SmackDown airs tonight (Sept. 26) with a live show emanating from Kia Center in Orlando, Florida. This is the first episode of SmackDown during the three week build towards Crown Jewel, which takes place
on October 11 in Australia.
Oh look, it’s another WWE championship match for Nia Jax
Earlier this month, Jade Cargill’s rematch for the WWE women’s championship ended in a double count out after she speared Tiffany Stratton through a ringside barricade. Before there was any time to process what happened, Nia Jax showed up out of nowhere to attack both women and flatten the champ with an Annihilator. Tiffany needed a little time off to recover, but now we have a 3-way title match scheduled for tonight between Jax, Cargill, and Stratton.
Jax has already failed to win the belt back from Stratton in three previous championship matches during her current title reign. They fought over the belt on episodes of SmackDown in February, May, and June, and Stratton walked out of each match as champion. The most recent bout on that list was a Last Woman Standing match, which cemented the idea the Jax simply isn’t the one who will beat Stratton for the gold. It’s worth noting that Jax also lost a match challenging for Rhea Ripley’s women’s world championship earlier this year on Saturday Night’s Main Event.
In other words, Nia may be big and bad, but the fans have already seen that she should no longer be challenging Stratton for the belt. That’s why it’s hard to get excited about WWE’s decision to book her in yet another title match on SmackDown. Is Jax primarily here so that Stratton can retain the title without Cargill taking a fall?
Tune into SmackDown tonight to see if Tiffy Time can keep her 2025 undefeated streak going and move on to face Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer for the Crown Jewel Championship in Australia next month.
The rest of the card
Kiana James and Women’s United States Champion Giulia are booked in a tag team match tonight against Michin and B-Fab. If the idea is to get Michin a win so she can earn a rematch for the gold, then maybe she pins Kiana in this one.
Other stuff to keep an eye on
– Drew McIntyre has a legitimate gripe with Ryan Tran’s terrible refereeing that helped WWE Champion Cody Rhodes retain the gold at Wrestlepalooza. Will Drew demand a championship rematch at Crown Jewel? Will Randy Orton show up tonight to complain about the same ref getting in the way when he fought Drew a couple weeks ago on SmackDown?
– If there is time for another Sami Zayn open challenge tonight, will The Miz answer the call so he can show Carmelo Hayes how to actually get the job done and become the new United States champion?
– Maybe I misheard him, but I thought Solo Sikoa said last week that said Tonga Loa is the last one standing by his side. Uh, what about JC Mateo and Talla Tonga? Are they already being repackaged? Anyway, Solo said he wants to make sure that Loa becomes a champion. But where does Jacob Fatu stand in all of this? Is he looking to move on from the MFTs already, or does he still plan to kick all their asses?
– How is Chelsea Green’s search going for a new member of the Secret Hervice now that Piper Niven is out injured?
– Bo Dallas is still trying to drive a wedge between the Street Profits. He did so last week by pointing out that Montez Ford wouldn’t even let Angelo Dawkins speak last week after B-Fab told them to get on the same page. Erick Rowan then tried to drive a hammer through them with an attack from behind. Will one of the Profits get to fight him in a singles match tonight?
– Do WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair need to head over to the red brand to find better competition, or does GM Nick Aldis have a good idea for their next challengers on SmackDown?
– Damian Priest showed off his toxic masculinity last week when he slammed Kit Wilson through a wall backstage instead of finding a more peaceful outlet for his aggression and anger. Was that good enough to convince Aldis to give Priest a rematch against Aleister Black? Who will slam Kit through a wall tonight?
– Does part-timer Brock Lesnar get to go away for a while after reuniting with Paul Heyman and practically squashing John Cena at Wrestlepalooza?
– R-Truth taught the Motor City Machine Guns how to use the ESPN app to watch WWE PLEs last week. What lesson will he have for MCMG when he finds them backstage in catering tonight?
– Where the f*** is Bianca Belair?
What will you be looking for on SmackDown?
