Cody Rhodes, Gunther, Sami Zayn steal Night of Champions

WWE Night of Champions 2026 delivered a rocky night of underwhelming bouts—until the main event flipped the mood. Cody Rhodes, Gunther and Sami Zayn produced the event’s best energy and a shocking finish that sets the SummerSlam path on a new course, according

WWE Night of Champions 2026 kicked off with plenty of momentum on paper—new King and Queen of the Ring winners. championship matches looming. and a storyline shift already underway with Sami Zayn taking the WWE Championship. But once the bell started ringing. the event turned into something more uneven: strong performances that held the day together. and matches that left the air feeling flat.

At the center of it all was the triple-threat Undisputed WWE Championship match. where the crowd’s reaction to Zayn helped carry the tempo from the opening moments to the final shock. The rest of the card had flashes—enough to keep the build toward SummerSlam interesting—yet more than a few bouts felt like they were going through motions until late turns or expected interference.

The strongest response came in the main event. In the Undisputed WWE Championship match—Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Gunther vs. Sami Zayn—there was the best energy of the entire show. fueled largely by the Saudi Arabia crowd’s love for Zayn. The tempo stayed strong throughout, with each of the three stars given room to shine. Close moments kept landing in the second half, but the finish was the defining hit: Zayn’s shocking win.

For the audience, it was the kind of outcome that felt hard to predict. The blend of that shock factor and excellent in-ring work across all three made the main event the clear winner on the night. Grade: A.

The second-best performance came from a match built for drama. In the steel cage match—Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker—the veteran and the younger competitor once again found a rhythm that felt more than rehearsed. The storytelling between them played smoothly in the ring. and they raised the stakes by bringing weapons into the cage. adding new texture to the bout. The standout sequence came when a suplex from the top of the cage ended up as the top moment of the night. The match closed with a stare down that landed like a deliberately “poetic” final frame for the feud trilogy. especially after a first meeting that was great and a second that came in as only OK. Grade: A.

The path to SummerSlam also got a forked signal in the Queen of the Ring final. Liv Morgan vs. Iyo Sky shifted immediately when Danhausen cursed Morgan. The moment that happened. it became clear Sky was going to win. draining some of the uncertainty that had made the night’s early matchup feel like a toss-up. Even with the result basically telegraphed. the match still delivered as a solid fight. with Sky showing off her in-ring brilliance and Morgan leaning into her role as the heel. The match functioned as an appetizer for SummerSlam between the two. though the hope was that the outcome doesn’t get spoiled again. Grade: B.

The King of the Ring final—Oba Femi vs. Jey Uso—came with a different kind of tension: the absence of interference did the match a favor. With no interruptions. the bout leaned into what many fans likely expected—an obvious mismatch where there wasn’t a real path for Uso to defeat Femi cleanly. Usage of the moment wasn’t wasted. though; Uso mostly did his part to avoid turning the match into a full squash. Still, Femi owned the arena again, turning in another display of dominance. Grade: B-.

Not every women’s match landed with impact. and Tiffany Stratton’s United States Championship defense against Jade Cargill showed that blunt reality. Stratton (c) vs. Jade Cargill carried what the night had already been dealing with: a sense that the crowd wasn’t fully locked in on women’s wrestling. consistent with what the card had been showing in Saudi Arabia. Even so, the match didn’t have much “juice” from the start. It felt like Stratton and Cargill were going through the motions until interference—Cargill’s crew stepping in and Stratton’s new allies showing up—turned the focus back to the storyline. Grade: C.

The most frustrating entry for fans expecting a spark may have been the United States Championship match: Trick Williams (c) vs. Ricky Saints. The match came with fun entrances and even had Lil Yachty tossed from ringside. but once the spectacle settled. the wrestling didn’t click. The bout felt like a snoozer, with not much happening in a way that pulled viewers in. For two rising stars—Williams and Saints—such an outcome reads like a missed chance. especially given how much potential they’ve shown. Grade: C-.

The sequence of Night of Champions 2026 is hard to miss: the show’s biggest energy came from matches where the crowd and the stakes actually synced up—especially the triple-threat for the championship—while other bouts struggled to hold momentum until late turns. interference. or moments that felt closer to expectation than surprise.

By the time the event wrapped. the main story wasn’t just which matches were good—it was how the shock of Sami Zayn’s title win reshaped the trajectory heading toward SummerSlam. Even with a card that didn’t consistently deliver. the standout performances and clear outcomes left a build that feels more intriguing than tidy: sharper feuds. unresolved questions. and a new champion-driven direction for what comes next.

WWE Night of Champions 2026 Cody Rhodes Gunther Sami Zayn Seth Rollins Bron Breakker Liv Morgan Iyo Sky Oba Femi Jey Uso Tiffany Stratton Jade Cargill Trick Williams Ricky Saints SummerSlam