Cody Rhodes will face CM Punk at SummerSlam. (Credit: Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images)
WWE via Getty Images
WWE SummerSlam is pro wrestling’s biggest party of the summer. Well, at least it’s supposed to be.
But in 2026? Arguably WWE’s second-biggest PLE behind only WrestleMania sure doesn’t feel like it. In fact, sluggish SummerSlam ticket sales point to a widening gap between the TV product that WWE is delivering and what its fans actually want to see.
The latest SummerSlam ticket sales update from WrestleTix shows a massive dropoff in ticket sales for SummerSlam 2026 in comparison to SummerSlam 2025. SummerSlam Saturday, for example, currently sits at just over 22,000 tickets sold, a figure that pales in comparison to last year’s Saturday event, which surpassed 50,000 tickets sold:
That, according to WrestleVotes, “has been a concern internally for weeks.” As it should be.
WWE recently added what should be a highly anticipated WWE Championship match between CM Punk and Cody Rhodes to SummerSlam, which was likely done in an effort to help boost ticket sales. But just a few weeks out from WWE’s next “Big Four” PLE, it’s clear that lackluster SummerSlam ticket sales speak to a bigger problem: a WWE TV product that is trending downward.
WWE’s live event attendance continues to slide toward pre-boom period levels while Raw viewership recently hit an all-time low on Netflix as SmackDown hit a five-month low as well. Although the post-WrestleMania period for WWE is traditionally a down one for the company, the state of WWE’s current product feels even lower than usual.
Perhaps there is an explanation for that. The period from roughly mid-2022 to mid-2025 has been widely recognized as WWE’s biggest boom since the Attitude Era of the late 1990s. The returns of Punk and Rhodes as well as the rise of Roman Reigns and The Bloodline were two key reasons why WWE had felt so hot for the past few years.
Ironically enough, WWE is still relying heavily on those prominent stars (Reigns, Rhodes, Punk, etc.) to carry the product en route to SummerSlam. Reigns will be defending his World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins while Rhodes and Punk will battle over the WWE title.
That feels like a staying pattern, built up on the with the premesis that WWE officials essentially don’t view anyone outside of these stars and a select few others as legitimate main event stars. That, combined with the departure of John Cena and injuries to key stars like Rhea Ripley, have created a less-than-compelling road to SummerSlam. The show’s card is one built largely upon the same core of top stars as the majority of the rest of the roster is overshadowed and overlooked.
The natural reaction from fans is to become disillusioned with what has become a supbar TV product from WWE, which is still charging exorbitant prices at a time when Raw and SmackDown are not exactly extraordinary. That may have worked a couple of years ago when WWE was sizzling hit, but as it’s cooled off and continues to do so, fans will be less inclined to spend their hard-earned money on a poorly booked product that has casted off popular mainstays like Sheamus and The New Day in recent months.
One of the biggest weaknesses of WWE’s recent SummerSlam booking, however, is its refusal to push new stars to the top. Oba Femi inexplicably delayed, or maybe forfeited, his guaranteed world title shot at SummerSlam. Jacob Fatu is playing second fiddle to Reigns yet again. Bron Breakker’s once massive singles push is fading out with a whimper. Sami Zayn won the WWE title a couple of weeks ago, held it for just nine days and now doesn’t have a clear SummerSlam match.
These creative miscues highlight WWE’s woes on the road to SummerSlam, which is tracking to have a half-empty stadium as a result. How WWE digs itself out of this hole is anyone’s guess, and there is no easy solution or quick fix. The boom period that peaked in 2024 probably isn’t coming back anytime soon, but improvements to the product must be made in order to turn things around.
WWE needs to focus more on stars like Fatu and Breakker, build enthralling long-term rivalries and utilize overlooked talents. Otherwise, SummerSlam’s sluggish ticket sales won’t be the exception. They’ll become the norm.