Full 2026 SummerSlam Predictions Including A Bold New Direction For Cody Rhodes

The build to SummerSlam this year hasn’t exactly been the best in WWE history. There’s a serious lack of hot storylines going into one of the biggest shows of the year, and the sluggish ticket sales are reflecting that. In a perfect world, you’d expect a lot more buzz and speculation about the matches less than a week out from the multi-night event. That being said, what we do have are a lot of matches that could overdeliver on quality, and if they do, we could remember this SummerSlam as the moment in which Triple H and company righted the ship.

Some of that potential upside is about the star power. CM Punk and Cody Rhodes’ WWE Championship storyline hasn’t been one for the ages so far, but ultimately, the two are still huge characters the fanbase cares about. The same can be said for Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, who are fighting over the World Heavyweight Championship. There’s enough history between these opponents and enough skill to tell a story that fans buy into and maybe even a story that creates repercussions that can drive storytelling for the next few months.

There’s also a lot of in-ring talent that’s been thoughtfully paired together. Chad Gable and Penta could easily give us a match of the year candidate. Liv Morgan and Iyo Sky could easily give us a match we remember for years. Nick Aldis hasn’t wrestled in a long time, but those of us who know ball know he can really go, and opposite Gunther, there’s really high upside there. Some of this might end up being really good.

Regardless, I’ve got some predictions to get to. Before I get into what I think is going to happen in each match though, you can check out my history below. Spoiler alert: I’ve been right a lot more often than I’ve been wrong. Here's a look at the individual events in 2026, as well as my overall record.

Liv Morgan (Champion) vs Iyo Sky For The Women’s World Championship

If this match sounds familiar, it’s because Morgan and Sky just faced each other in the finals of the Queen Of The Ring tournament at Night Of Champions at the end of June. Sky won and earned the right to challenge the champion of her choice. She picked Liv Morgan, and now we’re running it back at SummerSlam.

By all accounts, WWE views Morgan as a major star and one of the faces of the women’s division. Unfortunately, she’s basically been treading water for the past few months. The assumption is that Triple H and company want to get back to her program with Stephanie Vaquer, but since she’s still out with an injury, that’s left Morgan essentially acting as a glorified supporting player in Judgment Day’s ongoing feud with Danhausen.

WWE heavily implied she lost the match to Sky at Night Of Champions because she was cursed. I can’t imagine they’ll go with that excuse again, and I also can’t imagine they’ll end Morgan’s title reign having not successfully defended it once on television. I think she has to go over here, though where that leaves Iyo Sky to go next is unclear.

Predicted Winner: Liv Morgan

Brock Lesnar vs Oba Femi In Hell In A Cell

People have lost a lot of money betting against Brock Lesnar over the years. He squashed John Cena during his retirement tour when everyone assumed he was going to lose as a recent example, but I still think it’s the lock of the night that he’s going to lose here. WWE clearly sees Femi as the next big star, and this is the culmination of their trilogy. Femi needs to pull ahead 2 to 1, and he needs to use it as a springboard to the top of the card. I wouldn’t be surprised, as an example, to see him win the Royal Rumble next year.

As for Lesnar, this might be the end of the road. The speculation heading into the year was that he would likely retire at SummerSlam, given his connections to Minnesota as a NCAA Heavyweight Champion in wrestling and former Vikings player. He’s been open about not having much time left in his career and tricked everyone into thinking he was retiring at WrestleMania. I think more than likely he does take off the boots for real this time.

If this is really the end, what a fantastic and completely original career Lesnar has had. From acclaimed amateur wrestler to virtuoso professional wrestler to nearly making an NFL team to UFC Champion and back to professional wrestler. He has been can’t miss entertainment everywhere he’s gone, and he’ll be missed.

Predicted Winner: Oba Femi

LA Knight, Royce Keys And Solo Sikoa vs Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso And Jacob Fatu

These six man tag team matches are almost always more about advancing some type of storyline than who actually wins. That’s why they’re notoriously hard to predict. Maybe the story Triple H wants to tell is about dissension within the Bloodline and we would get that if Jimmy Uso got pinned and Jacob Fatu wasn’t a happy camper about that. Maybe the story is that LA Knight and Solo Sikoa, despite trying to work together, are never going to be able to work together, and a loss will spin them off into a singles program.

Too many things can happen here to make a prediction with any kind of certainty, but I will say, having done this for several years now, that I’ve had a lot more success betting on the Bloodline than against the Bloodline. So, I’m going to take Jimmy, Jey and Jacob.

Predicted Winner: The Bloodline

Gunther vs Nick Aldis

This might be the match I’m most excited about. Nick Aldis can really go, and his mic work has obviously been tremendous since he took over as SmackDown General Manager. A good performance here could really open up a lot of options for WWE, whether they want to turn him into a full-time in-ring competitor or whether they just want to make him be a more physically imposing authority figure. He’s actually younger than Cody, Roman, CM Punk and Seth Rollins; so, he’s got some more bumps in him if the company wants him to take them.

All that said, Gunther really needs a win here. He came out on the wrong side of that program with Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn, and he needs to show people that he’s still the most dominant monster heel on the roster. That doesn’t mean he needs to squash Aldis, but we need to see him systematically take control of the match and ultimately tap him out.

Predicted Winner: Gunther

Nikki Bella, Brie Bella And Paige vs Fatal Influence (Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley And Lainey Reid)

Let me make the case for Fatal Influence here first. They’re a rising faction in WWE that has been getting good crowd reactions. They just won the Women’s Tag Team Championships, and there are rumors that Triple H was considering Jacy Jayne as a possible opponent for Rhea Ripley at SummerSlam before she got hurt. The best way to keep that momentum up would be to have them win big matches, and this is, by far, the biggest stage they’ve ever had a match on.

That being said, there’s also a case here for the Bellas and Paige. Clearly they’re far more popular with casual fans, and Nikki just returned from an injury that kept her out for months. If WWE wants to carry this feud past SummerSlam, the best way to do that would be having the faces win here. That would give them a good reason for getting another title shot, and it would also have the added benefit of giving the crowd a victory to get excited about.

I think WWE really believes in Fatal Influence, and I think they’re going to want them to pick up a big win here, but of all the matches on the card, this is one of the most up in the air.

Predicted Winner: Fatal Influence

CM Punk (Champion) vs Cody Rhodes For The WWE Championship

Roman Reigns won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 38. He held onto the belt until Cody Rhodes finished his story at WrestleMania 40. Cody then held the belt for an entire year until he lost to John Cena during his retirement tour at WrestleMania 41. That’s three total champions in three years, and yet, in the last eighteen months, we saw Cena lose it to Rhodes, then Rhodes lose it to Drew McIntyre, then McIntyre lose it to Rhodes, then Rhodes lose it to Sami Zayn and then Zayn lose it to current champion CM Punk.

Triple H has repeatedly shown he prefers extended title reigns, and yet, the last year and change has more closely resembled the Attitude Era where the title hopscotched back and forth between Steve Austin, The Rock, Triple H, Mankind, The Undertaker, Kane, The Big Show and Kurt Angle on like a monthly basis. Maybe that’s the new plan moving forward, but I just don’t believe it, especially with CM Punk at the top of the card. The Best In The World went fifteen years between title reigns, and I have a hard time believing this one is only going to last about a month.

Besides, Punk has done the job at the last two WrestleManias. He is due for a high profile win at a big show, and I think he gets his moment here over Cody Rhodes. But what would that mean for Rhodes’ character? Well, I think this might be where we finally get his long-awaited heel turn. He’s still getting good crowd reactions, but I don’t think anyone would refer to his character as hot. In fact, I think he feels pretty safe right now, and a bold new direction could be a way to instill some fresh momentum. I’m thinking that’ll happen after he loses and then unexpectedly attacks Punk in a cowardly way as the show goes off the air.

Predicted Winner: CM Punk

Penta (Champion) vs Chad Gable For The Intercontinental Championship

This has to be Chad Gable’s moment, right? WWE fans were convinced the likeable former tag team star, who may be the best in-ring technician in the industry, was going to be the one to defeat Gunther and win the Intercontinental Championship back at WrestleMania 40. That didn’t happen. Triple H gave that moment to Sami Zayn. Months later, Gable got hot again amidst a heel turn and a feud with longtime friend Otis, but once again, WWE didn’t capitalize on the moment and it went nowhere. More recently, Gable refashioned himself as El Grande Americano and got super over in Mexico on the back of a program with his rival El Grande Americano.

On the back of all that good will and the years of missed opportunities, it feels like WWE needs to strike now. It feels like if they’re ever going to pull the trigger on Chad Gable, it needs to be at this SummerSlam in his hometown. Despite Penta’s continued popularity, I have to think they’re going to put Gable over and see how far he can run with the title.

Penta will be fine though. There are plenty of options. WWE can keep him at the top of the midcard and have some rematches with Chad Gable, maybe let the two swap the title back-and-forth for the rest of the year. That would be fun. They can also push him to the main event scene and let him go after one of the World Championships. He’s popular enough to do that. Or they can reunite him with his brother Rey Fenix and have the Lucha Bros dominate the tag scene. The future is very bright, even if he takes this L.

Predicted Winner: Chad Gable

Danhausen vs Dominik Mysterio

I don’t know what WWE is doing here. In my opinion, they’ve backed themselves into a cornerhausen. On the one hand, it seems weird to have Danhausen lose his most high profile match, given he’s hot right now and really breaking out into the mainstream of popular culture thanks to his affiliation with the Knicks. On the other hand, Judgment Day is supposed to be a respected stable that we take seriously. Should they really be losing a feud to a midcard comedy act?

No, they shouldn't be losing a feud to Danhausen. If I were booking the show, I'd actually play the long game and have Danhausen lose via some kind of shenanigans. Maybe he accidentally curses himself. Maybe he falls into his cloning machine and can't escape. Regardless, I'd have him take the L and then disappear from TV for a bit.

That would actually be a blessing in disguise. His most recent segment on Raw was, by far, the worst received since his debut, and he's starting to feel a little overexposed. Having him disappear for a month and then come back as a new and outrageous version of himself just as everyone starts missing him would be a masterstroke.

Is that going to happen though? No. WWE is going to have Danhausen win this match via some kind of comedic shenanigans, likely involving The Miz and Kit Wilson.

Predicted Winner: Danhausen

Finn Bálor vs Sami Zayn To Become #1 Contender To The WWE Championship

It’s been a rough few years for those of us in the Bálor Club. He’s done a lot of losing in big matches, but once again, we’ve found ourselves in a position where WWE has the option to take him to the next level. Sami Zayn’s heel character is mid crashout, and a loss here, especially under shady circumstances, could lead to additional character growth for both men, as it would make Sami crazier and give Bálor a signature win at a big event and continue his momentum.

I bet there have been four or five instances in these predictions where i’ve said, ‘I know Finn always loses matches like this, but…’ I'm not going to do that again. There's also a case for Zayn winning, and that's a program with CM Punk makes a lot of sense. The two have at least partly connected in the recent storyline that led to Punk winning the belt, and it would make logical sense for Zayn to get his chance to earn the belt back.

Predicted Winner: Finn Bálor

Trick Williams (Champion) vs Baron Corbin For The United States Championship

I’m stoked Baron Corbin is back in WWE. I loved how hard he committed to the Sad Corbin character arc back in the day, and I think the midcard could use someone with his personality. Big thumbs up on Triple H and company signing him again after he was surprisingly released a few years ago.

That being said, Trick Williams is almost certainly going to retain here. He’s still really over with the crowd, and there just hasn’t been enough of a real build here to be taking the title off of him. Plus, we haven’t gotten a proper Carmelo Hayes feud yet over the title. That’s what WWE has been teasing, and that’s what we all want to see.

Predicted Winner: Trick Williams

Tiffany Stratton vs Charlotte Flair vs Jade Cargill vs Chelsea Green vs Lash Legend/ Giulia For The Interim WWE Women’s Championship

With Rhea Ripley injured and out for an unknown period of time, WWE has decided to crown an interim champion, rather than make her vacate the belt. Not all of the participants have been locked in yet, but in my opinion, there are really only two worth discussing as viable winners.

Tiffy Time will be the hometown crowd favorite, but she’s already the United States Champion and not over enough to be simultaneously holding two championships. Chelsea Green is mega over with the crowd and still crushing the midcard, but I don’t think WWE sees her on this level. Nothing about the booking of either Lash or Giulia indicates they would get consideration here; so, I'll rule them out too.

That leaves Charlotte Flair and Jade Cargill, who have mostly been feuding with each other. Cargill’s presentation has really clicked in since WWE added B-Fab and Michin to her entourage, and I think she’s doing the best in-ring work of her career. Rewarding her with a championship would acknowledge the improvement and put the belt around someone who looks and feels like a star.

Charlotte, however, is Charlotte Flair, and WWE has never had a problem giving her gold in the past. She’s more over right now, thanks to her work with Alexa Bliss, than she has been in a long time, and it would also make sense to pay that off by letting her win this match.

My guess is WWE goes with Charlotte, specifically because the winner of the title is going to face Rhea when she gets back, and we’ve gotten a lot of Jade and Rhea over the past few months. We’ll see though.

Predicted Winner: Charlotte Flair

Roman Reigns (Champion) vs Seth Rollins For The World Heavyweight Championship

Roman Reigns’ Tribal Chief run as WWE Champion is typically thought of as the best and most popular era of WWE programming since probably the late 90s and early 00s. It’s not a surprise that WWE has reassembled the Bloodline and installed Reigns as champion again, and at this point, it’s hard to imagine them bailing on the run so quickly.

It also feels unlikely Seth Rollins would be the person to overthrow him. Yes, the two have an incredible amount of history together. Yes, they’ve done some nice promo work ahead of this match, but it’s not like they’re in the middle of some generational program we’ll remember for decades. If anything, it’s been a bit underwhelming, and it feels like when Roman finally loses the strap, it’s going to be because Jacob Fatu turned on him or it’s going to be to a rising megastar like Oba Femi.

My personal hope here is that Reigns finally, after many failed attempts, beats Rollins in clean and dominating fashion and uses that to springboard into being a cockier and even more dangerous version of the Tribal Chief.

Predicted Winner: Roman Reigns