WWE SmackDown on Aug. 21, 2026, took place at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, and featured an Undisputed Championship match between CM Punk and Kevin Owens.
This week’s show continued the build to the upcoming Saturday – no, Sunday Night’s Main Event. The show featured two championship matches and an opening promo segment with Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton. The crowd stayed alive throughout, making for a solid Friday night show.
Here’s the top takeaways from this week’s show:
MFT retain tag titles vs. Damian Preist, R-Truth
MFT has a new meaning, apparently. During a quick backstage look, Tama and Talla Tonga cut a quick promo as they were talking toward the ring. Then Haku showed up on screen, and made sure his boys were on point by saying it was time to show everyone who the "motherf*cking Tongans"
are. I can't express how dope it is to see Haku back on TV regularly.
The rematch for the titles got underway, and this was a fun one. Toronto loved the action, giving "this is awesome" chants once things got cooking. This felt like a title match that meant something to both teams, because the effort felt elevated. MFT ended things after hitting a Red Cross double-team finisher to retain the titles.
The MFTs made Haku proud 💪 pic.twitter.com/lOMHpgoqTP
— WWE (@WWE) August 22, 2026
After the match, there was a pump fake heel turn for Preist, as the cameras stuck with the losing squad in the ring. It was one of those moments where Priest appeared upset with his partner, but ultimately decided to embrace him, and there was no sudden attack.
Here's to hoping WWE keeps MFT rolling strong with Haku by their side, because this feels like a dominant team. I get menacing throwback tag team vibes with a powerful mastermind as the third man. Great stuff here.
Oh, and they have future foes loading in Shinsuke Nakamura and Kyoki:
LISTEN UP, MFTS! 😤
— WWE (@WWE) August 22, 2026
Kyoki and @ShinsukeN have a message... pic.twitter.com/2kHpg6VVv0
Blake Monroe's non-debut
After randomly attacking people and enjoying catering for weeks since being announced as call-up to the main roster, Blake Monroe was finally set for her in-ring debut against Giulia.
Giulia entered first, and before she could make it to the ring, Monroe attacked her from behind. The attack continued into the ring, where she hit a Neutralizer before being sent away by the referee.
A memorable debut for Blake Monroe! #WWE #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/guUPRvo3VX
— USA Network (@USANetwork) August 22, 2026
The bell never rang, so there was no match. So, Monroe still has not had a match on the main roster.
It's funny and sad how this played out because I saw a tweet earlier in the day that predicted Monroe's debut would only last four minutes and end in a DQ. Very close, but it was actually less than two minutes, and the match never started. This just shows the sad state of creative right now. Monroe gets called up with no direction. Giulia has been completely fumbled. Yikes.
Lil Yachty set for in-ring debut
Speaking of head-scratching debuts, how about another one?
A promo segment with Trick Williams, Lil Yachty and Baron Corbin led to the booking of a match between Yachty and Corbin. Williams wanted a rematch for the United States Championship (which Corbin didn't bring to the ring with him because he said it was getting a "pretty little haircut"), and Corbin agreed after being attacked, only if Yachty could last five minutes in the ring with him at SNME.
"YOU'RE ON!"@lilyachty has accepted the challenge and will take on Baron Corbin at Sunday Night's Main Event! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/YYgFceoFxh
— WWE (@WWE) August 22, 2026
OK.
When WWE was forcing celebrities like Jelly Roll down our throats by putting him in the ring way too often, Yachty was an exception because he was a natural fit as a manager for Williams. One would hope that role wouldn't expand into a singles match, but of course it did. At least this is clearly being positioned as Yachty having no business being in the ring with Corbin. We'll see how this plays out. If Yachty actually shows up with some decent moves, then maybe we can revisit how this looks moving forward, but right now, it looks bad when actual wrestlers on the roster can't get time in the ring.
Sami Zayn ruins Kevin Owens' title chance vs. CM Punk
The main event of this week's show was a match for the WWE Undisputed Championship between champ CM Punk and challenger Kevin Owens.
The intensity was apparent before the match began, as Punk and Owens tried to get their hands on each other before the introductions. Right after, the match began with a hockey fight and remained intense between two of the company's top names.
Things really kicked off after the ref took a double bump by getting sandwiched in the corner, and then bumped out of the ring to the floor.
The ref is OUT! 😨 pic.twitter.com/xkU8KXaJmO
— WWE (@WWE) August 22, 2026
While the ref was down, Owens hit a stunner and Punk hit a GTS, but there was no ref to count. Sami Zayn appeared and attacked Punk from behind while the ref was down. He sent Punk into the ring, where he was hit with another stunner. Zayn rolled the ref into the ring, but Punk kicked out.
Zayn then gave the title to Owens to use on Punk, but he said he didn't want to win that way. Zayn then decided to hit Owens with the title, which of course, cost him the match.
What are you doing, @SamiZayn?! 😳 pic.twitter.com/Gsw43CUaaR
— WWE (@WWE) August 22, 2026
Punk's post-match celebration was cut short by Zayn, who used the title to hit Punk and Owens.
This was a hell of a match for a Friday night. It could have closed a PLE, and fans would have been happy with the drama. Sure, it didn't feel like a spot where Punk would drop the title, and he didn't, but with how everything unfolded, the outcome made sense. Zayn is going to throw wrenches in the title picture for a while, it seems – and that's fine for now.
Full match results
- (C) MFT def. Damian Priest, R-Truth via pinfall– tag team championship match
- Lash Legend def. Tiffany Stratton via pinfall
- (C) CM Punk def. Kevin Owens via pinfall – WWE Undisputed Championship match
This article originally appeared on Wrestling Junkie: WWE SmackDown takeaways: Two incredible title matches and a non-debut
