Four rivalries teased on SmackDown fallout from SummerSlam 2026

WWE teased four new rivalries on the August 7 fallout edition of SmackDown at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia following SummerSlam 2026. The live show featured returns, backstage interviews, a WWE digital exclusive and a video promo that all set up potential singles and multi-man matches.

The episode included several performers who had been absent from television reportedly due to a lack of creative and used those returns to begin fresh storylines. The coverage focused on four segments that appear intended to launch longer-term feuds: a U.S. Title angle, a digital exclusive involving Rey Fenix, a Shinsuke Nakamura video promo aimed at The Tongans, and an attack by The Irresistible Forces.

United States Champion Trick Williams, coming off a successful title defence, was interviewed backstage by Cathy Kelley when Carmelo Hayes attacked Corbin during the segment. Hayes told Corbin he had met with Nick Aldis and that he had a title match for his hometown next week; the piece notes Corbin, in his WWE return, had interfered in the U.S. title match between Williams and Hayes and suggests WWE might turn the sequence into a three-way feud involving Williams.

In a WWE digital exclusive released after SmackDown, AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix was reacting to the announcement of a tournament to decide Roman Reigns’ title challenger for Raw in Mexico City when Ricky Saints arrived and said Fenix should be focused on his title and that someone like him could come in and take that title away from him. Fenix challenged Saints to try his luck; Saints said that he would see Fenix around.

Shinsuke Nakamura cut a video promo aimed directly at the Tongans (Haku, Talla & Tama Tonga), declaring he was starting a war and that he would no longer be a one-man army. Nakamura also said, "I'm back, and this time, I will not be alone." Fans have already started speculating about potential partners for Nakamura, with names such as Finn Balor and other stars being discussed online.

After Chelsea Green and Tiffany Stratton lost the Women’s Tag Team title match, The Irresistible Forces (Nia Jax & Lash Legend) attacked Tiffany and Green and Nia brought in Green’s Interim WWE Women’s title and posed with it to end the sequence. The angle is presented as positioning Nia as a renewed threat to the Women’s Championship, and the report says WWE might book the match for the upcoming Saturday Night’s Main Event.

The August 14 edition of Friday Night SmackDown will air live from the TD Garden in Boston. Money in the Bank, identified as the next Premium Live Event after SummerSlam 2026, is scheduled for October 10, 2026, at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.