WWE’s road to “The Biggest Party of the Summer” winds down tonight, as the WWE SummerSlam 2026 ‘go-home’ episode of WWE SmackDown is live at 8/7c from the Resch Center in Green Bay, WI.
‘WWE Then. Now. Forever. Together.’ kicks things off as always. Joe Tessitore welcomes us to the show as we see an aerial shot of the Resch Center. We settle in backstage, where we see Cody Rhodes, CM Punk and others in the usual show-starting Superstar arrival shots.
Finn Balor, Sami Zayn, Gunther & Nick Aldis Kick Things Off
Inside the arena, the familiar sounds of Finn Balor’s theme music hits the house speakers. Out he comes ahead of his No. 1 Contender bout for the WWE Championship against Sami Zayn at this coming weekend’s two-night WWE SummerSlam premium live event.
Balor says SummerSlam season, he can’t help but think about 2016, his first SummerSlam. He says he went from the highs of the high to the low of the low. He says he has been scratching his way back to the top. Sami Zayn’s music hits and out he comes.
Zayn says the main event of the SummerSlam should be CM Punk against Cody Rhodes against him. He says he beat Cody Rhodes in the middle of the ring to become the champion. Balor tells him to have some respect and some balls, to come down to the ring.
From there, Zayn does in fact get in the ring and says Balor is great but that he is the last real good guy. In comes Gunther from behind and he pushes Finn into Zayn. Out comes Adam Pearce with WWE security. Gunther approaches Pearce.
Before anything happens, however, out comes Nick Aldis and he hits Gunther with right hands. Aldis gets Gunther in the ring and he gets him in the Texas cloverleaf. Security breaks it up and Gunther hits Aldis with a right hand. WWE security breaks it up as we head to a commercial break.
Tiffany Stratton & Chelsea Green vs Michin & B-Fab
Women’s tag-team action will kick things off inside the squared circle this evening, as Tiffany Stratton and Chelsea Green join forces to take on Da Baddies duo of Michin and B-Fab in our opening contest. Following the respective ring walks, things get officially off-and-running.
We see B-Fab and Stratton kick things off for their respective teams at the onset. B-Fab kicks Stratton and sends her in the corner. B-Fab kicks Stratton and Stratton dropkicks B-Fab into the ropes. Michin is tagged in and Stratton tags in Green.
Michin and B-Fab are double teamed and Green takes down Michin and we cut to a commercial. The show returns and we see that B-Fab has Green on the mat and kicks her. Green strikes B-Fab with some punches and then hits a stunner. Green tries to tag out but B-Fab doesn’t let her.
Green kicks B-Fab down and tags Stratton. B-Fab tags in Michin and Stratton kicks B-Fab off the apron and hits Michin with an Alabama Slam. Stratton comes off the top rope and hits a Swanton Bomb and covers Michin for a near fall. Green tags herself in and B-Fab takes Stratton out of the ring.
B-Fab is taken out outside the ring and Cargill then attacks Stratton. Green is on the top rope and gets distracted. Michin gets up with her and punches her. Green knocks Michin off the ropes and then hits a top rope missile dropkick.
B-Fab is tagged in and she and Michin double team Green and then hit Green with BTA and get the win. After the match, Cargill, B-Fab and Michin celebrate in the ring. Charlotte Flair’s music hits and she slowly makes her way out to the ring. Stratton and Green pull B-Fab and Michin out of the ring.
From there, they start beating them up. Cargill is left in the ring and Flair gets in the ring. Flair runs at Cargill and the two trade punches. Flair kicks Cargill to the mat and she rolls out of the ring as Flair stands tall in the ring to end the post-match scene.
Winners: Michin & B-Fab
Backstage With Rey Fenix, FrAxiom & Judgment Day
Backstage, we see Rey Fenix and Fraxiom talking, when The Judgment Day’s own JD McDonagh and Dominik Mysterio show up. This leads to some back-and-forth bickering, which ultimately results in Fenix vs. McDonagh being made for the AAA cruiserweight belt later in the show.
Haku Pep Talk To Tama & Talla Tonga
We get a video from The MFTs Tama and Talla Tonga. Leaving Solo Sikoa was the right move, they lost sight of chasing gold. From now on they put their family first. The legendary Haku shows up to remind them who they are, and he tells them to make everyone fear them.
WWE Tag Titles vs. AAA Tag Titles (Winner Takes All)
Damian Priest & R-Truth (c) vs. War Raiders (c)
From there, we head back inside the arena, where reigning WWE Tag-Team Champions Damian Priest and R-Truth head to the ring. While doing so, they deal with some audio issues, as far as timing the music switch for the two. We head to a pre-match commercial break.
When the show returns, we get ready for this WWE vs. AAA tag-team title “champion versus champion” showdown between Priest & Truth and The War Raiders duo of Erik and Ivar. Erik and Ivar attack Priest and Truth straight out of the gate to get things started.
Truth is knocked out of the ring by Ivar and Erik and Priest go at it in the ring. Priest punches out Erik in the corner and tags in Truth. Erik is double teamed and Truth slams into Erik in the corner. Truth goes after Ivar and Erik strikes Truth and knocks him out of the ring.
Truth is double teamed outside the ring. Priest runs at them and jumps off the steel steps towards The War Raider but they catch Priest and throw him into the barricades. Ivar splashes into Truth and Priest on opposite ends outside the ring with authority.
On that note, the show shifts gears and settles into a mid-match commercial break as the action continues. When the show returns, we see the action still in progress, with things starting to pick up a bit as the crowd comes to life in the background.
Priest and Ivar are battling in the ring. Priest sends Ivar crashing with a top rope hurricanrana. Erik was tagged in before Ivar gets taken down. Priest gets double teamed and covered and Truth breaks the pin. Erik and Ivar attack Truth and The War Raiders and Priest push the ref aside.
The ref calls for the bell. After the match, Priest, Truth, Ivar and Erik battle outside the ring. The four men fight into the crowd. Truth jumps off the railing onto The War Raiders and Priest. Priest sends Ivar and Erik back.
They head towards the ring. Tama and Talla Tonga run down and take out Erik and Ivar. They then go after Priest and Truth. Haku comes down and stands in the ring with The Tongas as they raise both the AAA belts and the WWE Tag belts.
Winners: No Contest
Backstage With CM Punk & Trick Williams
Now we shoot backstage, where Cathy Kelley is standing by with Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk. Kelley asks Punk about his friendship with Cody Rhodes and how he’s handling that they have a match at SummerSlam. Punk says they’re not friends when they’re competing.
With that in mind, he will be the champ at the end. WWE United States Champion Trick Williams comes by and tells Punk that sooner than later he will be coming for Punk’s title. Punk invites Williams to come for him and he’s excited to Whoop that Trick when the time comes. We head to a break.
A Special Look At Nick Aldis’ Career
A video package for Nick Aldis plays. The video package plays some highlights of his wrestling career and how being a General Manager wasn’t his first dream and how he’s been pushed too far and he’s getting back in the ring to take down Gunther this weekend at WWE SummerSlam.
Trick Williams, Baron Corbin Face-To-Face Ahead Of SummerSlam
Inside the arena, we head back down to ringside. WWE U.S. Champion Trick Williams makes his way out. Williams gets on the mic and says he has a lot on his chest. Williams calls out Baron Corbin and talks about Corbin coming back to WWE to hate on Williams.
Williams tells Corbin that he looks like a big ass Tommy Pickles and says Corbin makes him sick. Williams wants to do this right here and calls Corbin out to face him right now. Corbin comes out and stands by the entryway. Corbin says while he was away he learned some valuable lessons.
One was patience, which he says is something Williams doesn’t have. Corbin says Williams believes he’s better than he actually is and at SummerSlam he will suffocate Williams. Corbin says he will choke out Williams and Williams tells Corbin to shut up and says Corbin will do nothing to him.
Williams asks what this is all about, and if this is just for him to collect a paycheck and Williams says he’ll give something to Corbin to collect, his lemon pepper steppers in Corbin’s butt. Williams tells Corbin to get in the ring.
Despite that fact, however, Corbin says he won’t do it here because Williams a dumb rookie. Corbin says he will take Williams’ title on Sunday and leaves. Williams tells Corbin that on Sunday he will be the one to “Whoop that Trick.” The segment wraps up there.
AAA Cruiserweight Championship
Rey Fenix (c) vs. JD McDonagh
After a break we return to the ring for championship action, with Rey Fenix defending his AAA Cruiserweight Championship against JD McDonagh in a title tilt that was set up following a backstage segment earlier this evening on the show.
Following their respective ring walks, we get the bell and the two do a battle for power. McDonagh kicks Fenix to the mat and Fenix flips around and tosses McDonagh to the mat. Fenix tries for a pin and McDonagh kicks out. McDonagh is chopped to the mat and Fenix hits a rope assisted flipping arm-drag.
Fenix flips around some more and tries for another pin. McDonagh rolls out of the ring and Mysterio fans him. McDonagh gets back in the ring and Mysterio distracts Fenix and the ref allowing McDonagh to attack Fenix and choke him in the corner.
McDonagh is kicked off the apron and Fenix pretends to do a suicide dive and McDonagh then comes off the middle rope and hits a moonsault to the outside taking out Fenix and we get a commercial break. The show returns and McDonagh has Fenix on the mat in a stretch submission hold.
Fenix powers out and strikes McDonagh. McDonagh clocks Fenix and Fenix kicks McDonagh and then comes off the ropes with a splash knocking McDonagh down. The two trade punches and Fenix hits a Brain buster on McDonagh and covers him for a near fall.
Fenix connects with some strikes and McDonagh strikes Fenix back. Fenix kicks McDonagh and then hits a springboard cutter. McDonagh hits a Spanish Fly and covers Fenix for a near fall. McDonagh goes to powerbomb Fenix but Fenix counters out and kicks McDonagh down to the mat.
Fenix gets on the ropes and Mysterio gets on the apron allowing McDonagh to knock Fenix off the top rope. The ref ejects Mysterio and as Mysterio leaves the lights go off and Danhausen comes out and starts to curse Mysterio but Mysterio knocks Danhausen down.
The Littlehausens come out and attack Mysterio and he runs to the back with the Hausens chasing after him. In the ring, Fenix hits Adios Amigo and then hits the Mexican Muscle Buster and gets the victory. With the win, Rey Fenix is still your AAA Cruiserweight Champion.
Winner and STILL AAA Cruiserweight Champion: Rey Fenix
Women’s Interim Title Ladder Match Qualifier
Giulia vs. Lash Legend
Following a commercial break, we return and it’s time for a qualifying match for the final spot in the women’s interim title ladder match scheduled for this weekend’s WWE SummerSlam 2026 premium live event, as Giulia goes one-on-one against Lash Legend.
We see Legend runs at Giulia at the bell but Giulia dodges Legend and starts kicking her. Giulia gets Legend in a modified octopus submission but Legend slams Giulia’s head between the ropes and slams her down and tries for the pin.
Giulia kicks out and Legend tries to pin her again. Giulia hits Arrivederci and covers Legend but Legend kicks out at two. Giulia tries to slam Legend but she can’t. Giulia gets Legend in a guillotine submission and Legend powers out of it and headbutts Giulia. Legend hits Lash Extension and gets the win.
Winner and QUALIFYING: Lash Legend
CM Punk, Cody Rhodes Face-To-Face Ahead Of SummerSlam
It’s main event (segment) time!
First, we get a Cody and Punk hype video that doubles as a promotional bit for Cody’s role as Guile in the upcoming Street Fighter movie. We head to a commercial break. When the show returns, the familiar sounds of Cody Rhodes’ theme hits and “The American Nightmare” heads to the ring.
Rhodes is interrupted before pyro and the “whoa” by Punk’s music and Punk heading past him to the ring. Punk gets a mic, Cody’s got one, and both men argue about how they got to this point. Cody brings up that he can’t fake anything with Punk after 20 years of knowing each other, well that cuts both ways.
He knows Punk knew they were on this path to hating each other now that they’re on an inevitable collision course. Punk plays with the crowd first then says of course he knew he’d rustle feathers and hurt feelings, but he wasn’t going to be like a whiner in the back.
He wasn’t going to behave like Sami, or say no like the other mediocre bums back there, he’s CM Punk and he will always show up and hope it pisses people off. For 20 years he’s been doing that, and for 10 of that stretch he wasn’t even here but his name made people freak out.
So let’s talk about this being about the title, Punk wont be Cody’s friend tomorrow but when it’s done it’s up to Cody if they’re friends. Punk just has to know who’s better between them, for business purposes. Cody doesn’t buy that and plays with the crowd and asks what they want to talk about.
Seems like they want to talk about Punk, so Cody will oblige them. If this is really about business then Punk is just double talking. The title isn’t business, it is personal. He knows how personal it is to both of them, and it is to everyone who’s ever held that title, and everyone that hasn’t held it.
That belt means you’re the best in the world, you’ve got the crown and call the shots. Everyone’s tired of the friends, and Punk said he was here to make money not friends. Punk says he wasn’t here to make friends, but he didn’t want to lose them either.
But if it’s between losing a friend or losing a title, well tomorrow wont be Cody’s night. Cody is being bothered by the word “tomorrow”, because Punk is prepared to do almost anything tomorrow night at SummerSlam. Well what does Punk want to do about it tonight.
Punk tosses his mic and lays down the title, then removes his jacket. Punk lines up to fight, Cody then tosses his mic, removes his jacket, and lines up while Punk offers the first shot. Cody then obliges and the brawl is on. We get a hockey fight for a bit.
Cody drops Punk with a clothesline and sends him out of the ring. Some brawling from Cody and he takes apart the announce table but Punk recovers and launches Cody over the table. Punk stands on the table but Cody trips him down, Punk returns the favor and we get more brawling.
Now we see a bunch of officials and security show up to pull them apart, that doesn’t really work and they get to trading punches on the table. Eventually they do get separated again, clash again and keep swinging punches at each other as the show comes to a close. Thanks for joining us!
