Early WWE WrestleMania 43 Match Card Predictions After SummerSlam 2026 Results

The 2026 edition of WWE SummerSlam is in the books, with new champions crowned, some rivalries ignited, and others finished, and fresh new faces established as the stars of pro wrestling's future.

The results also give fans a preview of where things are headed creatively as WWE kicks off a long journey to WrestleMania 43 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

What might some of the matches on next year's Showcase of the Immortals be?

Let's take a look at these way-too-early predictions for the April card.

SummerSlam 2026 Results

Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images

Saturday Night

• Oba Femi defeated Brock Lesnar in Hell in a Cell
• Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk defeated Cody Rhodes
• Fatal Influence defeated The Bella Twins and Paige
• Gunther defeated Nick Aldis
• Solo Sikoa, LA Knight, and Royce Keys defeated The Bloodline
• Women's World Champion Liv Morgan defeated Iyo Sky

Sunday Night

• World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns defeated Seth Rollins
• Chad Gable defeated Penta to win the Intercontinental Championship
• Danhausen defeated Dominik Mysterio in a Human Monies on a Pole Match
• Chelsea Green defeated Charlotte Flair, Jade Cargill, Lash Legend, and Tiffany Stratton in a Ladder Match to win the Interim WWE Women's Championship
• Baron Corbin defeated Trick Williams to win the United States Championship
• Kevin Owens defeated Sami Zayn, Gunther, and Finn Balor in a Fatal 4-Way No. 1 Contender's Match

Undisputed WWE Championship Match: CM Punk vs. Cody Rhodes

Rich Freeda/WWE via Getty Images

Randy Orton's return at SummerSlam and subsequent RKO to Cody Rhodes allow those two long-time friends-turned-rivals to embark on a rivalry that does not center on the Undisputed WWE Championship.

It also frees CM Punk up to go in a different direction, with several challengers already hinted at or suggested by the champion himself in the weeks leading up to SummerSlam, not to mention the new No. 1 contender, the returning Kevin Owens.

On a larger scale, it allows Rhodes and Punk to avoid each other, so when the time comes for their rivalry to reignite on the road to WrestleMania 43, it can do so without feeling stale or overexposed.

There is unfinished business there, with Rhodes having a valid argument for a rematch and Punk likely still looking to prove that he can beat The American Nightmare without any chicanery or assistance.

It is still a marquee match-up between the two biggest stars on SmackDown, with plenty of juice left in the rivalry to get them to the most important show of the year.

Women's World Championship Match: Roxanne Perez vs. Liv Morgan

Cooper Neill/WWE via Getty Images

Since returning at the Royal Rumble this past January, Liv Morgan has taken her fair share of verbal shots at her Judgment Day teammate Roxanne Perez, as it has become clear that she does not trust the former NXT Women's Champion or her intentions with the group.

Even during a SummerSlam post-show appearance, the women's world champion condescendingly told Perez she would win a title someday.

With the tension mounting, though not anywhere near its pinnacle, there is plenty o time for WWE to tell a proper story that culminates with The Prodigy breaking free from Judgment Day and challenging Morgan for her title.

Brock Lesnar vs. Gunther

Michael Owens/WWE via Getty Images

The Beast Incarnate made it clear in the closing moments of Saturday's SummerSlam broadcast that he is the past and Oba Femi is the future. That does not necessarily equate to a retirement.

Until WrestleMania 43. Maybe.

Gunther has made a career out of ending others. He has vanquished Goldberg, John Cena, and AJ Styles. What better way to promote a high-profile, non-title match than by booking The Ring General against The Beast Incarnate, with the latter's Hall of Fame-worthy career on the line?

It would take some rehabbing of The Career Killer, who has eaten far too many losses in short order recently, but reestablishing him as an ass-kicker and one of the most dangerous guys on the roster will go a long way in making him a legitimate threat to an unstoppable force like Lesnar.

Regardless of the outcome, the intrigue is Mania-worthy.

World Heavyweight Championship Match: Oba Femi vs. Roman Reigns

Craig Melvin/WWE via Getty Images

From the moment that Roman Reigns won the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 42 and Oba Femi began his meteoric rise up the ranks in WWE, it became clear that the next major, marquee match the company has to offer is a titanic clash between The OTC and The Ruler.

After Brock Lesnar so thoroughly put Femi over as the future, the next face of WWE, it is apparent more now than ever that the NXT export is headed toward a run at the top of the company.

To accomplish that, he has to knock the top star in the company off his pedestal.

In the same city in which he won the King of the Ring and made his first dominant appearance in the Royal Rumble match, Femi squares off with Reigns in a battle of the top guy now and the competitor who will carry the mantle forward or the next decade or more.