WWE SmackDown Live: Results, Analysis, and Grades for Sept. 5

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Main Event – Randy Orton vs Shinsuke Nakamura

#1 Contender Match for the WWE Championship

Nakamura def. Orton via Kinshasa

Rating: 2.5/ 5

With the Maharaja sitting in the skybox above, Nakamura and Orton square off for the first time. It wasn’t until the main event that I was consciously thankful to have Graves on commentary. More specifically, when Orton landed his draping DDT, no one screamed out “VINTAGE ORTON!”

The match was decent enough. Both competitors got their the signature offense in. One exception however, is that Nakamura is no longer using the reverse exploder. A match that he botched on John Cena in the weeks leading up to SummerSlam. Ironically, but not unsurprisingly, Orton was able to his back drop on the announce table spot. If you remember one of the Singh brother next nearly snapped taking that bump in a match between the Viper and Jinder Mahal.

Ultimately, Nakamura won, making him the #1 contender. Nakamura will face off against Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship at Hell in a Cell. But if Nakamura wins at Hell in a Cell, what was the point of his loss at SummerSlam? Was it punishment for the aforementioned botch on Cena? It’ seems like SmackDown has been utilizing the reset button often on some of their main events, and it’s not something they should get comfortable doing.

As Nakamura celebrated his victory cameras cut to backstage where Daniel Bryan informs KO that Shane has been suspended and that it’s all water under the bridge. However, KO disagrees and says that now no one can stop him. Bryan then lets Owens know that next week, Vince McMahon will be on next week’s Sin City SmackDown Live!

Next: Character Consistency, Not Heat, Reason for Corbin's Failed Cash In

Could this be a return to form for

SmackDown

, or just another high point in inconsistent quality? Next week we have a huge number of title matches and you catch the review of it here!