The SmackDown main event scene has been on fire recently, with no less than half a dozen future Hall of Famers all aiming for WWE’s top prize. Throw three the title changes over the summer, and there’s plenty of intrigue surrounding the WWE Championship as fall approaches.
At the center of much of this storyline is the last real good guy, Sami Zayn. After becoming WWE Champion for the first time at Night of Champions in late June, Zayn lost the title 9 days later when CM Punk magically appeared on an episode of Raw in Chicago. Sami became the low-key main character on SmackDown for the remainder of the summer, as his quest to regain the WWE Championship became the main story on Friday night.
With former world champions circling him like sharks, the two people Sami feels the breath on the back of his neck the most right now are CM Punk and Kevin Owens. With a deeply personal rivalry between these two, the WWE Champion tried to remind them that he is the one who holds the cards, and he is the one that really matters.
With less than 24 hours until they head into a Money in the Bank Ladder match against each other, CM Punk and Kevin Owens were able to get some things out of the way when they met in the ring tonight. Keep reading to find out how that and all the rest of the action unfolded on tonight’s Money in the Bank go-home edition of SmackDown!
Sami Zayn spits some truth
CM Punk made his way to the ring to open tonight’s action, joining three ladders set up inside. Punk started by climbing three-quarters of the way up a ladder, then ran onto the field for tomorrow night’s ladder match, giving props to four of his opponents. When Punk remembered that one of his hottest rivals at the moment was the sixth entrant in the match, he told the crowd that he wasn’t sweating KO, which, of course, prompted Owens to head to the ring.
Owens made his way to the ring and climbed his own ladder to reach CM Punk’s eye level. Both men explained why they would leave Nawlins tomorrow with the big green briefcase, but seemed more focused on how they would cost themselves the match. Owens laid out his plan to win the ladder match and take advantage of Sami Zayn, but calling the WWE Champion a bitch ultimately caused Sami to join the fray.
Sami came out and stood on a third ladder, a few rungs shorter than the ones KO and Punk were on. Zayn spit out a ton of truth and convincingly explained why the other two are pretty much the same person. He told Owens and Punk that they would both leave tomorrow night empty-handed, then dropped the mic, vowing to still be WWE Champion.
Later, Sami Zayn met Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae. Johnny Wrestling questioned why Sami didn’t help him advance during last week’s chaotic Money in the Bank qualifiers, and Sami said Nick Aldis warned him not to get involved. It was clearly first-class manipulation, and even though Johnny seemed to buy what Zayn was selling, Candice didn’t seem completely convinced.
As the trio discussed their next move, Bron Breakker entered. Bron didn’t need to say much to make his presence felt, only saying that he would see Sami soon. For Zayn, all this meant was another shark added to the thrill.
Reaction: Every week it seems like the number of contenders targeting Sami Zayn increases, and yet the WWE Champion continues to play chess while everyone else plays checkers. Sami’s message to KO and Punk seemed to be closer to a spoiler than a prediction, as their mutual hatred will almost certainly end up costing them both their chance at a guaranteed title shot tomorrow night. To Sami’s credit, he’s not just running away from all this commotion to protect his title reign. He’s actually trying to shout into a megaphone to make everyone respect him and realize that beating him for the title isn’t as easy as everyone makes it out to be. On the contrary, I am more and more convinced every week that This Zayn’s reign could turn out to be one of the most exciting and interesting we’ve seen in recent years.
The Vision becomes bouncy with cero miedo, and oops this Trick
With several Raw superstars set to appear on tonight’s show, SmackDown opened with Raw General Manager Adam Pearce upset that his talent was booked without his permission. While trying to get an explanation from his blue brand counterpart, United States Champion Trick Williams arrived with Lil’ Yachty in tow, looking to get a piece of the gingerbread man. (Yes, we still do that.) Bron Breakker interrupted, pissed that Aldis disrupted his strict Money in the Bank training schedule by bringing him to SmackDown. As Survivor Series approached, some undertones of “brand supremacy” led Adam Pearce to sign Bron vs. Trick for tonight’s main event, with Nick Aldis sarcastically making it “official”.
The match between these two former NXT rivals got off to a quick start (perhaps because the show was running out of time towards the end). Both Breakker and Trick moved quickly, reaching feature points in rapid succession. As Bron progressed to nearly 23 miles per hour running on the ropes, Trick avoided the spear and hit Breakker with a flying knee. Before the United States Champion could follow through and capitalize, Austin Theory arrived on the scene and the referee rang the bell. Maxxine and Logan Paul also appeared, and as The Vision launched into Trick, Je’Von Evans and Penta both came down for the save, but when the big Auss-zilla arrived on the scene, that damn numbers game was just too much. Bronson flattened Penta to the floor, then stomped Je’Von in the ring, allowing Breakker and Theory to regroup. The show abruptly cut off right after Trick took a Spear from Breakker and a Tsunami from Bronson.
Reaction: I thought it was a pretty strong way to end the series. Featuring two-thirds of the Money in the Bank field, plus the man who will face Oba Femi tomorrow, makes a lot of sense as a closing angle for the show. An appearance by the Sovereign would have blown the top of the arena and kicked the ending up a notch, but I still thought it was solid. The reverse momentum rule of the homecoming shows seems to make my Money in the Bank pick look good, but we’ll see. There’s really more than one way to go about this game tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to it more than I have in a few years.
Alexa hits Charlotte to win tag team gold
Reigning WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid of Fatal Influence were scheduled to defend their titles tonight against the odd-numbered duo of Charlotte Flair and Tatum Paxley. The circumstances surrounding the match were drastically changed when Jade Cargill, Michin and B-Fab launched a brutal backstage attack on Charlotte, leaving the Queen unable to compete. General manager Aldis suggested postponing the match, but Charlotte insisted that Alexa take her place and team up with Tatum, refusing to let Jade and her team waste this opportunity for Charlexley. Alexa reluctantly agreed and Aldis announced that Jade, her villains and Jacy Jayne were all banned from ringside for the title match.
The action in the tag team match was predictably solid, with Henley and Reid controlling much of the action early on. After being isolated on the wrong side of town, Tatum stormed out and returned to her corner, dispatching Alexa Bliss and her five feet of fury with a hot tag. Fatal Influence momentarily turned the tide in their favor, but got caught with their hands in the cookie jar when Lainey tried to give Fallon some extra leverage on her pin attempt. The referee caught the shenanigans and stopped the count, allowing Alexa to lay Lainey with a Sister Abigail on the floor and Tatum to hit a graveyard grab on Fallon in the ring. Just like that, we have new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions!
Reaction: This result seemed a bit telegraphed when Charlotte was injured, but it was still a pleasant surprise. Tatum’s character work has been a lot of fun since joining SmackDown, and a title run with Alexa could be a fun change of pace for the division. The obvious progression here makes me think this will spark some jealousy or resentment on Charlotte’s part, but I for one hope they find a way to avoid going down this straight path. I would hate the work Flair did to restore his image for nothing by performing an instinctive heel turn here. There’s a lot more character development to pursue if they take a less conventional route with this.
Orton has an off night, Cody collapses
We took a unique path until Cody Rhodes asked the Lafayette crowd what they wanted to talk about tonight. We saw a clip earlier today of The Miz and Kit Wilson talking to Nick Aldis. Just as Awesome One launched into a rant about no one wishing him a happy 46th birthday or celebrating his 20 years with the company, the SmackDown general manager caught Randy Orton out of the corner of his eye and left Miz mid-sentence. Aldis chastised Orton for his actions last week when he got involved in Cody’s Money in the Bank Qualifier. To prevent things from happening tonight, with a big PLE in less than 24 hours, Aldis followed Randy’s suggestion for the Viper to turn around and head home.
Back in real action, Miz and Kit Wilson entered the arena through the crowd while Cole and Graves discussed the Cody/Randy drama. The former WWE Champion and his protégé took to the ring, and just as Kit called the Lafayette faithful toxic and prepared to lead the live crowd in a rendition of “Happy Birthday,” we were reminded that wrestling has more than one royal family. Cody Rhodes walked to the ring without saying anything, much to Miz’s dismay. When Cody finally entered, he eliminated Miz and Kit and hijacked the microphone for himself.
Cody was dressed more like a gym instructor than a James Bond cosplayer tonight, which meant he was going to…
Gn entert
