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SummerSlam delivered absolute chaos from top to bottom. Between title retentions heavy with outside interference, long-awaited returns that shattered major alliances, and sheer physical warfare inside the cage, this year’s card shifted the entire landscape of WWE. We saw top stars pivoting to fresh character arcs, long-rumoured rivalries finally exploding, and a main event that officially passed the torch to the future of the industry. Let’s break down how the whole night went down.

**OPENING MATCH: Liv Morgan def. IYO SKY to retain the Women’s World Championship. I’m not happy Liv still has the belt, but keeping it on her keeps the heat boiling for a Stephanie Vaquer return—because payback is going to be a bitch. Thanks to Judgment Day interference, Liv snuck out with the title again, leaving Queen of the Ring winner IYO empty-handed for now.

**MATCH 2

LA Knight, Solo Sikoa, and Royce Keys vs. The Bloodline (The Usos & Jacob Fatu).

It was a pretty chaotic match—LA Knight, Solo, and Keys ended up taking the win after Solo delivered a Samoan Spike to Jimmy Uso, setting up LA Knight to land the BFT on Jey for the pin. The MFT died today, and Solo became a big goofball, beating the Bloodline.

**MATCH 3

Gunther vs. Nick Aldis

Gunther def Nick Aldis by submission, but he proved he still belongs in the ring. As Nick recently shared with Chris Van Vliet, both Mickie James and Randy Orton warned him to “stay ready” because WWE wouldn’t give him months of lead time—they’d give him weeks. Knowing the difference between “physique shape” and true “ring cardio,” Aldis spent the last month busting his ass strictly on conditioning. It paid off: he went toe-to-toe with “The Ring General” for 12 physical minutes and didn’t look gassed for a second, even while Gunther tried to get in his head by trash-talking Mickie at ringside.

**MATCH 4

Fatal Influence def. The Bellas & Paige

The match itself was solid, but the real story exploded after the final bell. Nikki and Brie turned on Paige, unleashing a brutal beatdown that officially cemented their heel turn. The rumours were right on the money: this move serves a two-fold purpose. It frees up Paige for a major babyface singles run with built-in crowd support, while reuniting the Bellas as a ruthless heel tag team to go after the Tag Team Championships.

**MATCH 5

CM Punk (c) vs. Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship!

What was already an absolute classic took a massive turn in the closing moments. With the referee down after Cody hit Cross Rhodes, Randy Orton made his long-awaited return and laid Cody out with an RKO out of nowhere. Punk capitalised with a GTS to retain. The rumours were spot on: WWE was clearly saving a major Cody vs. Randy feud until Orton was completely healthy. Costing Cody the Undisputed Championship gives them white-hot heat to kick off what should be one of the best programs of the year.

**MATCH 6

The main event was the absolute war inside Hell in a Cell: Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar.

If anyone doubted whether Oba Femi was truly the “Next Big Thing,” this match shut the door on that conversation forever. In the brutal rubber match to settle their 1-1 tie, these two absolute monsters tore the Cell—and the ring—apart. The visual of Brock Lesnar exposing the wooden ring boards to hit a piledriver, only for Oba to kick out, was insane. Femi ultimately put the Beast away with the Fall from Grace, but the real story was the aftermath. Brock Lesnar, the ultimate conqueror, hugging Oba and raising his hand is a torch-passing moment we will be talking about for years. Oba Femi is the present and the future.