Welcome to Wrestling Inc.'s weekly review of "WWE SmackDown," the show that gave us a long-awaited dream championship match between KevinOwens and CM Punk and had Sami Zayn come out to ruin it. The WINC staff has some thoughts about that, you can be sure. And that's not all we also have thoughts about MFT retaining their tag titles against Damian Priest and R-Truth, Blake Monroe's in-ring debut (but not really), and the first appearance of Hiromu Takahashi, now known as Kyoki.If you missed the show, you can read about everything that went down Friday night on our "WWE SmackDown" 8/21/26 results page, includingBaron Corbin wrestling Lil Yachty on Sunday Night's Main Event.We don't have much to say about that in this column, because this column is only for the WINC crew's opinions on the matches and segments that stood out to us the most. If you're down with that, stick around these are three things we hated and three things we loved about the 8/21/26 episode of "WWE SmackDown!"
While I guess it's better than Giulia getting squashed in a few seconds, as her current track record is absolutely abysmal, Blake Monroe has yet to make her in-ring debut on "SmackDown," and it's just reached the point of ridiculous. Maybe not Eva Marie ducking matches levels of ridiculous, thankfully, but annoying, all the same.WWE is forever in need of strong women's matches on its weekly TV shows, and Monroe could absolutely bring that, if only WWE would just let her wrestle. She's not even doing any over-the-top video vignettes or backstage segments to keep things interesting anymore. Tonight, she had a brief backstage interview with Cathy Kelley, where she said she thinks her in-ring debut should be against WWE Women's Champion Chelsea Green. After the beatdown, Monroe told the cameras backstage in a social media clip she didn't wait all this time not to debut around the championship scene. I don't know if WWE is holding off on Monroe's debut to actually make that happen, but I can't say either outcome of a title match between Green and Monroe would be a good idea.Instead of getting between the ropes with Giulia, Monroe took her out from behind during her entrance. What followed was a pretty good beatdown. Monroe even hit her finisher, the Neutralizer, in the ring to Giulia, and at that point, I'm not sure why WWE didn't just run the match, even though I would really hate a Giulia squash. I can't imagine that they're waiting for a bigger stage, with only Sunday Night's Main Event and Money in the Bank coming up. I don't think Monroe's debut match qualifies for either of those events, at this point."The Glamour" has only had a dark match against Jordynne Grace since her callup, and even that was back in mid-May. Her last match overall was her casket match against Tatum Paxley for the Women's North American Championship down in "WWE NXT," and the very-recently called-up Paxley is already getting her first match on the blue brand next week.WWE's booking, or lack thereof, of Monroe is baffling at this point, and there's no way they can think this is helping her or building her character in any way. Fans are going to give up on her soon, or worse, just assume she's one big joke, since they haven't seen her work. Giulia also feels like a lost cause at this point, which is tragic, and on an episode of "SmackDown" that only featured three matches total, including the big main event, this was all just unacceptable.Written by DaisyRuth
I thought tonight's edition of "SmackDown" fell pretty flat, with just three matches total and a lot of talking in backstage segments and videos, but one of the more subtle things I did actually really like on the show was Damian Priest's heel turn tease. We've seen Priest and R-Truth battle MFT, Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga, plenty of times now, but their match tonight wasn't bad, and the subtle tease at the end made things all the more interesting.There weren't too many shenanigans in the WWE Tag Team Championship match, which was kind of surprising with Haku out there with his sons. I didn't mind it, though, and I didn't even mind Truth and Priest getting an immediate rematch for the tag gold after losing the titles last week. When there are only three matches on a two hour show, including the big main event, I suppose beggars can't be choosers. There were also a few points I thought maybe the babyfaces had it, with Truth hitting a five knuckle shuffle and Attitude Adjustment to Tama, then also almost rolling him up off a distraction toward the end of the match.The MFT were able to pull off the victory with the Red Cross on Truth, with Priest laid out on the outside after Talla hit him with a T-Bomb on the apron. He rolled back in the ring and stood over his partner for just a beat too long, to the point I really thought he was turning heel in frustration, or at least going to walk away, causing friction in the team. Priest did end up helping Truth up after it all, but it was just enough of a pause that I'm hopeful something happens.Priest desperately needs a refresh and out of the tag team division. I'm not sure what exactly he's going to do, with the top title scene on the blue brand jam packed with top talent, and the World Heavyweight Championship picture on "Raw" just as crowded. But anything for him would be more interesting than an odd couple tag team with Truth, as they've already had a reign with the belts.There's a report that WWE is attempting to refresh the tag team division, and thankfully, keeping Priest and Truth paired together doesn't seem to be part of that. Both can move on, though I'm sure there will be a brief feud between them to wrap things up. Tonight's tease was just enough to keep the ball rolling on it, and I was happy to see that happen.Written byDaisyRuth
It may be exciting to see the former Hiromu Takahashi now officially on television in WWE, but that doesn't mean the manner in which he made his debut was as exciting to see for me personally.The man now known as Kyoki is a multi-time former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, a former CMLL World Lightweight Champion, and a multi time former DDT Iron Man Heavy Metal Champion among several other accolades he's collected over the years. He's made quite a big name for himself across the world during his 16-year career, so it feels like it's a bit of a letdown to see him being introduced to the WWE fanbase through a video backstage. There's nothing wrong with his pairing with Shinsuke Nakamura at all, but it would've been far more interesting to see the two men directly confront MFT in the moments that followed their World Tag Team Championship. Doing it that way would've allowed for Kyoki to actually appear in living color inside the ring and allowed for there to be a reaction from the live crowd that fans at home could hear to create for a more interesting atmosphere. It was disappointing to see him arrive to WWE through a video package it felt underwhelming, and there was a much better way to do this entire thing.Written by Olivia Quinlan
For the last few weeks, Shinsuke Nakamura has been teasing a new partner coming to join him. Rumors swirled that it would be a friend of his from NJPW. Last week, a vignette aired that confirmed who it would be as Nakamura referred to this partner as "a ticking time bomb" and the silhouette in the background definitely gave it away. Tonight, the rumors were confirmed: Former five-time IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi has joined WWE.In another vignette tonight, shots of Hiromu's trademark bright clothing were shown and Nakamura told MFT that they hadn't been listening to his warnings. Hiromu introduced himself by his new name Kyoki. He said that champions, legends, and monsters make him have more fun. Nakamura warned that Kyoki doesn't fear chaos because he enjoys it. He warned MFT that the clock is ticking on their title reign.As a long time fan of the former Hiromu, I have been concerned about how WWE would utilize him. So far, it seems like he's keeping his trademark personality and clothing. He is such a charismatic person and I hope it gets to be on full display in WWE. I am cautiously optimistic that he is being partnered with Nakamura, as this should mean TV time for them both for now. Nakamura tends to disappear from TV for long stretches, which does concern me. For now, I'm glad they have a clear direction and a story in place (unlike other talents that get signed away). Tag team wrestling in WWE has long been a low priority, but there seems to be some new focus with MFT winning the titles and having an immediate threat to contend with. MFT has history with both men from their time in Japan, which adds another layer to this feud.Written by Samantha Schipman
The first sign that something might have been off with the long-time dream match between CM Punk and Kevin Owens for the WWE Championship should have really been when it was booked for "SmackDown."This is a show that continues to punch itself and its audience in the face, refusing to hold anything of actual note or value and drip-feeding what little storyline has actually been written for the characters. It does things for the sake of it, because a Friday night in August is never going to be the destination for anything.Owens lost. And it's very easy to read that as, "Well this writer is just upset they got worked by this scripted sport and the person they wanted to win didn't. That's wrestling 101." But there are about a million and one different ways to go about that exact same result and this writer would be lauding it.This result came after a great match was ruined with the same lazy, formulaic, copy and paste bulls*** that stains so much of WWE's product. The referee went down, because of course he did. Then Owens got the visual win. So, in theory, that would protect him from his eventual defeat. But then Punk got the visual win too so that logic was out of the window. Sami Zayn then came out and attacked Punk to hand Owens the win. The crowd was teetering on the moment, Owens was going to win the title and perhaps start a new story with him being chased by Zayn and Punk. Owens connected with the stunner, went for the cover ... and Punk kicked out at two.The referee then resumed his game of Sleeping Lions so that Zayn could give Owens the title belt to use on Punk. But then Owens refused, Zayn got angry, and Owens got hit with the title belt instead so that Punk could win as he was always intended to.Zayn beat them both down and stood tall to the close the show, jawing at Punk that he would be seeking justice and reclaiming his title. Okay, so why would he even bother trying to help Owens in the first place? A whole lot was going on when it came down to the closing stretch and a lion's share of that was illogical.Turn Punk heel. Turn Owens heel. Do something other than the ridiculously overused visual win. This match was not annoying in the way one would want it to be. It wasn't a villain getting a win through dastardly means or anything remotely narrative. It was annoying because it was predictable and ruined an otherwise great match that deserved a finish.Written by Max Everett
I can see why Nick Aldis telling Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton that they can't lay their hands on one another before their Sunday Night's Main Event match unless they never want another match for the Undisputed WWE Championship won't be a decision that's for everyone in WWE's fanbase. I, on the other hand, actually think it was a smart one for the company to add between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton heading into their Sunday Night's Main Event match.WWE tends to heavily rely on the trope of using pull apart brawls between two stars as a means of building up their storylines to the point where we're used to seeing at least one of them on every show at this point. For that reason, I think it's smart for them to remove the trope out of the equation in order to focus more on building up tension between the two men through meaningful heated verbal confrontations that really emphasize how well the two men know one another. It has the potential to make for something different from WWE's usual programming if done effectively, and could be something interesting to watch play out over the coming couple of weeks heading into the September 6 show.Written by Olivia Quinlan
