Lil Yachty has been fun, but I think it’s time for him to go. In a running theme across btoh nights, I think this could have used some more time

> across two nights now, Michael Cole has expressly and explicitly misquoted a time-honoured rule of professional wrestling, regarding competitors being counted out of the ring. This bothers me more than it should. One wrestler rolling back into the ring WILL NOT break the referee’s count, Michael.

Should you watch this event: Another two-night event and another mixed bag of matches. I think the WWE really needs to go back to one night events and simply cut the fat from these shows. If they had taken the best 7-8 matches from across both nights, and done a single four to five hour show, I think I’d be far happier with my time. Still, seek out the matches above you think interest you — except that Danhausen filth. If that interests you, then you are beyond saving.