WWE SmackDown Live: Results, Analysis, and Grades for Sept. 5
By Rob Furness
From Corey Graves joining the commentary team to the return of the Kevin Owens Show, the September 5 episode of SmackDown Live was jammed packed from start to finished.
WHAT.A.SHOW. It was announced over the weekend the Bradshaw would be stepping away from his announcing duties on SmackDown, and Corey Graves would join the broadcasting team on the blue brand. On any other week, it may have been the most noteworthy development on the blue brand. But not this week.
From start to finish, SmackDown was must watch television. Every segment was intentional and served a purpose to drive the narrative. And the overarching single-episode storyline made it impossible to stop watching, and was reminiscent of the Attitude Era. There was no shortage of surprises this week, the biggest of which was announced minutes before the end of the episode. Though there wasn’t a whole lot of actual wrestling happening during the episode, I’m willing to give them a pass because everything seems to be building towards next week.
With the seemingly endless Jinder Mahal vs Randy Orton and AJ Styles vs Kevin Owens feuds coming to an end, fresh faces and feuds were a welcome sight as the brand aimed to set the stage for next week’s Sin City SmackDown.
Orton and Nakamura Promos
Nakamura and Orton are set to square off in the main event to determine the #1 contender for the WWE Championship.
After their tag team victory last week, Orton RKO’d Nakamura to create some tension for their matchup. This week, the veteran Orton said that he has seen many stars rise and burnout in the WWE, and that Nakamura shouldn’t for a minute be distracted.
Nakamura claims it is his destiny to capture the WWE, and he plans to inflict as much pain as possible on The Viper.
These pre-recorded promos helped build some excitement for a match that has a pretty obvious outcome.