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Alright everyone, it’s Friday so it’s time for WWE Smackdown. Last week had a great main event, CM Punk vs. Kevin Owens was the best match Smackdown has had on TV all year, but pretty much everything else was dross. This episode was taped after RAW on Monday, full spoilers can be found HERE. Tonight things look a bit up in the air, our only confirmed matches are the Smackdown debut of Tatum Paxley against low level minion Michin, Jacy Jayne defending the women’s US title against Paige, and the Irresistible Forces taking on Tiffany Stratton and Chelsea Green. Green is still recovering from a broken orbital bone so don’t expect a whole lot from her. CM Punk retained the WWE title last week when The Intrusive Thought Sami Zayn showed up to make everything worse, so expect Owens and Sami to kill each other again while there’s something of an open question about whether Punk remains in that orbit or moves on to Gunther or Finn Balor. Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton are not permitted to touch each other before their match at SNME, but if Cody has any friends left expect Randy to attack them. In a vignette last week Shinsuke Nakamura introduced the WWE world to Kyoki, formerly known as Hiromu Takahashi, his new tag partner with whom he’s going after the tag belts held by the Mistakes From Tradition and the man called Meng. The tag scene is a wasteland so we’ll see if the new duo, going by Bakusai, can get some traction. The US title is still in between Baron Corbin and Trick Williams, so nothing interesting is going on there. Blake Monroe still hasn’t actually debuted, though she did attack Giulia last week in the ring instead in the back so we’re getting closer. With Damian Priest and R-Truth likely out of the tag scene they’ll both need genuine direction now, Miz and Kit Wilson are still MIA as is Jordynne Grace. Anyway that’s the lay of the land, more or less, so let’s get out of the preamble and into the action.

First we get a recap of the main event from last week, which really was such a good match.

Kevin Owens heads to the ring right after that, a nice change of pace from the meandering “watch wrestlers arrive” schtick. Michael Cole and Corey Graves are on commentary tonight. Owens takes his time then says this isn’t how he wanted to arrive in Ottawa, he’s lost a lot of WWE title matches in the last 12 years but none hurt as much as the one from Friday. Friday everything was perfect, 17 months of uncertainty then finally cleared to return, worked his ass off to return at SummerSlam then go to Toronto and win the WWE title. His parents were at that show, his mom almost died a few years ago and traveling isn’t really a thing she can do anymore but she and her husband made it to Toronto and all Owens wanted was to win the title in front of her. Sami Zayn made sure that didn’t happen. Now he and Sami have done a lot to each other over the years and he’s not innocent at all, but he can’t forget or forgive this one. He’ll never get the stars to align like that again, in Canada, in front of family, and beating CM Punk for the WWE title. On Friday Punk and everyone else knows he had him beat, Owens was better than the best in the world. He warns Punk they’re not done, they’re just getting started and he wont stop until he takes the title. WWE champion CM Punk walks down with a mic, no music, and he says he didn’t need Sami’s help, Nick Aldis is out there to try and keep peace, but here’s Gunther with music because he’s a professional. Gunther has his own mic and says he can’t keep listening to this without his ears bleeding. He’s figured out why Punk and Owens hate each other, because they see themselves in each other. Gunther isn’t here for 20 year old beef, he’s here to remind you what happens next. He insults Owens, then goes to address Punk but he’s interrupted by Finn Balor’s music. Who doesn’t love a revolving door promo segment? Balor has a mic, Gunther calls him the ghost of Balor and Balor tells him to shut up. Balor speaks for the people saying we’re tired of Gunther’s schtick, and frankly no one in there has beaten Balor and he’s front of the line now. Aldis makes the predictable Triple Threat between Owens, Gunther, and Balor for our main event.

In the back WWE women’s champion Chelsea Green has her bedazzled protective mask. Tiffany Stratton comes over and they talk about their match tonight. Green will be there tonight.

The Irresistible Forces head to the ring for that match and we head to break.

Post break here’s Tiffany Stratton followed by Chelsea Green.

Match #1 – Tag Team Match: Irresistible Forces (Nia Jax and Lash Legend) vs. Tiffany Stratton and Chelsea Green

Lash and Tiffany start, Lash overpowers Tiffany early then Tiffany slips away and dropkicks her into the ropes for a hip attack. Swinging backbreaker from Lash and she gets control. Green avoids a cheap shot, then makes a blind tag as Tiffany hits a handspring Stunner then Green follows with a ZigZag style move. Jax tags in, gets sent into the ropes and Green follows with running knees to the back. Green avoids a Samoan Drop and lands an enziguri but Jax avoids an Unpretty Her and headbutts Green down. Tiffany tags in as Green writhes in agony and we go picture in picture.

Hurricanrana from Tiffany then a dropkick to the seated Jax. Lash tags in and punches down Tiffany. Lash with control work, it’s still not very good, then Jax tags back in. Jax with a corner splash to Tiffany. Lash back in as Tiffany keeps taking heat. Running Splash from ith a Coconut Breaker to Green and she’s down on the floor with medics checking on her. Lash grabs a bearhug to crickets. Tiffany fights free, sort of? Odd cut there editing-wise, then Lash punches down Tiffany again. Jax tags back in runs through her usual offense to still no real reaction. Tiffany tries to fight back but gets clotheslined down. Lash tags in and grabs another bearhug, Jax tags iLash gets a 2 count. Tiffany counters a chokeslam into an awkward Stunner, then tries the handspring Stunner but gets caught and has to flip out of a back suplex. Tiffany declines to tag in Green, so Lash drills her with a chokeslam and Green breaks up the pin. Jax wn and tries the Death Sentence but Tiffany dodges then hits a Shiranui on Lash off of Jax. The medics try to take Green to the back, Green runs back down to finally wake up the crowd and take the tag. Green with some offense and dropkicks Jax to the floor. Green up top and hits a crossbody to Jax on the floor. Well it’s nice of the crowd to wake up. Back in the ring Jax avoids an Unpretty Her, Tiffany tries to dive onto Lash but Lash just slings Tiffany into the barricade. Jax with a Samoan Drop then an Annihilator to win.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Irresistible Forces won in 9:40

Rating: 2 stars
Thoughts: Lash’s control work is still profoundly uninteresting, when Jax seems dynamic by comparison you’re just not developing. Green is still treated too much like a joke in terms of her booking, I don’t need her to become a superhero or anything but man she’s presented like a fluke instead of like a champion even if an underdog style champion.

In the back Danhausen talks with Aldis, he wants to be Employee of the Month then Gunther comes over. Danhausen calls him Gunner and offers a hand, Gunther just ignores him and warns him that he doesn’t appreciate being made to jump through hoops. Aldis says nothing else beyond the Triple Threat tonight, no last second shenanigans. Gunther heads out, Danhausen asks to be added to the match but Aldis has to tell him no.

To the ring and here’s Paige and we head to break.

Post break here’s Fatal Influence.

Match #2 – Women’s US Title Match: (c) Jacy Jayne w/ Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid vs. Paige

Jayne gets the upper had early and slams Paige down then hits a senton. Paige avoids a second senton and lands a thrust kick then a headbutt. Knees through the ropes from Paige then she shoves Jayne to the floor. Paige with a rolling senton from the apron to Jayne on the floor, then for about the second time she yells about this being her house, but Jayne distracts the ref allowing Reid to hit a pump kick and send us to break.

We come back to Jayne holding a headlock, Paige hits a jawbreaker then we get a double down spot off the ropes. They start trading elbows for a bit, Jayne then lands a few kicks and an enziguri. Piped in boos, those sound real bad, but Paige fires up with a Fisherman’s suplex, German suplex, and a Paige Turner for a near fall. Superkick from Jayne, Paige then double legs her and tries the Paige Tap Out but Jayne fights away from that. Paige with a headbutt, then tries the RamPaige but Reid distracts things. Fallon gets a boot as well, but Jayne then with a Small Package to get the lackluster 3 count.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Jacy Jayne retained the title in 7:07

Rating: 2 stars
Thoughts: Way too short to really matter, kind of heatless, and gutted by the commercial break.

Post match Nikki Bella attacks Paige from behind and hits one of the worst Spears I’ve ever seen. More sweetened boos, this crowd was not into things and the editing is just making that more and more clear as Nikki hits a Rack Attack 2.0 to stand tall. Man those fake crowd noises are impossibly off putting.

We get a hype video for Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton.

In the back Cody hangs out in a suit, Balor shows up and talks with him. Cody is a little unsure given the stipulations in place. Balor advises him to keep his cool and avoid the dark path Randy wants him to take. Balor says by the time Cody is done with Randy then Balor will be champion and they’ll see each other on the other side of that. That sends us to break with the promise that Cody will be talking in the ring next.

Post break in the back Trick Williams talks with Lil Yachty. Trick warns him about Corbin and what he might do to him at SNME. Yachty isn’t worried about Corbin, he’s sick of the disrespect. He’s going to do the impossible and last 5 minutes with Corbin and get Trick a title match. Trick turns and finds Corbin. Corbin says he doesn’t have friends because friends make you do stupid things, then holds up the title and says he’s the champ then walks off. Almost none of that was good.

Back to the ring and here’s suited up Cody. Cody asks what we want to talk about, and he settles on Randy Orton. As much as he’d like to beat Randy senseless right now that wouldn’t accomplish the goal of killing the Legend Killer. All the way back to WrestleMania Randy has fixated on the number 15, but 15 wouldn’t be a record anymore he’d need 18 and that isn’t in the cards. Randy might have had a chance but every time Randy goes up he screws up, he always takes the wrong turn when given the choice. There’s always excuses around Randy, and Cody was there first hand when other guys were shown the door while Randy got a slap on the wrist. Randy could never hold the weight of accountability. Now Randy screwed Cody out of the WWE title, and at SNME Cody will kill- but he’s interrupted by Randy’s music. The crowd just refuses to boo Randy and it’s a problem they still can’t seem to address in any real way. Randy heads to the ring and gets his own mic, took his sweet time even by Randy standards because we’re stretching every minute tonight. Randy asks if Cody really wants to bring up accountability, yeah Randy made bad decisions a lot while Cody was driving Randy around and basically babysitting him. He says if he were Cody then he’d punch him in the face right now. Cody declines. Randy knows how much the WWE title means to both of them, he even disfigured Cody at Mania and then came back to keep Cody from regaining the gold. He’s just trying to bait Cody into swinging on him. Randy then insults Cody’s dead dog, because cheap heat is still kind of heat I guess? In Atlanta Cody’s family will see him kick Cody’s head off again. He asks if Cody’s trailer park trash mom will be front row. Cody still wont quite bite. So how about Cody’s trash wife? Randy keeps goading Cody but Cody declines and knew this was what Randy was going to do because Randy is trying to get out of SNME. Cody is counting the days until Atlanta and we’ll all find out if Randy is a generational superstar like Cody’s dad, or a first class loser like Randy’s dad. Randy gets pissed at that and yells Cody went too far as Cody says he’ll see Randy in Atlanta.

In the back Jackie talks with Tatum Paxley, Paxley whispers to Jackie who seems disturbed by that and heads out. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss show up to talk with Paxley. The awkwardness intensifies as Bliss announces a trios match with them and Jade plus her goons at SNME. They’ll be out there tonight to make sure nothing bad happens to Paxley. Paxley heads off and Bliss has to talk down Charlotte while we head to break.

We come back to a hype video for Penta vs. Rey Fenix next week.

In the back Rey Fenix talks with Byron, they’re interrupted by Ricky Saints who wants a AAA cruiserweight title match. Fenix plans on shutting Ricky up. OK then.

Michin heads to the ring, then we get Paxley’s entrance.

Match #3: Tatum Paxley w/ Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss vs. Michin w/ Jade Cargill and B-Fab

34 minutes between matches, flatly unacceptable. Michin gets to the back standing, Paxley flips free then grabs a front headlock. Pie face from Paxley then she ducks a head kick and we get some rope running and both women avoid each other then pose off. Things head to the floor and Michin lands a kick from the apron. Back in the ring Paxley dropkicks Michin back to the floor then hits a moonsault from the apron and poses with Bliss and Charlotte to send us to break.

We come back to Michin in control. Paxley and Michin seem to screw something up based on the editing choices, then Michin lands an elbow to retain control. Bow and Arrow hold from Michin, Paxley spins free after a bit then avoids a cannonball senton. O’Connor Roll from Paxley for 2 then she lands a superkick to drop Michin. Paxley tries to rally the crowd with gesticulations, mixed results but her flurry of kicks is more successful. Michin gets dropped by another kick but Michin counters a kick with a powerbomb. Paxley avoids a Styles Clash with a back body drop. Rolling Thunder kick from Paxley, then the Cemetery Drive from Paxley gets the win.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Tatum Paxley won in 7:54

Rating: 2 stars
Thoughts: The crowd is really burned out by this point and that hurt this, Michin also has been presented as kind of a jobber for so long this win is just kind of perfunctory for Paxley instead of revelatory. That said Paxley looked solid and Michin is much better than she’s been presented as in terms of ring work.

We get a recap of Blake Monroe attacking Giulia last week.

In the back Jackie talks with Blake, predictably Giulia attacks to interrupt. Giulia rams Blake into a door then officials pull the two women apart.

Elsewhere in the back Owens walks and finds Randy. Randy hates to admit this, but Owens was right about Cody but he also hasn’t forgotten how Owens dropped him on his head so they’re not friends. Owens understands but they can work to being friends again, and Owens heads out while we head to break.

Video promo from MFT. Priest and R-Truth got put down, but apparently the message still needs to be received. They’re not worried about Nakamura and Kyoki. Tama’s grey roots in his beard are distracting. Haku says not to underestimate their opponents but just to destroy them.

In the back Damian Priest watched that on TV, Truth walks over and Priest thanks him for the team but they’re not champions and it’s time for Priest to move on. He wants to focus on singles gold, but he’ll still have Truth’s back. The War Raiders show up to say they’ve got unfinished business. Truth says Priest wants gold, and the AAA tag titles work for them. The Raiders are happy to do this at Mexico City, Truth accepts while Priest is not exactly thrilled. Truth asks for just uno mas, and Priest agrees for one final ride in Mexico.

Jax and Lash then accost Aldis and Jax wants a title match. If Jax doesn’t get a title match in two weeks she’ll get one my force and heads out. Miz and Kit Wilson show up and whine about Danhausen, then say they’re owed. Aldis gives them a tag match against Bakusai next week. They’re both OK with that.

To the ring and it’s main event time so here’s Owens again. That sends us to break with the main event on deck.

Post break Gunther is most of the way to the ring, he’s followed by Finn Balor.

Match #4 – Triple Threat Match: Gunther vs. Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor

Thing get heated immediately, Owens has some early fire but Gunther boots him down. Balor with a Sunset Flip to Gunther, Owens then superkicks him, Senton’s Gunther then follows with a Swanton Bomb and Balor has to break up the pin. Basement dropkick from Balor to Owens then Gunther chops down Balor. Gunther with an uppercut to Gunther then he boots Owens out of the ring. Another chop to Balor, but Balor avoids a powerbomb and low bridges Gunther then knocks down Owens and tries to dive but Gunther is back and grabs a Sleeper but Balor slings him through the ropes the follows with a dive as we go picture in picture.

Back in the ring Gunther chops down Balor. Owens shows back up to attack Gunther then toss him out of the ring. On the floor Owens and Gunther brawl back and forth with Gunther getting the better of things. Back in the ring Balor attacks Gunther but then runs into a boot from the big Austrian. Owens yanks Gunther out of the ring then launches him into the announce desk. Gunther rakes the eyes of Owens then sends him back into the ring. Balor and Gunther trade chops then Gunther plants Balor with a scoop slam. We come back to Owens swinging elbows but Gunther chops him then boots both Owens and Balor. Owens avoids a Sleeper then hits superkicks to both men but Balor responds with a Pele kick and everyone’s down. Balor to the apron, and he kicks down Gunther then heads up top but misses the Coup de Grace. Owens with clotheslines to both men, a cannonball senton to Gunther but Balor then catches Owens with a Sling Blade and shotgun dropkick into the corner. Again Balor goes up top, Owens recovers and climbs up top with him. Gunther shows up and just kills Owens with a ripcord lariat, chops the heck out of Balor, then locks Owens in a Sleeper. Balor recovers and hits a Coup de Grace to break up the Sleeper. Eye of the Hurricane to Gunther from Balor, then another shotgun dropkick to set up the Coup de Grace. This time it connects to Gunther but here’s the worst person in the world, Sami Zayn to yank Balor out of the pin. Sami attacks Balor, then lays out the ref so this whole thing is out.

OFFICIAL RESULT: No Contest in 8:30 or so

Rating: 2.5 stars
Thoughts: Decent sprint kneecapped by the ending and a crowd that was beyond burned out. These three still work quite well together but there was only so much that could be done given all they were working against.

In the ring Owens hits a Stunner on Gunther. A ref runs down but Sami attacks that ref too. That brings out CM Punk to attack Sami. Punk beats down Sami on the floor then heads into the ring with him. Owens then attacks Punk and they hockey fight until Owens drops Punk and Sami cracks Owens with the belt. Sami with belt shots for everyone and the human tire fire stands tall to audibly sweetened boos as the episode ends.