In what has been heralded as one of the best in-ring promo in a longtime, Chelsea Green got her flowers, with the WWE Universe rallying around her during the Friday’s August 14 edition of WWE SmackDown on USA Network. In question, was what would be the fate of the WWE’s Interim Women’s World Championship belt that Green won in a ladder match at SummerSlam earlier in August.

The issue: in an unbelievably real-life continued streak of bad luck for Green, she suffered an injury during the April 7 edition of SmackDown in a tag match match-up teaming with Tiffany Stratton against the Women’s tag team champs, Fatal Influence. During the match, Green broke her orbital bone after taking the Fatal Flaw from FI’s Lainey Reid, when she landed awkwardly on Green’s face.

From there: Green knew she was also going to have to take time off to recover, but she, nor the WWE Universe, wanted to see her have to relinquish the title because of it. So, when SmackDown GM Nick Aldis came to the ring to tell Chelsea she has to give up the belt, an impassioned plea from Green went over with huge pop to the crowd and those at home, plus changed Aldis’ mind.

Photo: WWE

CHELSEA GREEN STANDS HER GROUND

Green expressed, “I knew when I climbed that ladder and I took that title, I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Because every single time something good and magical happens to me in this business, it’s followed by something devastating. That’s just my story, isn’t it? That’s just Chelsea Green, the comic relief. The perfect opponent for the rest of the girls. Never the champion. Never the QB1.”

Then, Chelsea launched into the sacrifices she has made, and how she came to work and always did her best, even when she was discounted. Green stood her ground with Aldis that she earned the title and that until someone takes it off of her, it belongs to her! Green also appealed to Aldis’ human side after what he accomplished at SummerSlam, too.  The GM laced up his boots and wrestlers for the first time in three years and in front of his young son, against Gunther.

Aldis heard the message loud and clear. He decided to ignore his GM formal duty, and agreed to give Green 30 days to get cleared before forcing her to have to relinquish the title. The crowd broke out in “Yes!” chants (circa Daniel Bryan).

MATT CARDONA SAVES HIS WIFE FROM GUNTHER

However, the drama didn’t stop here! Oh, no! Gunther interrupted the moment and threw insults at Aldis and Green, until none other than Matt Cardona came out from the back to defends his wife! It was great to see Cardona and Green, real-life marrieds, in an angle together on SmackDown. Cardona and Gunther went at each other, with ultimately Cardona getting the worst of it which led to an impromptu match!

Mickie James, former WWE superstar and wife of Nick Aldis took to social media on Sunday and gave high marks to Green’s promo: “Congratulations to Chelsea Green for delivering not just one of her greatest promos…. But legitimately one of THE GREATEST PROMOS I’ve ever watched. I felt every moment. She felt every word. That is how it should be done. You are a star my love. Everyone should take notes.”

Watch Chelsea Green’s talked about moment from Friday Night SmackDown below.

Now weigh-in: did you love Chelsea Green’s promo spot where she spoke of coming back from injury, being the butt of jokes, working hard to gain respect, and not willing to easily part with the highly-coveted Women’s World Title, because she got injured in a match? Share your reactions via the comment section below.

The Friday night, August 7 episode of WWE SmackDown on USA Network, revved up the aftermath from last weekend’s SummerSlam as past feuds reignited and new feuds are now set to take off.  As far as a post-PLE SmackDown, this was one of the best in a long time, setting the table for what’s to come.

The show started with Cody Rhodes, fresh off his loss for the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship to CM Punk, after Randy Orton hit Cody with his RKO when the referee got knocked out. As Rhodes was addressing the SmackDown crowd in Philadelphia (which is where Cody won the belt from Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40), CM Punk interrupts when his music hits and he comes to the ring.

Rhodes wants to know if Punk knew that Orton was going to interfere in the match and allow Punk to retain the title. Punk says he didn’t know and he was just as pissed off about Orton and offered to “Two-Man Power Trip” the place until they found Orton and beat him up. Cody leaves the ring to deal with Orton, while Punk tells him, “Say when.” Thus, Punk has left the door open for Cody to have a rematch.

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KO AND CM PUNK HAVE SOME THINGS TO SAY

Next, Kevin Owens passes Rhodes on the ring ramp, as he enters  to come face-to-face with Punk. Owens won the fatal four-way to become the number one contender for the title.

The two traded trash talk each other when SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis shows up at ringside. Up until now, KO and Punk just trade snide remarks with Owens claiming why he knows Punk is the same sociopath he always has been.

Owens explains how his 17-month battle and recovery from his neck injury (and surgery) made him want to get back into the ring more. However, Punks says, “Do you think they were holding their breath, waiting for Kevin Owens?” Next, KO thanked Punk for setting an example of what not to become and called him a “miserable piece of s**t.” KO pushed Punk and we are off to the races, before the two men are broken up by WWE officials.

Photo: WWE

Later in the show, The Viper Randy Orton makes his entrance to the ring, but once hitting his signature pose atop the ring post. Cody Rhodes interrupts and chases Orton out of the ring.  Then, we get the reset of their feud we it should have been for WrestleMania 42, that was ruined by the arrival of Pat McAfee forced into the build-up.

Now, Orton explains his behavior once and for all. He says when he rolled into WrestleMania 42, he gave Cody the best version of himself, and The American Nightmare still defeated him. As a 14-time champion, he added, “The best version of Randy Orton wasn’t going to win No. 15, but the worst version damn sure will.” Rhodes fired back “I don’t have to be the good guy anymore,” which got the crowd riled up. The two have a stare down.

Backstage, Sami Zayn confronted CM Punk and previously Kevin Owens and Nick Aldis. Zayn cannot believe how he has been screwed time after time to get a rematch for the title that he lost when CM Punk was inserted into the championship match when Zayn was the titleholder.

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CHELSEA GREEN’S CELEBRATION TURNS TO A DERAILMENT WITH NEWS OF HER INJURY

With the news that Rhea Ripley had knee surgery a few days ago, and will be out longer than expected, new interim Chelsea Green was introduced as the WWE Women’s Champion.

The fans are so behind Green, who they have wanted to see elevated into a top spot. Green thanked them for helping make this moment happen. After Tiffany Stratton joined her in the ring for a celebration, the “friends” were interrupted by Fatal Influence and Jacy Jayne and a match ensued, which saw Green get injured. She d wound up with a broken orbital bone, which will derail her first WWE World’s Women title run for now.

Taking to social media on Saturday, Green shared, “Hey, guys. So, I was trying to keep this kind of private but the Internet knows everything so I thought I would come on here and clear things up. I did get injured last night. Stuff happens. It’s live television, it’s wrestling, it’s an occupational hazard. I ended up in the emergency room and I have a broken orbital bone. It looks amazing, all things considered. It feels awful but looks pretty amazing.”

Chelsea added, “I have no idea what that means for me. You know, usually you guys can see me play into every single injury but like this feels different, obviously. This feels very different. It feels frustrating, and I’m upset. I feel like if I didn’t have bad luck I’d have no luck at all. So, I just need to take a little bit more time to process and kind of heal from obviously the head trauma that is going on right now. And then we’ll see what happens. We’re just going to take it day-by-day. So, world domination continues we’ve just had a minor blip.”

Photo: WWE

TATUM PAXLEY ARRIVES!

The SmackDown main event featured Jade Cargill (with B-Fab and Michin) facing Charlotte Flair (with a returning Alexa Bliss) and a very special addition to the duo.

During the melee towards the end of the match, the lights in the arena went out. When they came back on NXT”s Tatum Paxley was atop the ring post and dove into B-Fab and Michin to take them out. Ultimately, Charlotte scored the pinfall on Cargill, and Tatum, Alexa and the Queen celebrated in the ring as SmackDown went off the air.

So, what did you think of WWE SmackDown this past Friday night? One of the better post-SummerSlam episodes? Excited for what’s ahead? Weigh-in via the comment section and take a look at the highlights below.

Sunday night’s second night of WWE SummerSlam delivered one of the greatest matches of all-time, a match of the year candidate or even the decade. For those in attendance at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, watching on ESPN limited or Netflix around the world, the August 2 main event between former Shield members turned rivals, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins closed out a story 12-years in the making in a classic main event.

In fact, the second night of SummerSlam, (we previously gave our recap of night one here) was a vast improvement in the two-day event, dubbed ‘The biggest event of the summer.” Led by the incredible performances and masterful in-ring storytelling by Reigns and Rollins, who went 33 minutes in a spellbinding match-up with so many near pin falls, that whether you were watching at home or in the crowd, you would jump to your feet!

Let’s take a look at how things went down and give you our 5 top takeaways from the night on the six-match card, kicking it off with Roman Reigns defending his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Seth Rollins.

Photo: WWE

ROMAN AND SETH WRESTLING SOULMATES HONOR THEIR BROTHERHOOD

Right from the ring entrances, Seth Rollins paid homage to the Shield, complete with the facial mask, white version of their black vests, and more. When the Shield debuted back in 2012, it was the trio of Reigns, Rollins and Dean Ambrose (now Jon Moxley, AEW) who protected a then heel-ish CM Punk.

After Rollins delivered a chair shot to Reigns in 2014, and the group split up, Seth has always had Roman’s number, defeated him, and has been inside Roman’s head for his betrayal. The main event played on that aspect of the story throughout. With each delivering their patented moves: The Stomp from Seth, and a Superman Punch from Roman. However, neither man could truly get the upper hand on the other in a main event that lasted 33 1/2 minutes, truly a gift for the fans and the longest bout of the night.

There was plenty of trash-talking between the two, which heightened the story and made the ending all the more powerful. In addition, there were throwback moves of Dean Ambrose thrown into the mix.  But then, here’s how it all came to a conclusion. When the referee got knocked out, Rollins decided to grab a chair from ringside. He was going to use the same weapon he used on Reigns 12 years back, that led to the turn against the OTC. However, Seth hesitated. Roman got back up and had Seth on the ring ropes ready to use the chair on him. Seth told him to just get it over with. Roman put the chair down. Then, they went punch for punch. After hitting a final spear, Roman pinned Seth for the win as the referee finally came to. At the end of the match, both titans were exhausted and slumped in opposite corners of the ring.

However, in the most touching moment, Roman got up and went to the middle of the ring. The OTC extended his arm and fist, just like in the days of The Shield, as a peace offering to Rollins. Next, Seth got up and went and joined Roman. The two did a fist bump as a show of respect and the story was brought to a fitting ending.

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KEVIN OWENS RETURNS AFTER 17 MONTH RECOVERY FROM NECK SURGERY, BECOMES NUMBER ONE CONTENDER

Sami Zayn cannot catch a break! Just when he thought his number one contender match was between himself and Finn Bálor, think again! Before the match started, the newly reinstated SmackDown GM, Nick Aldis came out and announced that he is adding Gunther … and Kevin Owens!

When Zayn saw that his best friend (and sometimes rival) was back and healthy enough to wrestle in a fatal-four way, his jaw dropped in probably one of the most classic moments of the night. Once the bell rang, Owens came in ready to show he could still go, complete with his reverse somersaults, stunners and more. KO dominated the four-way match up, all leading to him pinning Zayn to become the number one contender to face Universal Champion, CM Punk!

During the WWE Post Show, Owens had emotional moments with commentator and former wrestler, Big E, who suffered a career-ending neck injury and surgery, Kevin explained it was just a few weeks ago, that the doctor’s finally cleared him to return to the ring. An amazing comeback story!

Photo: WWE

BARON CORBIN TAKES THE U.S. TITLE FAST

In another comeback, Baron Corbin has had many ups and down over his tenures with the WWE, and in what was Corbin’s first WWE match in nearly two years, he faced Trick Williams for the United States Championship and right hand man rapper Lil Yachty.

The match broke down when Yachty went for the “Trick Stick” (a kendo stick) and went to hit Corbin in the back with it, but that backfired. Corbin put Lil Yachty through a table, hit Williams with the title belt, before landing his signature End of Days finishing move. With plenty of shady tactics, Baron Corbin was your new U.S. Champ.

From the looks of it, Trick’s run as the titleholder was beginning to become stale. So, WWE strapped the belt quickly on heel Baron Corbin. Will it be a long reign? Stay tuned.

Photo: WWE

GREEN WITH ENVY

This victory by Chelsea Green in the women’s ladder match to decide the interim WWE Women’s Champion, was a nod to the fans. WWE actually listened to the resounding love for Green over the past year and in turn had her grab the title above the ladder and become the current champ, while Rhea Ripley is currently out with injury.

Green bested Charlotte Flair, Chelsea Green, Lash Legend, Jade Cargill, and the hometown girl Tiffany Stratton. The ring gear worn by the gals, tore down the house with Cargill paying homage to Minneapolis music legend, Prince. But even more notably, the stunning outfit worn by Flair, which paid tribute to the little girl she had befriended named Scarlett who recently died of cancer. The women turned it out for this ladder match and you could make a case for any of them to have won the belt, but in a feel-good moment, it belonged to Green.

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MINNEAPOLIS’ OWN CHAD GABLE FINALLY IS A CHAMP

The second best match of the night was delivered by the Intercontinental Championship bout between Penta and the hometown boy, Chad Gable, Going into the match-up, Penta was the IC champ. However, Gable is finally getting acknowledged for the wrestler he is after his enduring run in a a mask as the heel-ish, El Grande Americano.

Gable’s three children and his wife and parents were in U.S. Bank Stadium, so if there was any time to pull the trigger in favor of Gable this was it. Penta and Gable delivered high-flying moves and solid wrestling fundamentals that wowed the crowd. Gable was working with a seeming shoulder injury throughout the match and was somehow cut open on his face.

The match came to an emotional conclusion when Penta was caught in Gabe’s patented ankle lock and taped out. That led to the tears and the emotional celebration with Chad and his family inside the ring.

Photo: WWE

While not in our top five takeaways, the other match of the night featured Danhausen (who is one of the hottest WWE superstars with the fans) and “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio in the first-ever “Human Monies on a Pole Match.”

Once again, it featured the minihausens coming out to protect their guy after much shenanigans from Dom and the Judgment Day’s J.D. McDonaugh. Danhausen and the minhausens got an assist from Joe Hendry and Dirty Dom was on the short end of the stick in this one.

You can check out the full WWE SummerSlam Sunday 2026 video highlights below. Followed by the Michael Fairman Channel’s “What’s Up? Wrestling” podcast that went live immediately following SummerSlam night two with our own post show reactions.

So, what did you think of SummerSlam night two? Did you love the Roman Reigns vs. Seth Rollins epic match and conclusion to the Shield storyline? What were your favorite moments of the match card? Let us know via the comment section below.