Heel Turn At WWE SummerSlam 2026

Published: 3 hours ago by Liam | Last Updated: 2 hours ago by Liam

Liam has been reporting & analyzing wrestling news for over eight years, and is currently the Managing Editor at WrestleTalk.com. Immersed in wrestling for 18 years, he has over 11,000 published articles in addition to leading and overseeing WrestleTalk.com's coverage.

WWE

A heel turn has taken place during night one of the WWE SummerSlam 2026 premium live event tonight, Saturday, August 1.

Tonight’s show played host to a six-woman tag team match with Fatal Influence facing the Bella Twins and Paige, with Nikki Bella making her in-ring return.

Back at WrestleMania 42 in April, the Bella Twins were set to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Title, but Nikki suffered an injury just a few weeks before the match, and Paige was brought in as her replacement for her first WWE match since 2017.

Paige and Brie Bella then won the title but their reign ended recently when they lost to Fatal Influence’s Lainey Reid and Fallon Henley.

Tonight’s match saw Nikki finally return alongside Brie and Paige to face Reid, Henley and Fatal Influence leader Jacy Jayne.

Fatal Influence scored the win with Jayne pinning Paige.

After the match, with Paige and the Bellas left in the ring, the Bellas ambushed Paige and attacked her, turning heel in the process.

Bella Twins Back On Track As Heels In WWE

Nikki Bella recently spoke how she was picking up some good momentum as a heel in WWE, but that momentum stopped when Brie Bella returned and they were reunited as the Bella Twins.

Naturally, Brie’s return was a feel good moment and they were babyfaces coming out of it, but Nikki was on her own path that essentially got interrupted by Brie’s comeback.

Tonight’s turn on Paige signals a return to the best form of the Bella Twins, that being them as heels.

Of course they’re massively popular and have a large following of fans, but in the grand scheme of things, they are better suited as heels and it’s a positive thing all around that they’re now heading back in that direction.

This move also builds up some sympathy for Paige and should hopefully get the fans on her side even more following her big comeback at WrestleMania, which has kind of gone under the radar since that weekend.

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