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WWE SmackDown Results & Booking Grades (8/21/26): CM Punk Defends Against KO in Canada

Kevin Owens cashed in his WWE Championship match tonight on SmackDown in his own backyard of Toronto.
Matt Black|
CM Punk
CM Punk | WWE

Tonight's episode of WWE SmackDown took place at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Last week's episode featured two shocking title changes as the MFTs captured the WWE Tag Team Titles from R-Truth and Damian Priest in a triple threat match. Later in the evening, Jacy Jayne defeated Tiffany Stratton to capture the Women's United States Championship for the first time.

Tonight's episode of SmackDown saw R-Truth and Damian Priest invoke their rematch clause with the MFTs. Then, in the main event of the evening, Kevin Owens challenged CM Punk for the WWE Championship.

You can check out the complete results from tonight's episode below.

WWE SmackDown results:

This week's episode kicked off with Sami Zayn complaining to Nick Aldis backstage, saying he should be the one defending the WWE Championship tonight in Toronto. Zayn called what happened to him at SummerSlam an injustice. Zayn vents about Randy Orton ruining his match last week, despite being injured.

Orton comes up from behind Zayn; the two briefly have words before Cody Rhodes appears in the ring and calls Orton out. Aldis heads to ringside, and Orton follows behind him. Rhodes tries to get Orton to fight him tonight instead of waiting for Sunday Night's Main Event. Aldis declared he's tired of being disrespected, and if either man lays a hand on the other before the event next month, neither man will be able to challenge for the WWE Championship ever again.

Orton said he'll do as Aldis says, but immediately starts berating Rhodes on the microphone, calling him a good guy who always does the right thing. Randy called Rhodes the American Daydream. Rhodes said no matter what Orton does, he will be the one to kill the legend killer, and that's not a prediction; that's a spoiler.

Booking Grade: 8.5/10

  • Unfortunately, Sami Zayn is forever the victim in this
  • Nick Aldis seemingly got some control over his locker room again
  • An explanation has been laid out for why Orton and Rhodes won't get physical until next month

The MFTs keep the gold

In the opening contest of the evening, the MFTs defend the WWE Tag Team Titles against the former champions, R-Truth and Damian Priest. The War Raiders were shown watching the match from the backstage locker room. The finish saw Tama and Talla hit R-Truth with the Red Cross to score the pinfall victory. Priest looked frustrated after the match but helped Truth up anyway, and the two shared a quick hug.

Booking Grade: 9/10

  • A one-week title reign would have done nothing for the MFTs
  • A fun opening contest with a definitive finish
  • The next six months of Damian Priest in WWE should be very interesting

CM Punk is backstage with Cathy Kelley. Punk claims he has changed and grown over the past 20 years, but Kevin Owens hasn't. Randy Orton interrupts and tells Punk that after he beats Rhodes next month, he's coming for number 15. Punk said he's looking forward to it.

After a commercial break, Tiffany Stratton was shown coming out of the trainer's room and greeted by an apologetic Chelsea Green. Green wants to make it up to Tiffy for what happened last week, but Stratton tells her it's fine and asks her not to get involved in her match later and potentially jeopardize her title reign.

Paige is nearby and joins the conversation, putting over what Green said last week. Fatal Influence interrupts, and the six women go back and forth. Paige said Nikki Bella is ducking her, so she might as well go after Jacy Jayne and get the Women's United States Championship instead.

Not a great "debut" for Blake Monroe

Elsewhere backstage, Cathy Kelley speaks to Blake Monroe, who isn't happy about her in-ring debut this evening, as she believes she should be competing for a championship. Still, she'll make the best of the situation as she always does.

The match between Blake Monroe and Giulia didn't take place as Monroe attacked Giulia on her way to the ring.

Booking Grade: 1/10

  • Blake Monroe has been on the main roster since May, and THIS is the best you can come up with for her in-ring "debut"?!
  • The disrespect for Giulia is on another level
  • Both women deserve better

Backstage, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss are talking, and Tatum Paxley interjects. It's clear Flair still doesn't know how to feel about her. Jade Cargill, Michin, and B-Fab interrupt, and a match between Paxley and Michin is made for next week. Paxley hugged Flair, much to her chagrin, as Bliss looked on nervously.

Lil Yachty is set to compete at Sunday Night's Main Event

Trick Williams and Lil Yachty come to the ring to speak to the WWE Universe. Williams said he's happy to have Yachty back with him, but he still doesn't have his United States Championship, so he calls Baron Corbin out to the ring. Corbin comes out, and Williams wants to face him for the title tonight.

Corbin told Williams he's not getting another shot at the title, since he already lost his rematch. Lil Yachty attacked Corbin with the kendo stick, allowing Trick to clothesline him out of the ring. Corbin angrily proposes a match between himself and Lil Yachty at Sunday Night's Main Event. Corbin said if Yachty lasts five minutes in the ring with him, Trick will get another title shot. Yachty hesitated, but accepted. Corbin said it will be the longest five minutes of his life.

Kevin Owens spoke to Cathy Kelley backstage but was immediately interrupted by Finn Balor, who said he's happy for him but wished he had gotten a heads-up at SummerSlam. They are quickly interrupted by Gunther, who tells KO that if he wins tonight, he doesn't have to worry about Balor because he'll be coming for the title. Gunther leaves, and Kevin jokes about his accent. Balor tells KO to focus on winning the WWE Championship, and if he does, he'll be waiting for him.

Back in the ring, Tiffany Stratton took on Lash Legend. The finish saw Legend hit Stratton with the Lash Extension to score the pinfall victory. After the match, Nia Jax and Legend continued the beatdown on Stratton until Chelsea Green came out with a kendo stick and cleaned house.

Booking Grade: 7/10

  • It should have been more of a numbers game to beat Stratton here
  • Solid match between the two competitors
  • The crowd loved getting to see Chelsea Green make the save

Sami Zayn screws Kevin Owens once again

We get a video package from Shinsuke Nakamura, who revealed Kyoki (the former
Hiromu Takahashi of New Japan Pro Wrestling) is his new tag team partner. Nakamura makes it clear they are coming after the MFTs and the WWE Tag Team Titles

In the main event of the evening, Kevin Owens took on CM Punk for the WWE Championship. After a referee bump, Sami Zayn got involved and gave KO the title to hit Punk with. When Owens refused, Zayn hit KO with the title instead. Punk then capitalized and hit the GTS to score the pinfall victory.

Booking Grade: 6.5/10

  • The match got plenty of time
  • Not really sure we needed another chapter of the Kevin Owens/Sami Zayn rivalry
  • Canada was not pleased with this outcome one bit

After the match, Zayn attacked Punk from behind with the WWE Championship. Owens got up and Zayn laid him out again before clobbering Punk with the title for a second time. Zayn screamed at Punk that he stole the title from him and said it will be justice when the title is back with him as WWE SmackDown went off the air.

WWE SmackDown quick results:

  • The MFTs defeated R-Truth and Damian Priest to retain the WWE Tag Team Titles
  • Lash Legend defeated Tiffany Stratton
  • CM Punk defeated Kevin Owens to retain the WWE Championship
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Published
Matt Black
MATT BLACK

Matt Black got involved in the wrestling media industry over two decades ago, covering WWE video games released by Acclaim, THQ, and 2K. He has been covering professional wrestling for multiple digital outlets since 2019. He is the former Senior Editor of WrestleZone and has extensive knowledge of the entire wrestling industry. In his spare time, Matt enjoys cheering for the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Los Angeles Lakers. He's also a diehard comic book movie fan and doesn't pick sides when it comes to the endless debates of Marvel versus DC.

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