Friday Night SmackDown Review - September 18, 2026

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Nick Aldis Had Words with Undisputed WWE Champion Sami Zayn, Johnny Gargano and Kevin Owens Regarding the Undisputed WWE Championship Picture

The chaos surrounding the Undisputed WWE title picture continues. Gargano challenging Zayn made sense (Zayn promised him last week that he'd give him a shot if he helped him win the belt), as did Owens considering he's been screwed by Zayn multiple times at this point. This was a strong segment to set the stage for the night's huge championship main event.

United States Champion Trick Williams def. AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Rey Fenix and Randy Orton in a Triple Threat Match to Qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Williams is all over the advertising for Money in the Bank, so you had to know he was advancing here and that Fenix was eating the pin. Sure enough, that's exactly what happened. This was an enjoyable Triple Threat and it was cool to see these three working together (specifically Fenix and Orton). Thankfully, there was no sign of Baron Corbin or Cody Rhodes despite Williams' and Orton's respective issues with them.

Bakusai def. The MFTs by Disqualification (Non-Title)

Bakusai only just debuted two weeks ago when they beat The Miz and Kit Wilson and already they're facing the WWE Tag Team Champions (albeit in non-title action). That's how depleted the division is right now. Anyway, this barely got going before it was thrown out due to Haku's interference at ringside. I'm fine with Bakusai immediately beating the champs to earn a title opportunity, but the booking here was lazy and the match was forgettable.

Michael Cole Hosted a Sit-Down Interview with Cody Rhodes

It's funny that this took place in a pre-taped setting because Rhodes was audibly booed at Sunday Night's Main Event (and that was in his home state of Georgia!). The general gist of this interview was that Cole established everyone who celebrated Rhodes' title win at WrestleMania 40 with him has since turned on him (which isn't entirely true) and Rhodes saying that he won't hesitate to put Orton away next time. It was an effective interview that heavily hinted at the rubber bout between Rhodes and Orton being imminent.

Women's United States Champion Jacy Jane def. Alexa Bliss and Jade Cargill in a Triple Threat Match to Qualify for the Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match

Unfortunately, this was a bit of a mess. Jane, Bliss and Cargill didn't mesh all that well and there were several clunky moments, especially when Cargill failed to interrupt the referee's three count toward the end. This followed almost the exact same formula as the men's qualifier from earlier, except it was far inferior. On the bright side, Jane advancing to Money in the Bank was the correct call.

Undisputed WWE Champion Sami Zayn def. Kevin Owens

Zayn and Owens are virtually incapable of having a bad match together, and unsurprisingly, this was the usual excellence from them, even with all of the shenanigans and outside involvement. The botched three count toward the end was embarrassing and I'm not quite sure what went wrong there, but it didn't ruin what was otherwise a very entertaining main event. I'm somewhat shocked they had Zayn straight up pin Owens, but this is something they can always revisit down the road (hopefully with Owens taking the title).

Overall Show

This was obviously a step down from last week's above-average edition of SmackDown in Mexico City, but it was a quality episode, nonetheless. The WWE title scene is completely carrying the blue brand at the moment, but the qualifiers are making some matches more meaningful and the drama with Rhodes has me mildly intrigued, so there was enough on this show to keep me invested.

SEE MORE: SmackDown Reviews