In recent weeks, SmackDown has turned into The Sami Zayn Show. Still pissed that his first WWE Championship reign was cut off at the knees after only 9 days, Sami once again made sure that nobody else was going to get near the WWE Championship until he gets his come-up. Early on in this dabbling on the heel side that Sami has done lately, it was still a little difficult to be mad at him. Punk being magically dropped into a WWE Title match in Chicago earlier in the summer, objectively, wasn’t really
fair to the Last Real Good Guy. Having Kevin Owens and Gunther added to his #1 contender’s match at SummerSlam, again, probably didn’t give Sami a fair shake.
But now we’re getting to the part of the program where Sami gets fully enveloped by the darkness. Thousands of Canadians booed their fellow countryman last week when Sami nailed Kevin Owens with the WWE Championship and cost him his title match against CM Punk. It’s the continuation of a pattern with Sami, where instead of just venting to Nick Aldis or Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Resting backstage, he’s seeing red and making sure to get himself involved whenever the WWE Championship is even a small part of the equation.
Which brings us to tonight’s SmackDown.
Kevin Owens kicked off the show and addressed what happened last week with his long-time, on-again, off-again frenemy. Owens opened up and talked about how his return at SummerSlam came about. He then pivoted to talking about how his mom, who dealt with health problems a few years back, was actually able to make it to Toronto last week to watch him compete for the WWE Championship. Everything was going according to plan, and Sami ruined that. He said Zayn ruining that night for him is unforgivable, and he will deal with Sami eventually, but first, he wants another shot at CM Punk and the WWE Title.
Punk, who actually benefited from Sami’s shenanigans last week, stormed down to the ring, letting KO know that he’s got no problem fighting Owens again. Aldis sprinted in between them to keep the peace, but before anything could go down, Gunther joined the fray. After hurling a few one-liners at KO, Gunther was cut off by Finn Balor, who claimed that neither Gunther nor Owens has beaten him, so the line for the WWE Championship should start with him. Nick Aldis then wasted no time booking the night’s main event, a triple threat #1 contender’s match!
In the main event, Gunther got the festivities going early, attacking Finn Balor before he could even take his ring jacket off. The pace was frantic at the outset, with all three cats looking to end the match early. In typical Gunther fashion, the Ring General took control and slowed the match down, as he is wont to do. With three pros like KO, Gunther, and Finn, there were several dope sequences as you would expect. It looked like Finn was on his way to a win after hitting a Coup de Grace on Gunther, but Sami pulled Finn off the cover at a 2-count. Sami then sent Finn flying over the announce table and dropped referee Dan Engler, who was down on the floor trying to break things up. KO then seemed to be on the doorstep himself, hitting Gunther with a Stunner. Referee Darryl “don’t-call-me-Adrian-Butler” Sharma ran down, and Sami was there to cut him off at the pass.
With two referees and the three competitors all down, CM Punk came down and made a beeline for Sami. Their brawl ended up back in the ring, where Punk and Owens crossed paths again. After a quick exchange of blows, Sami hit for the cycle and took out Owens, Balor, Gunther, and Punk in succession, with WWE Title shots to the skull. Zayn was the last one standing, WWE Championship belt in hand, as SmackDown went off the air.
Reaction: Sami’s slippin’, man. Gunther briefly wrapping him in a Sleeper had thousands of Zayn’s fellow Canadians cheering louder than they had for almost the whole SmackDown broadcast. I get the outcome they were striving for here, but having the main event of your show, which featured only four matches, end with a non-finish when there shouldn’t have been any disqualifications is just a little unsatisfying. It feels like the beef between Finn and Gunther is building to a showdown, which makes me think we might be heading towards a Punk/Zayn/Owens triple threat. This is also a time when I wish WWE wasn’t so rigid with some of their stipulation-centered PLEs, because this situation is set up perfectly for an Elimination Chamber match. Next week’s show will serve as a go-home for Sunday Night’s Main Event, but I would imagine any major matches involving these five will be pushed back to later in September or held off until Money in the Bank in October.
Cody & Randy get personal, don’t touch each other
Before Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton had their scheduled face-to-face in the ring, and after a video package recapped their last few weeks of confrontations and reminded us that they aren’t allowed to touch each other before their match, a pensive American Daydream Nightmare was approached backstage by Finn Balor. Cody and Finn vowed to take care of their respective business and see each other on the other side, with the WWE Championship up for grabs.
A few minutes later, Kingdom serenaded the Ottawa crowd, and Cody Rhodes asked them what they wanted to talk about, looking dapper in a checkered pink suit. Rhodes wasted no time addressing the Viper, calling out young Randy Orton’s mistakes and accusing the 14-time champ of not having broad enough shoulders to take any accountability for his mistakes. Right as Cody was about to emphatically say he was going to kill the Legend Killer next weekend, Orton interrupted and joined Rhodes in the ring.
Orton flat-out admitted that he didn’t take any accountability when he was younger. He discussed how Cody basically volunteered to be his bitch all those years ago, making sure Randy was tucked in safely in every town they traveled to. Then, knowing that Cody couldn’t touch him, Randy took the gloves off. Hoping to push Rhodes over the edge, Orton brought up Cody’s (still-living) dog Pharaoh, his trailer-park trash mom, and his trashy-ass wife, Brandy. Randy’s words, not mine! With his face redder than the Raw logo, Cody showed that he could play Randy’s game and, after casually bringing up how his dad was a legend, referred to Orton’s dad as a screw-up. After all that, no physical contact, and the match is still on for next Sunday night.
Reaction: I’m on board with Randy being hell-bent on making sure Cody doesn’t win the WWE Title again. That angle makes sense in a lot of ways. As for tonight’s angle, I’m not usually a huge fan of making things so personal by cheaply bringing up each other’s families, but with the no-touch stipulation, it makes sense that they went down that path. It probably serves the story they’re trying to tell a bit better than a long, drawn-out promo battle would have. With that being said, my level of excitement for the Orton/Rhodes match is at about a 6 right now, and I’m not sure what they can do next week to bring that any higher.
Nia Jax pins the Interim Women’s Champ
Almost as quickly as she became the Interim WWE Women’s Champion at SummerSlam, Chelsea Green suffered a broken orbital bone in a tag match on SmackDown less than a week later. Green put her comedic chops aside and cut an impassioned promo the following week when GM Nick Aldis regretfully made the decision to strip her of the title due to that injury. Chelsea’s plea convinced Nick to give her some time – 30 days, to be exact – to get medically cleared so she could defend her title, much to the delight of Chelsea, the thousands of people in the arena, and most people watching at home. Then, last week, Chelsea ran down to the ring (wearing crazy stilettos no less) to save her newfound bestie, Tiffany Stratton, from an Irresistible Forces beatdown.
Tonight, Green was medically cleared enough to team up with Tiffy to take on Nia and Lash in a tag team match. Right before heading down, Tiffany expressed concern about Chelsea wrestling before her face had a chance to completely heal, giving her partner an out if she wanted it, but the interim Women’s Champ insisted on competing.
Between the bells, Tiffany Stratton spent most of the time in the ring for her team. Early on, after Chelsea had tagged herself in, Nia hit her with a big Samoan headbutt to the champ’s bedazzled face mask, visibly rocking Green. A little later, after Chelsea got in the ring to break up a pinfall, Nia drove her knee into Chelsea’s face, sending her painfully to the outside. Medical staff came to ringside to check on her, which left Tiffany to basically compete in a handicap match. Just when it appeared the decision had been made to pull Chelsea, Green sprinted back to the ring and tagged herself in with a head of steam, taking out both Nia and Lash and giving Tiffany a much needed reprieve.
Moments later, though, Jax and Legend proved to be too much. Lash wiped out Tiffany outside the ring, and Nia landed an Annihilator on Chelsea inside to pick up the win. Nia dropped in on Nick Aldis’ office later in the night and threatened to take the Women’s Title by force if she’s not given a title match against Chelsea in the next two weeks.
Reaction: While I truly appreciate the effort being put into building Chelsea up as a big-time babyface, I’m just not thrilled about her getting pinned in another tag team match, the second time in the four weeks she’s been champion. I get it. Booking 101 says that you build up a heel challenger so that the babyface champion beating them means something, so I’ll be patient with this one. It’s looking like Nia’s lined up for a title shot in the coming weeks, and I will hold out hope that Green prevails in that one, but I still hate seeing Chelsea lose like this.
Jacy retains, Nikki returns
Paige returned to the blue brand last week after being turned on by the Bellas at SummerSlam. After engaging in a multi-week pre-taped promo battle with Nikki while waiting for the lone healthy Bella to show up in person, Paige came face-to-face with the two women who beat her for the tag titles at SummerSlam, Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid, as well as the new Women’s United States Champion, Jacy Jayne. That confrontation led Jayne to agree to defend her title against Paige, and the match was signed for tonight’s show.
Paige was able to get a bit of offense in on Jacy, who once again seemed to choose her ring gear from the 90’s Heartbreak Kid collection, but that damn numbers game proved to be too much. Fallon and Lainey both got up on the ring apron on opposite sides and distracted Paige, allowing Jacy to roll her up and pick up the win to retain the Women’s United States Title.
As Fatal Influence celebrated and retreated up the ramp, Nikki Bella finally made her return and jumped Paige from behind, focusing a bit on Paige’s surgically repaired neck. After taunting the crowd and hitting a Rack Attack 2.0, Nikki mounted Paige and put her hand on her neck again, seeming to issue a warning to the former Divas Champ.
Reaction: Oof. First, the positives. Fatal Influence came out of this segment looking pretty good. They all have a presence and a certain charisma that makes them believable as heels. Putting gold on all three of them, I think, is going to turn out to be a pretty good booking decision. Then, there’s the Paige/Nikki feud. I’m probably middle of the road when it comes to these two being featured performers in the year 2026. I don’t hate it, but I’m not clamoring for it either. I can’t help but wonder what the plan was for this feud before Brie got hurt, because a Paige/Nikki Bella match isn’t something I’m particularly excited for.
Quick Hits
- Danhausen is back! The Very Nice, Very Evil one welcomed Nick Aldis back to the SmackDown GM’s office but was interrupted before long by Gunther. After the Ring General shrugged off Danhausen and got confirmation from Aldis that he wouldn’t make changes to the #1 contender’s match as he did at SummerSlam, Danhausen shot his shot to try to get himself added. Aldis, unfortunately, declined his request. Fortunately for all involved, nobody was cursed.
- A little over a week before facing United States Champ Baron Corbin at
SaturdaySunday Night’s Main Event, Lil’ Yachty tried to convince his buddy Trick Williams that him wrestling a match with Corbin is a good idea. Yachty’s sales pitch seemed to work, and Trick Willy seemed fully on board. As Yachty took off to hit the gym, Corbin pulled up on Trick and told the former champ that Yachty doesn’t stand a chance next weekend. Corbin then dropped the quote of the day and walked off with his still-furry United States Title belt in tow. - As Byron Saxton got some words from Rey Fenix on his #1 contender’s match with Penta on Monday, Ricky Starks pulled up, wondering how much longer the AAA Cruiserweight Champion was going to duck him. A future match between Fenix and Starks is definitely intriguing. While I have thoroughly enjoyed all the matches in the Roman Reigns Invitational Tournament, I wish they hadn’t telegraphed Penta winning the thing the entire time.
- As the odd throuple of Tatum Paxley, Charlotte Flair, and Alexa Bliss continued to work on their communication and chemistry, the Blisster revealed that they will team up to take on Jade Cargill’s crew next Sunday in Atlanta. Flair and Bliss would then accompany Tatum to the ring for her in-ring SmackDown debut against Michin. Tatum would hit the Cemetery Drive to pick up the win!
- Speaking of new additions to SmackDown’s women’s division, Jackie interviewed Blake Monroe and asked her why she chose to jeopardize her own debut last week by attacking Giulia before the bell. Blake responded by saying that she did it because that match was beneath her. After saying she’d hold off on actually competing until there was a match that was worthy of her, the Beautiful Madness attacked. Security pulled Giulia off, leaving the Glamour beaten and perturbed. I’ll be curious to see if Blake still thinks a match with Giulia is beneath her…
- Tama and Talla cut a pre-taped promo, taunting Priest and R-Truth and threatening Shinsuke Nakamura and Kyoki. Haku closed it out by dropping his motherf*cking Tongans line again. Priest was watching in the locker room, and Truth joined him. Just as Priest was trying to let Truth down easy so he could pursue singles gold, the AAA Tag Team Champions, the War Raiders, walked in. After a back-and-forth, the champs challenged Wepa Up to a title match when SmackDown hits Mexico City in two weeks. Truth was gung-ho, and Priest was reluctant at first, but eventually agreed to one more ride with Truth.
- As for Shinsuke and Kyoki, who will officially go by Bakusai in WWE, they were booked for their tag team debut after an unzombified Kit Wilson and Miz stormed into Aldis’ office, saying the GM owes them. That tag match will go down next week!
- After reportedly being lined up to face each other at WrestleMania 41 before KO’s injury, Randy Orton and Kevin Owens came face-to-face briefly backstage. Orton begrudgingly admitted to Owens that he was right all along about Cody Rhodes. Owens, relieved to hear that, seemed genuinely interested in rekindling their friendship, but Randy made it clear that he hadn’t forgotten how KO dropped him on his head.
Final Thoughts
There wasn’t a bad showing from the blue brand, but I can’t help but think that some segments and angles just don’t get much of a chance to breathe in the two-hour format. It’s the same thing that regularly afflicts NXT for me, in that they have a lot to cram into two hours, and everything feels a little bit rushed. The thing that drops this to C territory for me was the ending of the main event. I’m on board with Sami’s current story, but a non-finish like that in a match that is supposed to have no disqualifications just doesn’t sit right with me. They could’ve accomplished a similar end goal in other ways. I also don’t think the crowd helped. They were fine on Raw on Monday, but tonight’s two hours were taped after that show, and you could tell that the crowd was pretty tired by the end of SmackDown.
Grade: C+
Star of the Night: Tatum Paxley
It was Tatum Tuesday on a Friday, as the newest addition to the SmackDown roster wrestled in and won her first match on the blue brand before Blake Monroe could do the same, despite Blake having about a month’s head start.
Match Results
- Nia Jax & Lash Legend def. Chelsea Green & Tiffany Stratton
- Jacy Jayne def. Paige to retain the Women’s United States Championship
- Tatum Paxley def. Michin
- Gunther vs. Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor ends without a winner
Now it’s your turn, Cagesiders! When will Sami Zayn get another WWE Title shot? Excited for Sunday Night’s Main Event next weekend? Let us know what you think in the comments below!
