WWE SummerSlam 2025 Results, Winners, Live Grades, Reaction, Highlights from Night 1
Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of Night 1 of WWE SummerSlam 2025.
The annual premium live event takes place at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey this year, and for the first time, we are getting two nights of action.
Saturday night, three titles were defended, a celebrity stepped into the ring for the first time and a number of grudges were settled.
Here is the lineup from Night 1 of SummerSlam:
—Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill (WWE Women's Championship)
—Randy Orton and Jelly Roll vs. Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre
—The Judgment Day vs. Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair (Women's Tag Team Championship)
—Roman Reigns and Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed
—Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross
—Gunther vs. CM Punk (World Heavyweight Championship)
Let's take a look at everything that happened during Saturday's half of this year's SummerSlam.
Roman Reigns and Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed
1 of 7
SummerSlam opened with Reigns and Uso taking on Breakker and Reed in tag team action. As Big E pointed out on the pre-show, this was the first time The OTC had opened a PLE in years.
Breland sang "God Bless America" followed by Druski narrating the opening video. Then Cardi B came out as the official host of SummerSlam to welcome us to the show. Jey had the first entrance, which got the crowd on its feet.
The bell rang and all four men started brawling immediately. The cousins knocked the Brons out of the ring, and then Uso asked for his music to play again so he could dance more with the crowd.
Jey ended up diving onto everyone after Reed pulled The OTC out of the ring. Once things settled, it was Uso being cornered and double-teamed. The Brons kept Reigns down at ringside for a bit while isolating Uso.
The match started hot and then slowed way down while Reed and Breakker controlled the pace. At one point, the heels prevented a tag at the same time to keep Uso in the ring.
Once The Tribal Chief finally got the hot tag, he went after Breakker with everything he had. Both he and Reed had big dives out of the ring before Breakker sent The OTC over the announce table.
This was probably the best choice to open the show, but it felt more like a series of planned moments interspersed with action than a cohesive match from start to finish. The pacing got better in the second half, but it still lacked a sense of spontaneity.
Reigns and Uso hit the Uso's One D tag finisher but were unable to get the win with it. The Tribal Chief saved Uso from a Spear, which allowed him to hit Reed with a splash for the pin and the win.
This was a fun opener, especially during the second half.
Result: Reigns and Uso defeated Breakker and Reed
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
—Opening a PLE the same way you would open an episode of TV with some random backstage shots seems pointless. Get to the action. That's what we're here for.
—It's wild to think a couple of years ago, Uso having a bigger reaction than Reigns seemed almost impossible. Times have changed.
—Reed carrying around the shoes he stole from Reigns like a trophy was funny.
—There was an awkward moment when Uso watched Reigns get thrown into the steel steps a few feet away and did nothing to stop it because he was supposed to be in the ring already.
—Breakker singing a song to Reigns while keeping Uso in a headlock was hilarious.
—Reigns got lucky. He almost landed right on his head when he dove over the top rope but managed to land on his back.
Judgment Day vs. Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair
2 of 7
The second match saw Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez defend the women's tag team titles against Flair and Bliss.
As Bliss and Flair tried to decide who would start, Rodriguez and Perez chose for them by attacking them and then tossing The Queen out of the ring. This led to the two smaller members of each team being the first legal competitors.
Flair tagged in after a minute and ended up being double-teamed for a long time. Perez and Rodriguez used quick tags to keep themselves fresh while dishing out punishment.
They kept a brisk pace throughout the entire match, which kept the crowd invested. All four were working hard to make sure they put on something completely different than the bout before them.
There was a little lull in the action while Bliss was being kept away from Flair, but it didn't last too long.
Bliss accidentally hit Flair with a big right hand when Raquel avoided the impact, and that allowed The Judgment Day to regain the upper hand momentarily, but not for long enough.
Flair took out Rodriguez with a big boot while Bliss hit Perez with Sister Abigail for the win.
Even with a predictable ending and a couple of hiccups, this was a solid match. Bliss was definitely the standout.
Result: Bliss and Flair defeated The Judgment Day to win the women's tag titles
Grade: B
Notable Moments and Observations
—If WWE wanted to get the crowd to like Flair again, having her team with Bliss seems to have done the trick. She got a nice reaction for her entrance.
—The Queen doesn't really kick people. She sort of just puts her boot up and waits for them to run into it.
—The chops Flair was hitting Rodriguez with looked very stiff.
—The way Charlotte sold the shot from Bliss was great.
Karrion Kross vs. Sami Zayn
3 of 7
Zayn and Kross met for a rematch after The Underdog From the Underground scored the win in their Night of Champions encounter.
Once the bell rang, Zayn tried to corner Kross for some shoulder thrusts, but the heel immediately fought back. The first few minutes were competitive but definitely had Zayn in control more of the time. Kross used a Burning Hammer to get the upper hand.
The former IC champion avoided an attack with a steel pipe by hitting a blue thunder bomb for a two-count. He picked up the pipe and Scarlett was actually encouraging him to embrace his dark side and use it, but he tossed it out of the ring.
In a somewhat surprising outcome, Zayn won clean with a Helluva Kick. It felt like Kross was due after losing their previous encounter.
This match didn't feel very long and didn't have much to make it stand out from their last contest. It was decent, but it could have been much better.
Result: Zayn defeated Kross
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
—It felt like a lot of people in the crowd were happy to see Kross being featured on a big stage. He was getting more cheers than boos.
—Kross using the Burning Hammer is a reminder that it's an underrated move that more people should be using.
—Zayn looked like he got dumped right on top of his head during a Saito Suplex, but he appeared to be fine.
Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill
4 of 7
The WWE Women's Championship was on the line as Cargill challenged Stratton in the fourth match of the night.
Tiffy is a strong competitor and is rarely the underdog from a physical standpoint, but Cargill was taller and more powerful, so she had the advantage right out of the gate.
The challenger took the fight out of the ring and hit a suplex on the floor, but as she went to get back into the ring, Stratton attacked and hit a suicide dive.
They did a good job using their combined strength to hit some impressive moves. This felt like a make-or-break performance for Cargill, and she clearly came into it looking to prove she has grown as a performer.
She hit her finisher, but Stratton was too close to the ropes for her to get the pin. She stayed on the champion and set up for Jaded from the middle turnbuckle, but the champion countered out of it and hit the Prettiest Moonsault Ever for the win.
While most of the match was good, the ending felt a little abrupt. This seemed like a perfect opportunity to give Cargill her first singles title, but WWE clearly has other plans in place.
Result: Stratton defeated Cargill
Grade: B-
Notable Moments and Observations
—WWE did a commercial for an eyelash product and didn't use Lash Legend. That was a huge missed opportunity.
—Some of the fake snow from Cargill's entrance got on the camera and made it a little blurry in spots.
—The Storm's gear paid tribute to her Jamaican heritage. Stratton's attire appeared to be a reference to the Tiffany jewelry company and Sabrina Carpenter.
—Cargill being so tall made hitting the Alabama slam difficult.
Jelly Roll and Randy Orton vs. Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre
5 of 7
Jelly Roll stepped into the ring for his first match alongside Orton to take on McIntyre and Paul in the penultimate match of the night.
Tons of fans in the first few rows were given signs saying "Logan Paul is an outsider." The Social Media Megastar reacted angrily at the implication despite the fact that he is a celebrity wrestler just like Jelly Roll.
Paul took a cheap shot at the singer before the bell, so he tagged himself in right away so he could face the YouTuber first. JR surprised Paul and took him down, so McIntyre tagged in to take over for him. Orton wanted the tag, but Jelly wanted to test himself.
The Scot took a few shots before he knocked the musician down with a headbutt. This led to a few minutes of the heels punishing JR and keeping him away from Orton.
McIntyre put Jelly on the announce table and Paul dove off the top rope to put him through it. This was the spot around which this entire match was planned. The Viper spent a lot of time on defense as officials were tending to his teammate.
The crowd was going nuts for everything even though most of the action we saw was basic at best. JR coming back to the ring to finish the match got a huge pop.
This is one of those bouts where quality was secondary to everything else. The wrestling was nothing special, but they did a good job playing to the crowd and spacing out the big spots. Paul hit a splash on JR for the win.
Result: Paul and McIntyre defeated Orton and Jelly Roll
Grade: C+
Notable Moments and Observations
—Having commercials, product placements and video packages between each match made this whole event feel like a glorified episode of WWE TV. It was excessive.
—There had to be a better song from Jelly Roll that he could have used for his entrance.
—The announcers said the singer has lost 230 pounds. That is incredibly impressive.
—The table spot went about as well as it could have gone. Paul landed squarely on top of Jelly Roll.
Gunther vs. CM Punk
6 of 7
The main event of Night 1 of SummerSlam saw Punk challenge Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship.
The Straight Edge Superstar was the heavy crowd favorite as "CM Punk" chants echoed around the stadium before they even locked up. When they finally did, The Ring General showed off his power by backing Punk to the corner.
They weren't in a rush to make this a fast-paced match, so they spent some time working on takedowns and submissions. It took a few minutes before they began incorporating strikes.
Once The Ring General started dishing out his trademark chops, he was in firm control. He had Punk's chest red within minutes.
While everything they did looked good, there was something about this match that felt off. It was like something was missing but it was impossible to figure out what it was. They were doing everything right, but it just lacked the level of excitement that was expected until it was almost over.
Punk was bleeding from the chest after sustaining so much damage from Gunther's chops. It felt like every time The Straight Edge Superstar built some momentum, the champ would put him right back on the mat.
A rare mistake from Gunther allowed Punk to trip him on the announce table and take control. The Ring General was a bloody mess when he returned to the ring. The last few minutes of the match had the crowd on its feet.
After hitting the GTS twice in a row, Punk pinned Gunther to win the world title. The crowd watched as he got emotional when the ref handed him the belt.
However, Seth Rollins came out on crutches to issue a warning to Punk to enjoy it while he could, but then he revealed he did not actually need the crutches and took off his knee brace.
The Visionary ran to the ring and began fighting Punk. He hit him several times with the briefcase before handing it to the ref and cashing in. He hit a Stomp for the pin to win the title from The Best in the World just minutes after he had defeated Gunther.
Result: Punk defeated Gunther to win the world title, then Rollins cashed in MITB to defeat Punk and win the title from him
Grade: B+
Notable Moments and Observations
—It was shocking that nobody on this show had what could be called a special entrance.
—The way Punk blocked the chop from Gunther was so simple but very effective.
—The Ring General went for a Stomp and completely missed. It was so strange. The announcers tried to cover for it, but it stuck out as weird.
—Gunther's trash talk is always entertaining. He speaks in full sentences when he does it, which sets him apart.
The Final Word
7 of 7
Night 1 of SummerSlam is officially done. WWE wanted this to feel like a special event on the same level as WrestleMania, but it fell a bit short of those expectations.
There are a lot of reasons why this felt like any other PLE. There were no special entrances despite a massive stage perfect for something big, most of the matches had predictable endings, and it didn't feel like WWE booked anything that was designed to leave a lasting impression other than the cash-in.
Jelly Roll's first foray into pro wrestling went about as well as could be expected, especially with the table spot he took. But Logan Paul winning in the end seemed to deflate the crowd a little.
Punk and Gunther had a solid singles match with an unforgettable ending, but the bout with the most excitement was Reigns and Uso vs. Breaker and Reed.
With only six matches and an early start time, every contest should have had sufficient time, but Cargill and Stratton only got seven minutes, while Zayn and Kross had just over eight. For a show that went past the three-hour mark, it felt like we had more product placement than action at times.
The crowd was loud and appeared to be enjoying everything, but it's always hard to tell what is real and what's not because WWE has gotten so good at inserting fake crowd noise into its production.
Was it a bad show? No, but it didn't crack the top-10 SummerSlams after Night 1. The highlight of the night was Rollins cashing in on Punk to win the title The Best in the World had won moments earlier. Other than that, most of what we got was passable but forgettable.
Grade: B-
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