WWE SummerSlam 2026 Night One: Results

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WWE SummerSlam 2026

WWE SummerSlam 2026 night one is in the books. Emanating from the US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, WWE’s second biggest show of the year was headlined by Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi bringing their super heavyweight trilogy to a close inside Hell In A Cell.

The first of this two night extravaganza in the American midwest featured two World Title matches, two six-person tag team bouts and a grudge match between Gunther and SmackDown General Manager (and former NWA and TNA Champion) Nick Aldis, wrestling his first ever match in WWE.

Women’s World Championship: Liv Morgan(c) def Iyo Sky

World Title match number one kicked off SummerSlam 2026 and saw Liv Morgan defending her Women’s World Championship against former champion Iyo Sky. The two women were given the task of opening the evening’s proceedings. And they made sure everybody else on the card had a tall task to follow.

Sky is pretty much untouchable when it comes to delivering when the lights are shining brightest and The Genius Of The Sky brought out the best in Morgan during a pulsating opening encounter.

Despite seeing off the champ’s running buddies Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez from the Judgement Day, Sky still eventually came up short in her quest to reclaim the title she lost in the summer of 2025.

A devastating German suplex on the apron may have looked like taking Morgan out of the game, but the champ rallied, taking advantage of a tweak in the challenger’s knee to counter Sky’s patented moonsault with a pair of knees to the midsection.

Morgan’s initial attempt at hitting Oblivion may have been countered spectacularly by Sky, but her second attempt was not and the champ secured the 1,2,3 to emerge victorious from an excellent first match.

LA Knight, Solo Sikoa and Royce Keyes def The Usos and Jacob Fatu

Two six-person clashes made up a third of tonight’s show, with the men going first. And they had themselves an entertaining clash in the process. While WrestleMania 42’s night one earlier in the year suffered due to matches being rushed for time, SummerSlam 2026 does not seem to be enduring the same fate.

The six men were given enough minutes to craft a chaotic enough spectacle, with Solo Sikoa once again proving why he is absolute money as a babyface, following several years as a heel since his debut.

It would be LA Knight who secured victory for his team, catching Jey Uso cold in the middle of the ring with the BFT (Blunt Force Trauma) for the three count.

Knight scoring the pinfall on the former World Heavyweight Champion felt quite unexpected, but hopefully propels the former United States Champion further up the card for the rest of the year.

Once again Knight’s crowd reactions were some of the loudest on the show, making creative’s decision to always keep a World Title off his waist even more mystifying, given his immense popularity over the last three years.

Gunther def Nick Aldis

The biggest story here was Aldis being given ‘Morning Glory’ by Oasis as his entrance music. In short, it went OFF. The SmackDown GM channeled every ounce of the energy from his entrance into an outstanding performance against the ever reliable Gunther.

Even after three years away from in-ring action, Aldis looked like he hadn’t missed a beat. Combine this with Gunther being one of the finest wrestlers in the world, and we had ourselves a pulsating bout.

Minneapolis ate every second of this match up, with Aldis coming perilously close to victory on several occasions, only to eventually find himself trapped in Gunther’s sleeper hold. And, just like it did for the likes of Goldberg, AJ Styles and John Cena, the sleeper proved inescapable.

It was perhaps disappointing that Aldis tapped out rather than valiantly passing out, but this is a very minor quibble for what was an excellent outing for both men and an emotional moment for the two-time NWA Champion.

The post-match saw Aldis joined in the ring by his wife Mickie James and their son as ‘Morning Glory’ kicked back in for an extremely well deserved standing ovation inside the US Bank Stadium.

Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley and Lainey Read) def The Bella Twins and Paige

Unfortunately for the six women, who all worked hard, the crowd felt uninterested in this one. Fatal Influence secured the win when Jayne pinned Paige. But the big story here was what happened after the match.

As The Bellas commiserated with Paige following the loss, Nikki struck Paige and laid the former Divas Champion out as Brie, nursing what appeared to be a legitimate shoulder injury, looked on.

Given that Nikki Bella tends to produce her best work as a heel, this felt like the right creative shift for the twins, who have felt like their act needed a shot in the arm since they aligned with a returning Paige earlier in the year at WrestleMania 42. Here’s hoping Brie’s shoulder injury is nothing too serious.

Undisputed WWE Title: CM Punk(c) def Cody Rhodes

SummerSlam 2026 night one continued to deliver with an instant classic of a WWE Title bout. CM Punk and Cody Rhodes, even with a slightly underwhelming build heading into SummerSlam, delivered in spades.

The pair, working their first one-on-one match against each other in 18 years, took fans on an intense ride, with the table set by a phenomenal pair of entrances. Rhodes leant on his role as Guile in the upcoming Street Fighter movie with a spectacular entrance inspired by the Super Nintendo classic.

Punk, meanwhile, opted for simplicity, making his way to the stage sans entrance music, before a holler of “It’s Clobberin’ Time!” summoned ‘Cult of Personality’ and the 30,000+ crowd inside the Minnesota Vikings home stadium lifted the roof off the place.

Said roof didn’t have time to settle back onto it’s supporting walls either, as the WWE Champion and the American Nightmare slow burned their way into a superb World Title match. Punk even treated himself to a moonsault straight out of the later career of Terry Funk.

It may not have looked pretty, but it was fun to see the Champ paying tribute to one of his idols, who just so happened to be one of the biggest rivals of Rhodes’ father, Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes.

But the evening was to prove a nightmare rather than a dream for the younger Rhodes, as he accidentally wiped out referee Charles Robinson, opening the door for a returning Randy Orton to slap him with an RKO. As Cody emerged back to his feet, there was Punk, ready and waiting with a third Go To Sleep of the match to successfully defend his title.

Pretty sure that pop for Randy Orton can still be heard as you read this, by the way.

Hell In A Cell: Oba Femi def Brock Lesnar

SummerSlam 2026 night one was brought to a close by the finale of Oba Femi and Brock Lesnar’s titanic trilogy.

The rivalry, which has lasted for much of 2026, was completed inside Hell In A Cell. And although the cage didn’t see the bloodletting that it did upon it’s last outing – back in 2024 when CM Punk and Drew McIntyre brutalised each other almost beyond recognition – the two super heavyweights involved still dished out an eye watering amount of punishment.

Both men traded huge blows, Lesnar being tossed like a child through a ringside table before sending the 2026 King Of The Ring flying with a flurry of German suplexes and a huge headshot with the steel ring steps.

No matter what either man did, their opponent would not stay down. Lesnar hit three F5’s in a row, only for Oba to kick out. Similarly, The Beast withstood a barrage of Femi’s biggest hits and kept coming.

READ MORE: The truth behind how Brock Lesnar and Paul Wight really convinced the world the WWE ring-collapse was real

Eventually, in a throwback to his Hell In A Cell match with The Undertaker in 2015, Lesnar began to rip up the ring canvas, exposing the wooden boards underneath in the process.

Steadying himself for an F5 on the boards, Lesnar instead brought his homestate Minnesota crowd to their feet by paying tribute to one of his greatest opponents and tombstoning Femi onto the exposed boards.

Only for Oba to kick out. Stunned, Lesnar could only look on as Femi punched a steel chair from his hands and annihilate Lesnar with the match winning Fall From Grace powerbomb. It’s not clear if the powerbomb was supposed to send Lesnar onto the boards or not, but either way, it was a fitting finish to a hell of a rivalry.

SummerSlam 2026 Night One Delivered Far More Than It’s Build

Following their battle, Lesnar passed the torch to Oba, hugging his conqueror and telling the crowd and everyone watching at home that the former NXT Champion was the future of WWE. A rapturous reception welcomed Lesnar’s words as he left the ring for the victor to soak in the adulation of the 30,000+ inside US Bank Stadium.

SummerSlam 2026 night one: A very, very strong start to a huge weekend for WWE. Can they stick the landing with night two? Over to you, Reigns, Rollins and company…

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