The Friday night, August 7 episode of WWE SmackDown on USA Network, revved up the aftermath from last weekend’s SummerSlam as past feuds reignited and new feuds set to take off.  As far as a post-PLE SmackDown this was one of the best in a long time, setting the table for what’s to come.

The show started with Cody Rhodes, fresh off his lost for the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship to CM Punk, after Randy Orton hit Cody with his RKO when the referee got knocked out. As Rhodes was addressing the crowd in Philadelphia (which is where Cody won the belt from Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40), CM Punk interrupts when his music hit and he comes to the ring.

Rhodes wants to know if Punk knew that Orton was going to interfere in the match and allow Punk to retain the title. Punk says he didn’t know and he was just as pissed off about Orton interfering and offered to “Two-Man Power Trip” the place until they found Orton and beat him up. Cody leaves the ring to deal with Orton, while Punk tells him, “Say When.” Thus, Punk has left the door open for Cody to have a rematch.

Photo: WWE

KO AND CM PUNK HAVE SOME THINGS TO SAY

Next, Kevin Owens passes Rhodes, as he enters the ring to come face-to-face with Punk, and the two traded trash talk each other when SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis shows up at ringside. Both men, up until now just trade snide remarks with Owens claiming why he knows Punk is the same sociopath he always has been.

Owens explains how his 17-month battle recovery from his neck injury and surgery made him want to get back into the ring more. However, Punks says, “Do you think they were holding their breath, waiting for Kevin Owens?” Next, KO thanked Punk for setting an example of what not to become and called him a “miserable piece of s**t.” KO pushed Punk and we are off to the races, before the two men are broken up by security.

Later in the show, The Viper Randy Orton makes his entrance to the ring, but once hitting his signature pose inside the ring, Cody Rhodes interrupts and chases Orton out of the ring.  Then, we get the reset of the feud we should have had for WrestleMania 42, that was ruined by the arrival of Pat McAfee forced into the feud.

Photo: WWE

Orton explains his behavior once and for all. He says When he e rolled into WrestleMania 42, he gave him the best version of himself, and The American Nightmare still defeated him. He added, “The best version of Randy Orton wasn’t going to win No. 15,” he said, but the worst version damn sure will.” Rhodes fired back “I don’t have to be the good guy anymore,” which got the crowd riled up. The two had a stare down from there.

Backstage, Sami Zayn confronted CM Punk and previously Kevin Owens and Nick Aldis. Zayn cannot believe, how he has been screwed time after time to get a rematch for the title, that he lost when CM Punk was inserted into the championship match when Zayn was the titleholder.

CHELSEA GREEN’S CELEBRATION TURNS TO A DERAILMENT WITH NEWS OF HER INJURY

With the news that Rhea Ripley had knee surgery a few days ago, and will be out longer than expected, new interim Chelsea Green, was introduced as the WWE Women’s Champion. The fans are so behind Green, who they have wanted to see elevated into a top spot. Green thanked them for helping make this moment happen. After Tiffany Stratton joined her in a celebration, the “friends” were interrupted by Fatal Influence and Jacy Jayne and a match ensued, which saw Green get injured in the match and wound up with a broken orbital bone, which will derail her first WWE World’s Women title run for now.

Taking to social media on Saturday, Green shared, “Hey, guys. So, I was trying to keep this kind of private but the Internet knows everything so I thought I would come on here and clear things up. I did get injured last night. Stuff happens. It’s live television, it’s wrestling, it’s an occupational hazard. I ended up in the emergency room and I have a broken orbital bone. It looks amazing, all things considered. It feels awful but looks pretty amazing.”

Photo: WWE

Chelsea added, “I have no idea what that means for me. You know, usually you guys can see me play into every single injury but like this feels different, obviously. This feels very different. It feels frustrating, and I’m upset. I feel like if I didn’t have bad luck I’d have no luck at all. So, I just need to take a little bit more time to process and kind of heal from obviously the head trauma that is going on right now. And then we’ll see what happens. We’re just going to take it day-by-day. So, world domination continues we’ve just had a minor blip.”

In the main event, it featured Jade Cargill (with B-Fab and Michin) facing Charlotte Flair (with a returning Alexa Bliss) and a very special addition to the duo. During the melee towards the end of the match, the lights in the arena went out. When they came back on NXT”s Tatum Paxley was a ]\top the ring post and dove into B-Fab and Michin to take them out. Ultimately, Charlotte scored the pinfall on Cargill, and Tatum, Alexa and the Queen celebrated in the ring as SmackDown went off the air.

So, what did you think of WWE SmackDown this past Friday night? One of the better post-SummerSlam episodes? Excited for what’s ahead? Weigh-in via the comment section and take a look at the highlights below.

Sunday night’s second night of WWE SummerSlam delivered one of the greatest matches of all-time, a match of the year candidate or even the decade. For those in attendance at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, watching on ESPN limited or Netflix around the world, the August 2 main event between former Shield members turned rivals, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins closed out a story 12-years in the making in a classic main event.

In fact, the second night of SummerSlam, (we previously gave our recap of night one here) was a vast improvement in the two-day event, dubbed ‘The biggest event of the summer.” Led by the incredible performances and masterful in-ring storytelling by Reigns and Rollins, who went 33 minutes in a spellbinding match-up with so many near pin falls, that whether you were watching at home or in the crowd, you would jump to your feet!

Let’s take a look at how things went down and give you our 5 top takeaways from the night on the six-match card, kicking it off with Roman Reigns defending his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins.

Photo: WWE

ROMAN AND SETH WRESTLING SOULMATES HONOR THEIR BROTHERHOOD

Right from the ring entrances, Seth Rollins paid homage to the Shield, complete with the facial mask, white version of their black vests, and more. When the Shield debuted back in 2012, it was the trio of Reigns, Rollins and Dean Ambrose (now Jon Moxley, AEW) who protected a then heel-ish CM Punk.

After Rollins delivered a chair shot to Reigns in 2014, and the group split up, Seth has always had Roman’s number, defeated him, and has been inside Roman’s head for his betrayal. The main event played on that aspect of the story throughout. With each delivering their patented moves: The Stomp from Seth, and a Superman Punch from Roman. However, neither man could truly get the upper hand on the other in a main event that lasted 33 1/2 minutes, truly a gift for the fans and the longest bout of the night.

There was plenty of trash-talking between the two, which heightened the story and made the ending all the more powerful. In addition, there were throwback moves of Dean Ambrose thrown into the mix.  But then, here’s how it all came to a conclusion. When the referee got knocked out, Rollins decided to grab a chair from ringside. He was going to use the same weapon he used on Reigns 12 years back, that led to the turn against the OTC. However, Seth hesitated. Roman got back up and had Seth on the ring ropes ready to use the chair on him. Seth told him to just get it over with. Roman put the chair down. Then, they went punch for punch. After hitting a final spear, Roman pinned Seth for the win as the referee finally came to. At the end of the match, both titans were exhausted and slumped in opposite corners of the ring.

However, in the most touching moment, Roman got up and went to the middle of the ring. The OTC extended his arm and fist, just like in the days of The Shield, as a peace offering to Rollins. Next, Seth got up and went and joined Roman. The two did a fist bump as a show of respect and the story was brought to a fitting ending.

Photo: WWE

KEVIN OWENS RETURNS AFTER 17 MONTH RECOVERY FROM NECK SURGERY, BECOMES NUMBER ONE CONTENDER

Sami Zayn cannot catch a break! Just when he thought his number one contender match was between himself and Finn Bálor, think again! Before the match started, the newly reinstated SmackDown GM, Nick Aldis came out and announced that he is adding Gunther … and Kevin Owens!

When Zayn saw that his best friend (and sometimes rival) was back and healthy enough to wrestle in a fatal-four way, his jaw dropped in probably one of the most classic moments of the night. Once the bell rang, Owens came in ready to show he could still go, complete with his reverse somersaults, stunners and more. KO dominated the four-way match up, all leading to him pinning Zayn to become the number one contender to face Universal Champion, CM Punk!

During the WWE Post Show, Owens had emotional moments with commentator and former wrestler, Big E, who suffered a career-ending neck injury and surgery, Kevin explained it was just a few weeks ago, that the doctor’s finally cleared him to return to the ring. An amazing comeback story!

Photo: WWE

BARON CORBIN TAKES THE U.S. TITLE FAST

In another comeback, Baron Corbin has had many ups and down over his tenures with the WWE, and in what was Corbin’s first WWE match in nearly two years, he faced Trick Williams for the United States Championship and right hand man rapper Lil Yachty.

The match broke down when Yachty went for the “Trick Stick” (a kendo stick) and went to hit Corbin in the back with it, but that backfired. Corbin put Lil Yachty through a table, hit Williams with the title belt, before landing his signature End of Days finishing move. With plenty of shady tactics, Baron Corbin was your new U.S. Champ.

From the looks of it, Trick’s run as the titleholder was beginning to become stale. So, WWE strapped the belt quickly on heel Baron Corbin. Will it be a long reign? Stay tuned.

Photo: WWE

GREEN WITH ENVY

This victory by Chelsea Green in the women’s ladder match to decide the interim WWE Women’s Champion, was a nod to the fans. WWE actually listened to the resounding love for Green over the past year and in turn had her grab the title above the ladder and become the current champ, while Rhea Ripley is currently out with injury.

Green bested Charlotte Flair, Chelsea Green, Lash Legend, Jade Cargill, and the hometown girl Tiffany Stratton. The ring gear worn by the gals, tore down the house with Cargill paying homage to Minneapolis music legend, Prince. But even more notably, the stunning outfit worn by Flair, which paid tribute to the little girl she had befriended named Scarlett who recently died of cancer. The women turned it out for this ladder match and you could make a case for any of them to have won the belt, but in a feel-good moment, it belonged to Green.

Photo: WWE

MINNEAPOLIS’ OWN CHAD GABLE FINALLY IS A CHAMP

The second best match of the night was delivered by the Intercontinental Championship bout between Penta and the hometown boy, Chad Gable, Going into the match-up, Penta was the IC champ. However, Gable is finally getting acknowledged for the wrestler he is after his enduring run in a a mask as the heel-ish, El Grande Americano.

Gable’s three children and his wife and parents were in U.S. Bank Stadium, so if there was any time to pull the trigger in favor of Gable this was it. Penta and Gable delivered high-flying moves and solid wrestling fundamentals that wowed the crowd. Gable was working with a seeming shoulder injury throughout the match and was somehow cut open on his face.

The match came to an emotional conclusion when Penta was caught in Gabe’s patented ankle lock and taped out. That led to the tears and the emotional celebration with Chad and his family inside the ring.

Photo: WWE

While not in our top five takeaways, the other match of the night featured Danhausen (who is one of the hottest WWE superstars with the fans) and “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio in the first-ever “Human Monies on a Pole Match.”

Once again, it featured the minihausens coming out to protect their guy after much shenanigans from Dom and the Judgment Day’s J.D. McDonaugh. Danhausen and the minhausens got an assist from Joe Hendry and Dirty Dom was on the short end of the stick in this one.

You can check out the full WWE SummerSlam Sunday 2026 video highlights below. Followed by the Michael Fairman Channel’s “What’s Up? Wrestling” podcast that went live immediately following SummerSlam night two with our own post show reactions.

So, what did you think of SummerSlam night two? Did you love the Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins epic match and conclusion to the Shield storyline? What were your favorite moments of the match card? Let us know via the comment section below.

Night night one of WWE’s SummerSlam on August 1, saw the return of “The Viper,” Randy Orton, the passing of the torch to Oba Femi, and SmackDown GM, Nick Aldis getting back into the ring after 3 years to take on “The Ring General’ Gunther. These were just a few of the major moment from the six bout match card.

Emanating from U.S. Bank stadium in Minneapolis, the match-ups had several ups and downs that either got the crowd into an electric frenzy or deadly quiet. The WWE creative was smart to kick-off night one with the Women’s World Championship match between the champion Liv Morgan and Ivo Sky, who put on a great show.

Both women brought their A -game, but Liv Morgan showed why she is the champ, while Iyo Sky remains the best overall female wrestler on the current roster. Here are our five top takeaways from Night 1 of SummerSlam:

Photo: WWE

RANDY ORTON AND CODY RHODES FEUD UP NEXT

The match between CM Punk, the current Undisputed World Heavyweight, and Cody Rhodes, the former champ, had most fans booing Rhodes and cheering for Punk. However, both men displayed some heel-ish moves throughout the bout.

When Rhodes missed a Cody Cutter and hit referee Charles Robinson instead, chaos ensued. Punk was out of the ring, so too was Robinson on the other side. Cody was in the ring laid out flat. Eventually, Randy Orton does a run-in out of nowhere and delivers the RKO to Rhodes, winks at the camera, and slinks out of the ring and runs out of the arena site unseen by Punk and Robinson.

Next, Punk rolled back in the ring and hit a third GTS on Rhodes to retain the title. In the end, there was no clean pinfall for Rhodes vs. Punk. It should be noted that Punk also missed a moonsault maneuver that looked sloppy, which has been fodder on social media.

So, what does this do for Punk and Rhodes moving forward? It leave us with Punk moving on to face new challengers for the title, and Cody and Randy Orton to walk back the start of their feud that got messed up once WWE inserted Pat McAfee into the storyline at WrestleMania 42, which the WWE Universe was a hard pass on.

Can Orton and Rhodes now have a proper feud? Will there be a double turn comig? Randy (who the crowd was cheering for) actually being the face and Cody having had it with all the shenanigans used against him, just finally giving in and turning full heel? Stay tuned.

Photo: WWE

OBA FEMI WAS PASSED THE TORCH

Femi got quite the moment after he won the third match of his trilogy against Minnesota’s own Brock Lesnar,  The Ruler beat The Beast Incarnate inside Hell in a Cell.

While there were five straight F5s in a row and Femi was taken to Suplex City, it appeared Lesnar had this under control especially after he exposed the wooden boards under the ring mat and apron. Next, Lesnar delivered a Tombstone piledriver paying homage to The Undertaker who Lesnar had defeated in two Hell in a Cells. However, the move left Femi unfazed. Suddenly, Femi was back up and shortly thereafter pinned Brock and won the math.

As he was exiting the ring, Lesnar broke character to hug Femi and called fo a mic and announced himself as the “past” and The Ruler as the “future” of WWE. Clearly, Lesnar gave the crowd in attendance and the millions around the world, his stamp of approval for Femi and passed the torched.

It should be noted we did not get Lesnar officially retiring in his home state, so he may be back. Meanwhile, Oba is clearly the WWE’s handpicked star who is having a rapid ascension to the top. Is it just a matter of time before Oba takes on Roman Reigns and wins the WWE World Heavyweight Championship from him?

Photo: WWE

NICK ALDIS CAN STILL GO

Aldis, who came out to Oasis’ “Morning Glory,” and had excellent ring gear to boot, showed that after three years out of ring action that he can still turn it out and against Gunther, no less. The crowd chanted “you still got it” during the match.

However, in the end Gunther was eventually able to put Aldis down. After the match, Aldis got to share in the moment with his young son, Donovan and is wife, Mickie James inside the ring, to celebrate Aldis’ return to the ring if even for one night.

During the Post Show on ESPN, Triple H reinstated Aldis as the SmackDown GM, and tore up Aldis’ resignation letter, so Nick was still a part of the WWE in his managerial position moving forward.

Photo: WWE

THE BELLA TWINS SHOULD HAVE STAYED RETIRED DUE TO INJURIES

As we predicted, during the trios match between the Bella Twins and Paige v. Fatal Influence with Jacy Jayne, it would be Paige tho took the pin from Jayne.  With that, the Bella Twins went back to full heel-mode, when Niki Bella who just returned after suffering from a broken ankle attached Paige.

Brie Bella could not get in to the beatdown because earlier in the match she suffered a serious shoulder injury which will now keep her out of action.  If the plan was to have an evil Bella Twins run, now that Niki is back, well that just fell apart with the ill-fated timing of Brie’s injury.

This is a case where Hall-of-Famers want to get back into the ring later in their careers and things don’t go as smooth as planned. Now it remains what the WWE will do. Obviously, Niki will feud solo with Paige.

Photo: WWE

SOLO SIKOA IS GREAT AS A BABYFACE, DON’T RUIN IT!

The actual moment of the night belongs to Solo Sikoa who got the the last laugh on the Usos. Sikoa mocked Jey Uso’s Yeet chants and moves specifically when Jey runs it back with the audience, by having Jey’s theme music play and imitating him.

Later, via Samoan Spike to Jimmy Uso, he stopped a 1D attempt while L.A. Knight hit the BTF on Jey for the victory. Jacob Fatu, who teamed wiht the Usos had the coolest entrance of the night with his werewolf mask and antics. Royce Keys who teamed with Knight and Sikoa also got to show off some of his power moves to help his team secure the win.

You can check out the full SummerSlam Saturday 2026 night one highlights below.

So, what was your top takeaway and moment from night one of SummerSlam? Favorite match? Least favorite match? Let us know via the comment section.