u/PaulPetroneWWE

He’s doesn’t need the group to get him over; if anything, they are using him to get over.

I’d prefer a rebel, solo Bronson Reed with no agenda other than proving he’s the baddest man on the planet. A Oba-Bron-Bronson triple threat would tear the house down.

According to me, but based primarily on fan reaction:

5. The Luchador Tournament, with the winner facing Roman Reigns in Mexico City for the heavyweight title

Yes, there’s a less-than-zero percent chance Roman will actually lose the title in this match. But it's still a creative, barrier-breaking idea, the matches have been great, and the crowd for the title match should be absolutely electric.

4. Liv Morgan versus Stephanie Vaquer

Liv has become the most obnoxious, “I’d pay to see her get her ass kicked” force in wrestling (aka a good heel). Vaquer’s understated confidence and in-ring brilliance is the perfect counterbalance, as it feels like these two legitimately hate each other.

3. Oba Femi's continued rise

Oba has been on fire all year and him destroying Bron Breakker on the mic and soon in the ring is a consistently fun watch.

2. Solo Sikoa’s face turn.

A couple of years ago, his brooding, Roman-lite tough guy gimmick felt like an instant channel change. Now, he’s leaned into his humor and personality and he’s consistently lighting up the screen.

Another wrestler who had a similar career arc? His father, Rikishi, who flopped as The Sultan but became a star when he leaned into his personality and humor.

1. Chelsea Green’s “interim” women’s title run.

After the best promo of her career earlier this month on SmackDown, there might not be a bigger babyface in all of wrestling than Chelsea Green.

Will she able to heal in time? If she does, will she be able to defend her title? What will the reactions be like when she does? What happens when Rhea comes back?

No shortage of intrigue, and no real idea where it’s headed… always a good thing for wrestling.

Roxanne Perez has lost 10 matches on Raw this year, with no real signature singles win yet. But I don't think it'll hurt her long-term at all. And likely help her.

Most important here: Roxanne is 24 years old. Most of the people she is losing to or being overshadowed by are a decade older (Stephanie Vaquer is 33, Raquel Rodriguez is 35, Liv Morgan is 32, Becky Lynch is 39). None of those superstars were on the main roster when they were 24.

So, yes, she's losing a lot. Let's say this continues for another year or two, and then she gets her push. She'll be 26... still much younger than virtually every major female star.

Plus, she's working weekly with the absolute best talent in the world. Yes she's losing but she's learning a ton from them, plus she's getting "the rub" of working with elite stars. When she starts winning, it won't seem like a big jump. Plus, it'll build support when she does.

My prediction: Roxanne steadily improves, to the point she starts putting on show-stealing matches (even in losses). That'll build so much grass-root support for her that when she finally turns face and crosses Liv Morgan/Raquel, an instant star will be born.

But no need to rush it. She's doing good work, paying her dues, well ahead of when most superstars get this opportunity.

You watch wrestling for a long time and, even at a high level, a lot of it starts to feel the same. Two people argue, they blow it off with a match, and then move on to the next angle.

But then there are moments that transcend that formula and remind you why you watch. That happened Friday night, with Chelsea Green’s promo to save her WWE title.

The setup was perfect: Green, often portrayed as the comic relief, wins the “interim” women’s title, only to break her orbital bone the next week. Does this mean we’ll now get an interim to the interim champion? Will she have to relinquish the title?

Faced with all of this, Friday night Chelsea Green leaned into it all and cut the best promo of her career. She talked about what she sacrificed, how she had been laughed at by the world, how she was so often seen as a joke, only to tell herself it would all be worth it one day... only for the moment that made it all worth it to be taken away by an injury at the absolute worst time.

Once again, it felt like nothing more than one big chuckle at the expense of Canada’s own.

Except it wasn’t.

SmackDown GM Nick Aldis relented and told Chelsea she had 30 days to get herself medically cleared. The arena shook in gratitude, and suddenly the promo wasn’t just a great one-off moment. It created the potential for one of the most memorable women’s title reigns of the decade.

What are the pops going to be like when Chelsea finally wrestles? How much heat will her opponents get? Will the roof explode when she hits her finisher?

What made the promo so great was the same reason any promo becomes truly great: it felt real.

You felt the emotion Chelsea had because she has sacrificed so much. She has given us everything she has, year after year after year, because she loves wrestling and performing for the world. And now, it feels like all of that is finally coming back to her.

And honestly, I don't even care whether the injury is completely real, exaggerated for the storyline, or somewhere in between. Either way, I can’t wait to see what happens next.

SummerSlam 2026's Night 2 Main Event: Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship

Most fans know the broad strokes of their history: the two debuted together as part of The Shield at Survivor Series 2012, a faction that would dominate the WWE until Seth betrayed it on the June 2, 2014 Raw by hitting Roman with a chair. They've mostly been rivals since, with Roman famously choosing to attack Seth rather than focus on Cody in the main event of WrestleMania 40, which contributed to Cody Rhodes pinning Roman and ending his 1,316-day title reign.

In the build to SummerSlam, Seth alleged that Roman has never beaten him one-on-one. Is it true?

No. Officially, Seth holds a 5-4-1 advantage in singles matches if you count WWE's official results, including DQs and a Night of Champions forfeit. But Reigns has been the more dominant wrestler in their rivalry, with a 2-1 record in clean matches against Seth.

Here's every televised singles match between Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns:

Date: Sept. 15, 2014
Event: Raw
Outcome: Roman defeated Seth via pinfall
Recap: Their first televised one-on-one match on the main roster ends with a decisive victory for Reigns. Three months after Seth betrayed him, Roman beat him clean in the center of the ring with a Spear on Raw. 

Date: Sept. 21, 2014
Event: Night of Champions
Outcome: Seth defeated Roman via forfeit
Recap: I guess this counts as a win for Seth? The night before the event, Roman was rushed to the hospital with a hernia, so he couldn’t compete. Rollins still showed up at Night of Champions and declared a victory by forfeit. In response, Dean Ambrose attacked Seth.

Date: Dec. 29, 2014
Event: Raw
Outcome: Roman defeated Seth via DQ
Recap: Roman was set to defeat Seth again via a Spear, only for The Big Show to pull him out of the ring and beat the crap out of Reigns. A disqualification victory for Roman.

Date: March 2, 2015
Event: Raw
Outcome: Seth defeated Roman via roll-up
Recap: Roman had Seth set up for a Spear when Randy Orton grabbed Roman’s ankle. That allowed Seth to roll Roman up and get the surprise victory; his first pinfall win over Roman.

Date: July 2, 2015
Event: SmackDown
Outcome: Roman defeated Seth via DQ
Recap: Just when it seemed like Roman was going to put Seth away, J&J Security interfered and assaulted Reigns. A disqualification victory for The Big Dog. 

Date: June 19, 2016
Event: Money in the Bank
Outcome: Seth defeated Roman via pinfall to win the WWE title
Recap: Seth’s most decisive victory over Roman, a clean pinfall after hitting him with two Pedigrees to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. Immediately afterward, Dean Ambrose came out, cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase, hit Rollins with Dirty Deeds, and won the title.

Date: June 20, 2016
Event: Raw
Outcome: Seth and Roman ended in a double countout
Recap: The night after Money in the Bank, the two battled for a shot at Ambrose at WWE Battlefield. The match ended when Roman Speared Seth through the Spanish announcer’s table, with neither man able to answer the ten-count.

Date: May 29, 2017
Event: Raw
Outcome: Roman defeated Seth via pinfall
Recap: In the main event of Raw, Roman again pinned Seth clean after a Spear. You can rewatch the whole match here—it’s a banger. 

Date: Oct. 11, 2019
Event: SmackDown
Outcome: Seth defeated Roman via DQ
Recap: Another strong match interrupted by Bray Wyatt, who jumped Rollins to cause a disqualification. Technically, a victory for Seth by DQ. 

Date: Jan. 29, 2022
Event: Royal Rumble
Outcome: Seth defeated Roman via DQ
Recap: Seth, dressed in Shield gear, inflamed Roman to such a degree that Roman refused to remove his guillotine choke from Seth after he grabbed the rope. The match ended with a DQ victory for Seth and Roman’s first “loss” since adopting the Tribal Chief gimmick, although it also ended with an unconscious Rollins.

Roman and Seth have also shared three WrestleMania main events, though none have been one-on-one:

• WrestleMania 31: Seth Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract during Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns and pinned Reigns to complete "The Heist of the Century."
• WrestleMania 40: Roman Reigns and The Rock defeated Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins, turning Roman's Night 2 title defense into a Bloodline Rules match.
• WrestleMania 41: Seth Rollins defeated Roman Reigns and CM Punk in a Triple Threat Match.

Twice, Seth has pinned Roman in a WrestleMania main event, something no other wrestler can claim. Yet despite that distinction, Seth's only clean singles victory over Roman came at Money in the Bank 2016, while Roman was generally presented as the stronger wrestler throughout their rivalry.

Bottom line, one of the core premises of the build—Can Roman finally beat Seth?—doesn’t hold water. But their history suggests the match should be a banger anyway.

In his showdown with CM Punk on the penultimate SmackDown before SummerSlam 2026, Cody Rhodes cut the most heel promo since his WWE return in 2022.

For anyone who hasn't been following closely, here's how we got here:

Cody lost the WWE Championship to Sami Zayn in a shocking roll-up upset, only for Sami to lose it to a returning Punk nine days later on Raw. Punk and Cody then teamed up to defeat Sami Zayn and Gunther at Saturday Night's Main Event. After the match, Punk accidentally hit Cody in the face with the championship while celebrating.

That set the stage for Friday's confrontation. Instead of the typical "I'm going to beat you because I'm the best" promo, Cody revealed something much more nefarious: he's jealous.

Not of Punk's championships. Not of Punk's accomplishments. He's jealous that the fans have always loved Punk more than they ever loved him.

A few lines stood out.

>"I'm well aware, from the bottom of my heart, that while I was doing all of that... (the fans) wished it was you every step of the way."

That isn't something a confident babyface says. That's insecurity.

Then there was this:

>"I just had someone tell me they were tired of the same faces. I'm apologizing... I'm done apologizing for what I have worked for."

Again, not exactly the words of the smiling, grateful Cody Rhodes we've known for the last few years. And finally:

>"For this story to have the proper ending... I have to beat you at SummerSlam."

The crowd actually booed the line.

Punk's response made the story even more compelling. He told Cody that he's lying to himself. That none of this is really about him. It's about Cody refusing to accept someone else as champion.

>"You have to make yourself the victim and make everyone else your enemy," Punk said. "You can't handle the pressure."

Whether Punk is right or not almost doesn't matter. The seed has now been planted.

Cody isn't fighting because Punk wronged him. He's fighting because Punk represents the one thing Cody has never been able to conquer: being the fans' undisputed favorite.

That's a much darker motivation than we've ever seen from him.

Which brings us to SummerSlam.

WWE doesn't exist in a vacuum. SmackDown ratings are down 16% year-over-year, SummerSlam ticket sales are behind last year's pace despite lower prices, and this rivalry was first teased the night after WrestleMania. Historically, stories that begin there are meant to culminate at WrestleMania, not four months later.

If WWE is looking for a major shakeup, the pieces are all there.

A Cody Rhodes heel turn wouldn't come out of nowhere. It would be the payoff of subtle character development. First, he lost the championship in embarrassing fashion. Then he watched Punk immediately accomplish what he couldn't. Finally, he admitted out loud that he's spent years wondering why the fans always chose Punk over him.

Would it work?

Absolutely. A ruthless, desperate Cody obsessed with reclaiming "his" spot instantly freshens the main event scene. It creates a top heel with believable motivation and gives Punk (or someone else) a compelling chase.

Could WWE decide to keep Cody babyface? Of course. But after Friday night, I don't think anyone can argue that the groundwork hasn't been laid. In fact, I'd argue WWE has built a stronger case for Cody turning heel than it did for Steve Austin in 2001, Roman Reigns in 2020, and John Cena's shocking turn last year.

Whether the turn happens at SummerSlam or not, one thing is clear: For the first time since his WWE return, Cody Rhodes stopped sounding like the hero of the story. And started sounding like the villain.

Raw After WrestleMania is a show unlike any in entertainment.

All year, WWE builds to WrestleMania, their payoff of that year’s storylines. And while the reaction at Mania tells a lot, the die-hards stick around one more day, marinate in what they’ve just seen, and come ready to share their opinion.

It's also WWE's season premiere. WrestleMania ends one chapter, and Raw begins the next, kicking off a new year of stories that culminate at the following WrestleMania.

“My north star is WrestleMania; it’s what we are looking to get to all year,” WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H said. “When WrestleMania happens, it ends all of our stories, and it starts all of our stories. Because the next day you do Monday Night Raw and the whole process starts again. Your offseason is about 10 minutes.”

For my book, I told the modern history of WWE through that one night, the Monday After Mania. And while each show tells its own story, there are six that tell the story of WWE as a whole.

They are:

The 1997 Raw After Mania, Rockford, IL: Hart Turns Heel.

Up until this moment, with Vince McMahon in charge, the biggest star in WWE had always been a babyface. Well, no more.

The night after making Stone Cold Steve Austin pass out in his own blood, longtime fan favorite Bret Hart cemented his heel turn with a scathing, anti-American promo and an attack on an injured Shawn Michaels to boot. While not quite the beginning of The Attitude Era, it blurred the lines between good and evil and spearheaded WWE into modern storytelling.

The 1998 Raw After Mania, Albany, NY: Attitude Begins

The official start of The Attitude Era.

Most notable on this night is there was exactly one former champion on the roster: The Undertaker. Otherwise, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, and Sid Vicious were gone, replaced by the likes of The Rock, Triple H, Kane, and Sable, with newly crowned champion Stone Cold Steve Austin on top.

The night was as insane as you’d expect. The fans blew the roof off for Stone Cold, XPac cut a fourth-wall promo eviscerating WCW and Eric Bischoff, and the New Age Outlaws regained their tag team titles in a steel cage match against Terry Funk and Mick Foley, a night after losing them. Unhinged, adrenaline-fueled crash TV was on full display as WWE entered its most popular and controversial era.

The 2003 Raw After Mania, Seattle, WA: Swapping Austin for Goldberg

The run of Stone Cold Steve Austin, arguably the most popular in company history, comes to an end when Eric Bischoff reads his shoot medical report aloud to dejected fans. We didn’t know it at the time, but those injuries would force Austin into early retirement, only wrestling once more at WrestleMania 38.

Taking his place was his one-time competition, Bill Goldberg, WCW’s last great hero before falling into absurdity. Unfortunately, we never got to see the Austin-Goldberg dream match or really any dream matches from Bill, with his first WWE run ending in disgrace a year later at WrestleMania 20.

The 2013 Raw After Mania, East Rutherford, NJ: Fans Hijack The Show

Call this the WWE’s “mad as hell and not going to take it anymore” moment. Frustrated with the PG Era and years of predictable booking, fans hijacked the show and vomited over nearly everything presented to them.

It began with a massive rejection of new champion John Cena, continued over a Sheamus-Orton match with chants of “Cotton Candy”, “Macho Man”, and “beach ball mania,” and highlighted by the fans singing Fandango’s theme song so much it reached the top 10 in the Billboard charts. The show itself was spectacular, capped by Dolph Ziggler (a heel) cashing in his Money in the Bank briefcase and winning the title, drawing an arena-shaking pop.

It showed WWE it was time to listen. A year later, Vince reluctantly would, crowning Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 30.

The 2017 Raw After WrestleMania, Orlando, FL: Roman’s Rejected

If 2013 was the year the fans went crazy, this was the year the WWE went nuclear.

Coming off a WrestleMania main event where an aging Undertaker jobbed to a radioactively unpopular face Roman Reigns, this show began with chants of “Undertaker, Undertaker”… until Roman’s music hit. There, he was hit with eight minutes of unrelenting boos, interrupted only by chants of “delete” and “Same old shit.”

Roman said five words, “It’s my yard now,” and walked off. Three years of WrestleMania main events invested in Vince's next big thing were rejected in the clearest way possible.

Unfortunately, WWE still wouldn’t adjust, with Roman in the Mania main event next year as well. Once again, it was rejected.

The 2024 Raw After WrestleMania, Philadelphia, PA: Triple H Coronated

What a difference creative makes. As detailed in the last entry, Roman’s initial Mania main event four-peat was hated. His second?

It became one of WWE’s most popular runs, climaxing with Cody Rhodes finishing the story by stopping Roman’s 3-and-a-half-year title run at WrestleMania 40.

The night after, Cody was lauded, there were chants of “Thank you Roman,” and Triple H was showered in cheers. Probably the only time in WWE history a booker got that kind of reaction. If 2017 was the low point for 21^(st)-century WWE, this was the high point, with fans fully supporting a new leader and a new champion.

What did this year’s Raw After Mania tell us? Well, the bloom has come off the rose for both Triple H and Cody as both men were met with boos. Instead, Oba was anointed as the rising star, Roman re-established himself as the face who runs the place, and Punk and Cody Rhodes teased a future title fight.

What will the next nine months bring? No one knows, but the Raw after WrestleMania 43 will be the best insight into how it all went.

Oba Femi versus Brock Lesnar, Hell in a Cell at SummerSlam. Probably going to be awesome. 

There has been only one other Hell in a Cell match at SummerSlam and it was an all-timer. But if we expand the list, what are the best gimmick matches in the history of SummerSlam?

Here are my top 10 personal favorites:

10. Undertaker vs. Mankind, Boiler Room Brawl, SummerSlam ‘96: Honestly could’ve been shorter, but haunting and iconic.

9. Edge-Christian vs. The Hardy Boys vs. The Dudley Boys, TLC, SummerSlam ‘00: Technically the first "TLC" match (although that was really Mania 2000 imo), these three teams always were insane together.

8. CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy, TLC for the World Heavyweight Title, SummerSlam ‘09: A crappy time to be a wrestling fan but this match rocked. And it’s Jeff Hardy in a ladder match so you know there’s going to be an insane Swanton.

7. Triple H vs. Jericho vs. Goldberg vs. Nash vs. Orton vs. HBK, Elimination Chamber, SummerSlam ‘03: Only the second Elimination Chamber match ever, Goldberg looked awesome in what was otherwise a horrible first WWE run for him.

6. Undertaker vs. Edge, Hell in a Cell, SummerSlam ‘08: The only other SummerSlam HIAC match to date, a rematch from Mania that year that ended with Edge literally being sent to hell.

5. Rey Mysterio vs. Eddie Guerrero, Ladder match for custody of Dominik Mysterio, SummerSlam ‘05: Definitely the most hilarious stipulation in SummerSlam history and a great match to pay it off.

4. The Rock vs. Triple H, Ladder match for the IC Title, SummerSlam ‘98: Two up-and-comers trying to establish themselves as main eventers.

3. Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns, Last Man Standing Match, SummerSlam ‘22: I mean, Brock Lesnar flipped the ring over with a tractor, with Roman standing in it.

2. CM Punk vs. Brock Lesnar, No DQ grudge match, SummerSlam ‘13: Awesome story, awesome match. 

1. HBK vs. Triple H, Street Fight, SummerSlam ‘02: One of my favorite matches ever, HBK and Triple H put on a classic in HBK’s return to the ring after a four-year hiatus. It highlighted the best SummerSlam ever too.

A few others, Razor-HBK in a ladder match rematch at SummerSlam ‘95, Hart-Hart cage match at SummerSlam '94, probably missed some. Feel free to add your own. 

Two years ago, Triple H introduced a new gimmick where the King of the Ring winner would challenge for the title at SummerSlam. The goal: create a Royal Rumble-like device that reliably gives you a compelling build to SummerSlam, as it expands to two nights.

Flash forward to Raw Monday where newly-minted KOTR winner Oba Femi decided not to go after the title at SummerSlam and fight Brock Lesnar instead. Cue wrestling Twitter imploding.

That backlash is justifiable. Here’s why:

• If you wanted to build toward Oba-Brock Hell in a Cell at SS, why not have Brock screw Oba in the tournament? That’s the sort of BS move that can only be paid off via HIAC.
• Why wouldn't Oba challenge for the title? Does he not care about being champion? It inadvertently diminishes the belt.
• If the plan was Seth-Roman at SS, then why not have Seth win the tournament, so the stakes remain intact?

Did something change? Did Triple H briefly forget his own story? I need something to make it make sense.