Liv Morgan, Cody Rhodes and Real Winners and Losers of WWE SummerSlam Night 1 Match Card

For the first night of an epic SummerSlam weekend, WWE promised major title changes and shocking moments from U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Liv Morgan retained against Iyo Sky. LA Knight, Solo Sikoa and Royce Keys defeated The Bloodline. Nick Aldis lost to Gunther in a competitive WWE debut.

The Bella Twins turned on Paige after she lost their match against Fatal Influence. Randy Orton returned to cost Cody Rhodes against CM Punk. Oba Femi took down Brock Lesnar in the main event inside Hell in a Cell.

Over the course of this night, some rose, and some fell. Check out all the real winners and losers from SummerSlam Night 1.

Winner: Liv Morgan

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Liv Morgan

After 105 days as Women's world champion, Liv Morgan finally successfully defended the gold for the first time.

Thanks to another unforgettable performance from Iyo Sky, it was easily the best match Liv has had in 2026, especially over her rushed forgettable match against Stephanie Vaquer at WrestleMania 42.

It would have been easy to move the title to Sky, who keeps delivering in the ring each time, but WWE backed a directionless Liv with the hope that direction is coming.

While the win was important for Liv though, she was exposed a bit working with The Genius of the Sky, who wrestled circles around her and kept her on track through some slip-ups.

Perhaps limited in-ring time has slowed her down, but if The Judgment Day leader is going to remain the top star of Raw's women's division, she needs to be able to deliver in the ring at premium live events.

Winners: LA Knight, Solo Sikoa and Royce Keys

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Solo Sikoa, LA Knight and Royce Keys

Any win over The Bloodline is a fight, and this was no different. LA Knight, Solo Sikoa and Royce Keys outpaced The Usos and Jacob Fatu at SummerSlam.

While the match lacked immediate stakes, this contest likely sets up all three men as threat to Roman Reigns and the World Heavyweight Championship.

Knight and Sikoa could be believable names to dethrone Reigns, even if it is unlikely The OTC losing before WrestleMania 43.

Moreover, picking up this win could solidify this trio as a real alliance in WWE that can help elevate one another into the fall and beyond.

Sikoa and Knight have plenty of chemistry, and their star power is making Keys feel like a much bigger deal early in his WWE run.

Even if the wins slow from this victory, it is clear that this unlabelled new group is one to watch going forward.

Loser: Jey Uso

SummerSlam was a bad night for Jey Uso. He was not able to truly "yeet" his way down to the ring.

Once the match started, Solo Sikoa mocked Jey by "running it back" himself, and both Solo and LA Knight were more popular in Minnesota than Main Event throughout the contest.

Recent events have already indicated that Jey's time as a singles star may be done, but this match especially showed Sikoa is ready to take his spot.

While he will remain a relevant star in The Bloodline for years to come, it is hard to imagine Jey winning singles gold again any time soon.

Winner: Nick Aldis

Nick Aldis finally competed in a WWE ring, wrestling for the first time in almost three years at SummerSlam.

Despite the long gap between his last match on the independent scene and his first match in WWE, Aldis might have just outwrestled Gunther.

Likely helped by Aldis working a style different to the usual WWE standard, Aldis pushed The Career Killer in a different way than his usual matches.

By the end, even in a loss, Aldis came out looking better than John Cena or AJ Styles did in their retirement matches.

What looked like a possible retirement match for the SmackDown general manager might actually have set him up for more future WWE matches.

Loser: Paige

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Nikki Bella and Paige

While it is nice to see Fatal Influence on a deserved rise up the WWE card, the six-woman tag at SummerSlam was more important for who lost.

Paige returned at WrestleMania 42 as a surprise, capturing the Women's Tag Team Championships, yet by SummerSlam, she is without gold or friends.

The Bella Twins turning on Paige was fairly telegraphed by WWE but certainly the right move for Brie Bella and Nikki Bella in their final run.

On the other side though, it is hard to see where Paige lands after this betrayal.

Even if AJ Lee comes back soon to back her, that is not a sustainable alliance as the two have never had good chemistry.

Paige may quickly find herself out of nostalgia angles to run soon and will find herself struggling to keep up in this current generation of wrestlers.

Loser: Cody Rhodes

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Cody Rhodes

Not only did Cody Rhodes lose in his bid to reclaim the Undisputed WWE Championship, he did so to one of the most muted responses of his career.

In what was surprisingly not the main event of the night, CM Punk was the only one that could get the crowd going, and even that reaction was hit-and-miss.

The American Nightmare was out-wrestled by The Best in the World and mostly ignored by the stadium crowd.

While the return of Randy Orton should keep Rhodes in featured action for a while to come, it is clear that Rhodes' time as the true face of WWE is fading away.

Before long, The American Nightmare might be forced to turn heel to guide these inconsistent reactions into more intentional heat.

Winner: Oba Femi

Oba Femi conquered Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 42, and that could have been it for this story.

Instead, The Beast Incarnate returned to take down The Ruler at Clash in Italy, leaving a need for a rubber match between the big men.

This was a make-or-break spot for Oba. A second loss to Lesnar would have made it harder to believe The Ruler was ready to be a headline act for WWE.

Instead, Oba won again in the main event of SummerSlam Night 1 and solidified his status as WWE's next big star.

He kicked out of 3 F5s and a Tombstone Piledriver onto the exposed boards of the ring before a second Fall From Grace sealed the win.

At this point, Oba looks like the odds-on favorite to take the top spot in WWE going forward, likely dethroning Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 42.