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WWE SmackDown Results & Booking Grades (8/28/26): Does CM Punk Have a New Challenger?

After a successful defense of the WWE Championship last week on SmackDown, who will emerge as CM Punk's next challenger?
Matt Black|
CM Punk
CM Punk | WWE

Tonight's episode of WWE SmackDown took place at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Last week's episode was headlined by a WWE Championship match between CM Punk and Kevin Owens. Punk managed to retain the title after a timely ref bump that saw Sami Zayn get involved and hit Owens with the WWE Championship after KO refused to use the title on Punk. Zayn would also lay out Punk following the match.

Tonight's episode featured a triple-threat main event between Kevin Owens, Gunther, and Finn Balor to determine the new number one contender for CM Punk's WWE Championship. But did we actually get a winner?

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

WWE SmackDown results:

This week's episode kicked off with Kevin Owens coming to the ring to speak to the WWE Universe. Owens said he's lost a lot of WWE Title matches, but none of them felt worse than the one he lost last week in Toronto. KO talked about his journey back to WWE after a serious neck injury and his mom making it to Toronto to watch him compete last week. Owens wanted to win the title in front of her, but Sami Zayn prevented him from doing that.

KO said he can't forget or forgive Zayn for what he did to him last week. Owens redirected his attention to CM Punk, telling him that he was better than him last week and that they aren't done. CM Punk came out and said they could go right now and told Nick Aldis, who came out to try to keep them separated, to make the match.

This brought out Gunther, who claimed Punk and Owens hate each other because they are so much alike. To the surprise of no one, Finn Balor also came out and declared that the line starts with him. Nick Aldis made a triple threat match between Owens, Gunther, and Balor for the main event to determine CM Punk's next challenger.

Booking Grade: 7/10

  • The never-ending interrupting promo segment is very overdone
  • Kevin Owens had the best mic work out of the four wrestlers
  • Nick Aldis made the only logical choice he could based on the situation

If Chelsea Green ready to compete?

Backstage, Tiffany Stratton approaches Chelsea Green, questioning whether she's sure she should be competing tonight when she still has to defend her title in a 30-day window. Green said she's not going to leave Stratton out there alone, and she'll be out there for her.

In the opening contest of the evening, WWE Women's Champion Chelsea Green teamed with Tiffany Stratton to take on Nia Jax and Lash Legend. Green competed in the match with a bedazzled face mask. Green spent the majority of the match selling the injury. The finish of the match saw Jax hit Green with the Anihilator to score the pinfall victory for her team.

Booking Grade: 8/10

  • Chelsea Green sold the broken orbital bone injury beautifully
  • It's clear they are building to a match between Jax and Green for the title
  • You can see the Tiffany Stratton heel turn coming from a mile away

Backstage, Danhausen tries to pitch Nick Aldis on him being Employee of the Month. Gunther interrupts and tells Aldis he doesn't appreciate him making him jump through hoops. Danhausen tries to introduce himself to Gunther, but the Ring General no sold it.

The numbers game catches up to Paige

In the next match of the evening, Paige challenged Jacy Jayne for the Women's United States Championship. The finish saw Paige run into a numbers game battle with Fatal Influence, allowing Jayne to catch Paige with an inside cradle to retain the title. After the match, Nikki Bella came out from the crowd and attacked Paige from behind.

Booking Grade: 7.5/10

  • Paige looked strong in defeat, as it was pretty much a handicap match
  • Nikki Bella looked like your typical cowardly heel, attacking the babyface from behind
  • Brie Bella getting hurt at SummerSlam really killed the momentum of this feud

Backstage, Finn Balor checked on Cody Rhodes, who seems to be shaken up over the entire Randy Orton situation. Balor believes Orton is trying to drag Rhodes down a dark path and, as someone who's been there before, tells him not to follow. Balor tells Rhodes that by the time he's done with Orton, he'll be the new WWE Champion and will have a fresh challenger to face. Rhodes tells him he appreciates him.

Elsewhere backstage, Trick Williams tries to talk to Lil Yachty about competing at Sunday Night's Main Event, but Yachty convinces him that it's a good idea. After Yachty left, Baron Corbin approached Williams and told him that's why he doesn't have friends in WWE, so he doesn't have to worry about them doing stupid things.

Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton get personal

Cody Rhodes came out to the ring to speak with the WWE Universe. Rhodes said that every time Randy Orton gets close to another World Championship, he screws it up for himself. Rhodes believes Orton made another mistake by getting in his way, and he'll be the one to end the Legend Killer at Sunday Night's Main Event. This brought out Randy Orton, who tried to get under Cody's skin and make him attack him so he would lose his ability to challenge for the WWE Title.

Orton brought up Rhodes' dead dog, his mother, and his wife. Rhodes counters by taking a shot at Orton's dad. Both men managed not to hit the other, but now both men are a lot angrier.

Booking Grade: 9/10

  • A fun back-and-forth that allowed both men to get personal without being physical
  • The history between Rhodes and Orton makes these segments feel more important
  • This put a lot of importance on the WWE Title, as both men refrained from attacking each other

Jackie Redmond tries to interview Tatum Paxley backstage. Paxley whispers something to Redmond that makes her walk away. Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss came in and informed Paxley that they would be teaming at Sunday Night's Main Event and Flair told Paxley not to let them down when she competed tonight against Michin.

Elsewhere backstage, Byron Saxton spoke to Rey Fenix about his upcoming match against Penta on Raw to determine the next challenger for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns. Ricky Saints interrupted and told Fenix he's going to lose to his brother and then have to return to SmackDown and defend the AAA Cruiserweight Title against him. Fenix was unphazed by Saints' comments.

Tatum Paxley is successful in her SmackDown in-ring debut

Back in the ring, Tatum Paxley made her SmackDown in-ring debut against Michin. The finish saw Paxley hit Michin with the Cemetery Drive to score the pinfall victory.

Booking Grade: 8.5/10

  • Solid main roster debut for Tatum Paxley
  • Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss being at ringside to neutralize Jade Cargill and B-Fab made sense
  • Momentum was built for their match at Sunday Night's Main Event

Backstage, Jackie Redmond questions Blake Monroe about ruining her in-ring debut last week by attacking Giulia before the match. Monroe said Giulia is beneath her, and she wants a better first match on SmackDown. Giulia showed up and attacked Monroe.

Kevin Owens was right about Cody Rhodes

Elsewhere backstage, Kevin Owens walks past Randy Orton, who tells Owens he was right about Cody Rhodes. KO said he tried to tell him countless times. Orton said he might have been right about that, but he didn't forget that Owens dropped him on his head, so they aren't friends. Owens said they will work on that.

We get a video package for the MFTs. Afterward, Damian Priest tried to tell R-Truth he didn't want to be a tag team anymore, as he wanted to be a singles champion. The War Raiders come in and poke at them for letting down the tag team division. Truth picks a fight back and gets him and Priest a shot at the AAA Tag Team Titles, much to Priest's chagrin.

Back in Nick Aldis' office, Nia Jax and Lash Legend barge in. Jax demands a title shot against Chelsea Green. Aldis said Green has to get cleared after tonight. Jax said if she doesn't have a title match in the next two weeks, she'll take it by force. When they leave, The Miz and Kit Wilson come in, completely normal once again. Aldis gives them a match against Shinsuke Nakamura and Kyoki next week.

There is no number one contender thanks to Sami Zayn

In the main event of the evening, Kevin Owens, Finn Balor, and Gunther competed in a triple threat match to determine a number one contender for the WWE Championship. Sami Zayn got involved, attacking everyone and multiple referees to make sure there would be no winner. CM Punk tried to get involved, and Zayn took him out as well, using his WWE Title to lay everyone out.

Booking Grade: 4/10

  • Closing both Raw and SmackDown this week with no finish in the main event is incredibly lazy booking
  • The match was fun until the finish
  • It's hard to get Sami Zayn booed in Canada, so at least they pulled that off

Sami Zayn posed with the WWE Championship as as SmackDown went off the air.

WWE SmackDown quick results:

  • Nia Jax and Lash Legend defeated Chelsea Green and Tiffany Stratton
  • Jacy Jayne defeated Paige to retain the Women's United States Championship
  • Tatum Paxley defeated Michin
  • Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor vs. Gunther ended in a no contest when Sami Zayn got involved
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Published | Modified
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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