The main event problem
SummerSlam used to be the second biggest show of the year, a true heavyweight fight. Now, as we approach August, the card feels like it was written by an algorithm that hates joy. The buzz around the main event scene is practically non-existent, unless you count the rumors of yet another part-timer showing up to squash the workhorses. We are looking at a scenario where the Undisputed title defense feels like a foregone conclusion rather than a high-stakes collision.
Remember when the company actually cared about long-term storytelling? Now we get these quick-fix programs that burn through heat faster than a pyro mishap. The pacing feels off. You have mid-carders running programs that should be on house shows, while the headliners are MIA. It is embarrassing to watch talent with genuine range get shackled to scripts that have less bite than a baby.
The tag-team division is rotting
For months, fans have been screaming for a shake-up in the tag division. Instead of giving us a division that actually matters, the bookers seem content with throwing together mismatched singles competitors just to fill time. It is a lazy trope, and it kills any momentum the legitimate teams might have built. If you want to see how a division should look, look at the 90s, where teams actually had distinct identities and rivalries that stretched beyond a three-week TV cycle.
This reliance on random pairings is the definition of filler. It insults the intelligence of anyone who has been watching for more than a month. When you book a makeshift team to beat a unit that has worked together for years, you are telling the audience that chemistry does not matter. That is not how you build a product that fans want to invest in emotionally. It is a quick hit of serotonin that leaves the room cold the next morning.
Surprises that are not actually surprising
The rumor mill is currently churning out names for surprise returns, but let’s be real. If everyone expects the return, is it even a surprise? The industry has lost its ability to keep secrets. That, combined with a writing team that recycles the same plot lines, makes the summer premium live events feel predictable. We are waiting for a genuinely bold move—maybe a double turn in the mid-card or a clean finish in a chaotic multi-man match.
Instead, we will likely get the same interference-heavy finish we have seen for five years. Wrestling is meant to be a spectacle, not a rerun of a soap opera that jumped the shark back in 2022. You don’t need high-tech projection systems or elaborate vignettes to make a moment land. You need a referee who actually calls a fair match for once and a finish that doesn't involve someone hiding under the ring.
The booking of the women’s division
The women’s division is currently the only part of the show that feels like it has a pulse, yet it suffers from the same booking ADHD as the men. We have performers capable of putting on an iron man match that would steal the show anywhere in the world, yet they are stuck fighting for 'contention' without clear stakes. It feels like the writers are just killing time until the fall. This is the biggest missed opportunity of the 2026 calendar.
They need to stop treating the women’s championships like hot potatoes. If you want us to care about a match, give us a reason beyond 'these two people don't like each other.' Give us a grudge that has actual history, not a promo where someone talks about 'this industry' for fifteen minutes. The lack of stakes is a choice, and a bad one at that. Whether it is high-tech investments or wrestling narratives, the reality is that without a solid foundation, the whole roof is going to cave in.
