WWE Friday Night SmackDown Review: 28/08

Kevin Owens Starts the Show, Chelsea Green and Tiffany Stratton VS The Irresistible Forces

After a recap of last week’s episode, this week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown kicked off with Kevin Owens talking about how last week was supposed to be perfect! Kevin had done everything right to beat CM Punk for the Undisputed WWE Championship in Canada, in front of his family, which includes his Mom, who struggles to get to events nowadays! However, Owens’ moment got ruined by Sami Zayn, someone who obviously knows KO’s family very well, and this is what makes last week’s loss so hard! CM Punk would then storm out in response to Kevin’s comments about having The Best in the World beat last week, whilst Gunther would also interrupt as he still wants to get his hands on the WWE Title! Finn Balor clearly felt the exact same way, with Nick Aldis happy to book a Number 1 Contender’s Match for the show’s Main Event! Not sure that this was exactly the fairest way to deal with this situation, but you do you, Nick!

Grade: C+

After Chelsea Green told Tiffany Stratton that she’s okay to go, Chelsea and Tiffany teamed up to take on The Irresistible Forces in the opening match of the night! Early on, Chelsea got hurt, with the doctors having to check on the WWE Women’s Champion by taking her to the back! Of course, this left Stratton massively vulnerable, so Green ran back down to help her friend! This was kind of stupid, however, as Lash Legend and Nia Jax were just able to pick off the Babyfaces, with Jax pinning Green to set up a potential Title match down the line! Even as Champion, Chelsea loses!

Grade: C

Women’s United States Championship: Jacy Jayne VS Paige, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton Come Face-to-Face, Michin VS Tatum Paxley

Credit: WWE

Danhausen was happy to see Nick Aldis back in charge of SmackDown, whilst Gunther is fed up with Nick making things harder for him! Having Danhausen and Gunther in the same segment was a wonderful idea, as was DH asking Aldis to add him to the Number 1 Contender’s Match! Jacy Jayne was then set for her first defence of the Women’s United States Championship as she took on Paige! If I remember correctly, Paige had backup in the form of Chelsea Green and Tiffany Stratton in her backstage segment with Fatal Influence a little bit ago, but due to them wrestling earlier in the night, Paige had to go alone! This would ultimately become too much of a hurdle for the Brit to overcome, with Jacy Jayne stealing away with the victory after interference from Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid! After the match was over, Nikki Bella attacked Paige to further that storyline!

Grade: C

Finn Balor told Cody Rhodes that he needs to stay calm tonight, whilst Lil Yachty got Trick Williams fired up about his plan to help Trick leave Sunday Night’s Main Event as a 2-time United States Champion! Baron Corbin thought all of this was stupid before we moved on to more important things as Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton came face-to-face! Of course, Nick Aldis made it crystal clear last week that if either guy lays a finger on their rival, they won’t be getting another shot at the Undisputed WWE Championship ever again, so Randy decided to play mind games by verbally attacking Cody in regards to his family, and even his dead dog! Rhodes actually did a pretty good job of staying calm, whilst The American Nightmare would end the segment with a verbal jab of his own! Whilst I’m not interested in this feud at all, this was a good segment!

Credit: WWE

Grade: B

Charlotte Flair continues to question why she’s hanging out with Tatum Paxley, whilst Ricky Saints return to TV to tell Rey Fenix to stop ducking him in regards to a shot at the AAA World Cruiserweight Championship! Tatum then made her SmackDown in-ring debut as she went one-on-one with Michin! I thought that this match was fine; I like Tatum, whilst Michin is underrated! However, Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair’s acting has been terrible as a duo over the past year, and adding Paxley to the equation has seemingly only made it worse! Also, the fact that we’re going to get a 6-Woman Tag match at Sunday Night’s Main Event makes that show even less watchable than before, so that’s a problem! On a positive note, Paxley won this match with Cemetery Drive, so that’s a good thing!

Grade: C

Blake Monroe continues to say that she’s only going to make her debut against someone who deserves her spotlight, so Giulia decided to punch her in the face for it! Valid! Kevin Owens would then make me laugh by agreeing with Randy Orton over Cody Rhodes, whilst MFT seem pretty badass nowadays (with big thanks to Haku)! Damian Priest then wanted him and R-Truth to go their separate ways, but Truth wouldn’t, as The War Raiders were willing to put their AAA World Tag Team Championships on the line against them! Nia Jax then made it clear to Nick Aldis that she’d better get her WWE Women’s Title shot soon, whilst The Miz and Kit Wilson will finally return to in-ring action next week!

Undisputed WWE Championship Number 1 Contender’s Triple Threat: Finn Balor VS Kevin Owens VS Gunther

And in the Main Event of this week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, and Gunther collided in a Triple Threat match to earn their way to a future Undisputed WWE Championship opportunity! Whilst I still felt like this match didn’t make a ton of sense, it was pretty decent, with the final couple of minutes by far the most notable! Finn Balor looked to have the match won with a Coup de Grace to Gunther, but he got pulled out of the ring by Sami Zayn before Sami decked the referee! Kevin Owens would then deliver a Stunner to The Ring General, but whilst the new referee was running down to the ring, he too got wiped out by Zayn! CM Punk would then arrive to start a brawl with Sami, with Zayn eventually winning that too as he stood tall over every single wrestler, with the match just ending as a no contest! A bit of a strange way to end the show, but it made Sami look good!

Credit: WWE

Grade: B-