This is an excerpt from an upcoming preview of WWE SummerSlam 2026!
While WWE managed to avoid an on-screen meltdown like the one they had at WrestleMania in April, they roll into Minneapolis for this year’s SummerSlam event with another stadium show doing undoubtedly disappointing business.
Both nights look to end up around 35,000 tickets distributed (both currently sit at 32,000 per WrestleTix). Year over year, that’s a 30% drop from last year’s Saturday show (50,493, main evented by Punk vs. Gunther with the Rollins cash-in) and a 40% drop from last year’s Sunday show (58,186, main evented by Rhodes vs. Cena).
ESPN is dropping the televised hour of these shows, instead airing three-hour Countdown shows to build up the show on ESPN Unlimited.
Instead of trying to get new names to the top of these cards, WWE runs with the same pat hands they’ve run with since their popularity turned around in 2022. And, as is typical for the pro wrestling fan, the current crop of the WWE Universe has grown bored with the Rhodes/Reigns/Rollins/Punk era. There was real excitement at the prospect of rising names like Bron Breakker, Jacob Fatu, and Oba Femi breaking through and mixing it up with the top stars, eventually replacing them as the headline acts of the promotion. But whether it be due to political gamesmanship by the reigning stars (a theory proposed by Jesse Collings) or promotional malpractice by the savants behind WWE Unreal (season three out now!), those rising stars have been reigned in.
Bron Breakker looks like a man who needs a hug and a deep conversation any time he’s pictured with The Vision sans-Paul Heyman, who dumped the act wholesale to go stand behind Brock Lesnar again.
Jacob Fatu was soundly beaten by Roman Reigns two months in a row after WrestleMania, then literally BOWED to Reigns on Raw as Michael Cole described him as “neutered” and “domesticated.” You couldn’t cool off two acts any more efficiently.
Oba Femi is the only one in a marquee match on these shows, but as I’ll get into later, he’s already seen his true main event push delayed.
I’ve often talked about my complete lack of understanding of what made WWE popular again. They put on boring shows, told repetitive stories, and had lackluster atmospheres outside of the major matches on major shows. What they did have were the big stars. They had the drawing names that got people into the building time after time. But the magic has worn off, and the window to keep the fans from the popularity surge may have already shut.
Think about this: WrestleMania this past April was in Las Vegas for a second year in a row, with many traveling fans deciding against returning to the city. WrestleMania this coming April will be in Saudi Arabia, and despite WWE hosting official Watch Parties in New York, I doubt many fans will be moved by the idea of spending thousands of dollars to watch the show on TV. When WrestleMania returns to North America in 2028, it will have been three years since the typical fan who travels to WrestleMania has done so.
Are the stars they have on top right now (Punk/Rhodes/Reigns/Rollins) enough to get them out in another 18 months, when they lack the juice to get them to Vegas or Minnesota for a SummerSlam?
Moreover, and this is the question that should terrify everyone in that booking room: have they already blown it with the new stars that could get those traveling fans back?
Time can only tell.
