Why WWE are Making a Mistake With the Two-Night SummerSlam

Sportskeeda Wrestling

Check out Sportskeeda's brand new game, BrainBuster! Can you become the undisputed quiz champion? Play now to find out - https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe/brainbuster-wwe-player-guessing-game  WWE has announced a bold move by expanding SummerSlam into a two-night event, but is this decision a colossal mistake? Join us as we analyze this new format's potential pitfalls and advantages in this video.   You can also visit our site: https://www.sportskeeda.com/wwe  #summerslam #wwe #wrestling #sportskeedawrestling

Transcript

00:00WWE announced that Summerslam 2026 will be taking place in Minneapolis, Minnesota at

00:06the US Bank Stadium.

00:07Not only did they reveal the 2026 location without knowing where they're going for

00:11Summerslam 2025, but it'll mark the first time that the biggest party of the summer

00:15will be two nights.

00:17The news came after there were long standing rumors that Minneapolis would get Wrestlemania

00:2141, only for WWE to announce Las Vegas as the location.

00:26It seems like WWE came to some sort of compromise, but it also likely means that Minneapolis

00:31may never get Wrestlemania.

00:34Why you ask?

00:35One reason, the weather.

00:37For some context, Wrestlemania 40 took place in Philadelphia in an open air stadium and

00:42fans in attendance complained about how cold it was.

00:45In an interview with Sports Business Journal, WWE CEO Nick Khan said that we're not going

00:51to see a Wrestlemania happen in cold weather ever again.

00:54With Minnesota having an average temperature of 45 degrees Fahrenheit and 7.2 degrees Celsius

01:00in April, it seems to be a clear indicator that they may never get Wrestlemania, even

01:05if US Bank Stadium is indoor and temperature control should be possible.

01:10But enough about the weather, the biggest thing that caught people's eyes was the

01:13fact that Summerslam is going to become TWO FREAKING NIGHTS.

01:18Understandably, that part of the announcement didn't get a particularly positive response.

01:23But rather than just trashing it, we're going to present the pros and cons of it and

01:27let you decide for yourself in the comments below.

01:30Starting with the pros, for one, Summerslam is about to become a whole lot bigger.

01:35There has always been quite a gap between Wrestlemania and Summerslam, with the biggest

01:39party of the summer being a distant second place in terms of importance and prestige

01:43of WWE's premium live events.

01:46Just like the two night Wrestlemania, this is going to give the opportunity to a lot

01:50more superstars on the roster to have featured matches without being too affected by the

01:54run time.

01:55We're certainly not going to get the 4 to 5 hour Summerslams that we have in the past.

02:00It also means that we can have separate world championship matches for the men and women

02:04on two nights, which is exactly why we got to see instant classics like Bayley vs Io

02:10Sky this year, Rhea Ripley vs Charlotte Flair last year, and so on.

02:15It also gives WWE the incentive to make matches as big and interesting as possible, which

02:20could mean an even greater effort in creating memorable stories.

02:24It also leaves a spot or two for major megastars like The Rock to return and have marquee matches.

02:30Now to the negative side of things, you're going to notice that the long term, big picture

02:34implications of the cons have a lot more weight.

02:37WWE making Summerslam two nights is just a representation of a clear strategy that every

02:42major media company in the United States is taking, to push for content.

02:48Everything is content.

02:49Have you ever noticed how you've probably seen quite a few movies on Netflix, but you

02:53barely remember them the way you would a theater experience?

02:56WWE is kind of risking doing that to their fan base.

03:00Netflix and other streamers are well aware that more often than not, movies and shows

03:04serve as background noise while people are checking their phones or doing other things.

03:09WWE, especially with the big 5 billion dollar Raw Netflix deal, could possibly pivot to

03:15the direction of creating content catered towards serving as background noise while

03:19people are on their phones.

03:20We're aware that WWE has been red hot for the past couple of years, but that direction

03:26could change considering the number of people who are now in charge under the big TKO umbrella.

03:31Two nights of Summerslam can potentially lead to a bit of a burnout from WWE programming,

03:36with viewership potentially taking a dip after because of it.

03:40Also it takes away how special Wrestlemania is being two nights.

03:44Who the heck knows, maybe the higher ups within WWE are looking at it as a way to experiment

03:48so they can even turn Royal Rumble into a two night event.

03:52Does anybody really want that?

03:53It's gonna take WWE a whole lot more effort to maintain red hot crowd reactions for both

03:58nights.

04:00Remember how we mentioned a few minutes ago that two nights Summerslam allows part time

04:03megastars to have a match?

04:05On the flip side, it also gives them a chance to take away a big spot that someone else

04:09is more deserving of.

04:11But then again, maybe that argument is kind of weak because there aren't that many part

04:15timers left anyway.

04:16Overall, it seems like the cons of the two night Summerslam have more consequences than

04:21the pros.

04:22Sure, we're going to constantly hear about WWE having the highest viewed, highest recorded

04:27gate ever for a Summerslam, but what does that really matter to the average fan watching

04:31on their laptop or phone from places like Germany, South Africa, Chile or India?

04:37Summerslam has historically been a clear number 2 to Wrestlemania and it should remain

04:42that way.

04:43If WWE wants to keep Wrestlemania as the grandest stage of them all, then they need to restrict

04:48it to being the only show a year with two nights, and the only show with that level

04:53of spectacle and aura.

04:54There's no need whatsoever to have big shows like Summerslam and Royal Rumble become as

04:59big or feel as big as Wrestlemania.

05:02Wrestlemania is Wrestlemania for a reason.

05:05While WWE already did what they needed to do to make Summerslam and Royal Rumble feel

05:09even more special, they started hosting them in big stadiums.

05:14For a show like the Rumble, the namesake Royal Rumble match is big enough to draw and get

05:18people to buy tickets.

05:20For Summerslam, the name, history and prestige of the event are usually enough to get people

05:25through the doors and tune in.

05:26Sure, not every superstar can be on that card every year unless they have useless battle

05:31royals with no consequences, but even so, the biggest driver of ticket sales and viewership,

05:37the reason that you and I watch, will always be great storylines and great characters.

05:42Does WWE need to oversaturate Summerslam to make it bigger?

05:46We don't think so.

05:48Thank you for watching.

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