5 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (11 Sept - Results & Review)
Sami Zayn won the WWE Title from CM Punk on a fiery night in Mexico City on SmackDown.
Mexico City was left stunned when the referee's hand slapped the mat for a third time and ring announcer Mark Nash confirmed that Sami Zayn is the brand new WWE Champion during Friday's edition of SmackDown. Everyone from Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae to Kevin Owens got involved in Zayn's bout with now-former champ CM Punk. It was chaos. Cats and dogs living together. Mass hysteria.
This show was promoted as "Championship Friday" by Michael Cole, but not everything felt as grandiose as bosses would've wanted it to. Indeed, Damian Priest's turn on R-Truth felt like something that needed to happen long before now. Meanwhile, Trick Williams just can't shake Baron Corbin no matter how hard he tries, and a grudge effort pitting Nikki Bella vs. Paige fell short as expected.
Back on the bright side, everyone will be talking about the top title change and what that means for a ridiculously jam-packed SmackDown main event scene. Randy Orton kept himself in the frame for a title shot earlier in the night, and Cody Rhodes will return to screens for a special sit-down interview next week. You just know Cody will be linked to the top belt whenever he's around, so stay tuned for more on that.
A surprisingly solid Women's Title match and that aforementioned headliner boosted SmackDown's prospects big style. WWE will now turn its gaze to Money In The Bank build, but they've got sheer mayhem unfolding thanks to Sami, KO, Punk, Gargano, Orton, Rhodes, Finn Bálor and Gunther. That's making SmackDown sing right now.
Here's all the yay and nay.