WWE SummerSlam 2026 exit survey: Biggest winners and losers from a rollercoaster 3-day weekend
Filled with surprise returns and title changes, WWE SummerSlam 2026 certainly shook up the landscape for professional wrestling for the second half of the year. With the dust now settled from the three-nightweekend and less than 24 hours to have digested it all, the Uncrowned Horsemen are back for our official exit survey, simultaneously looking back at the weekend that was and ahead to what it all means moving forward.Lets ride!1. What's your grade for the entire SummerSlam weekend? What was your favorite moment or match?Jackman: Evidently summer brings out my cheerful side, as I was pretty satisfied with the whole weekend. If we're doing letter grades, I'd say B, verging on a B+. I thought it was consistently better than WrestleMania. Nearly all of the matches landed and there was an urgency to the overall event that you dont always get at these larger shows.Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins was the best match of the weekend, but the best moment had to be Chad Gable getting his flowers. He's worked his tail off over these few years and the callback to his mask vs. mask match (with the whole "my name is Chad Gable" speech) was well done. It was really nice for his family to get to see him triumph for once too.What was that Michael Cole line? "If you give to this business, it gives back." Not a true reflection of pro-wrestling history by any means, but it suited this occasion down to a tee.Riggs: An incredibly comfortable B+. Night 1 pretty handily beat out Night 2 for me, thanks to all the good booking decisions regarding winners. The only real misses were probably Baron Corbin dethroning Trick Williams as U.S. Champion, and there were several beats or no beats at all throughout a handful of matches that kept SummerSlam from being a perfect event. But it was still a great weekend of matches for WWE.As for my favorite moment, I'm just a real sucker for a massive crowd reaction, and Kevin Owens' return was special, man. Especially as the Night 2 starter. It was just so, so good. But right up next to it is easily Nick Aldis' in-ring WWE debut. From the entrance to the closing farewell in the ring with his family, it was as lovely as you could have hoped. Triple H reinstating Aldis as the "SmackDown" general manager at the end of the night admittedly dampened the whole fun of it, but hopefully there's more here. WWE cant close the chapter on Aldis wrestling career so swiftly and abruptly after that.Nick Aldis looked like he barely missed a step in his first match in three years.WWE via Getty ImagesSulla-Heffinger: Ill agree with Drake here, a B+ sounds exactly right for this weekend. Both nights had memorable matches and moments and perhaps most importantly felt like equals.As far as my favorite match/moment, its hard not to appreciate the performance of both Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins to close out Night 2. Even with some minor gripes (that ref was out for way too long) and the absence of Dean Ambrose/Jon Moxley, it was a fitting conclusion to The Shield saga that started well over a decade ago.Dansby: Looking back on the weekend, I enjoyed both nights, with Night 2 getting the slight edge. Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins, Penta vs. Chad Gable, the No. 1 Contender Fatal 4-Way, and Iyo Sky vs. Liv Morgan were the clear standouts.There are definitely a few matches and moments I could nitpick, but overall I'd give SummerSlam a solid B-. The biggest issue wasn't the wrestling. It was the lack of investment heading into the show. Too many matches suffered from weak builds, leaving fans with little reason to care about the outcomes before the bell rang. Fortunately, most of those matches overdelivered once they started. If anything, SummerSlam gave me optimism that WWE is heading toward a much stronger finish to 2026.The new WWE Women's Champion.WWE via Getty Images2. Who should Chelsea Greens first title defense come against? Do you see her holding the championship until Rhea Ripley is cleared?Dansby: Chelsea Green feels like the perfect person to eventually drop the title back to Rhea Ripley ... or maybe not.Green has a real opportunity to breathe new life into the top of the women's division. The more she escapes with questionable victories and wins by the skin of her teeth, the more entertaining she'll become as champion. Honestly, I'd even consider having her beat a returning Ripley before eventually dropping the championship to the division's next breakout star.I still think Giulia is destined for that spot. As the year goes on, I expect fans to fully get behind her, and she feels like someone who should be in the championship picture by year's end.Riggs: I'm still pretty shocked they went the Green route after the WWE: Unreal situation. The whole thing really makes you wonder, especially with Green playing into it on the post-show. "I am going to dedicate this title to Michael Hayes" @ImChelseaGreenpic.twitter.com/R9nZ8LTfnA WWE (@WWE) August 3, 2026Nonetheless, having her hang onto the title until challenging Ripley would feel very odd with where we currently stand. Despite the win, Green has yet to be established as a serious competitor in any sense at all. She won her qualifier match good and clean, but outside of that she's not done much winning, and was practically handed the spot here. Not that she doesn't deserve it her characters direction just needs to change very quickly.With that in mind, I don't see how something involving Tiffany Stratton doesn't linger. But you know the real answer here: Nia Jax was still screwed out of this whole match. She's getting reinserted directly into the title picture where nobody wants her. That's the best way WWE can think of to further fuel Green support.Sulla-Heffinger: Nia Jax does make a ton of sense in this spot and a surprise win over her would go a long way in establishing Green as a champion who can hold onto this interim title for an extended period. Right now, a lot of the top talent in the SmackDown womens division are tied up in other feuds, which opens the door for new faces to enter the main-event scene. Ideally, Green gets her chance to show shes deserving of this spot (she is), but I am going to shoot my shot right now and say she doesnt hold this title until Ripley comes back, and instead loses it to whoever wins the womens Money in the Bank ladder match in October.Jackman: I can't believe no one has said Penta yet! (Just to explain the reference for anyone who has better things to do than watch old indie matches, Penta had a pretty bruising match against Chelsea Green then Reklusa back in Lucha Underground which went viral again last year on social media. It's well worth bookmarking that just in case you ever have to correct anyone who dares suggest Green is a comedy wrestler.)As for who she actually defends against, I'm not fussed as long as she wins. There's a chance to do something really interesting with Chelsea Green here and I would hope WWE creative wouldn't have put the belt on her if they didn't have a plan. A unification match has to happen, though you'd have to think it through before you put two of the biggest babyfaces against each other.Oba Femi has finally put Brock Lesnar behind him.WWE via Getty Images3. Who was the biggest winner of the weekend? Who was the biggest loser?Riggs: Literally and figuratively, I think it has to be Oba Femi. Closing Night 1 was one thing. Beating Brock Lesnar two-out-of-three is another. But most of all, kicking out of a Tombstone Piledriver onto the ring boards seems genuinely unbelievable for any company. That spot is still so wild to me, not just for its danger, but how ridiculous it was to not be a match finisher. Femi should legitimately be unbeatable for years after this booking.The biggest loser has to be Dominik Mysterio. And that sucks. We all know "Dirty Dom" has all the potential in the world to be something. Hell, he displayed only a short time ago. Now he's losing with ease to a comedy act, despite his status as the AAA Mega Champion. I don't know where things went wrong, but hopefully Dom is salvaged by ditching Liv Morgan and Judgment Day, since she has been absent from his side when needed most throughout this recent human monies scandal. The audacity.Sulla-Heffinger: Its Kevin Owens. Not only did he secure his shot at CM Punks Undisputed WWE Championship, but he also defied the odds by even competing in a wrestling ring in the first place after missing more than a year with a neck injury and undergoing surgery. The fans exploded when his music hit, and you could see the emotion on Owens face and the reactions of his peers during and after the show. It was a remarkable moment that struck chords beyond WWE storylines.As far as the biggest loser, it has to be the womens tag-team division, simply because it lost one of its big-name teams in the Bella Twins. As she confirmed on social media on Monday, Brie Bella suffered a serious injury in her match on Night 1, meaning shell now miss time just as Nikki returned from an injury of her own. Fatal Influence are formidable champions, but without many options to challenge them, the title picture looks bleak as currently constituted.Kevin Owens wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to wrestle again.WWE via Getty ImagesJackman: The biggest winner was Oba Femi. That call to put the Hell in a Cell match on last as Saturdays headliner wasn't one WWE wouldve taken lightly. Just looking at the slightly cantankerous way Triple H was talking about the way they choose main events over the weekend they only put the cream of the crop in those closing slots, so this shows (again) how highly they rate Oba.As for the bigger loser, it's a tough call to make. Obviously not Trick Williams, who will be pushed onward to bigger things after dropping his U.S. Championship. It wasn't exactly a vintage night for Dom Mysterio, but maybe he will be able to extract some favors in the future given he's been participating in such a lucrative angle for the company. Realistically, it was probably any of the names who missed out on the show. The absence of Bron Breakker was pretty inexplicable, for example.Dansby: The biggest winner was easily Chelsea Green.The crowd desperately wanted her to win the Women's Championship ladder match, and WWE delivered. Becoming a world champion isn't easy, and Chelsea has worked her way up the card over the years. She can genuinely say she earned this moment.The biggest loser, unfortunately, was Dominik Mysterio.Dom is one of the company's best heat magnets and still the AAA Mega Champion. This wasn't the time to have him lose to Danhausen in a gimmick match. That spot could have easily gone to someone like The Miz. Now Dominik heads into Triplemana season with very little momentum, and if he drops the AAA title to El Grande Americano, it won't feel nearly as meaningful because fans just watched him lose at SummerSlam.It was a tough weekend for Dominik Mysterio.WWE via Getty Images4. SummerSlam has had success in its first two years since shifting to a two-night show. Why do you think that is?Sulla-Heffinger: Lets state the obvious here: The surprises have helped immensely in both years, making SummerSlam perhaps the most unpredictable PLE on WWEs calendar.Aside from that, I think two other things have worked in WWEs favor since SummerSlam shifted to two nights. First, WWE has not shied away from course-correcting after WrestleMania. Last year, John Cena turned back babyface the night before SummerSlam and then had one of the best matches of his career against Cody Rhodes. It was a pivot that didnt just boost SummerSlam, it also helped rejuvenate the Cena retirement tour as a whole. This year, it seemed like WWE took the criticism from WrestleMania 42 and presented two shows that balanced in-ring action and advertisements in a much more balanced and digestible way. There were no matches that felt unnecessarily short on either card.Second, where SummerSlam is slotted on the calendar helps as well. WrestleMania is seen as the season finale or Super Bowl each year for WWE, meaning we want big payoffs and have been waiting on the main-event matches for a long period of time, with top challengers securing their spots in the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber. SummerSlam has less of that finality to it, sitting in the middle of the WWE season, which means theres less pressure to put a bow on anything.Jackman: I think it's the natural consequence of the whole "five-match card" thing. Having a slimmed-down one-night card might look more professional and sports-y, but it's also harder to get right. All you need is one bad match and it leaves a stain on the whole show.Likewise, you really need to think about the balance between the various matches, so you dont have four babyfaces winning on the trot or every single title being retained. That just leads to more politicking. You get people saying things like, "Hey, why is the men's U.S. title on the PLE but neither of the women's world titles are on the show?" or similar.These two-night shows don't have those same pressures, and you generally get a better show for it. Obviously we're not comparing apples to apples here, given that WrestleMania and SummerSlam are the prestige shows where the very biggest matches happen. But the two-night thing still makes a difference.Chad Gable and Penta shake hands during SummerSlam Night 2.WWE via Getty ImagesRiggs: I think there's simply something to having the flexibility of doing the "same" event twice and being able to adjust rapidly if needed. You're almost getting a free pass in some ways, then cramming in more potential with more possibilities.Compared to other PLEs on the schedule, WWE naturally treats SummerSlam weekend bigger too. It visually feels like a WrestleMania. Honestly, compared to this year's 'Mania, SummerSlam looked significantly bigger and better!Dansby: The WWE roster is simply too loaded for one night anymore. You have established main-event stars, a deep midcard filled with wrestlers ready to break through, and a constant wave of NXT call-ups looking for their first major spotlight.Two nights allow WWE to showcase far more talent without rushing everything. The alternative is something closer to AEW's marathon pay-per-views, and while AEW can often rely on incredible in-ring work to carry those shows, I'm not sure WWE's style benefits from asking fans to sit through one card that long.Seth Rollins fell short against Roman Reigns in SummerSlam's Night 2 headliner.WWE via Getty Images5. With the Roman Reigns-Seth Rollins rivalry seemingly over, where does it rank for you all-time?Sulla-Heffinger: Its solidly a top-10 rivalry for me. While I do think it is the defining feud of the past decade in WWE, it falls a bit short of reaching the heights of HBK-Taker, Cena-Punk or Austin-McMahon, among others.What stands out more than anything is how accurate Reigns comment about him and Rollins being wrestling soulmates really was. This match was unreal in the sense that it took a 12-year journey and weaved it seamlessly into the story both men were trying to tell. If you love the art of professional wrestling, it doesnt get much better than this.Jackman: It's one of the defining rivalries of the modern era, for sure. I agree with Anthony that it's not quite on the level of the most epic feuds some of which helped define the modern pro-wrestling product but it's easily among the best of the past decade.The fact that it's told a consistent story is a big plus with me. So many feuds end up zipping all over the place when they run for years on end, but this one stayed on one track. We complain about WWE being cautious in their booking, but sometimes it has its benefits.A little homage to the 3rd Shield Member pic.twitter.com/F1HaFb2S5O WWE (@WWE) August 3, 2026Dansby: The history between Roman and Seth is undeniable, and WWE did a great job weaving in callbacks throughout the match. That said, I don't think any story involving The Shield can truly be finished without Dean Ambrose AEWs Jon Moxley being part of it. Whether WWE likes it or not, The Shield is arguably the greatest faction in modern wrestling because all three members became legitimate main-event stars.One day they'll either share a ring again or be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame together. That will be the true final chapter of The Shield story.Riggs: This match admittedly didn't do much for me in terms of the rivalry. Don't get me wrong, the match itself was great. This iteration of the feud was fine. Their chemistry is understandably exceptional. But it wouldve worked better with either Reigns or Rollins as a much more devious, clear-cut heel. As for as all-time ranking? That's tough. Personally, it doesn't rank very high for me because I missed most of it through high-school and my early post-high-school years. But that being said, with all it's been attached to, it's top 15 at the very worst.Becky Lynch and Stephanie Vaquer both returned on Monday's "Raw" after SummerSlam.WWE via Getty Images6. We've seen a slew of big returns over the past three days who among those returns will have had the biggest impact by the end of 2026?Jackman: It surely has to be Kevin Owens. With CM Punk as champion on "SmackDown", there's a whole new world of pain for Owens to unlock. He's been through the ringer with both Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes multiple times, but a Punk vs. Owens feud would be totally fresh.Dansby: Its easy to choose Kevin Owens or Stephanie Vaquer, but Ill think outside the box and select Big Cass. His imposing presence will terrorize the Raw roster for a few weeks and he may win a singles feud or two over the next few months.The truth is, thatll be just the beginning, because the real success will come when hes joined by Enzo Amore and they reunite one of the most over tag-teams in recent memory.Riggs: Despite the strong start, it's so difficult for me to imagine Big Cass being booked to win at pivotal moments. Is it possible he could become this era's Big Show, though? Sure. Ideally, he should, as the dude looks like a million bucks.But ultimately, I have to go with Stephanie Vaquer, who is guaranteed to have another world title reign at some point. I can't say the same for any of the others who made returns.Sulla-Heffinger: Kevin Owens. Not only does he immediately have an Undisputed WWE Championship opportunity, but he also has the deepest connection to the fans and so many high-profile stories to tell. Plus, you need to keep his momentum up if he's going to win the Royal Rumble and face the MITB winner/then-champion Sami Zayn at WrestleMania. (Swing big, am I right?)Has LA Knight's time finally come?WWE via Getty ImagesBonus, instant reaction: Who should win each Money in the Bank match?Dansby: Let's keep this one simple. It's time for Money in the Bank to go back to creating new main-event stars.On the men's side, it's finally time to pull the trigger on LA Knight. WWE has teased him winning the briefcase for what feels like three years. The audience is ready, so stop waiting.On the women's side, there are several good options, but I'd go with Blake Monroe. She showed she could be an elite heel before leaving AEW, and Money in the Bank feels like the perfect vehicle to establish her as WWE's next major threat in the women's division.Sulla-Heffinger: There are only a handful of ways to control your own destiny (in kayfabe) in WWE, and none come with as much of an advantage as winning MITB. For someone who has been crying about conspiracies against them for a while now, Sami Zayn should take matters into his own hands by winning on the mens side.For the women, Id love to see Roxanne Perez pull down the briefcase and create instant tension within the Judgment Day. Weve seen this play out in the past with Bayley and Damage CTRL and it worked well, plus it provides a way for Perez to separate herself from the group regardless of who she cashes in on.Jackman: On the men's side, I'd really like it to be a new face. I don't like that the MITB briefcase has become a storyline prop for well-established stars Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre being cases in point rather than a way to elevate new talents. Maybe Penta or Royce Keys would be good to see.On the women's side, I love the Roxanne Perez idea. She's the only woman in Judgment Day without a title now, so you could have a storyline where Liv Morgan puts pressure on Perez to win the briefcase and get herself some gold for once. Perez wins and Morgan formulates this foolproof plan for Perez to launch a surprise attack on that skinny-looking interim champion they have over on "SmackDown."After weeks of being bullied and belittled by Morgan, Perez finally snaps. Instead, she takes matters in her own hands, cashing in the briefcase halfway through one of Morgans matches. After narrowly fighting off an ambush by Raquel Rodriguez, Perez is finally able to hit Pop Rocks on Morgan, taking the title with a three-count pin in front of an elated crowd at Survivor Series (which is in Perezs home state of Texas, after all).Would that work? You'd have to deal with the whole brand split I guess, but I think it has the seeds of something decent.Riggs: I know everyone says LA Knight is the move. And he probably is, considering how golden the pairing of him and Solo Sikoa has been. These two legitimately should go on a DX-like tag title run if Knight doesn't go for the world title.If I had to pick someone who needs it most though, itd be Bron Breakker, who was shamefully left off SummerSlam weekend. And that's while he's currently a champion, mind you. Absolutely brutal scenes. The easiest way to right all those wrongs is to do him right with that big, green briefcase.The women's side feels a lot tougher to pick. Jacy Jayne shouldn't have to wait. WWE has dropped the ball after how well they debuted her by teasing a Ripley feud. So, I'll go with Blake Monroe, whos done nothing but tease doing literally anything since she arrived on the main roster. She's essentially the perfect choice with how she's been "booked" so far, if you can even call it booking.
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