As always, this week’s episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown had plenty to offer. From Logan Paul dropping a surprise announcement at the top of the show to a chaotic Tag Team Fatal 4-Way Match, there was a whole lot going on.
Whether you missed the show or are simply looking to gain additional insight and perspective, the following recaps all of the WWE SmackDown match results, highlights and storylines from September 16th.
WWE SmackDown Match Results
– Men’s Singles Match: Ricochet def. Sami Zayn via pinfall
– Women’s Singles Match: Bayley def. Raquel Rodriguez via pinfall
– NXT North American Championship Match: Solo Sikoa (c) def. Madcap Moss via pinfall
– Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship Fatal 4-Way No. 1 Contender’s Match: The Brawling Brutes def. The New Day, Imperium & Hit Row via pinfall
WWE SmackDown Storylines and Developments
Logan Paul’s Big Announcement
– Logan Paul kicks off the show with an announcement that he has scheduled a press conference for himself and Roman Reigns for Saturday, September 17th in Las Vegas.
– Paul Heyman interrupts Logan Paul in the ring and advises against him challenging Roman Reigns to a WWE Championship match.
– Logan Paul drops Sami Zayn with a right hand prior to his in-ring match against Ricochet.
– Jey Uso runs interference and costs Zayn a pinfall victory. Tensions clearly simmering within The Bloodline.
Karrion Kross Speaks…
– After choking out Drew McIntyre at the conclusion of last week’s episode, Karrion Kross emphasizes that he will keep McIntyre in an endless circle of suffering.
Maximum Male Monster
– Maximum Male Models have their back-to-school fashion show interrupted and ruined by Braun Strowman.
– After Strowman dismantles Mace and Mansoor, Chad Gable makes his way to the ring to confront him. Otis is noticeably absent and winds up attacking Strowman from behind.
– Otis actually manages to pick up and floor The Monster Among Men with a World’s Strongest Slam. Strowman quickly recovers and Gable has to force Otis to walk away from the ring.
Damage CTRL Stays Hot
– Damage CTRL reminds the women’s locker room that, as the newly-crowned WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, they can show up wherever and whenever they want.
– Bayley then gets help from Dakota Kai and IYO SKY to hit Raquel Rodriguez with a Rose Plant and secure a pinfall victory.
– Shotzi effectively turns face when she comes to Rodriguez’s aid after the Damage CTRL trio looks to get some extra licks in following the match.
Liv Morgan Vows to Earn Respect
– WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Liv Morgan interrupts Ronda Rousey’s backstage interview to challenge her to an Extreme Rules Match for the title at next month’s pay-per-view.
– Rousey accepts, saying that the match will be Morgan’s “funeral”.
…and Drew McIntyre Responds
– Standing on top of the ringside announcers’ table, Drew McIntyre tells Karrion Kross to grow a pair and face him like a man.
Drama Within The Bloodline
– Solo Sikoa tells Jey Uso that he was off his game when he cost Sami Zayn a victory against Ricochet. Sikoa only opts to have Zayn accompany him to the ring for his NXT North American Championship defense against Madcap Moss, leaving The Usos in the back.
– Zayn pays dividends once again, as Sikoa capitalizes off the distraction to pin Moss and retain the title.
Tag Team No. 1 Contender’s Fatal 4-Way Match Makes for Wild Main Event
– Bodies flew everywhere and Top Dolla slammed three men at once, but in the end, it was The Brawling Brutes capitalizing off an Imperium double team to score the win.
– Ridge Holland and Butch will face The Usos next week on Friday Night SmackDown for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship.
WWE SmackDown Highlights
The Bloodline’s Drama
Fans of reality TV may just want to start tuning into WWE SmackDown on a weekly basis. At this rate, The Bloodline is becoming one of the best dramas on cable television. This week’s episode brought about several noteworthy developments within Roman Reigns’ family faction.
First, we had the ‘Wise Man’, Paul Heyman, returned for the first time since being F5’d through the announcers’ table by Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam. Things really got interesting when Jey Uso wound up costing Sami Zayn the win in his singles match against Ricochet. On the surface, it’s unclear whether Uso meant to cost the ‘Honorary Uce’ a pinfall victory or not. After all, Jimmy Uso and Logan Paul had also been running interference in the match.
Regardless of Jey’s intentions, Zayn didn’t take too kindly to the outcome. Apparently, neither did Solo Sikoa, who opted to only have Zayn accompany him to the ring for his NXT North American title defense later in the show. The fact that Zayn managed to provide a key assist in Sikoa’s win only makes the internal feud between him and Jey Uso that much juicier going forward.
Otis Body-Slamming Braun
Braun Strowman being body-slammed to the ring mat by Otis was about the last thing one could have anticipated when the Maximum Male Models opened the segment by announcing that they would be debuting their new back-to-school fashion line. This week’s WWE SmackDown took place in Anaheim. Hopefully, it wasn’t lost on anyone that L.A. Knight… I mean, Max Dupri… got a little bit emotional upon realizing the close proximity to the City of Angels.
Anyways, Strowman put a quick end to the Maximum Male Models by steamrolling Mace and Mansoor on the rampway. When Chad Gable’s iconic “Shoosh!” blared over the speakers, many fans were taken aback. Surely, the Alpha Academy wasn’t going to pick a fight with the Monster Among Men, were they?
Gable came out alone enabling Otis to sneak attack Strowman from behind. The Monster initially gained the upper hand and then turned his attention to Gable. Otis this rejoined the fray, hoisted Strowman up and hit a World’s Strongest Slam.
The impact kept Strowman down for all of five seconds before he was back to his feet yelling at Otis to step back into the ring and get these hands. The two behemoths are now set to face one another in a singles match next week.
The Brawling Brutes Earn Tag Team Title Opportunity
For as lame as the opening bit of this week’s WWE SmackDown episode was (more on that below), the main event certainly delivered. A Fatal 4-Way singles match can get hectic enough, let alone a tag team version. Needless to say, Friday’s Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender’s Fatal 4-Way Match was chaotic from start to finish.
Each of Imperium, The New Day, The Brawling Brutes and Hit Row had their time in the spotlight throughout the melee. Butch gets a special shoutout for going full-on lunatic on multiple occasions during the main event match. His tag team partner, Ridge Holland, somehow managed to pick up and deliver a semi-power slam to Top Dolla as well. This took place right after Dolla paced around the ring with Butch and Kofi Kingston on his back and Xavier Woods in his arms in a true display of strength.
Considering that Butch and Holland both made waves throughout the match, perhaps it was only fitting that The Brawling Brutes wound up securing the win. After Imperium struck with some tandem offense, Holland tagged himself in and stole the cover to secure the pinfall.
The Brawling Brutes are now set to battle The Usos on next week’s episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown for the Undisputed Tag Team Championship.
WWE SmackDown Lowlights
Logan Paul Does Not Belong
Seriously, WWE? There’s a whole host of superstars on the roster who are deserving of a shot at Roman Reigns and his titles, and yet now we’re going to inject some Logan Paul into the mix? Perhaps the worst part about the whole ordeal that kicked off this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown is that it all stemmed from things Paul apparently said after interviewing Reigns on his podcast. Do forgive me for not tuning into the show to know exactly what went down.
Here’s the deal: Paul does not belong anywhere close to a WWE title belt. For that matter, he really doesn’t need to be sticking his nose into WWE at all. Paul tries to be funny on the mic and he’s not. Technically, he’s the face in this encounter with The Bloodline, but there were more fans booing him in Anaheim tonight than cheering. If Paul weasels his way into being Reigns’ next challenger over superstars like Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, etc., it will be the first major misstep of Triple H’s WWE.
Based on how tonight’s promo went, one has to believe Paul will lay down the challenge to Reigns at tomorrow’s press conference in Las Vegas. I know I can hardly contain my excitement *rolls eyes*. For those who are interested, further details regarding the press conference were relayed on SmackDown. The presser will take place on Saturday, September 17th, and will be broadcast live on all WWE social media platforms.
