It's Time for All of WWE's "Big Four" Events to be Two-Night Shows

Earlier this year, we received the following announcement from WWE: not only would SummerSlam 2026 emanate from US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, but it would be a two-night event. SummerSlam's 2026 event will take place on August 1 & 2, 2026, and as of now, it stands as the first SummerSlam to span two nights.

Notice I said, "as of now."

For the last few years, I've felt that it's time that WWE's "Big Four" events become two night shows. As we all know, the "Big Four" events are SummerSlam, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, and WrestleMania. The shows are listed under that umbrella term because they are the four longest-running events in WWE, and even as other events have been added, those four stand out the most. When the pay-per-views were brand exclusive, those four events were the only ones to involve both brands (Raw and SmackDown). Overall, the "Big Four" stands out above all of the rest.

With the way the match cards have been created for the "Big Four" events, it is a bit easy to split up the events in to two nights. Here's a look at the history of two-nighters, and how the other two events can create cards.

WrestleMania

It was during the worst height of the COVID-19 pandemic that WrestleMania 36 became the first WM event to become two nights long. The adjustment was made so WWE could make up for the fact that no fans would be in attendance, and they really did an excellent job with this two-night event in 2020. I thought it would be a one-time thing once things improved, but the two-night WMs stuck, mainly due to WM36 bringing in big numbers (the cinematic matches helped).

As a result, the last five WrestleManias have been two nights long, and the overall main event of the show is always on Night 2. With WrestleMania being the biggest event overall in WWE, it results in a number of matches being made that could be main events on any other night. The biggest example was this year, as a tag bout pitting Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins against Roman Reigns and The Rock was made to serve as the main event for Night 1, while the title rematch between Cody and Roman served as the true overall main event. Though, with the World Heavyweight Championship now back in WWE's arsenal of titles, I would think that the main events of both shows could center on both world titles.

SummerSlam

As mentioned earlier, the 2026 SummerSlam is slated to be the first two-night SummerSlam at the moment, but honestly, it doesn't have to be. It's way too late for this year, but one has to wonder how this year's SummerSlam would look in a two-night format. If more matches were added, I could easily see Liv vs Rhea main eventing Night 1. It's the biggest storyline in WWE outside of Cody vs Solo, and it could clearly serve as a main event on any other night.

There's always next year's SummerSlam, and they do have time to change that into two nights as well. A host city has still yet to be announced for SummerSlam 2025, but they can do the two night thing for that event. If so, I suggest that the women should main event Night 1 every year, and then Night 2 could be the WWE Title. It can easily be done.

Survivor Series

Survivor Series and Royal Rumble have yet to do the two-night thing at all, and the beauty is--both events can easily be booked for that format. In 2022, the WarGames matches, which became part of WWE via the NXT brand, ended up instilled into the main roster spotlight beginning with the 2022 Survivor Series. Since then, Survivor Series features two WarGames matches: one for the men and one for the women.

Regarding the match cards, it's easy: each night can be main evented by a WarGames match. Women's WarGames would end Night 1, and Men's WarGames could end Night 2. Though, they could switch it up on some Survivor Series events. Imagine Women's WarGames ending the entire Survivor Series show. They can definitely do that, especially if enough big names are involved. Honestly, Women's WarGames could have main evented last year's Survivor Series, but unfortunately, they thought CM Punk's return was the end all, be all trait of the event. I mean, Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch hugged it out during WarGames. Nothing beats that at all.

Royal Rumble

The Royal Rumble, my all time favorite event. The event brings so much chaos thanks to the two Rumble matches, and it is definitely deserving of the two-night format. Similar to the Survivor Series and their WarGames matches, the Royal Rumble could place their Rumble matches in the main event slot in each night. If it were up to me, the Women's Rumble would be the overall main event every year, but I would be fine with the Rumble matches rotating that spot on Night 2.

Historically, the Women's Rumble has only main evented the overall Royal Rumble event once: in 2018--the first year of the Women's Rumble. If the event does get split up into two nights, we could see, on some years, the Women's Rumble match main event Night 2, but that could depend on the storyline and the talent in the match.

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I do think that we will see the "Big Four" events become two nights eventually. WrestleMania being two nights happened because WWE was trying to cover whatever they lost during the height of the pandemic, but it ended up being a regular occurrence, and receives even more pomp and circumstance than it already does. SummerSlam 2026 becoming two nights, IMO, serves as the beginning of this process. I think it's a matter of time before Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble join the fray and become two night events. And when that happens, it will be absolutely, positively epic!