With SummerSlam edging closer on the horizon, anticipation is reaching a crescendo as WWE prepares to stage one of the biggest weekends on its calendar.

A two-night spectacle held across the 1st and 2nd of August at Minneapolis’ US Bank Stadium promises blockbuster championship clashes, feuds reaching their zenith, and several contests capable of reshaping WWE’s landscape heading into the autumn of this year.

With fans continuing to speculate over who will emerge from their bouts shrouded in SummerSlam glory, fresh backstage reports suggest that WWE may have already settled the majority of the card, already choosing their creative direction.

WWE Reportedly Already Know Six Winners at SummerSlam

According to WrestleVotes radio on Fightful Select, a source familiar with WWE’s creative plans has indicated that the direction of six bouts may already have been decided.

Plans in professional wrestling are always liable to change, but the report claims that six stars have emerged as the favourites in their match-ups and are likely to walk away from the marquee event with glory draped across them.

Among those expected to prevail are Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk and World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns.

Punk will be facing long-time friend and current adversary Cody Rhodes. After vanishing from WWE television for 78 days, Punk returned to the grand stage by defeating Sami Zayn on the 6th July to claim his third recognised Undisputed WWE Championship.

The two men battling it out to call themselves the Undisputed WWE Champion recently faced off against Sami Zayn and Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event XLV in a tag-team match to ensure the SummerSlam showdown remained a one-on-one affair, rather than evolving into a Fatal 4-Way for the belt.

Reigns, meanwhile, will renew hostilities with another familiar foe in Seth Rollins.

The pair share one of the richest and most enduring rivalries in WWE history, stretching back well over a decade to their days alongside Dean Ambrose in The Shield, a trio that captured the WWE Tag Team Championship on three occasions.

In the years following, their paths have crossed countless times, though, none more famous than WrestleMania 31 in 2015, when Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract during the main event between Reigns and Brock Lesnar, promptly pinning Reigns and winning the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, a moment forever immortalised and dubbed as the ‘Heist of the Century.’

Whether SummerSlam represents the final instalment in their pair’s storied history remains to be seen, but there is an undeniable sense that a saga spanning more than a decade is reaching its final chapter.

Alongside the two main events, Trick Williams is expected to retain his WWE United States Championship against Baron Corbin, Oba Femi is the favourite to defeat Brock Lesnar in their Hell in a Cell bout, Chad Gable will win his first WWE Intercontinental Championship against champion Penta, and Gunther is predicted to defeat Nick Aldis.

Two Matches Are Coin Tosses

Credit: WWE

Despite creative plans leaning one way in six of the matches shown so far, WrestleVotes added that two bouts remain balanced on a knife-edge.

The interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match and Sami Zayn’s WWE Championship No.1 Contender’s Match against Finn Balor are both understood to remain genuine 50/50 internally, with no outcome currently viewed as the clear frontrunner behind the scenes.

According to the report, both matches remain the subject of internal discussion, making them the most unpredictable contests on the SummerSlam card.

For now, however, as the biggest event of the summer looms large, the picture behind the scenes appears increasingly clear. Six paths appear all but mapped out, while two remaining bouts are still waiting for the final page to be written. It’s also worth noting there are FOUR more matches over the two nights, of which plans for those are also currently unknown.

With the 2026 World Cup bringing us the most expensive football fan experience of all time, there’s another governing body we can compare it to: UEFA.

The competition in the summer of 2026 was dogged by outrage over sky-high, demand-led pricing since tickets first went on sale — and European governing body UEFA are looking to price tickets far cheaper.

Therefore, Euro 2028 has a chance to endear itself to the fans whilst being a completely contrasting financial experience: here’s everything you need to know.

Dynamic Pricing: The Fault Line

Reuters/Brett Davis

This is a key area where the two governing bodies differ the most. FIFA, for the first time at a World Cup, introduced dynamic pricing, meaning ticket costs fluctuated in real time based on demand, supply and other market factors.

It’s the same model that affected Oasis fans in 2024, and it did FIFA few favours — the most expensive final tickets, initially listed at $6,730, had climbed to $10,990 by the April sales window. For reference, the 2022 final was going for roughly $1,600, which shows the unnecessary hike that FIFA have since allowed.

FIFA, for its part, insists it uses “variable pricing” rather than dynamic pricing, a distinction few fans found convincing. The New York and New Jersey attorneys general were unconvinced too, launching a joint probe into FIFA’s ticketing practices.

For Euro 2028, UEFA has committed to no dynamic pricing, alongside equal pricing for regular group stage matches — ensuring a clear, consistent structure it says worked well at Euro 2024. After all the controversy, it becomes a direct rebuke of FIFA’s model.

Distribution: Who Actually Gets In

Reuters/Nathan Ray Seebeck

Another key area where UEFA has focused on is access. Essentially, more than 40 per cent of the roughly three million tickets will sit in the most affordable categories, and over 80% will be available to fans of participating teams and the public — a welcome revelation for fans.

Crucially, tickets only go on sale after the December 2027 draw, so supporters know which teams they might see before committing.

There’s a face-value-only official resale platform with no seller fees, a ballot system to avoid queue chaos, and 10,000 tickets reserved for each qualified team’s supporters at every group game.

FIFA’s approach drew the opposite reaction; critics have argued its framework favoured wealthy and corporate buyers, with a late $60 “Supporter Entry Tier” widely dismissed as a token gesture amounting to a few hundred seats in 80,000-capacity stadiums.

Prices: The Euro 2024 Benchmark

It is important to state that nothing is guaranteed until Euro 2028’s numbers are published, and UEFA’s pledges remain in that state.

However, the philosophical divide between the two bodies is stark. FIFA have chased maximum yield and revenue and have faced a legal probe whilst UEFA has staked its pitch on affordability and transparency. This dichotomy has arguably been crystallised in UEFA’s strong opposition to FIFA’s plans to sell stakes in competitions to private investors.

Even allowing for a US market and inflation, the gap is enormous — and it’s exactly the comparison UEFA will want fans making. The difference in the finances will surely result in a higher interest from European fans, with the travel far easier across the continent.

Matthias Jaissle has quickly emerged as one of the most highly-rated young coaches in world football, building an impressive reputation despite still being in his thirties.

After making his name in the Red Bull coaching system and enjoying success with RB Salzburg, the German tactician has continued his rise with Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli, where his attacking philosophy and ability to manage elite talent have attracted attention from some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Known for his high-intensity pressing, tactical flexibility and calm leadership, Jaissle has earned praise for developing young players while also delivering major honors. His rapid ascent through the coaching ranks has seen him linked with several high-profile managerial vacancies, particularly after Eddie Howe’s departure from Newcastle United, underlining his growing reputation as one of football’s brightest minds.

Matthias Jaissle Coaching Philosophy, Influences & Tactics

Given that the Al Ahli coach started his managerial life at FC Liefering, a reserve team for Red Bull Salzburg, Jaissle deploys a similar tactical setup to those utilised by other Red Bull teams and coaches, such as Ralf Rangnick and Jesse Marsch, with heavy emphasis on high pressing and direct play.

In 2024, he also revealed Jurgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, Pep Guardiola and Roberto De Zerbi to be influential coaches in the development of his coaching philosophy, which he acknowledges is constantly evolving.

During his time in Austria, the German coach would often opt for a narrow 4-4-2 or 4-3-1-2 formation when out of possession. This is used to create a compact and balanced defensive structure, minimizing the opposition’s ability to play between the lines or down the channels. This system also allows for rapid ball progression in the cases where it is turned over as a result of high pressing.

When building from the back, RB Salzburg would often adapt their shape into a 3-2-5, whereby the deep-laying midfielder slots into the back line, and the No. 10 drops into the midfield. This then gives permission for the full-backs to press higher up the pitch, out-numbering defenders and allowing for swift passing and movement in the attacking third.

Jaissle’s Al Ahli side often set up in a 4-2-3-1, but still builds up with a 3-2-5 or 2-3-5. Speaking to Sky Sports, however, he explained that it’s less about specific formations and more about his side’s’ footballing principles, saying:

During his time at RB Salzburg, Jaissle oversaw the development of multiple Premier League stars, including Leeds United duo Brenden Aaronson and Noah Okafor, as well as Manchester United’s Benjamin Sesko and Barcelona’s new forward, Karim Adeyemi.

Trophies Won by Matthias Jaissle

REUTERS/Ibraheem Al Omari via Action Images

Although Jaissle only took his first head coach role in early 2021, the German has accumulated an impressive trophy haul across his five-years in management. His first season in charge of RB Salzburg saw him win the domestic double, winning the league title and the Austrian Cup, whilst also leading his side to the Champions League knockout phase for the first time in the club’s history. The following season, he won back-to-back league titles by winning the 2022/23 Austrian Bundesliga.

Having been released by Salzburg just one day before the start of the 2023/24 season, Jaissle was appointed as the manager of the newly-promoted Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli. After overseeing a third-placed finish, and, in turn, qualification to the Asian Champions League, in his first season with the club, the German coach then went on to win both the AFC Champions League and the Saudi Super Cup the following season. Jaissle then added his most recent trophy to his list of honors, by winning back-to-back Asian Champions Leagues, becoming the first manager to ever do so.

Jaissle was also awarded the Saudi Pro League Manager of the Month award in April 2025, after his Al Ahli side failed to lose a single game that month, picking up ten points from five matches.

Matthias Jaissle’s Playing Career

Matthias Jaissle’s youth career saw him come through the academy of VfB Stuttgart, where he built a close relationship with current England boss Thomas Tuchel, who was a youth coach for Stuttgart at the time. Jaissle was capped by Germany at Under-21 level, before moving to TSG Hoffenheim, who played in Germany’s third tier of football in January 2007.

Playing as a centre-back, Jaissle’s contribution to his side’s efforts saw Hoffenheim experience back-to-back promotions, with their 2007/08 season being the club’s first in professional football. Unfortunately, the German was forced into retirement in 2014, aged just 25, due to injury. In total, Jaissle made just 60 appearances for Hoffenheim, netting twice.