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Add FightsATW on GoogleTonight in Toronto, Canada, at the Scotiabank Arena, Kevin Owens challenged for CM Punk‘s ‘undisputed’ world title on WWE SmackDown after K.O. returned at SummerSlam to win the fatal four-way that crowned him the number one contender. The match has been booked for this show since the RAW after SummerSlam, where the historic feud between Owens and Punk was launched.
The backstory between Owens and Punk has been one of the most loaded feuds in company history, with so much unspoken storyline going on beneath the surface of their heat-filled promos. Of course, Sami Zayn remains a sub-narrative in this program, and he was not happy after his chance to face the winner of Punk-Owens was ruined when Orton attacked Cody Rhodes before the match.
CM PUNK(c) VS KEVIN OWENS— WWE Undisputed World Title
The world title match between Punk-Owens had main event heat written all over it, but the show kicked off with Orton and Rhodes hyping up their Sunday Night’s Main Event showdown. It started with Sami complaining about Randy ruining his shot last week before Orton popped up in frame.
Randy made his way to the ring, followed frantically by Nic Aldis, who left Zayn alone in his frustrations. Orton and Cody continued the ‘blood feud’ narrative as Aldis convinced them to save the violence for Atlanta. The most telling aspect of this segment was the crowd’s reaction to Cody’s promo by the end. The fans cheered the idea of Randy breaking title records before booing Cody when he claimed always to be the ‘QB-1’ ahead of him.
By the time we arrived at the main event, the Canadian crowd was more than ready—the combatants were, too, and they almost came to blows before the match started. They kept a pace that offered the feeling of a big-time prizefight, and the expert wrestling psychologists built towards incredible drama while delivering on the wrestling action.
Aside from some outside commentary desk spots, the match was mostly clean until the ref bump— two in one spot, to be exact. Punk tried to get the ref back into the ring when Sami came out to throw Punk into the corner post. Sami offered to help K.O. last week, but Owens refused. Owens nearly capitalized, though Punk was able to kick out at the very last moment.
Zayn handed Owens the world title belt to clock Punk with, but Owens eventually refused and yelled at his friend, ‘Not this way.’ Sami snapped and hit Owens with the world title, which allowed Punk to pick up the win for the successful title defense. Sami used the rest of SD to beat both Punk and Owens with the world title belt as he claimed this was his ‘justice’ before taking the strap for himself.
MFTs(c) VS DAMIEN PRIEST & R-TRUTH— WWE Tag Team Titles
The MFTs defended their recently won tag titles against the former champs in Priest and Truth after they lost the titles in a triple threat match against AAA’s tag title holders in the War Raiders. The War Raiders kept a close eye on this match, as shown by their locker-room focus on the monitor.
The MFTs held onto the titles after hitting R-Truth with their new double team finisher before pinning him for the win. After the match, Priest walked into the ring with an extremely disappointed look as he stared down at Priest on the mat. It almost looked like Priest was considering ‘turning’ on Priest as he struggled to recover, but he helped his partner onto his feet.
BLAKE MONROE WITH THE VERY BLAH DEBUT
This segment was one of the shortest and most confusing on the show with NXT’s Blake Monroe debuting on the blue brand after weeks of video teases. Monroe was officially introduced to the WWE audience in a live backstage interview prior to her match against Giulia, as she looked for her ‘debuting’ gear.
Monroe ended up attacking Giulia before the match, and nobody in the audience or the ref seemed to understand what was supposed to happen. Monroe’s shaky debut aside, the Giulia push has hit a serious bump in the road as she continues taking L’s and is now being used to get over the latest ‘hot debut.’
When looking at Giulia and the former IC champion Sol Ruca, from debut to now, Monroe likely has a short leash to get over before the ‘shine’ wears off her debut.
OTHER TIDBITS
– Trick Williams, with the returning Lil Yachty by his side, called out Baron Corbin for yet another U.S. title fight after the former champ Williams came up short twice against the recently returned Corbin. Corbin denied the request at first, claiming that Williams had ‘nothing to offer’ after beating the upstart twice in a row— though Corbin cheated both times to get it done.
– After Lil Yachty hit Corbin with a kendo stick, Corbin decided there was something after all and agreed to give Trick the title shot if Lil Yachty gets in the ring and survives five minutes with the champ. Corbin demanded that this all takes place in front of Yachty’s hometown crowd in Atlanta at Sunday Night’s Main Event.
– Tiffany Stratton faced off against Lash Legend in singles action tonight with Nia Jax ringside to root on Lash. Legend pinned Stratton, who has suffered a recent string of losses, and Nia jumped in post-match to beat down on Stratton before women’s world champion Chelsea Green came out to make the save.
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