Friday Night SmackDown aired this week in a pre-taped installment from inside the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Canada.
The interim WWE Women’s Champion Chelsea Green was backstage holding a bejeweled mask for her face and ran into Tiffany Stratton, who wasn’t sure if she wanted Green to be wrestling; however, the champ spoke to medical and is able to compete, even as Stratton points out that Green has 30 days to defend her title and doesn’t want anything to jeopardize that. Green appreciates her concern, but after everything they’ve been through with Nia Jax and Lash Legend, their opponents tonight, she is not leaving her to go at it alone. She will be there, by her side.
The tag team match pitting Stratton and Green against The Irresistible Forces was the first match of the night, with Stratton and Legend starting things off before the other partners were tagged in. Jax would hit Green, clad in the face mask, with a headbutt, prompting a Tiffy tag-in which lasted during commercials as Nia and Lash dominated over The Center of the Universe.
Upon the show’s return, a pin break-up by Chelsea would lead the champion to meet a knee to the face mask, with Green getting out of the ring as it was likely her orbital bone injury was aggravated. The heels remained in control as Green was checked by officials.
She was almost taken away when she decided to run back into the ring, make a tag, and attack both Nia and Lash. Ultimately, it was not enough for the babyface team to regain momentum as Stratton was thrown into the barricade by Lash and Nia hit the Annihilator on Green to win the match for The Irresistible Forces.
Jacy Jayne of Fatal Influence put her Women’s United States Championship on the line against Paige. Jayne began with her usual trash talk, but it wouldn’t take long before the Anti-Diva took control of things. Paige was still no match for the 3-on-1 numbers advantage as Lainey Reid kicked her on the outside before commercials.
However, the tables were still turned and Paige was able to fight off Lainey and Fallon Henley as she pulled out some more offense against Jayne. The involvement of them both helped Jayne roll up Paige into an inside cradle to retain the title.
A disappointed Paige would meet even more misfortune as she was attacked from behind by Nikki Bella, who pummeled her and hit the Rack Attack 2.0 on her.
No clue where Cathy Kelley is this week, so Jackie Redmond is here to interview Tatum Paxley. The resident correspondent of Raw asked SmackDown’s newest female star if she was prepared to take on Michin. Paxley said that her mind has been racing with so many thoughts, ideas, and voices, deciding to tell Jackie one of them, but she must keep it a secret. Whispering into her air, Redmond runs off, but in walk Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss.
Paxley said she had a lot of fun at Bliss’s birthday brunch last week, but knows she went a little crazy with something blood-related. Flair expresses annoyance, which she is forced to tone down by Bliss, who tells Paxley that the three of them will team up against The Baddies (Jade Cargill, B-Fab, and Michin) at Sunday Night’s Main Event in a week’s time on September 6th.
The Queen advised Paxley to not make her regret sticking up for her; tonight, she has an opportunity to show everyone what she can do. Bliss also mentions that they will be out there and make sure nothing bad happens. Paxley gives Flair a hug, but once she walks away, Flair is clearly still bothered by her.
The match between Michin and Tatum was underway a bit later on. Michin tried to lock Paxley into a hold to begin, but Paxley backflipped her way out of it, demonstrating her flexibility more than a few times as her NXT Women’s Championship reign and previous powerlifting experience was mentioned on commentary. Although Michin did her best to take down the new Diva throughout the contest, it was Paxley’s Cemetery Drive that put the veteran away for a successful SmackDown in-ring debut, leaving Charlotte and Alexa rather impressed; Tatum is still an acquired taste for Charlotte though, being somewhat hesitant to hug her afterwards.
Afterwards, Corey Graves and Michael Cole recapped the match that wasn’t last week when Giulia was attacked mid-entrance by Blake Monroe. Monroe was then interviewed by Jackie, who was curious to know why The Glamour would jeopardize her own debut. Monroe says she didn’t jeopardize anything, as that match was beneath her, and quite frankly, if Redmond was good at her job, maybe she would Nick Aldis why he would put a Superstar like her in a match like that in the first place. When there’s an opponent up to her standards and an entrance worthy of The Glamour, then she’ll make her debut.
Giulia would then attack Blake and slam her into the steel grate, but The Beautiful Madness was restrained by referees.
Nick Aldis was confronted in his office by Nia Jax, who figured that since she pinned a cleared-to-compete Chelsea earlier, demanded a Women’s Championship match. Aldis says she needs to be re-evaluated by medical. Jax tells him she’s been screwed out of it too many times, and brought up how he mentioned Green needing to defend the title within 30 days. If he does not grant her a title match within 2 weeks, she will take it by force.
Friday Night SmackDown will air the following week from inside the Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio; that episode is being taped tonight alongside this coming Monday’s episode of Raw.
Sunday Night’s Main Event airs from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, on Sunday, September 6th on Peacock in the United States and Netflix internationally. One match is currently confirmed:
- Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, and Tatum Paxley vs. The Baddies (Jade Cargill, B-Fab, and Michin)
As always, make sure to share your thoughts on this week’s episode in the comments below.