WWE Saturday Night's Main Event 5/23/2026: Draws & Duds

It's very nearly time for the latest edition of WWE Saturday Night's Main Event, coming to you from Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana! While modern SNME cards have typically featured four matches, this one has bumped that number up to five, with three of those being women's matches and three (or possibly four, but maybe not?) belts on the line, including two sets of tag titles and the men's Intercontinental Championship.

As always, WINC readers have the comments section to tell us which of these matches they're looking forward to and which ones they're kind of dreading, but this column is the place for the WINC staff to weigh in. Which match from the upcoming SNME card has us excited for the show, and which one does nothing for us? This is Wrestling Inc.'s biggest draw and biggest dud for WWE Saturday Night's Main Event 5/23/2026!

While Saturday Night's Main Event doesn't need to be completely booked with championship matches, WWE has been severely neglecting its top women's titles since they changed hands at WrestleMania 42. The six-woman tag team match pitting WWE Women's Champion Rhea Ripley alongside Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss against former champion Jade Cargill, Michin, and B-Fab may be attempting to set up something for Ripley's gold with both Cargill and Flair involved, but as it currently stands, the match isn't very exciting and for awhile, it seemed like WWE was going in another direction for a six-woman tag match.

When this match was booked last week, Ripley wasn't even on the show to speak for herself. Bliss and Flair were taken out after a match against Michin and B-Fab, and Bliss seemingly just waltzed into General Manager Nick Aldis' office and asked for the match, without asking Ripley, who hasn't exactly loved working with Flair in the past. It's getting tiresome watching Ripley and Flair not get along but being forced to work together, and now, Ripley has reason to be furious with Bliss, too.

Ripley, Flair, and Bliss were also feuding with the recently-debuted Fatal Influence. Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, and Lainey Reid are getting crazy heel reactions from crowds, and being newbies on the blue brand, it would have been nice to see them in another sort of exhibition match, for lack of a better term, on Saturday Night's Main Event. The event never feels big or special, especially in months where it's held between much larger WWE specials, this month being Backlash and Clash in Italy, so a fun, but more meaningless match against Fatal Influence for Ripley, Bliss, and Flair would fit the bill a bit better. That's partially because any storyline going forward with Ripley's title should probably be done on weekly television rather than what's likely to be a SNME special with low viewership.

The match makes some kind of sense, at least, with Ripley and Cargill having such recent history, and Cargill even called out the champion for a rematch in Italy ahead of the team's confrontation with Bliss and Flair last week, but it just all falls flat. While it's highly possible we see something come out of this match where Flair and Cargill could compete to become number one contender for the WWE Women's Championship to face Ripley at Clash in Italy or some other event in the future, that very well could be wishful thinking, and something that probably should be set up on television.

Written by Daisy Ruth

WWE documentaries are important indicators for the direction of the company. In this year's season of "WWE Unreal," Paul Heyman made it clear that he believes WWE has something special in the Intercontinental Champion, Penta. In the recent Shawn Michaels documentary on Peacock, the WWE HOFer and former IC Champion noted how much of himself he sees in "All Ego" Ethan Page. Now, these two are going to get a showcase title match on Saturday Night's Main Event, and based on the ingredients, it seems like a can't-miss match.

Penta's reign has been a delight, the kind of thing that would've seemed unimaginable just a year ago. So too is the success of Ethan Page, who went from "AEW Dark" regular to a cornerstone of "WWE NXT" programming for the last few years. Penta has never been a slouch in big matches, and Page has done nothing but step up and hit home runs since signing with WWE in 2024.

I honestly don't care who wins. I'm just happy to see the Intercontinental title back in a position of prominence again. First it was held hostage by GUNTHER in his audition for the world title scene, and then it was lost in the Liv/Dom vortex. The argument could be made that Mysterio outgrew the title long before he lost it, and now it's back where it belongs, in the hands of hungry midcarders who are ready to show up and show out for the "workhorse title" of WWE. It's a return to form for the title.

Written by Ross Berman