Smackdown – 09.04.26

By Niz on 4 September 2026

Last week on Smackdown – Sami Zayn menaces the main event yet again!

Smackdown was recorded last weekend along with this week’s Raw that Kat covered – it’s linked right up there! The show comes to the USA/Netflix airwaves from Rocket Arena in Cleveland, OH. The announce team for tonight’s show consists of Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett on match calls and analysis, Mark Nash on ring introductions, and Cathy Kelley and Byron Saxton on interviews and news. Will Sami Zayn wreck his third main event in a row? Let’s watch some wrestling!

Here’s GUNTHER out to start the show and he gets to the ring in record time for him. After some pacing back and forth, GUNTHER says he’s been looking for Sami Zayn all day and Zayn appears to be hiding. GUNTHER promises the show won’t continue until Zayn appears, and here’s Sami Zayn in the crowd to say he’s keeping his distance from everyone because of his broken hand. Zayn says everyone is pissed at him lately so he wants everyone to have some perspective about who the real victim is. Zayn claims he was robbed of the WWE Championship and it should be in the hands of the Last Real Good Guy. Zayn reminds everyone that CM Punk is still champion and he doesn’t deserve to breathe the same air as Zayn. All Zayn wants is a chance to get his title back, and he couldn’t believe he wasn’t included in the number one contenders match he wrecked last week. Zayn vows to wreck any contenders matches and doesn’t care who he steps on in that regard. GUNTHER says he’s heard enough and vows to come drag Zayn to the ring, and here’s Finn Balor out near Zayn in the crowd to say he’s getting his justice right now. Zayn flies towards the ring with Balor just behind, and here’s Kevin Owens out to also chase Zayn through the WWE UNIVERSE.

Here’s WWE Men’s Undisputed Champion CM Punk backstage being approached by Smackdown GM Nick Aldis. Aldis says they can’t keep doing this and Punk understands that while he wants Zayn’s ass, Aldis can’t be seen as rewarding bad behavior. Punk pauses next to Sad John Wrestling and Candice LeRae to put a word in the native Clevelander’s semi-catatonic ear. Punk wants to know if Gargano fought his entire career to lay on a box, and LeRae says she’s been trying for months to get Gargano to respond, and Punk says he has a few tricks. Punk calls Gargano “Cleveland’s favorite son” and offers up a title shot TONIGHT. Gargano remains motionless, so LeRae begs for a few more minutes, but a look back reveals Gargano standing and approaching Punk before saying “Let’s do it!”. An ecstatic LeRae stands next to the now-smiling Gargano as Punk seems very happy with this development.

Fatal Influence is out next lead by WWE Women’s US Champion Jacy Jayne. We go to commercials.

Tessitore confirms that Punk-Gargano for the title is official for the main event when the show returns. Charlotte Flair is backstage and is told by Alexa Bliss that she’ll be teaming with Tatum Paxley tonight, and Flair wants Paxley to let her run the show out in the ring.

WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Lainey Reid and Fallon Henley vs Charlotte Flair and Tatum Paxley

Alexa Bliss accompanies Paxley and Flair, and Jayne remains at ringside with Reid and Henley. The match graphic for the women’s trios match at Sunday Night’s Main Event comes up during Flair, Bliss, and Paxley’s journey to the ring. It’s Reid and Paxley to start and Reid takes the immediate advantage with a kick to Paxley’s gut. Reid smashes Paxley into the Fatal corner and Paxley fights her way out before Henley descends to drive Paxley into a Reid shoulder-breaker. Henley covers for two. We go to an immediate break.

Paxley nails Henley with a superkick and tags in Flair when the show returns. Flair nails Reid and Henley with a cross-body and chops away at both of the tag champs. Flair nails Reid with her walkover clothesline and batters Reid in a corner. Flair goes to the apron and drives a shoulder into a charging Reid. Flair grabs a roll-up on Reid for two and then dumps her over before Henley charges in for a fall-away slam. Flair nips up and makes a “we want the belts” motion before crushing Reid with Natural Selection. Paxley gets a tag and crushes Reid and Henley with a top rope cross-body to the floor. Paxley scares Jayne off the apron and Bliss flies around to drive Jayne face-first into a ring post. Flair blasts Henley with a kick and Reid wins a standing switch battle before rolling Paxley up for two. Reid gets pushed into a Flair high boot and Paxley yanks Reid into the Cemetery Drive which ends things.

That’s an interesting booking decision but the match itself felt rushed as hell. Smackdown’s heel women at this point are the Bellas, Jade Cargill’s crew, and Fatal, and I guess Fatal not being directly involved in a feud meant they had to be sacrificed to give QBT some shine going into Sunday Night’s Main Event. I don’t think anyone was even breathing hard at the end of this. 2*

Winners – Flair/Paxley (Cemetery Drive on Reid)

Post-match sees Jade Cargill, Michin, and B-Fab attack and they and Fatal destroy Flair, Bliss, and Paxley before Fatal leave the fallen babyfaces to Cargill’s crew. They continue to destroy QBT and Flair ends up getting waffled by Jaded.

Tessitore throws to highlights of last week’s Paige-Jacy Jayne title match that saw Jayne retain with a quick roll-up before Nikki Bella showed up post-match to attack Paige. Here’s Nikki Bella with Cathy Kelley and Bella tells the people who think she took things too far that Paige is a “D-grade skank” that should have never been trusted. Here’s Paige in to tell Kelley to hang out while she berates Bella about not liking her since day one because she built her career on hustle, loyalty, and respect while Bella just “slept with it”. Paige promises to end Bella’s career quicker than her last relationship.

Here’s Nick Aldis being confronted by GUNTHER about having to take care of Sami Zayn by himself. GUNTHER is upset about Johnny Gargano getting a title shot and thinks that this crazy decision is caused by Aldis wanting the spotlight he had a taste of when he took on GUNTHER at Summerslam. Aldis blows this off and says he’s got some important business to take care of with the Women’s championship before exiting. Here’s Danhausen in to say hi to GOONER and tell him he knows exactly how he feels. Danhausen wraps a hand around GUNTHER’s shoulder and has it summarily removed. GUNTHER exits and Danhausen shakes his hurting arm before turning over a photo on Aldis’s desk with a taped “Employee of the Month” sticker under Danhausen’s smiling visage. We go to a break.

Nick Aldis is mid-ring when the show returns, and he has Dr. Woodruff with him to chat about the Chelsea Green injury situation. Aldis brings out WWE Women’s Champion Chelsea Green and she’s out in gear and with her mask. Highlights are shown of Green and Tiffany Stratton losing to Nia Jax and Lash Legend last week. Green says she doesn’t care what the doctor has to say because she’s already stated her case. Green says she’s pissed and as a reminder she is still the champion. Green orders Aldis to not take this away from her and she realizes she’s wearing a target. Green says if the women in the locker room think she’s easy to beat they’re welcome to try. Green says she’s more concerned about her legacy than her safety. Aldis says it’s his job to be concerned about Green’s safety but it’s not his job anymore. The doctor says Green’s orbital bone is healing and it’s his opinion that as long as she wears her mask, she’s cleared to compete. This immediately brings out Nia Jax and Lash Legend as Jax is ecstatic over this development. Jax states her claim on the title and wants a match right now or she’ll break Green’s other orbital bone. Legend and Jax surround Green and Aldis intervenes. Here’s Tiffany Stratton out to attack Jax before dropping Legend with a backstabber. Aldis says Jax can have her title match in Mexico City next week, but since Stratton is dressed for war, she can fight Jax right now. We go to commercials.

Nia Jax vs Tiffany Stratton

We’re joined in progress with Jax in control, as Legend and Green pace at ringside. Jax is in control but Stratton fights her way out with a jawbreaker. Jax misses a charge and runs into a Stratton rana and basement dropkick that get two. Jax dumps Stratton over the top rope and then drops Stratton with a powerbomb that gets two. Jax ascends and Stratton dumps her down before covering and getting two. Stratton tries some lariats to no effect but Stratton’s two cutters seem to stun Jax. Stratton grabs a crucifix for two and Stratton drags Jax into position before being confronted by Legend. This gives Jax time to recover. Jax nails Stratton with a Samoan Drop before yanking Stratton into position for the Annihilator. This ends things in a hurry.

Stratton has been taking a lot of lumps on Green’s behalf lately and you begin to wonder when she’s going to tire of it. Not a lot to this, as you can see. 1.5*

Winner – Nia Jax (Annihilator)

Post-match sees Jax take Green’s mask off as Green checks on the fallen Stratton. Green thinks things over for a second before charging in to confront Jax. Jax tosses the mask away and she and Legend retreat before anything else can break out. Green tends to Stratton.

Here’s Kevin Owens with Byron Saxton who wants Owens thoughts about Punk and Gargano. Owens says Punk didn’t do this out of the kindness of his heart and knows Punk’s main aim is to get Sami Zayn to come out of hiding to wreck things. Owens tells Saxton that if Zayn does appear he won’t be alone. We go to commercials.

Quavo will be performing a new track at SNME! I’m sure his fans who also like wrestling will be thrilled.

Here’s a pre-taped sit-down being hosted by Corey Graves as he’s chatting with Cody Raheem Rhodes. Graves wants to know how we got to this current Rhodes-Orton situation. Before Rhodes can say a word, here’s Randall Keith Orton in to take Graves seat before mocking Rhodes about not being able to touch Orton prior to Sunday. Orton reminds Rhodes of all the shitty things he said to Rhodes last week about his family and dares Rhodes to strike him. Rhodes remains impassive as Orton says that Rhodes is such a good guy that he won’t lay a finger on Orton because of Rhodes loyalty to…the championship and not his family. Orton calls Rhodes sick for being like this and Rhodes rises before saying “Sick, maybe. Maybe I’m aware I’m sick because everyone else seems to realize it.” Rhodes says if it’s true, Orton is screwed on Sunday before leaving. Orton is nonplussed and sits down to consider these words.

Tessitore and Barrett run down the SNME card. Here’s Trick Williams dapping it up with his good pal Lil Yachty before asking Yachty how he’s feeling prior to SNME. Yachty promises to whoop Baron Corbin and Trick reminds him to just survive for five minutes. Yachty has some footage of him training which is him watching other people skirmish, Yachty running the ropes, and bouncing in a corner before making it rain with some young ladies. Trick enjoys this footage but wants Yachty to focus. Here’s WWE Men’s US Champion Baron Corbin in to say that Yachty is finished on Sunday. Trick refers to Corbin as both “MegaMind” and “Mr Clean” before saying he’s getting his title back. Corbin vows to slaughter Yachty and leaves.

The Miz and Kit Wilson make their entrance as we go to commercials.

BAKUSAI (Shinsuke Nakamura and KYOKI) vs The Miz and Kit Wilson

“Bakusai” translates to “Explosion” in English, for those wondering. You can watch their entrance video here. Miz and Wilson bark at KYOKI and Wilson starts by pushing KYOKI to a corner. Wilson whips his t-shirt at KYOKI who charges out for a cross-body and a corner lariat. KYOKI hits a basement dropkick on Wilson sending him into a Miz tag. Miz gets kicked in the knee but immediately fires up with a a chop to KYOKI’s chest. KYOKI wants more chops and ducks out of the way to crush Miz with a bunch of chops. Nakamura tags in and drives a huge knee into Miz’s gut that gets two. Nakamura slips a right hand and dares Miz to attack. Miz misses a charge before Nakamura dumps him down. Wilson distracts Nakamura long enough for Miz to crotch him while he climbs in. Wilson mashes Nakamura with a dropkick as KYOKI flies over to intervene. We go to commercials.

Miz is still in control as he blasts Nakamura with a running kick as the show returns. Miz works a guillotine but Nakamura fights his way out of the heel corner. Nakamura grabs a roll up on Miz for two and finally kicks Miz down before finally tagging in KYOKI. Wilson gets a tag and KYOKI runs wild on both heels before crushing Wilson with a reverse thrust kick. KYOKI ascends and nails Wilson and Miz with a sitting senton. KYOKI sends Wilson back in and destroys him with a Falcon Arrow that gets two as Miz breaks up the cover. Nakamura gets dumped by Miz who then gets dropped by a KYOKI armdrag. Nakamura drops Miz before KYOKI ends things with a reverse stunner on Wilson.

Kind of a chaotic second act but the crowd seemed fully into KYOKI’s high speed antics. Wilson and Miz are perfect foils for stuff like this because they have credible enough offense and selling to make the decided winners look good. I think it will take a bit of time for Nakamura and KYOKI to gel fully but this was a good first outing and hopefully this will go somewhere with the MFT’s. 2.75*

Winners – BAKUSAI (KYOKI reverse stunner on Wilson)

Post-match sees WWE Men’s Tag Team Champions Talla and Tama Tonga emerge with Haku to stare down BAKUSAI. Tessitore and Barrett throw to a preview of Damian Priest and R-Truth challenging AAA Tag Team Champions The War Raiders in Mexico City. Priest and Truth remind the Raiders of their records of winning tag titles, and the Raiders vow to end Truth and Priest as a team. Tessitore and Barrett run down the current Mexico City Smackdown card and it’s pretty loaded as you might expect. It’s time to sell some products.

Here’s Cathy Kelley with Blake Monroe who tells “Catherine” that this match with Giulia is still below her. Giulia flies in to attck Monroe before dragging her out to the aisle before running her into the video board. They continue to attempt to destroy each other and Giulia mashes Monroe with an Arrivederci knee before retreating to the back.

Johnny Gargano is asked for a word by Sami Zayn who hugs him due to his being upright. Zayn says it’s not safe for him backstage but he tells Gargano that he’s with him in spirit. Zayn tells Gargano to take this opportunity and run with it. Zayn says he’s first up if Gargano wins the title, and Gargano nods in agreement before leaving. We go to a break.

WWE Men’s Undisputed Championship: CM Punk (C) vs Johnny Gargano

Candice LeRae is out with Gargano, as “Rebel Heart” gets a MONSTER pop from the Cleveland crowd. Punk gets a pretty big pop himself, as you might expect. Can Sami Zayn ruin three main events in a row? LET’S FIND OUT.

Punk is bemused by Cleveland booing “from Chicago Illinois” during his Nash intro. Punk slams Gargano twice to start but Gargano slips a third attempt for some right hands. Punk trucks Gargano and Gargano fires up with some chops and right hands in a corner. Gargano shoulders Punk and then comes off Punk’s shoulders for a rana. Gargano crushes Punk with a kaman giri and then nails him with a top rope-assisted cross-body on the floor. We go to commercials.

Punk has a rear chinlock on when the show returns. Gargano fires up with some punches before Punk drops him with a leg lariat. Punk lines up Gargano and drives a knee into his jaw. Punk yanks Gargano down and ascends. Punk wonders where Sami Zayn is before Gargano springs up for some rights and lefts. Punk pushes Gargano down and Gargano rolls through the cross-body for two. Gargano gets another roll up for two but Punk fires up with a kick. Gargano nails Punk with a superkick that gets a LONG two. They slug it out and Gargano runs into a Punk roundhouse kick that gets two. Punk kicks at Gargano and eats a roundhouse kick in response. Gargano’s slingshot spear gets two. Gargano lines up Punk and Punk yanks a charging Gargano in a Blue Thunder Bomb that gets two. Punk calls for the GTS and pulls Gargano over his shoulders. Here’s Sami Zayn out and Punk attacks him immediately. Zayn escapes into the ring and as the referee is dealing with that, LeRae flies around and nails Punk with a rana that sends him into the ring steps. Gargano nails Punk with a tope suicida and tosses him back in. Gargano nails Punk with a springboard DDT that gets another LONG two. Zayn is now fired up and grabs Punk’s title belt. Here’s Kevin Owens sprinting in from the timekeeper’s area to start smashing Zayn in the back with right hands. Owens pulls Zayn’s t-shirt up like it’s a hockey fight and continues to pound away on him. Here’s GUNTHER out to smash Owens with a high boot before yanking Zayn up. Here’s Finn Balor in for a sling blade on GUNTHER before being mashed in the head by a Zayn belt shot. Zayn hits belt shots on GUNTHER and Owens. Back in the ring, Punk yanks Gargano into the GTS but LeRae has he ref occupied. Zayn flies in and nails Punk with a belt shot as Gargano falls on top of him for another LONG two. Zayn flies over to LeRae for more consultation and here’s Nick Aldis and a bunch of refs out to send Zayn back up the aisle. Gargano gets yanked into a second GTS and that ends things.

Look, if you’re going to overbook stuff like they’ve been doing around this main event scene lately, let’s just go all out for total chaos. Now, it’s been rumored all week that this was Gargano’s exit match from the company and if so, I bet he’ll be okay with it. If it’s not, at least he’s back fighting again and we’ll see where it leads. Clearly there’s going to be a huge match with all these contenders in it at some point but Zayn’s antics actually pay off as you’ll see just below. This got very good after the break and even with the wildly overbooked finish was easily the highlight of this episode. 3.25*

Winner AND STILL WWE Men’s Undisputed Champion – CM Punk (GTS)

Post-match sees Aldis and Zayn barking at each other as Punk’s hand is raised. Punk grabs a mic and tells Aldis that he’s calling a shot and wants Zayn in Mexico City for the title and promises to put Zayn to sleep. The credits roll as Zayn screams about it now being over for Punk.

A wildly skippable episode with a fun main event is how I’d categorize this Smackdown. This makes three wrecked main events in a row but at least this one had a finish. The women’s division is much more solidified and busier than it was over the summer, and I’ll take that. I thought the BAKUSAI debut was fine and I’m actually interested to see them take on the MFT’s at some point as I desperately hope it’s strong style when it happens. Overall, you could miss this one and pick up the pieces on youtube but if you did watch, I’m interested to hear your thoughts on the taped show and how it played out after spoilers existed for the last six days.

Have a good weekend!