Winners, News And Notes On September 9, 2022

WWE SmackDown advertised the return of Braun Strowman, a Fatal 5-Way to determine the No. 1 Contender for Liv Morgan’s SmackDown Women’s Championship and The Street Profits and Hit Row vs. Maximum Male Models and Los Lotharios.

SmackDown also features fallout from the Clash at the Castle pay-per-view this past Saturday, when Roman Reigns retained the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship in controversial fashion. With Paul Heyman and The Usos gone, Reigns won after Solo Sikoa interfered.

SmackDown’s viewership garnered 2.077 million last week.

WWE SmackDown Results

• Imperium def. Brawling Brutes
• Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah def. Toxic Attraction
• Ronda Rousey wins Fatal 5-Way
• Hit Row and the Street Profits def. MMM and Los Lotharios
• Braun Strowman Destroys Alpha Academy

WWE SmackDown Ratings

• September 2, 2022 | 2.077 million
• August 26, 2022 | 1.990 million
• August 19, 2022 | 2.084 million
• August 12, 2022 | 1.927 million
• August 5, 2022 | 2.093 million

• WWE SmackDown Venue: Climate Pledge Arena (Seattle, Wash.)
• WWE SmackDown Tickets Distributed: 9,846
• Available Tickets: 388

CM Punk and Cody Rhodes’ AEW Feuds| PWB

WWE SmackDown Winners and Match Card

Imperium def. Brawling Brutes

This was a nice sample of this weekend’s instant classic between Sheamus and GUNTHER, and since neither GUNTHER nor Sheamus was involved in the pinfall, there’s hope WWE will run this back. Hopefully, with Sheamus winning.

Giovani Vinci got the winning pinfall as his come-up continues. He’s one of the underrated big winners of the Triple H Era now that he’s on the main roster, though he was a much bigger fish in the small NXT pond.

Solo Sikoa Joins the Bloodline

Solo Sikoa said he’s here to stay, confirming his spot on the main roster.

Sami Zayn was great in this segment, saying the words “as a young honorary Uce…”

Drew McIntyre stormed to the ring with a steel chair, but Solo Sikoa stood his ground as the Usos and Sami Zayn fled the ring. It was subtle, but this was a huge endorsement of Solo Sikoa.

Sami Zayn took a chairshot for Solo Sikoa, and Sikoa thanked him backstage. Each of the Usos have a different relationship with Sami Zayn. Jey Uso hates Sami. Jimmy Uso tolerates him. I think it’d be great if Solo Sikoa loved Sami Zayn.

Raquel Rodriguez and Aliyah def. Toxic Attraction

WWE seems to be going for a Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo vibe with Raquel Rodriguez and Aliya, respectively.

After Michael Cole noted that Aliyah hid her wrestling training from her parents for years, Corey Graves quipped that Gigi Dolin’s parents hid the fact that they were her parents for years.

Ronda Rousey wins Fatal 5-Way

Michael Cole describe Ronda Rousey being disciplined for her assault of Adam Pearce from last week. The language he used was interesting: “Ronda aired her dirty laundry publicly, hence the reason this investigation was done behind the scenes.” If this wasn’t a slick shot at CM Punk and AEW, I don’t know what is. Cole also noted Rousey was being punished but nothing had been announced yet.

Ronda Rousey and Sonya Deville engaged in a quick—but highly entertaining—worked MMA brawl that played to both of their strengths. Not only do I want to see a full-blown match between Ronda and Sonya, but now I can’t wait for the inevitable Shayna vs. Ronda Rousey match.

Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler (finally!) seemed to form an alliance backstage. This is a perfect story to make their eventual match as big as it should be.

Hit Row, The Street Profits def. MMM and Los Lotharios

Maximum Male Models and Los Lotharios are basically interchangeable in WWE’s pecking order, and that is not a good thing.

This was Hit Row’s best night. Top Dolla came off as a star, especially when he teased flying over the top rope (which he actually can do) only to be stopped by Sofia. Fans really wanted to see it, and booed Sofia vociferously.

Braun Strowman Destroys Alpha Academy

It was only a matter of time before somebody took a shot at Russell Wilson leaving the Seattle Seahawks, and that somebody was Chad Gable.

Instead of recreating that Seattle Supersonics insult from Elias, that got a way bigger (and longer) reaction than this, Chad Gable could have doubled down by saying Seattle also couldn’t hold onto Russell Wilson.

Braun Strowman debuted new theme music that is going to have to take some getting used to.

Braun Strowman power bombed Otis like it was nothing and this crowd went crazy for him. They’re likely building him up for an inevitable loss to Roman Reigns.

Drew McIntyre def. Solo Sikoa by DQ

Drew McIntyre just came off a big loss to Roman Reigns while Solo Sikoa is making his debut. This has all the makings of a non-finish.

Sami Zayn continued to sacrifice himself for The Bloodline again, namely Solo Sikoa.

As expected, this match ended in disqualification when Karrion Kross gave Drew McIntyre a Kross Jacket. The screen went black and white, before fading to black. It was jarring, but well done.