Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.
SmackDown’s next pay-per-view will be headlined by Shinsuke Nakamura getting another shot at the WWE Championship.
Nakamura defeated Randy Orton in Tuesday night’s number one contender’s main event and will challenge for Jinder Mahal’s title at Hell in a Cell. Nakamura vs. Orton was a first-time meeting between the two, and Nakamura hit the Kinshasa to win the match.
Mahal vs. Nakamura was also the WWE title match at SummerSlam last month. Mahal retained in their first meeting after interference from the Singh Brothers. Their rematch is the first thing officially announced for Hell in a Cell, which will take place at the new Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan on October 8th.
More of the card should become apparent on next week’s loaded episode of SmackDown. That show will feature the return of Vince McMahon to television to address the situation with Shane McMahon and Kevin Owens, plus SmackDown’s other three titles will all be defended.
A match was made official for Raw’s next PPV on Tuesday night as well, with Enzo Amore defeating Cedric Alexander, Brian Kendrick, Gran Metalik, and Tony Nese in a fatal five-way elimination match on 205 Live. Amore will challenge for Neville’s Cruiserweight title at No Mercy on September 24th.
WWE is loading up next week’s episode of SmackDown in Las Vegas.
It was announced at the end of tonight’s show that Vince McMahon would be making an appearance on television next Tuesday to address the situation with Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon. There will be three title matches on the show as well, with the Women’s, Tag Team, and United States titles all up for grabs.
The storyline between Owens and Shane was ramped up on SmackDown tonight. Owens said that Shane’s entire family would have been better off if he didn’t survive the helicopter crash landing that he was involved in earlier this year, which led to Shane attacking Owens.
Through a phone call to Daniel Bryan, it was revealed that Vince had decided to suspend Shane indefinitely after Owens threatened to sue the company or press charges. Vince appearing on SmackDown will be the first time he’s been on TV since the post-WrestleMania episode of Raw.
Also set for next week, Natalya will defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Naomi, The Usos will put their tag titles on the line against The New Day in a Sin City street fight, and AJ Styles will give Tye Dillinger a shot at the United States Championship.
The Mae Young Classic finals will then air live on the WWE Network from Las Vegas after SmackDown goes off the air.
Conor McGregor may not have defeated Floyd Mayweather last Saturday night, but a similarly impossible upset did happen – the superfight delivered on almost every level. It seemed like that had no chance of happening going into the night. Spectacles in sports rarely do meet the hype going into them; it’s almost impossible for them to. Mayweather vs. McGregor in particular appeared destined to leave audiences unsatisfied..
A look at Mayweather vs. McGregor, and when happens next, is the lead story in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer. Read about the week that had two matches of the century and one match of the decade all within 15 hours.
Look at the fight, the judging, the realities of how McGregor and Mayweather each fought, the future of McGregor and tons of different business numbers and indicators. Check out the problems people had in viewing the show, the gambling, TV numbers and head-to-head competition.
This issue has a major feature on TripleMania, both the Dr. Wagner mask loss and the incident with Sexy Star and Rosemary. Look at the business of the show and the amazing television numbers, go through the Sexy Star match and what happened to lead to what happened, comments from many in wrestling, explanations, as best as there are, the background as to why things fell apart, how much Wagner earned for losing his mask, how much Wagner and L.A. Park were offering to lose their mask to local promoters, and the famous story of what was supposed to be the debut of Dr. Wagner Jr., in a tag team match with his father, and why the two never teamed up.
Read about the situation with Ric Flair.
This issue has a run down of the big What Culture shows of the past week with some of the top talent in the world, including the YouTube business, Will Ospreay vs. Rey Mysterio, and more.
Examine the WWE injury bug and some of the reasons the injury rate is so high, get a run down the latest injuries, thoughts on the schedule, Nikki Bella on two TV shows at the same time, Asuka’s future, The Cena/Reigns promo, Sami Zayn fund raising efforts, thoughts on the Mae Young Classic, new show for Cena, update on Ciampa, woman referee, Nakamura talks about his UFC offer, Jericho talks his role in the Styles vs. Owens situation, most-watched shows on the WWE network for the week and full coverage of all the WWE and NXT arena events over the past week and business notes.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [email protected]. For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52. If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.)
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue, or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
The turmoil regarding the future of World Championship Wrestling continues with what apparently is a shake-up leaving Brad Siegel backing Vince Russo in complete control of the company. At the same time, the losses continue to escalate, with July’s losses estimated at $7 million, the most, by far, of any month in the history of a company now on track to lose close to $80 million over the course of this year. The main stories going around, seem to involve the prospective merger of AOL and Time Warner, and getting the company’s losses under control.
SmackDown tonight has Randy Orton vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a match where the winner gets a future shot at Jinder Mahal’s WWE Championship, Natalya vs. Carmella in a non-title match, the continuation of the rivalry between Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon, and the supposed return of Dolph Ziggler to in-ring action. It will also be Corey Graves’ debut as a member of the SmackDown commentary team.
Enzo Amore, Gran Metalik, Cedric Alexander, Brian Kendrick, and Tony Nese will face off in a fatal five-way elimination match on 205 Live tonight to decide Neville’s challenger for No Mercy.
WWE ratings are delayed this week due to Monday’s Labor Day holiday. Raw ratings will be out tomorrow, with SmackDown’s likely pushed back a day as well.
After voicing her displeasure with WWE broadcasting Raw live on Christmas this year, Beth Hardy tweeted that it’s apparently the USA Network’s decision and not WWE’s.
In a post on Instagram, Braun Strowman thanked Big Show for their steel cage match and called them the last of a dying breed.
Pro Wrestling Sheet’s James McKenna wrote that he’s hearing Big Show is getting surgery for a slight hip issue very soon.
Triple H comforted Bianca Belair backstage after her Mae Young Classic match against Kairi Sane.
Brandon Howard has an article for Fightful looking at the online interest that Kavita Devi’s appearance in the tournament has gotten in India.
TMZ Sports ran a story on the Four Horsewomen vs. Four Horsewomen angle from the Mae Young Classic.
Ring of Honor announced that Kenny Omega will be appearing at two of their shows in Florida in November. He is set to compete at their live event in Fort Lauderdale on November 11th and their TV tapings in Lakeland on the 12th.
Kazuchika Okada is now the second longest reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion in NJPW history after surpassing the Great Muta today. Okada has 1,239 total days as champion in his four reigns. Hiroshi Tanahashi has had seven title reigns and has been champion for 1,358 total days.
DJ Z is coming to EVOLVE and will be wrestling at their shows in Livonia, Michigan on September 22nd and Summit, Illinois on the 23rd. He’ll face Fred Yehi and Darby Allin in those matches.
Mark Haskins will take on Jimmy Havoc in a deathmatch at PROGRESS Wrestling’s Alexandra Palace show on Sunday.
Duke Roufus, CM Punk’s coach, revealed on Instagram that Punk is training and awaiting confirmation of his next fight.
Nate Diaz bashed Conor McGregor after McGregor’s loss to Floyd Mayweather.
McGregor’s striking coach told Ariel Helwani that he’d like to see McGregor face Diaz if his next fight is in MMA.
Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza also appeared on the MMA Hour and took exception to some of McGregor’s critical comments about the network in the lead-up to the Mayweather fight.
Paige VanZant said on the MMA Hour that she made the decision to move up to flyweight after passing out multiple times during previous weight cuts.
Fabricio Werdum thinks that USADA’s drug testing is too strict.
Officially confirming what has been known about for a while, WWE announced today that Donovan Dijak has signed with the company and has arrived at the Performance Center.
WWE touted the signing with a post on their website, focusing on Dijak’s pro wrestling career from the New England indies to working for promotions like Ring of Honor, EVOLVE, and PWG. The article also mentions Dijak having been a standout football and basketball player in high school and college.
Dave Meltzer reported in July that Dijak would soon be heading to WWE. Dijak has been wrapping up his dates on the independent scene since. His final match on the indies took place at PWG’s Battle of Los Angeles on Sunday night, with Meltzer raving about it in his report from the event and on last night’s edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.
Dijak is following in the footsteps of Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly, Adam Cole, and Lio Rush as former ROH wrestlers who have made their way to WWE this year.
The fallout from the incident where Sexy Star injured Rosemary at Triplemania took another turn last night as AAA announced that Sexy Star had been stripped of their Reina de Reinas title.
AAA posted the news on Twitter during a show on Monday night. In a statement that Global Force Wrestling previously released about the Sexy Star/Rosemary situation, it was noted that AAA executives had confirmed to them that “appropriate measures” were being taken.
Similarly to how it began, Sexy Star’s women’s title reign ends in controversy. She returned to AAA and won the then-vacant championship in July after Taya Valkyrie had been stripped of it, with the explanation then being that Valkyrie used a choke to unfairly win it in a street fight match months earlier. Valkyrie hasn’t returned to AAA since.
Before being stripped of the title, Sexy Star put out a lengthy statement (which was translated by Fightful.com) yesterday saying that she didn’t do anything different than she usually does when applying the armbar on Rosemary at Triplemania, that she didn’t know Rosemary was injured until after the match, and that it didn’t seem to be that serious because no one was tending to her.
GFW uploaded a video previewing that they will be addressing the incident on Impact this week.
A steel cage match headlined last night’s Labor Day edition of Raw, and Braun Strowman wasn’t finished with Big Show even after it was over. Strowman closed the episode by putting Big Show through the side of the cage and further sending a message to Brock Lesnar ahead of No Mercy.
Also on the show, John Cena faced Jason Jordan in the opener before again trading words with Roman Reigns, Jeff Hardy challenged The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship, and Sasha Banks & Alexa Bliss were forced to team together against Nia Jax & Emma in a match where Jax and Emma would be added to the Women’s title match at No Mercy if they won.
With two big matches at the top of the card already set, WWE continued to add to the No Mercy lineup on tonight’s episode of Raw.
It had been announced earlier in the day that Alexa Bliss would be defending her Raw Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks at the pay-per-view, but that was changed to a fatal four-way when Nia Jax and Emma won their way into it by defeating Bliss & Banks in a tag match.
The tag title match was revealed for No Mercy as well, with it officially being announced that Cesaro & Sheamus would be getting their rematch against Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose. Both teams got wins on Raw tonight as Cesaro & Sheamus beat Heath Slater & Rhyno and Rollins & Ambrose defeated Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson in a non-title match.
Bray Wyatt will also face Finn Balor at the PPV, which was set up tonight when Wyatt challenged Balor to face him without relying on his “Demon” persona.
No Mercy will take place on September 24th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Here’s what the card looks like so far:
WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar defending against Braun Strowman
John Cena vs. Roman Reigns
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss defending against Sasha Banks, Nia Jax, and Emma in a fatal four-way match
Raw Tag Team Champions Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose defending against Cesaro & Sheamus
With both Christmas and New Year’s Day set to fall on Mondays in the upcoming months, WWE has already announced their broadcast plans for those holiday-themed episodes of Raw.
The company revealed today that Raw will air live on both Mondays. WWE.com’s announcement said: “This marks the first time that WWE will present Monday night’s hottest show live on the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. These unprecedented broadcasts aim to best serve you, the WWE Universe, during the holiday season.”
It would appear that this is actually the second time that the show will air live on New Year’s Day, with the January 1st, 2007 episode having been a live broadcast.
Both December 25th and January 1st are fairly significant days for sports on television in the United States. The NBA has a few marquee matchups on Christmas, with New Year’s Day having historically been a big spot on the college football bowl game calendar.
Filling the spot that was left open after John “Bradshaw” Layfield announced his departure from SmackDown, Corey Graves will be joining the show’s commentary team starting this week.
WWE broke the news today, noting that Graves will also be staying on Raw and calling both shows going forward. Graves will be leaving his duties on 205 Live and Main Event, with Nigel McGuinness taking over those roles alongside Vic Joseph.
Graves will be reuniting with former broadcast partners Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton on the SmackDown announce team.
JBL revealed last Friday that he would be stepping away from SmackDown and no longer doing regular commentary so that he could focus more time on his role as a global ambassador in the Beyond Sport organization. JBL noted that he would still be part of the WWE family and that he would be appearing on shows like Tribute to the Troops and WrestleMania.
We’re looking for reports on tonight’s WWE house shows with Raw in Kansas City and SmackDown in Moline, IL to [email protected].
PWG BATTLE OF LOS ANGELES IN RESEDA, CALIFORNIA
Sammy Guevara vs. Joey Janela
Trevor Lee vs. Donovan Dijak
Sami Callihan vs. Jeff Cobb
Michael Elgin vs. Matt Riddle
Mark Haskins vs. Travis Banks
Keith Lee vs. Walter
Ricochet & Matt Sydal vs. Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre Jr.
Young Bucks & Kenny Omega vs. Penta 0M & Rey Fenix & Flamita
WWE on Sunday night has the Raw house show in Des Moines and SmackDown in Cedar Falls, IA and we’re looking for reports to [email protected].
Raw will be Monday night from Omaha with Braun Strowman vs. Big Show in a steel cage match and The Miz vs. Jeff Hardy for the IC title. There is also a SmackDown house show in Rochester, MN.
SmackDown and 205 Live take place on Tuesday in Sioux Falls, IA with Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Randy Orton in the main event for the top contendership for the WWE title.
Conor McGregor may not have defeated Floyd Mayweather last Saturday night, but a similarly impossible upset did happen – the superfight delivered on almost every level. It seemed like that had no chance of happening going into the night. Spectacles in sports rarely do meet the hype going into them; it’s almost impossible for them to. Mayweather vs. McGregor in particular appeared destined to leave audiences unsatisfied..
A look at Mayweather vs. McGregor, and when happens next, is the lead story in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer. Read about the week that had two matches of the century and one match of the decade all within 15 hours.
Look at the fight, the judging, the realities of how McGregor and Mayweather each fought, the future of McGregor and tons of different business numbers and indicators. Check out the problems people had in viewing the show, the gambling, TV numbers and head-to-head competition.
This issue has a major feature on TripleMania, both the Dr. Wagner mask loss and the incident with Sexy Star and Rosemary. Look at the business of the show and the amazing television numbers, go through the Sexy Star match and what happened to lead to what happened, comments from many in wrestling, explanations, as best as there are, the background as to why things fell apart, how much Wagner earned for losing his mask, how much Wagner and L.A. Park were offering to lose their mask to local promoters, and the famous story of what was supposed to be the debut of Dr. Wagner Jr., in a tag team match with his father, and why the two never teamed up.
Read about the situation with Ric Flair.
This issue has a run down of the big What Culture shows of the past week with some of the top talent in the world, including the YouTube business, Will Ospreay vs. Rey Mysterio, and more.
Examine the WWE injury bug and some of the reasons the injury rate is so high, get a run down the latest injuries, thoughts on the schedule, Nikki Bella on two TV shows at the same time, Asuka’s future, The Cena/Reigns promo, Sami Zayn fund raising efforts, thoughts on the Mae Young Classic, new show for Cena, update on Ciampa, woman referee, Nakamura talks about his UFC offer, Jericho talks his role in the Styles vs. Owens situation, most-watched shows on the WWE network for the week and full coverage of all the WWE and NXT arena events over the past week and business notes.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to Dave Meltzer, or by using PayPal directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $13 for 4 issues, $32 for 12, $61 for 24, $101 for 40 and $131 for 52. In Canada and Mexico, rates are $14.50 for 4, $35 for 12, $67 for 24, $111 for 40 and $144 or 52. In Europe, you can get the fastest delivery and best rates by sending to [email protected]. For the rest of the world, rates are $16.50 for 4, $44 for 12, $85 for 24, $141 for 40 issues and $183 for 52. If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order (P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228), you can get $1 off in every price range.)
If you are a new subscriber ordering 24 or more issues, you can choose one free classic issue, or two free classic issues with a 40-issue subscription.
Gordon Solie, an icon figure of this industry who announced more pro wrestling matches on television than any man who ever lived, passed away from brain cancer officially on 7/28 at the age of 71. Solie was found that morning by his family, and it is being listed as the date of his death. It is believed his death may have taken place as early as late Wednesday night, as nobody heard from him on Thursday, and the house was exactly the same on Friday morning as it was on Wednesday night, when his daughter was over for dinner.
Darren Young returned to action last night for the first time since suffering an arm injury earlier this year. He was involved in a battle royal (which was won by Jason Jordan) where the winner would go on to challenge The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship later in the night.
In an interview with Inside the Ropes that was conducted before SummerSlam, Nikki Bella said that she hopes her and Brie Bella will return together in 2018 (or sooner if possible), though her surgeon told her that she can’t be full-time in pro wrestling anymore. She also said that she would love to see Daniel Bryan wrestle again.
WWE has been uploading short video clips on YouTube from the first round Mae Young Classic matches, and Dakota Kai vs. Kavita Devi is lapping the competition. It currently has 1,431,560 views, with the next closest being Princesa Sugehit vs. Kay Lee Ray with 106,530. Toni Storm vs. Ayesha Raymond is next with 61,411 views, then Kairi Sane vs. Tessa Blanchard with 46,210. Aside from the organic interest from India for Devi’s match, the views could have been boosted by it being embedded on Indian news sites.
After JBL announced that he was leaving the SmackDown commentary team to focus on his role in the Beyond Sport organization, WWE released a statement in an article on their website: “WWE admires JBL’s continued determination to make a difference in the lives of at-risk kids in Bermuda and around the world.”
The Charlotte Observer has an article with 15 excerpts from Ric and Charlotte Flair’s upcoming book.
WWE posted that Jack Gallagher received four stitches after his no DQ match with Brian Kendrick on Tuesday’s 205 Live.
John Cena tweeted to Ric Flair after Flair posted a video where he spoke publicly for the first time since his hospitalization: “You are #TheMan we are all just impossibly trying to keep up! YOU DEFINE #NeverGiveUp” Randy Orton also wrote: “You’re one of a kind. Glad your good Ric!”
Xavier Woods sent a message to Kenny Omega while at Dragon Con.
Pro Wrestling
GFW will be addressing the incident where Sexy Star injured Rosemary at Triplemania on next week’s episode of Impact. The company released a short video teasing the segment today, with Jeff Jarrett, Karen Jarrett, and Jeremy Borash discussing what happened and showing backstage footage from the show.
Ratings for Impact were down this week, which is the second week in a row that there’s been a drop since the August 17th Destination X special. The episode averaged 268,000 viewers after doing 296,000 the week prior.
The Battle of Los Angeles continues tonight with more first round matches, plus Kenny Omega makes his PWG return to team with The Young Bucks against Penta El Zero M, Rey Fenix & Flamita, and Marty Scurll & Zack Sabre Jr. face Ricochet & Matt Sydal in non-tournament action. The tournament will conclude tomorrow night. Dave Meltzer has his live report from night one up on the front page.
The wrestlers involved with BOLA will sign the turnbuckle pads after the shows so that they can be auctioned off for charities supporting those affected by Hurricane Harvey.
WALTER, Jeff Cobb, and Jonah Rock trained with Josh Barnett while in LA for BOLA today.
The latest episode of “Being the Elite” focuses on the end of ROH’s tour of the UK and continues the storyline of Adam Cole being killed off of the show with Bullet Club watching his NXT debut.
ROH posted a promo with Cody Rhodes addressing Minoru Suzuki ahead of their title match at Death Before Dishonor.
UFC/MMA
Derrick Lewis is partnering with the UFC to donate $10,000 to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. Lewis is from the area and has been helping those affected.
Tyron Woodley wants to move up to middleweight to challenge Georges St-Pierre if GSP wins the title from Michael Bisping.
Alistair Overeem is open to a fight against Francis Ngannou.
Jose Aldo said that he wasn’t the one who posted a tweet from his account mocking Conor McGregor after the Floyd Mayweather fight.
Stefan Struve congratulated Alexander Volkov after Volkov defeated him at UFC’s show in Rotterdam today.
In a video posted on his social media accounts today, Ric Flair spoke publicly for the first time since being hospitalized last month:
He said: “Hey, to all my fans out there, let it be known worldwide that Nature Boy — WOO! — is back up and running, looking as only I can look. I want to tell all my fans out there, thank you for all the love and support. And I will see you in the very, very, very, very, very, very near future. WOO!”
Flair was wearing a shirt that said “I ain’t dead yet motherf***ers” and included a link to his merchandise store where it’s on sale.
The video is another sign that Flair’s recovery is progressing. The latest update on his condition came earlier in the week when Wendy Barlow, Flair’s fiancee and formerly Fifi the Maid as an on-screen character in WCW, wrote that he was set to begin physical therapy shortly.
Charlotte Flair also returned on the road with WWE last weekend for the first time since her father’s health issues. She wasn’t on last Tuesday’s SmackDown, but WWE did post a video of her being interviewed by Renee Young backstage. She acknowledged that Flair has a long road ahead of him, but said that she wouldn’t be back if she didn’t think it was okay.
A cage match will headline next week’s episode of Raw.
WWE announced today that Big Show and Braun Strowman would be facing off inside a steel cage on Monday. That’s the second match officially confirmed for the episode, with The Miz also set to defend his Intercontinental Championship against Jeff Hardy after Hardy won a battle royal to get the title shot.
Strowman wasn’t on Raw last Monday, though his program with Brock Lesnar was furthered as Paul Heyman and Lesnar cut a promo on him ahead of No Mercy. Big Show was eliminated by Finn Balor, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson in the battle royal for an IC title shot.
Strowman vs. Big Show has main evented two episodes of Raw already this year. Their last meeting ended in a no contest after WWE did a ring-collapsing angle when Strowman hit a superplex on Big Show.
Monday’s Raw falls on Labor Day, which means that next week’s ratings will likely be delayed due to the holiday. The CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska will host the show.
Though he hurt his left knee at SmackDown’s house show on Monday night, it appears that Xavier Woods has gotten relatively good news on his injury.
Woods was asked about the injury during a live stream on his UpUpDownDown YouTube channel yesterday and revealed that he suffered an MCL sprain. Becky Lynch, who was part of the broadcast, said that she had the same injury recently and recovered after about a month of wrestling through it.
How soon Woods would be able to return would depend on the severity of the sprain. He was on SmackDown despite the injury last night and accompanied Big E & Kofi Kingston for their match against The Usos. He wore a knee brace and a sign that said “It’s sore” during their entrance.
Woods also tweeted last night that the injury was an MCL sprain. Dave Meltzer noted that Woods was set to undergo a medical evaluation yesterday, which likely would have happened before SmackDown.
Shelton Benjamin wrestled in his first WWE match since returning to the company on SmackDown last night, teaming with Chad Gable to take on The Ascension. After they were victorious, Benjamin & Gable cut a post-show promo about wanting to win the tag titles.
Tag team action also went down in the main event as Shinsuke Nakamura & Randy Orton faced Jinder Mahal & Rusev. And while the faces picked up the win, Orton made sure to send a message to Nakamura ahead of their WWE title number one contender’s match next week.
Also on the show, Kevin Owens addressed his problems with Shane McMahon, Bobby Roode appeared for his second week on the main roster, and Breezango premiered the second season of “Fashion Files.”
Jinder Mahal’s next challenger will be decided on SmackDown next week.
It was announced tonight that Shinsuke Nakamura and Randy Orton would face off in a number one contender’s match next Tuesday, with the winner challenging Mahal for the WWE Championship at some point in the future.
Before facing each other, Nakamura & Orton teamed up in tonight’s main event on SmackDown and were victorious over Mahal & Rusev, but Orton ended the show by hitting an RKO on Nakamura to further set up the storyline heading into their match.
Natalya will also face Carmella in what is presumably a non-title match next Tuesday. She’ll then defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship in a rematch against Naomi on the September 12th episode.
Another title rematch is set as well, with SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos defeating The New Day tonight to earn the right to pick the stipulation for their upcoming meeting. WWE hasn’t announced what that stipulation will be or when the match will take place.
With SmackDown’s next pay-per-view not scheduled until October 8th, much of the focus has been on the TV episodes until the build for Hell in a Cell kicks into gear.
