WWE SmackDown Notes: Kevin Owens Wants His Undisputed Title Match at 8/21 Show, Chelsea Green Introduced as New WWE Women’s Champion, Sami Zayn Broken Hand Injury, Shinsuke Nakamura Teases Having Group To Deal with The MFTs, Alexa Bliss Returns, Tatum Paxley Makes Surprise Main Roster Debut, 8/14 Show Card

WWE
Aug 7, 2026

Kevin Owens Reveals He Wants His Undisputed Title Match Against CM Punk at August 21 WWE SmackDown Show

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show at the at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania featured Kevin Owens officially revealing when he wants his guaranteed match for the Undisputed WWE Championship to take place.

During the show, Cody Rhodes came out to the ring and talked about his match against CM Punk for the Undisputed WWE title at SummerSlam and called out Punk since demanded Punk to tell him if he knew Randy Orton would show up and cost him the chance at winning the title. This led to Punk coming out and stated that he did not. Punk then suggested for both of them to find Orton backstage and kick his ass, which Rhodes refused saying he was going to do it himself. Punk told Rhodes as he was leaving to the back that all he has to say is “when” and he will get his rematch. This led to Owens’ music playing and came out to the ring for a chat with Punk. Owens brought up how he is the #1 contender to his title and not Rhodes and after some heated back-and-forth banter between two, Owens shoved Punk leading to SmackDown GM Nick Aldis and WWE officials quickly separating the two.

In a follow-up segment, SmackDown GM Nick Aldis was seen speaking to someone on his phone before being interrupted by Sami Zayn. Zayn congratulated Aldis on his match at SummerSlam and brought up how he would still be WWE Champion if it wasn’t for Aldis. Zayn then blamed Aldis for why he isn’t the #1 Contender after he added Gunther and Kevin Owens to his match at SummerSlam. This led to Owens showing up and informed Aldis that he wants his title match against Punk to take place at the August 21st show in Toronto. Aldis responded stating he will make some calls and proceeded to leave. Zayn and Owens then had a talk with each other with Zayn taking offense to Owens screwing him out of a chance to regain his WWE title and Owens bringing up how Zayn would have done the same if he was in his position.

Chelsea Green Introduced as New WWE Women’s Champion

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured WWE officially announcing Chelsea Green as the new WWE Women’s Champion.

During the show, Interim WWE Women’s Champion Chelsea Green came out for her victory celebration segment in the ring. Green was introduced as being the new WWE Women’s Champion and her interim tag was not referenced.

Green won the Interim title in a Ladder match at SummerSlam 2026 Night 2 while WWE Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley has been out of action since this past May’s Clash In Italy event due to a meniscus tear injury and surgery.

Sami Zayn Reveals Broken Hand Injury

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured Sami Zayn revealing that he recently suffered a broken hand injury.

Zayn revealed it during a backstage promo segment involving himself, Candice LeRae, Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk, and Johnny Gargano who was planking on a production box.

It is currently not known if Zayn will be missing any time due to his injury situation.

Shinsuke Nakamura Appears & Teases Having a Group To Deal with The MFTs

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured Shinsuke Nakamura making an appearance and teasing him having a new group.

During the show, a video aired featuring Nakamura talking about his issues with Tama Tonga and The MFTs now under Haku’s leadership. Nakamura stated that he is back but he is not alone. Nakamura continued stating that he is starting a war against The MFTs but he is no longer a one man army.

Alexa Bliss Makes Returns & Tatum Paxley Makes Surprise Main Roster Debut

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured Alexa Bliss making her surprise return and NXT talent Tatum Paxley being officially called up to the SmackDown brand.

Near the end of the singles match between Charlotte Flair and Jade Cargill, B-Fab and Michin interfered to help out Cargill. This led to Bliss’ music coming out and her still sporting a cast on her arm. Bliss pulled out her Lilly doll from behind her and gave a sinister grin. This led to the lights going out and when it came back on, Paxley was seen standing on the top ring post and dove to the outside taking out B-Fab and Michin. This then led to Charlotte hitting a Sister Abigail to Cargill and followed it with a Natural Selection for the pinfall victory.

Flair, Bliss, and Paxley celebrated in the ring as the show went to a close.

This was Bliss’ first appearance since this past July due to an arm “injury” suffered at the hands of Cargill and her Baddies group.

Current Card for Next Week’s Show

Friday’s WWE SmackDown show also featured three new matches announced for the card of next week’s show on August 14 at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

Among the new notable matches announced was a WWE Women’s United States Championship match of Jacy Jayne vs. Tiffany Stratton (c).

This new match was setup following an in-ring promo segment involving Interim WWE Women’s Champion Chelsea Green, WWE Women’s United States Champion Tiffany Stratton, and Fatal Influence (Lainey Reid, Fallon Henley, & Jayne) over Stratton being willing to put her title on the line against Jayne in return for her & Green getting a shot right now at Fatal Influence’s WWE Women’s Tag titles first. Jayne getting a shot at Stratton’s title was made official after Fatal Influence retained their WWE Women’s Tag titles with help from Jayne.

Current card for August 14th WWE SmackDown show:

  • WWE United States Championship – Carmelo Hayes vs. Baron Corbin (c)
  • WWE Women’s United States Championship – Jacy Jayne vs. Tiffany Stratton (c)
  • WWE Tag Team Championship – War Raiders (Ivar & Erik) vs. The MFTs (Tama Tonga & Talla Tonga) vs. R-Truth & Damian Priest (c)
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