Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show that gave us a long-awaited CM Punk vs.Kevin Owens confrontation, a WWE SummerSlam rematch, a women's tag title match, and the main roster debut of Tatum Paxley! We're going to talk about basically everything here in the column, so strap in!As always, if you missed the show, you can catch up via our "WWE SmackDown" 8/7/26 results page, which contains everything you need to know about everything that went down on the broadcast. If you're just after the objective facts of the show, that's the place to go. If you want to know what WINC thought of the various matches and segments on the show, this is the place to be. Here are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 8/7/26 episode of "WWE SmackDown!"
Now I will admit that the opening segment from this episode of "SmackDown" was not among the worst that the company has put out over the last couple of months, but that also didn't mean it was a great one either.Let's take this from the top of this segment: Cody Rhodes spent the first few minutes of this segment filling what I can only describe as dead air while he "awaited" the arrival of Randy Orton to the Xfinity Mobile Arena. I can definitely see what WWE was trying to go for here and think Rhodes did a good job of making it feel like he was really trying to think of things to say on the spot. With that being said, I also don't think it made for very good television and was absolutely not the way to set the tone for the rest of the show as opening segments are meant to do.Punk's presence throughout this entire thing also really didn't do much of anything for me. I get why he needed to be involved in all of this as the Undisputed WWE Champion, but at the same time, all he really did was extend another title match to his frenemy (for a lack of a better term) Rhodes and try to keep up with Kevin Owens on the microphone which he definitely did not do in my opinion.This brings me to the Punk and Owens portion of this segment, which did not end up working at all because I personally thought that Owens absolutely ate Punk up on the microphone here without even really breaking much of a sweat. It goes without saying that this is not a position you want the man holding one of two big titles in your company to be in, and was not a good look for Punk at all. I will commend WWE for trying something here, but none of this really clicked for me.Written by Olivia Quinlan
Friday's show picked up with Sami Zayn's reaction to the return of best friend and even better rival Kevin Owens at SummerSlam Sunday, where Owens would pin Zayn in a singles match that had been turned into a four-way mere minutes before the starting bell. Zayn had every right to be miffed, given he had been given the singles match against Finn Balor in lieu of a WWE Championship rematch, thus having to regain his number one contendership.Nick Aldis returned to management after his brief dalliance with the "Ring General," and thus decided that he would mark his return by sticking GUNTHER and the returning Owens into the match. Zayn presented that argument and timeline of events to Aldis, though his grievances would not be addressed before Owens emerged with the face of a man who knows he knocked the wedding cake off its stand. Aldis used that exchange to escape from the Sami Inquisition, and they went back-and-forth as they tend to go.Entire epics can be commissioned documenting the history of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, men who have betrayed one another, fought one another, fought alongside one another, and pretty much done everything you can expect to do with one another. It's literally always a good time when they arrive on the screen at the same time, and the fact that this now happening in the backdrop of Zayn being a recent WWE Champion and Owens looking to become a first-time WWE Champion, it's ever the more promising.They both want the WWE Championship and as Zayn put it, he won't stop wanting it just because Owens does too. It's almost definitely too early to be fantasy booking the match at WrestleMania but there is always a chance that the destination for these two will be the "Show of Shows." And wrestling with the WWE Championship on the line is the one thing they have yet to do.Written by Max Everett
The issue with staging Baron Corbin versus Trick Williams for the United States Championship was that it imposed a lumbering championship match with the threat of derailing a legitimate hot and young talent. The issue with then booking Corbin to beat Williams for the United States Championship was that there was now a lumbering champion and still the threat of derailing a legitimate hot and young talent.The issue with booking a rematch on the following "WWE SmackDown" is trifold: lumbering champion, lumbering championship match, threat of derailing a legitimate hot and young talent or the talent you just decided to beat the hot and young talent with.There wasn't a positive one could really draw from this match unless someone was, with the utmost disrespect, wrestling-brained. Sure, the argument for will be that Corbin got the win but Williams kept some of his heat by losing with a belt-shot. It happens all of the time, it's a classic heel tactic, and all of that. But it was just a product of a problem that creative has made.Corbin was booked to go over Williams because he was pushed into a United States Championship program immediately upon returning, and it would have been an awful precedent to set for him to lose. At the same time, Williams was electric with the title and had really just gotten started with it. Corbin was not the wrestler for Williams to give up that momentum to. But he wound up being so.Rather than defer to any other form of pro wrestling plot development, a promo battle or a vignette, something, anything, to give any form of dimension to the feud, a rematch was booked. Williams could win and the title would come back to him, Corbin would be the man who reigned for less than a week and would further struggle to find his footing. Corbin could and did win, but he couldn't do it clean without damaging the rise of Williams, so he appears to be a cheap champion and questions arise over what Williams will do in the meantime.Later on in the show, it was Carmelo Hayes who popped out of the blue to say he has a shot at the United States title. Everything feels like a mess, a whirlpool to nowhere that has trapped Williams while creative waits for a lightbulb to go off somewhere. And it doesn't have to be this way this show was written in this way, someone actually sat down and thought that a rematch for the title would be a productive segment on the show.It's tried, it's tired, and it's boring.Written byMax Everett
The top men's picture on "SmackDown" is absolutely stacked, with Kevin Owens soon to challenge Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk for the title, with Sami Zayn still lurking, awaiting his next opportunity. Thankfully, the top title scene isn't too terribly overwhelmed, now that Cody Rhodes is out for an also-recently returned Randy Orton, following "The Viper" nailing him with an RKO at SummerSlam. They have to get through one another to get back at the title, and tonight, Orton promised that as long as he has breath in his body, he's going to make sure the "American Nightmare" never wins another title again.It was a very backstage interview and promo-heavy episode of the blue brand tonight, which I'm not usually about, but there were some things that needed to be said following the "Biggest Party of the Summer." Rhodes and Orton addressing one another was definitely an in-ring segment that needed to happen. Rhodes opened up the night looking for Orton, which led to Punk and Owens' promo, which was fine and helped things flow nicely, but thankfully, he and Orton got their own segment later in the night.Rhodes said that Orton owed him an explanation, and he sure got one. Orton said that Rhodes asked for it on the Road to WrestleMania when he gave Orton permission to be the "very best version" of himself, meaning, the most dangerous. That's really where things got good, with Orton infuriated that Rhodes had the audacity to "give him permission," him, a 14-time world champion. Orton called himself "The Legend Killer," which, as someone who grew up obsessed with Orton when he was indeed "The Legend Killer," I feel like he doesn't say it often anymore.That set up for the line of the night, when Rhodes said the only legend that was left in WWE was Orton, so now, who kills him? In the promo, Rhodes also said he wasn't "held to the standards of the champion" anymore, which was interesting, and I'm taking that to mean we're going to get some harder hitting bouts between the pair, with hopefully some interesting stipulations.This was a solid segment that didn't overstay its welcome on a talk-heavy episode of the show. I'm also now very interested to see where this goes between the two after what they said to one another, and it feels like Rhodes needs to lean heel, as crowds just aren't going to boo Orton at this stage of his career. It's also nice there's another huge story going on at the very top that doesn't involve the title. "SmackDown" was desperate for interesting stories for months, and now, we've got plenty.Written byDaisyRuth
I should have figured that new interim WWE Women's Champion Chelsea Green was going to be portrayed as an underdog champion. Her taking a pin in a match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships is a lot better than what I was worried about, but it still stinks for her. I was worried that WWE was going to pull a play like Zack Ryder with the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 32, where he lost the gold the very next day, to make her look stupid.Thankfully that wasn't the case, but it feels like WWE is toeing the line of some kind of Green humiliation ritual for getting herself over with fans. Maybe that's a strong thought and way to word it, but Fatal Influence's promo as they were walking to the ring to interrupt her championship celebration with Tiffany Stratton just kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Jacy Jayne, Lainey Reid, and Fallon Henley basically said it was pathetic that Green thinks she's capable and worthy of representing "SmackDown."Maybe it felt strange because Green didn't exactly clap back as strongly as she could have, and we all know she could have come back with some fire. After Fatal Influence trash talked her on their way to the ring, the segment was more so about Jayne and Stratton's Women's United States Championship. It all led to a match between Green and Stratton and Reid and Henley for the Women's Tag Team Championships.It was a fine match, but Green taking the pin in her first bout following her big SummerSlam moment really sucked. It wasn't like Stratton taking the pin from a tag team champion would impact her US title match with Jayne next week too much and personally I think Jayne is going to win, anyway. Green also looked silly off the distraction, after Jayne pulled Stratton off the apron, then walked right into a Rolling Encore, then Henley and Reid's double-team move.It wasn't the best look for the interim WWE Women's Champion tonight, but it also could have been a lot worse. Hopefully, Green fires back at Fatal Influence with some more heat next week, as I'm sure she'll be at Stratton's side for her match against Jayne. As much as the underdog thing works for Green, I'd like to see her sassiness and humor come out, as that's when she's at her most entertaining.Written byDaisyRuth
For the last couple of months, Jade Cargill and Charlotte Flair have become enemies. They have cost each other matches and title opportunities. Their rivalry kicked up several notches when Cargill injured Flair's bestie and tag partner, Alexa Bliss. Flair was determined to get revenge and interfered in her ladder qualifying match. Cargill returned that favor the following week. Both women made it into the ladder match to get a shot at becoming the interim Women's Champion. A few days before the match, Flair said in an interview that her main goal in that match was to be an obstacle for Cargill for she couldn't win the title. It worked because neither woman won.Flair and Cargill finally got to go one-on-one tonight in the main event. It was nice to see them not only close the show, but get some time. It's one of the few women's stories that actually has layers and depth to it. In the closing minutes of the match, Flair was close to beating Cargill when B-Fab interfered. Cue the return of Bliss ... and then the lights went out, and when they came back up, a debuting Tatum Paxley landed a crossbody on B-Fab and Michin from the top rope. Flair put Cargill in the Sister Abigail and hit the Natural Selection off the top rope for the win.The story between Flair and Cargill doesn't appear to be ending any time soon. Having Bliss back while adding Paxley makes things more interesting. It evens things up and adds an interesting dynamic with Bliss and Paxley sharing a similar aesthetic. Flair took a long time to warm up to Bliss. Will she accept Paxley right away or will she keep her at a distance until she eventually proves herself?Women's storytelling can contain multitudes and doesn't have to settle for tropes (looking at you, Liv and Becky). It's refreshing to see effort being made and involving multiple women without having to always revolve around a title.Written by Samantha Schipman
