WWE’s second-biggest event of the year, WWE SummerSlam 2025, kicked off on Saturday night at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
With SummerSlam expanding to two nights for the first time ever, Night 1 was a solid start that ended on a chaotic note as CM Punk won the World Heavyweight Championship only to immediately fall victim to Seth Rollins cashing in the Money in the Bank briefcase and stealing Punk’s main-event moment once again.
Saturday night’s action kicked off with a pair of tag-team matches, with Roman Reigns and Jey Uso defeating Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker in the opening bout of the night. That matchup was followed by one of the two title changes on the night as Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss won the Women’s Tag-Team Championships by defeating Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez.
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After two solid but relatively brief matches, which saw Sami Zayn defeat Karrion Kross and Tiffany Stratton retain her WWE Women’s Championship against Jade Cargill, one of the night’s surprises came in a contest many had written off as a publicity stunt. In a tag-team match against Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre, musician Jelly Roll managed to steal the show, taking one of the biggest celebrity bumps in WWE history and continuing to elevate the expectations for crossover stars who try their hands at professional wrestling. Despite taking the pin, Jelly Roll proved doubters wrong and showed he belongs in a WWE ring.
After a 30-minute main event between Gunther and Punk saw the World Heavyweight Championship change hands, the biggest surprise of the night came as Rollins’ music hit and he initially teased that his knee injury was real. Rollins then tossed his crutches away, removed his knee brace and raced to the ring to cash in the Money in the Bank briefcase on an exhausted Punk. Rollins beat down and pinned his longtime rival to escape with the top championship of “WWE Raw.”
Here are the full results from SummerSlam Night 1:
Seth Rollins cashes in the Money in the Bank briefcase, defeats CM Punk to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
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Best spot: Rollins tossing the crutches to the side
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Analysis: This will surely be a bit polarizing as it’s the second time this year that WWE pulled off a significant swerve involving potentially real-life news. In a week that saw WWE pull back the curtain unlike ever before with the release of “Unreal” on Netflix, Rollins’ cash-in proves that kayfabe is alive and well. Regardless, it was expertly executed, even with a degree of predictability that started to bubble up in recent weeks. This sets the stage for the Punk-Rollins “fight forever” feud to carry on for the rest of 2025 — and potentially beyond. Historically, WWE plans backward from WrestleMania and I think there’s a very real path to Punk winning the Royal Rumble and then getting another main-event moment.
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CM Punk def. Gunther in 30:18 to win the World Heavyweight Championship.
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Best spot: Punk’s final flurry of offense
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Analysis: Individually, Punk and Gunther are great, I don’t think anyone who watches wrestling would dispute that. This match had really strong storytelling and was technically sound, but if we’re being completely honest, this was a slog to close the night. Gunther had never really regained the momentum or threat level he had before WrestleMania 41, so him dropping the title here made sense. The aftermath with Rollins means we’re probably going to see Gunther out of the main-event picture on “Raw” for a little while — and you could argue he needs a change of scenery and a trip over to “SmackDown.” We know where Punk is going, and he got a great moment, but ultimately it didn’t hit the highs of his WrestleMania 41 match or even his match against John Cena earlier this summer.
Logan Paul and Drew McIntyre def. Jelly Roll and Randy Orton in 17:05
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Best spot: Paul’s splash onto Jelly Roll
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Analysis: Kudos to Jelly Roll for taking that massive bump. I said it above and in our live coverage — that was probably the biggest celebrity bump we have ever seen. Jelly Roll also continued to show that the era of WWE celebrity crossover has entirely changed and these “outsiders” have been putting in the work necessary to impress on these big stages. Beyond that, very little will change for the trajectories of Orton, McIntyre or Paul, who should all be on the fringe of the main-event picture for the rest of the year. This was arguably the most entertaining match of Night 1.
Tiffany Stratton def. Jade Cargill in 7:03 to retain the WWE Women’s Championship.
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Best spot: Cargill catching Stratton in mid-air
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Analysis: Both women looked pretty strong in this short, but clean match. Even though Cargill lost, she showed that she’s continuing to develop every time she steps through the ropes and has such massive power that she’ll always have a handful of “holy you-know-what” moments. Stratton continues to be built into a dominant champion — she’s undefeated in 2025 — with her next challenger potentially coming from Bianca Belair or, if WWE wants to shake up some of the top-heavy “Raw” women’s division, one of the losers from Night 2’s triple threat.
Sami Zayn def. Karrion Kross in 8:09.
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Best spot: Zayn spiking the steel pipe
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Analysis: The way this match played out signals that we should be done with the Zayn-Kross feud. Much like what we saw on Saturday Night’s Main Event last month, this match probably could have benefitted from getting some more time on an episode of “Raw” instead of getting shoehorned onto this card. I would have even liked to have seen the Giulia vs. Zelina Vega Women’s United States Championship match from Friday’s “SmackDown” in this spot.
Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair def. Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez in 13:35 to win the Women’s Tag Team Championship.
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Best spot: Bliss saving Flair after Pop Rox
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Analysis: Bliss and Flair have so much momentum, this victory should be the jolt that WWE’s women’s tag-team division so desperately needed. This was a really strong, entertaining match that showed just how good this division can be when there’s star power and good storytelling involved. As far as Perez and Rodriguez, their story hinges so much on the Judgment Day and the eventual return of Liv Morgan that a loss here doesn’t hurt them all that much. Perez, in particular, remains arguably the biggest main-roster breakout of 2025.
Jey Uso and Roman Reigns def. Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker in 21:05
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Best spot(s): Reigns’ and Reed’s dives out of the ring
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Analysis: So much of what happens next between these four men is directly tied to Rollins’ cash-in from later on in the night. Breakker and Reed fall back into being Rollins’ henchmen, possibly challenging for tag-team or mid-card titles to bolster the faction. As far as Reigns, he definitely has unfinished business with Rollins and Paul Heyman, so he can immediately insert as a challenger whenever he wants. There were beats in this match where Reigns sacrificed himself to save Uso, which could signal his return to leading a Bloodline-esque faction or — perhaps more likely — he puts over Uso by giving him the Ula Fala. Uso should be able to work his way into the main event on “Raw” again, even if it’s a bit of a stepping stone to get to a Reigns vs. Rollins showdown.
