The first-ever First Night of SummerSlam has come and gone and WWE fans likely have a lot of thoughts on the evening's proceedings; we know we sure do! Champions were made, titles changed hands, and Jellies were Rolled. Three championships were on the line and two of them changed hands, for a total of three title changes. Confused? Maybe you should check out ourWWE SummerSlam 2025 Night One resultsthread before reading past the intro, because here be spoilers..
Of course, championship gold wasn't the only thing on the line this evening at MetLife Stadium in EastRutherford, New Jersey; pride was very much a motivator in more than one match. Take, for instance, the Last Temptation of Sami Zayn by pseudo-soothsayer of the squared circle, Karrion Kross. Or the celeb-centric tag team tilly in which musician Jelly Roll and Randy Orton (Team Jell-O, as we're calling them around the office) tried to beat some respect into Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre.
Young champion Tiffany Stratton tried to prove she wasn't just a flash in the pan against the fast-rising Jade Cargill with the WWE Women's Championship on the line and the Judgment Day's Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez faced the odd-couple team of Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss. In the main event, CM Punk attempted to become Best in the World Heavyweight Champion and take the title off the Ring General, Gunther.
Oh, and Seth Rollins' faction was in action too, right?
Stuff happened and this is how we feel about it. Here are three things we hated and three things Wrestling Inc. loved about WWE SummerSlam 2025, Night One.
Rapper Cardi B's journey in WWE had been strange to begin with, with the star posting for years on social media that she wanted to be involved with something, and when she finally got the opportunity to host this year's SummerSlam, she really didn't do much of anything, at least not during Night One. I'm not sure what I expected, considering WWE seemed to have pulled the advertisements promoting her for a few weeks, enough to make fans question her status for "The Biggest Party of the Summer," but it was still lame on an overall pretty good first night of the show.
The Cardi B hype for SummerSlam was initially pretty hot, with Bianca Belair being the WWE star to appear in commercials alongside the rapper to promote the first-ever two-night SummerSlam close to Cardi's hometown. We have no idea why WWE stopped promoting her appearance for a while, and it's likely because they changed up songs from "Enough," which didn't really fit the SummerSlam vibe for how profane it is, to Cardi's newest song "Outside," which is slightly more summer-y.
All Cardi did tonight was come out and kick off the event with a few short words, and it didn't even seem like she memorized anything. She stayed close to the ropes and looked like she was reading off some kind of teleprompter at ringside, to the point it was a bit distracting.
I also didn't expect her to get in the ring or anything, but maybe adding her in for a segment or two to introduce a match on the stage in another over-the-top outfit to the other new song she initially walked out to would have been cool. I'm actually surprised they didn't have her announce the official attendance for the night, but I guess we're still just doing that only for WrestleMania. Or even a pre-taped backstage segment from earlier in the day would have also made sense. Maybe WWE will utilize her more tomorrow night, though I highly doubt it, and as of right now, it's a pretty lame SummerSlam for celebrity appearances.
Written by Daisy Ruth
In the year 2025 it feels like a given to say a Roman Reigns match delivered on excitement, but here we are with yet another entry into the indulgently exciting catalog. Reigns paired with his cousin "Main Event" Jey Uso against the Brons, Breakker and Reed, for an absolute demolition derby that very much felt like the "Tribal Chief" putting his former "Right Hand Man" over at long last.
Each specific performer had their own thing going on, with Breakker outright hurling himself at Reigns and Uso, launching the former across the announcer's desk and plucking the latter from the air with a football tackle to stop a hot tag. For his part, Reed was the Kaiju he promised to be, juxtaposing the explosive offense of Breakker with a slower and more deliberate style. Uso worked the underdog role to a tee, taking much of the battering in a dominant showing for Breakker and Reed as the monsters they are. And even Reigns was particularly giving to this match, thwarted often by the younger stars looking to make their stamp.
Reigns took flight for a really impressive plancha to the outside, speared Breakker through the barricade thus closing the circle on the past few months of Breakker doing it to him but ultimately he proved to be a hero while not being the victor; Reigns pushed Uso out of the way to take a spear from Breakker, allowing Uso to take advantage and deliver the Uso Splash to Reed for the winning pinfall.
This was just the start of the show, and it was the optimal way of getting the crowd ready with over 20 minutes of almost non-stop action from bell-to-bell. There will surely be an argument that Reed and Breakker should have picked up the win (editor's note: there sure will be!), but in the aftermath of losing his World Heavyweight title it was good to see Uso gain some momentum.
Written by Max Everett
If you ask me, there isn't really a wrong time to have Roman Reigns or Jey Uso lose a match, in most cases, given how popular and high on the card they both are right now. SummerSlam 2025 Night One was one of those rare cases where both men should've lost their tag team match to Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. It just didn't feel like the right move or make a ton of sense.
Reigns and Uso may be two of the biggest stars in WWE as a whole, but having them be the winners of this tag team match just felt like the wrong call. WWE has been pushing both Reed and Breakker as two of the most dominant characters that have currently been featured on all of WWE programming, consistently booking them incredibly strong week after week as they run through the "WWE Raw" locker room. There wasn't really any good reason why this shouldn't apply to Reigns and Uso as well, with Breakker and Reed being able to run through them just like they've been doing to the likes of Sami Zayn and Penta. Having them show out against two top babyface stars on top of what happened post-main event would have made Seth Rollins' faction look unbeatable.
Written by Olivia Quinlan
While it was no Heist of the Century, it was pretty darn close, as Seth "Freakin'" Rollins faked us all out (rumors and reports aside) just to make sure CM Punk didn't hold the World Heavyweight Championship for longer than five minutes. While he initially promised his arch nemesis that he would prevent him from ever winning a world championship again, the pettiness was almost even better here when he let everyone believe he was injured, let Punk win the title, celebrate with it for a few minutes in front of all the rowdy fans, then cashed in.
Rollins seemed like he just came out to remind Punk that he was waiting in the wings with the Money in the Bank contract, since he still had the better part of a year to cash it in, but nope, tonight was the night and I absolutely loved it. Rollins, in his sparkly jacket that honestly made this dramatic reveal look even better, turned his back on the ring and dropped the crutches he was using. He turned back around, removed the brace from around his right knee, grabbed the case from Heyman, and ran down to take out Punk, grabbing refereeJessika Carr on his way in.
While yes, many of us assumed after reading various reports over the last few weeks, ever since Rollins was "injured" during his match at SaturdayNight's Main Even, that "The Visionary" at least wasn'tasinjured as we all thought. I thought in the back of my head that maybe WWE would change the plan because many of us assumed the cash-in would happen. I love that they didn't, because I suppose those of us who are super clued in to everything are few and far between, if you really think about it. For a more casual viewer who isn't as chronically online, this was probably even cooler.
I thought this was a pretty good first night of SummerSlam, but I wasn't super excited about it before the cash-in. Rollins had an excellent moment, and there are just so many good stories that are going to come from this, from Rollins possibly being angry with Breakker at seemingly taking over the faction last week, to Punk of course chasing him for a rematch. I really enjoyed this and it was an excellent way to cap off the night.
Written by Daisy Ruth
Many would consider Tiffany Stratton and Jade Cargill to be the future of WWE's women's division. They have been pushed to the moon and back, considering their short time in WWE (and in the ring in general), and are being primed to carry WWE as it finds its footing in the era of social media virality, pop culture resurgence, and broadcasting booms. It can be said, however, that not every push is proportional to a wrestler's in-ring ability. Not ever flame that incites the WWE Universe burns forever. Unfortunately for Stratton and Cargill, their SummerSlam Saturday match for Stratton's WWE Women's Championship fell flat, and their subpar performance in an otherwise electrifying card serves as a grave omen for the status of WWE's future stars.
Let's give them some grace: it wasn't like Stratton and Cargill's match was horrible. It wasn't unwatchable, but as I sat and watched Stratton and Cargill fumble with the ropes, awkwardly take bumps, and overall feel stagnant compared to the night's opening matches, I couldn't help but feel like the thrill of SummerSlam had waned, if not died down completely. Stratton and Cargill are incredible athletes, but in their greenness, they lack the finesse of in-ring performance. It feels like Stratton and Cargill are athletes first rather than wrestlers first and to their credit, they are, as Stratton is a gymnast by trade and Cargill comes from a basketball background. Generally, they're fine in weekly shows, where the slightly dimmer spotlights allow even mediocrity to have the occasional pop, but when the time comes to make moments under the bright lights, Stratton and Cargill fumbled in comparison to the rest of the card.
Perhaps it's unfair to compare Stratton and Cargill to the previous matches. However, it is startling to see newer (and younger less experienced by nature) wrestlers like Roxanne Perez completely outshine them in whatever divided time she had in her tag team match with Raquel Rodriguez. Bron Breakker comes from a football background, and he seems to have found his in-ring rhythm much faster than Stratton despite debuting in the same year. Even Logan Paul outshone Stratton and Cargill tonight, and despite his strong training background, Paul is still less of a wrestler than Stratton and Cargill are.
This isn't the end of the world; Cargill and Stratton have plenty of time to improve. However, the apathy from the Jersey crowd has officially put a timer on their grace period. That crowd was not into the match in the slightest, and their silence could be a sign of the WWE Universe's changing opinion on both competitors. This criticism isn't so much a curse as it is an omen: Cargill and Stratton need to get their act together and figure out a way to stand out, lest they drown into the depths of obscurity.
Written by Angeline Phu
The main event of SummerSlam Night One more than delivered on its promise, crowning not one but two new World Heavyweight Champions after a 30-minute bloody battle.
Not a single man involved in the proceeding came off worse for their part, with Gunther stamping the life out of Punk with CM Punk for half an hour, constantly crushing any attempt made by the "Straight Edge Superstar" to get back into the affair. He chopped Punk's chest raw, to the extent it appeared to be bleeding at one stage. He delivered several moves that have been finishers to previous title bouts, including his powerbomb and frog splash, and exchanged Sharpshooters with the well-documented student of Bret Hart. But despite his best efforts, nothing he was throwing was enough to keep Punk out of the match, and even as he jeered at the man he said used to be the "Best in the World" he found his opponent to be defiant to the very last second.
Punk was victimized more than he had been in matches with Brock Lesnar, the Undertaker, or even his UFC fights, and yet still he found a way to get through because of one thing and one thing alone; Gunther's hubris cost him the title, celebrating atop the announcer's desk while the match was still ongoing. As the adage goes, he played a stupid game and won a stupid prize, face-planting the desk as Punk pulled his legs out from beneath him. Gunther was revealed to have been busted open for the spot, providing the match with the blood that felt truly earned in a big championship fight, and Punk rallied just one more time. It would take two GTS to finally put the "Ring General" down, allowing Punk to slay his monster and claim his sixth WWE World title, his first in 12 years. But he wouldn't hold it for long.
Seth Rollins has been portrayed as a master architect throughout his time with WWE, exemplified a decade ago as he cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase to steal the title at WrestleMania 31, and earlier this year when he banded with Paul Heyman to screw both Punk and Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania 40. He went on to add another crowning moment in that vein, emerging on crutches to eventually reveal he had been feigning the injury to his knee, running down to the ring and cashing in his Money in the Bank contract to steal the title from his arch-rival in Punk.
What an excellent way of opening SummerSlam weekend and creating a question coming out of it, with two guys sure to stake their claim at a rematch when all is said and done. The question is where the story goes from here. In any case, this was an enthralling main event match and closing angle, and the sort of stuff that separates professional wrestling from any other entertainment medium, for better or worse.
Written by Max Everett
