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Add FightsATW on GoogleWWE Friday Night SmackDown was at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, as CM Punk and Kevin Owens held the roles of the show’s marquee features after their program was launched off the back of K.O. returning at SummerSlam to earn the number one contender’s spot in a fatal four-way. With Triple A and RAW taking most of the headlines over the past couple of weeks, it has been SD and its feature program between Punk and Owens that make the blue brand the better show as of late.
Aside from Punk-Owens and Cody Rhodes-Randy Orton faceoffs, SD featured two different title matches tonight with two title changes.
KEVIN OWENS AND CM PUNK GO BACK IN TIME
Millennial wrestling fans that were fortunate enough to grow up in the ROH era were blown away with how far Owens and Punk pushed ‘the line’ in their initial promo battle. This feud has a ton of backstory, but the problem is that WWE typically avoids mentioning other promotions and, by extension, the work of their talent who have a history under non-WWE banners.
There is a major issue for this feud if WWE cannot or refuses to embrace their past problems; only the most major of these issues stems from storylines that could never be used in WWE creative. By avoiding the “alternative” storyline, the champ and challenger pushed the heat they had back in the mid-2000s in the Ring of Honor.
Fans have said that old interviews of Kevin Owens (Steen) have resurfaced as social media shorts in which he talks about a singlet he wore and a comment he made that put him on Punk’s ‘sh** list’ forever. Punk still pushed the promo, almost daring Him to name the names of Kevin’s “friends” he believes hate him.
The crux of their old feud was K.O.’s weight, and Punk ended the promo battle by straight out calling Owens a “fat a**.”
WE CHELSEA, WE CHEL-HEAR…TONIGHT, WE CHEL-FEEL… GUNTHER GREEN w/ENVY
It was an odd start to tonight’s episode, but it was off the back of a tremendous promo from Chelsea Green, the women’s world champion of the blue brand, who pleaded her case to GM Nic Aldis to keep her title despite not being cleared for action after suffering an orbital bone injury a couple of weeks ago at the hands of Fatal Influence.
Even though RAW’s champion Liv Morgan had yet to defend her title heading into SummerSlam after winning it four months earlier at WrestleMania, Chelsea was pressed at the start of SD after being injured the day after winning the title. Chelsea was able to climb the ladder to win the interim title following Rhea Ripley’s relinquishment of the title based on her knee injury.
She spoke about the night-two match and how ever since she climbed up the ladder and snatched the title, she’s been ‘waiting for the other shoe to drop.’ Nic stayed strong, compelling Green and the live crowd to understand his position as the show’s GM and that having no women’s title scene is just not an option—the crowd did not understand.
Chelsea dug deep; she spoke about the missed family gatherings and broken bones that account for the paid dues wrestlers often speak of on the road to the title. She urged Nic to consider his own recent SummerSlam success by just getting back in the ring before acknowledging his own wife’s work (women’s WWE legend Mickie James) in the biz.
Aldis and Green had the live crowd right where they wanted them when she announced, to a huge pop, that she could keep her belt, but that brought out Gunther, who can never turn down a moment to point out hypocrisy. He ranted about ‘feel good stories’ getting over with Aldis while his own narrative paints him as the victim.
Eventually, Matt Cardona, Chelsea’s husband, came out in street clothes to confront the former heavyweight champion. They eventually resolved the situation with fists before an impromptu match was made. WWE wanted you to know just how impromptu the match was as both superstars competed in jeans—Gunther won and proved he is ‘Levi’s Strong.’
CODY VS ZAYN… SIKE
The blood feud between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton intensified on tonight’s episode even though Cody was scheduled to face Sami Zayn. The night began for both Cody and Sami when they exchanged words during a backstage conversation between Aldis and “The American Nightmare.” Sami went into his usual schtick, but Cody had enough and lashed out at Sami, challenging him to a fight with Aldis quick to approve.
Sami reluctantly took the challenge, but it was all to get Cody in the ring at the end of the night so that Orton could hit him with the surprise attack. However, it would end up being Orton that would get the worst of the end-of-show beatdown as Cody stood tall to close the show. Cody attempted to bash Randy’s head with a chair between the steel steps on the side of commentary. The spot was stopped just before Cody could let the chair loose.
DAMIEN PRIEST & R-TRUTH(c) VS WAR RAIDERS VS MFTS—Triple Threat Tag Team Match; WWE Tag Team Titles (SmackDown)
The War Raiders have been doing their best work in years under the Triple A banner and representing the promotion’s tag team titlists. As for The MFTs, they recently did what ‘the bloodline’ does by bringing in Hall of Famer Haku to handle managerial duties. As for Priest and Truth, they have garnered the most commercial success from their team-up, but they have been cold as ice with the titles as far as major feuds are concerned.
The MFTs picked up the win to become the new WWE tag team champions under the tutelage of Haku, who stood in the center ring with Talla and Tama Tonga.
TIFFANY STRATTON(c) VS JACY JAYNE—WWE Women’s United States Title
Even with Chelsea Green in the champ’s corner tonight to even the numbers game, Jacy Jayne was able to beat Stratton for the U.S. title. It was a terrifically athletic match, especially from Stratton’s side of the performance. It got a little clunky at the end, but the climax saw Fatal Influence involve themselves.
Green attempted to intervene, but Stratton could not help but hit a high-risk maneuver outside of the ring. That distraction allowed Jayne to hit Stratton with a right hand to win the pinfall victory.
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