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WWE SmackDown Results & Booking Grades (9/11/26): Sami Zayn Surprisingly Regains WWE Title

Tonight's episode of WWE SmackDown saw Sami Zayn get his long awaited rematch against CM Punk for the WWE Championship.
Matt Black|
Sami Zayn
Sami Zayn | WWE

Friday night's episode of WWE SmackDown took place at the Arena CDMX in Mexico City, Mexico.

Last week's episode saw CM Punk take the number one contendership of his WWE Championship into his own hands as he gave hometown hero Johnny Gargano a shot at the title. Sami Zayn once again got involved in the match, trying to cost Punk the title, but failed. Following the match, Punk gave Zayn what he's been campaigning for: a shot at the title tonight in Mexico.

The September 11 edition of the Blue Brand featured four championship matches, including Chelsea Green making her first successful title defense as WWE Women's Champion against Nia Jax. The main event of the evening featured Sami Zayn defeating CM Punk to win the WWE Championship for a second time.

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

WWE SmackDown results:

This week's episode kicked off with Randy Orton coming out to the ring to speak with the WWE Universe. Orton spoke about Cody Rhodes, calling him a good person, and said his soul isn't for sale. Orton said he doesn't care about being seen as a good person, and all he cares about is capturing his 15th World Championship. Randy Orton declared that whoever is WWE Champion after tonight, he's coming for them with an RKO.

Booking Grade: 8.5/10

  • Nothing wrong with a straightforward promo with no interruptions to open the show
  • Orton established himself as the number one contender for the WWE Title after tonight
  • The crowd LOVED Randy Orton, and Cody Rhodes would have booed out of the building had he chosen to interrupt it. WWE made the right call.

Nick Aldis speaks with Chelsea Green backstage, reminding her that the mask needs to stay on when she competes later in the show. Tiffany Stratton shows up to show support for Green before her title match, but her facial expression after Green left definitely signaled that a heel turn is imminent.

In the opening contest of the evening, Rey Fenix defended the AAA Cruiserweight Championship against Ricky Saints. The finish of the match saw Fenix hit Saints with the Mexican Muscle Buster to score the pinfall victory. After the match, Fenix tried to show respect to Saints, but Saints blew him off instead.

Booking Grade: 9/10

  • Very fun opening contest
  • The crowd was really hot for this one
  • No respect shown by Ricky Saints? Aw dude...

It has to be Sami Zayn

Cathy Kelley spoke with Sami Zayn backstage. Zayn said it had to be him to take down CM Punk and become WWE Champion again. He was approached by Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae. Gargano made it clear that if Zayn won tonight, he would get the first shot. Zayn reluctantly agreed.

Back in the ring, we finally got our match between Nikki Bella and Paige. Unfortunately, it didn't get a lot of time. The finish saw Bella pin Paige with her feet on the ropes to score the victory.

Booking Grade: 7/10

  • Paige and Nikki made the most of the time they got
  • The match was pretty much 99% Paige on the offensive
  • Nikki's cheap pin means this rivalry will continue

Cathy Kelley spoke with Nia Jax and Lash Legend backstage. Jax said Green doesn't deserve to be the champion and declared she would be taking the title from her later tonight.

Whoop that Trick...

Two-time United States Champion Trick Williams made his way to the ring to speak with the WWE Universe. Williams talked about beating down Baron Corbin at Sunday Night's Main Event and teased going after a second championship.

Trick tried to bring out Lil Yachty, who didn't come out. Williams tried again, but Baron Corbin dragged him out instead. Williams tried to make the save, but Corbin ran away. Trick went to check on Yachty, and Corbin attacked him from behind with a kendo stick.

Booking Grade: 4/10

  • Not a great promo from Trick tonight
  • Why are we continuing the Corbin feud?
  • Williams not keeping his eye on Yachty is dumb babyface behavior

Backstage, Finn Balor and Nick Aldis talk about all the chaos going on tonight. Danhausen can be seen behind them cleaning the TV monitor. Gunther comes in and complains some more about Balor, who, after hearing his fair share of insults from The Ring General, decks him instead of offering a verbal retort.

Chelsea Green makes her first successful title defense

In the second title match of the evening, Chelsea Green defended the WWE Women's Championship for the first time against Nia Jax. The finish of the match saw Green hit Jax with the Unpretty-HER to score the pinfall victory.

Booking Grade: 9/10

  • Tiffany Stratton took a bullet for Green outside from Lash Legend
  • The crowd is firmly behind Chelsea Green
  • Green is no longer being referred to as an Interim champion. Well deserved!

Backstage, Cathy Kelley spoke with CM Punk about his title match with Sami Zayn tonight. Punk said he basically gave Zayn the match to reward bad behavior. Punk believes he needs to take down Zayn tonight to shut him up once and for all.

Back in the ring, the AAA Tag Team Titles were on the line as the War Raiders defended the gold against Damian Priest and R-Truth. The finish of the match saw the War Raiders get the pin on R-Truth to retain the titles. Following the match, Priest helped Truth to his feet and put the sombrero on his head before taking his head off with a clothesline and followed it up with a South of Heaven.

Booking Grade: 8/10

  • Damian Priest's heel turn on R-Truth has been a LONG time coming
  • A fun, hard-hitting match
  • While the split was needed, it certainly hurts the depth of tag teams on SmackDown

Charlotte Flair still has trust issues

Backstage, Chelsea Green and Alexa Bliss discuss what went down on Sunday. Fatal Influence interrupted and tried to give them grief until Tatum Paxley came in and made it clear that she and Charlotte have beaten them and can come after the Women's Tag Team Titles.

Fatal Influence left, and Flair questioned whether she could trust Paxley after what happened on Sunday, then left as well. Paxley tried to go after her, but Bliss stopped her, suggesting she let her calm down instead.

Backstage, Rey Fenix spoke with Cathy Kelley about his successful title defense earlier in the show. Ricky Saints approached and pretended to show respect, but viciously attacked Fenix instead and left him lying.

Who is the WWE Champion?

In the main event of the evening, Sami Zayn challenged CM Punk for the WWE Championship. The closing moments of the match saw Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae get involved. This allowed Zayn to get the upper hand, but Kevin Owens would hit the ring to try to prevent Zayn from cheating but accidentally hit Punk with the title instead. Zayn gave a low blow to Owens and hit Punk with a Helluva Kick to score the pinfall victory.

Booking Grade: 10/10

  • A shocking title change on a random Friday night
  • The overbooking was part of the charm of the finish of the match
  • Zayn as WWE Champion is the right call right now

Sami Zayn celebrated with the WWE Championship as WWE SmackDown went off the air

WWE SmackDown quick results:

  • Rey Fenix defeated Ricky Saints to retain the AAA Cruiserweight Championship
  • Nikki Bella defeated Paige
  • Chelsea Green defeated Nia Jax to retain the WWE Women's Championship
  • The War Raiders defeated Damian Priest and R-Truth to retain the AAA Tag Team Titles
  • Sami Zayn defeated CM Punk to win 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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