Posted on 10/10/126 by Bob Magee
Tonight’s live WWE SmackDown from Lafayette, Louisiana, is
the final stop before this Saturday’s Money in the Bank from
New Orleans.
Every competitor from both the men’s and women’s Money in
the Bank ladder matches will be in attendance which includes
CM Punk, United States Champion Trick Williams, Women’s
United States Champion Jacy Jayne, Tiffany Stratton, Bron
Breakker, Lash Legend, Penta, Je’Von Evans, Sol Ruca, Kevin
Owens, Roxanne Perez and Lola Vice.
**********
– Tonight opened with the standard wrestler arrivals
featuring Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, and Tatum Paxley,
plus all the men and women’s Money and the Bank
participants. After that, we saw Adam Pearce paying a visit
to Nick Aldis in the SmackDown GM’s office. The two had
banter, but Trick Williams interrupted. Williams said he had
some unfinished business with “gingerbread man” Sami Zayn
until Bron Breakker butted in. Williams and Li’l Yachty took
exception to Breakker’s intrusion as the two faced off. This
gave Adam Pearce the idea to book our main event: Trick
Williams vs. Bron Breakker.
Let’s Hear From CM Punk
CM Punk, a man who some love, but most others hate, made his
way to the ring to kick off our show.
As Punk got into the ring, the fans in Lafayette chanted for
him before he started off with his usual “is it great to be
alive on a Friday night” bit. Punk talked about how there
were some furniture around the ring in the form of the
ladders ahead of Money in the Bank tomorrow night. He said
that he had been here before and won the Money in the Bank
contract twice and we’ve seen the results. Punk talked about
how he was 47, and middle-aged and crazy and he had the
chance to become the first and only three-time Money in the
Bank winner. People told Punk that it’d be crazy, but he
told everyone to watch him. He mentioned how he was
surrounded by elite opponents like Je’von Evans, Penta,
Trick Williams, Bron Breakker, and also Kevin Owens. Before
he could talk about how he didn’t sweat Owens, the man
himself interrupted.
Punk kept talking while Owens was making his way to the
ring. With a mic of his own in hand, Owens addressed “Phil”
and said that he wouldn’t be able to downplay him tomorrow
night. That’s because winning the contract was a priority
because it meant winning the WWE Championship. Owens told
Punk that preventing him from getting that contract was just
as important because nobody ever wanted to see Punk as WWE
Champion ever again. As long as Owens was able to prevent
Punk from winning the match, he’d consider that as a win.
Punk said that Owens kept making excuses for himself, which
makes him someone that’s down in the dirt always left
looking up at him.
Owens responded by climbing up another ladder himself and
addressing Punk eye-to-eye. Owens said that he saw a man
who’s not taking the MITB contract and that he’s going to
make sure that Punk won’t walk out with that contract. And
then he was going on to beat “that bitch” Sami Zayn for the
title. That brought the Undisputed WWE Champion to respond
to the slander.
Zayn entered the ring and climbed up the ladder, despite not
being in the Money in the Bank ladder match tomorrow. Zayn
remarked that all of this was very disappointing. He talked
about how despite being WWE Champion, he was on the shortest
ladder, while two guys struggling to compete were on the
tallest ladder. “It’s not the size of the ladder, it’s what
you do with it,” retorted Punk. Zayn wasn’t going to have
any of it, stating that both Owens and Punk should know
better than to overlook him, because he was a survivor who
found a way to be a champion. Zayn claimed that he was
exceptionally intelligent, someone who saw the forest for
the trees as he called Owens and Punk dumb and exactly alike
one another. Zayn told Punk that it must’ve been driving him
crazy that he was standing in front of him two feet apart as
the champion. Zayn said that neither Punk or Owens are
grabbing the briefcase tomorrow night, because they’re not
in the headspace for it. And at the end of tomorrow night,
Zayn would still be the Undisputed WWE Champion.
Zayn being a weird, delusional champion continues to be a
highlight of a show that tends to be on the okay side, and
his inclusion here in this opening segment was fine. He’s
certainly a lot more entertaining on the mic than Punk, who
just feels like he’s just talking in circles at times. Zayn
being left with the smallest ladder amongst him and Punk and
Owens was a pretty funny bit too, befitting of his
delusional weirdo gimmick.
**********
Jacy Jayne, Lash Legend & Tiffany Stratton vs. Roxxane
Perez, Sol Ruca & Lola Vice
This was a six-woman tag match featuring the SmackDown & Raw
Money in the Bank participants facing each other on opposite
teams. Our match was, for some reason, presented by John
Cena’s Matchbox movie.
Sol Ruca and Jacy Jayne started off this match. Shoulder
tackle from Jayne put Sol on the mat. Sol recovered with a
somersault and an X-Factor. Roxanne Perez tagged herself in
and went to work on Jayne. A turnbuckle slam from Jayne
allowed her to bring Lash Legend into the match. Perez tried
to tag in, but Sol and Lola left her hanging as Lash crushed
Perez with a big elbow to the face. Lash’s scoop slam was
countered as Perez tagged Lola Vice into the match.
Lash missed with the running attack in the corner, which
allowed Lola to strike with a combo of strikes that sent
Lash out of the ring. Cannonball caught by Lash, but she got
sent into the ring post. Flurries of dives from all the
competitors as Tiffany stepped in and took out Roxanne with
an elbow. Sol with a moonsault to the three SmackDown women
on the outside as we took a timeout.
Back to our match with Sol and Jayne fighting it out. Jayne
struck Sol to leave her stunned in the corner as she then
hit Lola with a superkick to knock her off the apron. Jayne
missed with the cannonball to Sol. Roxanne refused to tag
Sol, which allowed Jayne to take over on the match. Throw to
enemy territory, but Sol got out of it and ultimately was
able to tag Lola Vice into the match. Hard-hitting offense
from Lola left Jayne down and out as she turned her
attention to Lash. On opposite corners, running hip attacks
by Lola to Jayne and Lash. Roxanne blind tagged and got into
it with Lola, which allowed Tiffany to take over. Roling
senton was followed by the tag from Lash, much to Stratton’s
annoyance.
Lash Extension was countered into a guillotine by Roxanne,
but she couldn’t connect with Pop Rox. Blind tag by Sol, who
hit Lash with the dropkick. Lash got slammed on the DDT by
Sol as things devolved into chaos with all six women getting
their attacks in. Lash shoved Lola in the line of fire of
the Sol Snatcher, which allowed Lash to get the win with the
Lash Extension.
After the match, Lash laid out her partners to stand tall.
Lash Legend, Jacy Jayne & Tiffany Stratton def. Lola Vice,
Roxanne Perez & Sol Ruca via pinfall
This was… an okay match. The “can they co-exist stuff” did
get a bit too much. Lash standing tall at the end pretty
much makes it clear she ain’t winning tomorrow.
**********
– Chelsea Green was confronted by Nikki Bella, who had some
harsh words for her. Nikki called Green a “bootleg Nikki
Bella”. This was interrupted by Jade Cargill and the Baddies
attacking Charlotte Flair as a single referee (yes, just
one) warded the Baddies off. After the break, Nick Aldis
checked up on Charlotte and said that she is not medically
cleared. Charlotte told Alexa Bliss was replacing her to
partner with Tatum Paxley.
The M.F.T.s (Tama & Talla Tonga) (w/ Haku) vs. The War
Raiders (Erik & Ivar)
Erik and Talla opened this match as the former got crushed
with a big clothesline. Tama tagged in and worked a bit on
Erik before Talla got tagged in. Ivar with the tag as all
four men fought it out. Erik crushed Tama with a big right
hand at ringside as Ivar took out both MFTs with a
cannonball to the apron as we took a commercial break just a
minute into the match, as is tradition.
Back from break with Erik laying out Tama with a right hand.
Both men got to their feet and traded strikes as Erik got
enough separation to tag Ivar into the match. Huge side slam
by Ivar on Tama, followed by the spinning kick. Ivar
ascended to the top rope, but Talla tried to stop him to no
avail. However, this gave Tama enough time to recover to
drop Ivar with an elevated neckbreaker. One, two…. not yet.
At that moment, Kyoki and Shinsuke Nakamura appeared, which
gave the War Raiders a bit of a moment to fight back. Tama
laid out Ivar with a dropkick as he turned his attention to
Kyoki at ringside. Tama punched Kyoki, which left him open
for the Viking Experience. With the ref distracted, Haku
struck Erik with the Tongan walking stick. Talla took down
Ivar as the M.F.T. got the win with Brother’s Keeper.
After the match, Bakusai struck and caused the M.F.T.s to
back off. Ivar attacked Kyoki, but he soon got put down by
Nakamura and Kyoki.
The M.F.T.s def. The War Raiders via pinfall
I do like how interesting the SmackDown tag team picture has
become. Hoping of more of this to come, because the tag
division needs a bit of a shot in the arm.
**********
– As Danhausen was using his Evil Detector on Adam Pearce,
Finn Balor looked for a meeting with Nick Aldis, wanting a
match. Aldis said that Gunther had requested a match with
Danhausen.
– Earlier today, Nick Aldis met with The Miz & Kit Wilson
until Randy Orton showed up. Aldis chastised Orton for what
he did last week to Cody Rhodes in the main event. Orton
said that he was happily going to take the night off,
stating that Rhodes was the problem. Orton said that Rhodes
would hesitate the next time would kick him in the head.
The Miz & Kit Wilson interrupt the show
Disgruntled about being cut off earlier, Miz and Kit entered
the ring and talked about how we were to throw Miz a
birthday party. Before they could go on, Cody Rhodes
interrupted the two, pomp and circumstance and all. Miz
demanded that Rhodes’ music get cut off and told him that
unless he was here to “sonic boom him a birthday wish”, to
stay out of the ring.
Guile himself ran down and laid out Miz and Wilson with a
pair of Cross Rhodes. Before Rhodes could say anything, Nick
Aldis interrupted him and said that Rhodes’ antics between
him and Orton does nothing for the fans and puts his top
guys at risk twenty-four hours before Money in the Bank. It
was strictly business, so whatever needed to be settled with
Orton and Rhodes neede to be settled in the ring. He asked
Rhodes to meet with him in his office to get this ironed
out. Rhodes said that they could settle it in his office,
aka the ring.
Rhodes talked about how he beat Orton at WrestleMania and
got punted so hard his eyes got swollen shut. He said how
his daughter cried her eyes out when she saw her dad get
bloodied, and that put fear in her. Rhodes said he was going
to go to every show, every PLE, and media stop until he put
an end to the legend of Randy Orton. Rhodes demanded that
Aldis get Orton face to face him. It was no longer about how
what moral road he was going to on, it was about what he was
going to do to the “waste of talent bitch”.
So it’s probably clear that the Rhodes/Orton feud won’t be
blown off tomorrow but at a later PPV. That later PPV is in
a bit of a flux given Crown Jewel (still scheduled for
November 7th) might be in danger of being rightfully
postponed or moved due to the unrest in the Middle East.
Could mean we see this blown off at Survivor Series.
**********
WWE Money in the Bank 2026 card
ESPN Opener – World Heavyweight Championship: Roman Reigns
(c) vs. LA Knight
Grudge Match: Bronson Reed vs. Oba Femi
Men’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: CM Punk vs. Trick
Williams vs. Bron Breakker vs. Penta vs. Je’von Evans vs.
Kevin Owens
Women’s World Championship: Stephanie Vaquer vs. Becky Lynch
vs. Liv Morgan
Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match: Sol Ruca vs. Tiffany
Stratton vs. Lash Legend vs. Jacy Jayne vs. Roxanne Perez
vs. Lola Vice
– Damian Priest didn’t like what Fraxiom had to say about
what he did to R-Truth and laid the two out. Truth himself
ran in and beat up on Damian as the two were separated by
the usual gang of security and road agents.
– WWE Main Event is coming to Rumble next week to supposedly
make Wednesday night wrestling great again.
Gunther vs. Danhausen
Danhausen stopped the referee from ringing the bell so he
could do the curse, but Gunther just kicked him with a big
boot. Big Ring General powerbomb by Gunther absolutely
pancaked Danhausen, as did the chop to the chest. This match
hasn’t officially started, by the way, as Gunther hit
another chop and another powerbomb for good measure.
Gunther continued to punish Danhausen in the corner with
repeated chops and a foot choke across the top turnbuckle.
Finn Balor had enough and ran in to fight with Gunther.
Gunther tried the powerbomb on Balor, but he got countered
into a double stomp. Balor struck Gunther with chops to the
chest as he countered a slam into a neckbreaker. Slingblade
at ringside by Balor as Gunther ran off into the crowd
before he could hit a dropkick on him.
Balor checked up on Danhausen in the ring as Gunther
attacked him from behind. Powerbomb attempt got countered
into a barrage of stomps. Kick to the face blocked by
Gunther, who sent Balor into the ringpost. He then dropped
him on the barricade, followed by the ring apron. Powerbomb
on the announce table by Gunther as Jamie Noble and the
group of ring agents told Gunther to am-scray from the ring.
Gunther vs. Danhausen never happened
This match was clearly just a segment designed to get heat
on Gunther, and I guess a job well done. I will say it’s odd
that this is what they’ve got for the guy who retired John
Cena and AJ Styles. At least the Gunther vs. Balor feud is
building into something.
**********
– Bron Breakker interrupted Sami Zayn chatting with Johnny
Gargano & Candice LeRae to warn him that he would see him
soon.
WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship: Fatal Influence (Fallon
Henley & Lainey Reid) vs. Alexa Bliss & Tatum Paxley
This match started after the commercial break with Bliss and
Reid facing off. Reid took advantage of a Henley distraction
to take the early advantage. Henley tagged in and hit a
blockbuster on Bliss for the two-count. Pumphandle slam
attempt by Henley countered by Bliss, who tagged in Paxley.
Paxley hit a German suplex on Henley that left her foe
staggered against the bottom rope. Henley hit Paxley with an
elbow as she tagged in Reid. Paxley ran up to the apron and
had her leg caught by Henley, which let Reid hit her with a
kick. We took a break here only two minutes into the match.
Back from commercial with Henley and Reid isolating Paxley
as best as they could. Henley got dropped by a big right
from Paxley. Reid attempted to stop Paxley, but she missed
with the elbow drop and the splash in the corner. Tag to
Bliss, who went after Reid with strikes and a DDT. Modified
Natural Selection only got a two-count for Bliss as Reid
kicked out. Reid struck Bliss with the knee before Henley
tagged in and got her opponent from behind. Flapjack from
Henley was followed by the knee from Reid to Bliss. The
cover, but Paxley broke up the count just in time. Bliss
dropped Henley on the ropes as Paxley kicked her afterwards.
Paxley tagged in and got hit with the knee. Roll-up pin with
an assist from Reid, but the referee caught it. Sister
Abigail to Reid by Bliss at ringside. In the ring, Paxley
got Henley with the Cemetery Drive and that’s it, over. We
have new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Tatum Paxley & Alexa Bliss def. Fatal Influence via pinfall
to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
This was a decent match, though I liked that we got a title
change here with Bliss and Paxley winning women’s tag team
gold. I do appreciate when we get title changes on TV and
not just being saved for big PPVs.
**********
Next Week on SmackDown (10/16/26)
Nikki Bella vs. Paige
R-Truth vs. Damian Priest
Cody Rhodes & Randy Orton face off
Bron Breakker vs. Trick Williams (w/ Li’l Yachty)
Collar-and-elbow standoff between Williams and Breakker to
start. Big dropkick by Williams sent Breakker down to the
mat and out of the ring. Breakker countered Williams and
smashed him on the commentary table. On the apron, Breakker
connected with the clothesline over the commentary table as
we took a commercial break with about nine minutes of show.
Our main event returned from commercial with Williams
fighting out of Breakker’s resthold and laying in the shots.
Breakker avoided Williams’ last strike and slammed him with
a German suplex. Breakker targeted Williams for a spear, but
he got caught with the kick. The Book-End by Williams got
countered as we got a double down with both men taking each
other out with a clothesline. Williams and Breakker got
their feet and exchanged strikes. Williams got the best of
the exchange as he hit Breakker with two big kicks, followed
by the flapjack.
Williams prepped his hand with the backslap to Breakker’s
face, then stomping on him in the corner. Breakker slipped
out of Williams’ grasp and looked for a Spear, but he got
hit with a big boot. Trick Shot lock and loaded, but
Breakker countered it into a lungblower for the near-fall.
Breakker pulled down the straps and wanted to hit his super
Spear, but he got hit with the Trick Shot. The Vision ran in
and caused a disqualification.
Je’von Evans ran in and started to mix it up with Austin
Theory, knocking him down with an acrobatic kick. Maxxine
distracted Evans as Breakker and Theory attacked. Penta ran
in and took out Theory and Breakker with superkicks. Tope
con hilo took out The Vision until Bronson Reed ran in and
caused chaos.
Levesque & Fitting credits up as the show ends with the
Vision standing tall, but not before we got a sneak peak of
the Money in the Bank cold open narratated by You-Know-Who.
Trick Williams def. Bron Breakker via disqualification
I don’t get why that main event needed the Vision mucking it
all up when having all the participants brawling it out
would’ve been a better final thing to send us out on. The
Vision being insisted upon us as some big bad heel stable
has been a failed experiment and I’m surprised Triple H and
crew keep trying to make fetch happen.
The segments where Bron Breakker was just by himself did
more for his credibility than sticking him with a mostly
mediocre heel faction that’s only around because Triple H
never saw a heel faction that he didn’t like. These guys
don’t give me a sense of heel heat as WWE might intend, they
just give me a sense of “please go away” heat. The Vision
seem like less of a big deal on Raw than The Bloodline and
946, who at least are getting a lot of meat with their beef
with one another.
The Chelsea Green/Nikki Bella segment was short, but it was
riddled with the kind of nonsense about who slept with who
and stuff that feels like it belongs in the Attitude Era
rather than the year 2026. That this is the best they could
do for either Chelsea or Nikki is honestly embarrassing.
Women wrestlers trading barbs about their signfiicant others
just feels reductive. At least, that’s my take on things.
Anyways, aside from that, this was an okay go-home show for
the PPV tomorrow. I did like we got a title change, and the
Cody Rhodes/Randy Orton feud is at least interesting, but is
clearly going to be something for later down the line. Plus,
the Finn Balor vs. Gunther feud is giving both something to
do (even if I don’t necessarily like the idea of Gunther
beefing with Danhausen). Other than that, it’s just a fine
show mucked up by a really weak ending focusing on a
honestly terrible faction.