The wrestling world was buzzing as WWE is gearing up for its 2026 SummerSlam premium live event (PLE) scheduled for Saturday, August 1st, and Sunday, August 2nd, at the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. With corroborated bouts including Oba Femi vs, the clash card is starting to take shape. Brock Lesnar in a Hell in a Cell Match, Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Prize, and IYO SKY vs. Liv Morgan for the Women’s World Title.
Dave Meltzer shared details about the initially planned matches for SummerSlam 2026, in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. In addition to the shared matches, Meltzer covered WWE’s original plans for Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Charlotte Flair, GUNTHER, and more for this marquee spectacular.
Citing Meltzer, the clash between Cody Rhodes and CM Punk for the Undisputed WWE Crown was initially slated for SummerSlam. Sami Zayn, who lately captured the belt from Rhodes at Night of Champions, was not part of the early plans for this year’s event. Interestingly enough, zayn is set to defend the championship against Rhodes this coming Monday on RAW, and Punk is widely believed to return to television during that episode.
Meltzer indicated that while Rhodes vs. Punk has long been the intended direction for SummerSlam, if Punk ends up facing Zayn for the gold next month, it would represent a “closing-minute” change.
The report in addition outlined the original plans for SummerSlam, which included GUNTHER facing Royce Keys, Charlotte Flair battling Jade Cargill, Trick Williams defending the United States Gold against erstwhile titleholder Carmelo Hayes, and Paige and Brie Bella defending the Women’s Two-person unit Championship against Lainey Reid and Fallon Henley.