Roman Reigns has reformed The Bloodline as Raw's top faction. (Credit: Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images)
WWE via Getty Images
WWE Night of Champions 2026 is less than two weeks away and will serve as a pivotal stop en route to SummerSlam in August.
At next Saturday’s event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Trick Williams will defend the United States Championship against Ricky Saints and Carmelo Hayes while Bron Breakker will battle his longtime nemesis Seth Rollins in a Steel Cage match. Perhaps more importantly, WWE will determine both the King and Queen of the Ring winners, with Oba Femi and Iyo Sky already punching their tickets to the tournament finals.
The winners of those respective KOTR and QOTR matches will earn a guaranteed world title match at the two-night SummerSlam PLE on August 1 and 2. With such high stakes inside Kingdom Arena, the outcomes at Night of Champions will have a domino effect on the SummerSlam card.
But even with WWE Night of Champions still to come, the SummerSlam match card is already beginning to take shape. Here is a look at the rumored SummerSlam 2026 key matches, based on a variety of reports and recent booking developments.
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Though neither Jade Cargill nor Charlotte Flair is currently holding a title, that may not prevent this first-ever dream match from taking place at WWE SummerSlam.
In fact, WWE is reportedly strongly considering this blockbuster bout for the “Big Four” PLE inside U.S. Bank Stadium. With SummerSlam taking place over the course of two nights for just the second time, there will be perhaps a dozen or more marquee matches.
Cargill and Flair have been interacting quite a bit on SmackDown as of late, and even without a title involved, a match between two of WWE’s biggest stars would be a great addition to the midcard.
Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi are tied at one win apiece. “The Ruler” won in dominant fashion at WrestleMania 42 while “The Beast” did virtually the same at WWE Clash Italy.
Anyone who’s watched pro wrestling for an extended time can tell where this is going: a rubber match. The likeliest stage for that third match would be at SummerSlam in Minnesota, where Lesnar wrestled collegiately. After Lesnar faked his retirement at WrestleMania 42, SummerSlam is expected to serve as the stage for his legitimate retirement.
This is Booking 101. Lesnar should put over Femi on his way out at WWE SummerSlam, which would necessitate Lesnar costing Femi in the KOTR finals at Night of Champions.
Iyo Sky has long been the reported frontrunner to face Liv Morgan for the Women’s World Championship, and she’s just one win away from making that match a reality.
At Night of Champions, Sky will compete in the Queen of the Ring Tournament finals, where she will, ironically enough, face either Morgan or Charlotte Flair. After taking a backseat in the singles scene en route to WrestleMania 42, Sky is once again climbing her way back to the top of the card and is the best possible SummerSlam opponent for Morgan.
Morgan doesn’t have many other options on Raw, and with WWE SummerSlam serving as a “Big Four” PLE, Morgan vs. Sky fits the bill as a marquee women’s world title match.
There is a possibility that the injured Rhea Ripley could miss SummerSlam, which would result in drastic changes to numerous women’s matches at the event.
If Ripley is good to go, however, the favorite to face “The Eradicator” is recent NXT call-up Jacy Jayne. That’s according to False Finish (h/t NoDQ), which notes that Jayne has “been pitched” as a possible SummerSlam opponent for Ripley. That bout certainly makes sense given the lack of other options for Ripley on SmackDown and Jayne’s meteoric rise on the blue brand.
Jayne has quickly gotten over on WWE’s main roster, which isn’t easy to do, and though she’d be unlikely to beat Ripley, she’d be a fresh opponent in the women’s title scene.
Although Cody Rhodes vs. CM Punk is a possibility for WWE SummerSlam, Rhodes vs. former tag team partner Jey Uso is much more likely.
Consider that Uso is set to compete in the semifinals of the King of the Ring tournament, with the winner earning a guaranteed world title shot at SummerSlam. Then, consider that Raw’s World Heavyweight Championship is currently held by Uso’s Bloodline stablemate Roman Reigns. When considering those two factors, it’s difficult to overlook Uso as a serious potential challenger for Rhodes at SummerSlam.
There’s plenty of history there, and though Uso isn’t exactly everyone’s favorite WWE star right now, that won’t prevent WWE from giving him a title shot against RHodes.
Reigns has no clear challenger at SummerSlam, having moved on from a feud with CM Punk and seemingly doing the same with Jacob Fatu.
At one point, Rollins was reportedly considered to win the King of the Ring tournament and go on to face Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship. While Rollins obviously did not win the KOTR tournament after being eliminated early, that certainly doesn’t mean WWE can’t still book Reigns vs. Rollins.
If the KOTR winner, no matter who it is, chooses to face Rhodes for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam, then Rollins is the top candidate from Raw to challenge Reigns for the World Heavyweight title.
Below is the full predicted card for WWE SummerSlam 2026, including undercard and main event matches:
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