{"id":222537,"date":"2026-09-18T21:04:17","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T02:04:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=222537"},"modified":"2026-09-18T21:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T02:04:17","slug":"wwe-smackdown-results-9-18-corbridges-report-on-sami-zayn-first-appearance-since-recapturing-wwe-title-cody-rhodes-interview-money-in-the-bank-qualifying-matches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/09\/18\/wwe-smackdown-results-9-18-corbridges-report-on-sami-zayn-first-appearance-since-recapturing-wwe-title-cody-rhodes-interview-money-in-the-bank-qualifying-matches\/","title":{"rendered":"WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS (9\/18): Corbridge\u2019s report on Sami Zayn first appearance since recapturing WWE title; Cody Rhodes interview, Money in the Bank qualifying matches"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-3378122437\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT<br \/>\nSEPTEMBER 18, 2026<br \/>\nCORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS AT <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hilliardcenter.com\/\"><strong>HILLIARD CENTER<\/strong><\/a><strong><br \/>\nAIRED LIVE ON USA NETWORK<br \/>\nREPORT BY ERIC CORBRIDGE, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>Commentators: <\/em><em>Michael Cole, Corey Graves<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>Attendance:\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/wrestletix\/posts\"><strong><em>WrestleTix<\/em><\/strong><\/a><em>\u00a0reported as of today that 5,344 tickets were distributed so far. The arena has a capacity of 10,323 spectators when configured for concerts.<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>[HOUR ONE]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Like wrestling, the best stories are told with well-developed characters. <em>BadWill<\/em> is my workplace comedy comic about the colorful employees and customers of a thrift store that only accepts donations from past relationships. Episodes 1 and 2 are available now at <a href=\"https:\/\/badwillcomic.com\/\"><strong>BadWillComic.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; Smackdown was live from Corpus Christi, Texas for the first time in three years. Competitors for this evening\u2019s matches were shown in various locations throughout the day and at the arena. They recapped last week\u2019s controversial WWE Championship victory by Sami Zayn over C.M. Punk.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis was in the ring to kick off the show. He welcomed the crowd to the show. He begrudgingly invited the new WWE Champion Sami Zayn to come to the ring. Zayn had a gleeful smile on his face as he walked to the ring amid boos, which intensified when he was about to speak in the ring. Some \u201cSami sucks\u201d and \u201cC.M. Punk\u201d chants broke out.\u00a0 Zayn asked Aldis if those chants were funny to him and said it must have killed Aldis to have to announce him as the champion. Zayn said it felt good coming out of his mouth. He claimed to be surprised at the fans\u2019 reaction tonight. He said when he talked about \u201cjustice for Sami\u201d he meant \u201cjustice for all\u201d. Zayn claimed he fought for justice for everyone. Zayn said he also believed in equality, so he expected Aldis to treat each of his contenders the way he was treated, by having obstacle after obstacle put in his way.\u00a0 Cue Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gargano hugged Zayn. Zayn said it meant the world to him that they were out there. Gargano said they wouldn\u2019t have missed it but also said he wanted his title shot. Zayn said he didn\u2019t want to split hairs, but they\u2019d never made a deal. He said Gargano said it but Zayn only said he would take care of him. Gargano yelled for Zayn to take care of him by giving him the title shot tonight in Corpus Christi. Aldis interrupted them and reminded Gargano that he made championship matches. Zayn tried to pass that along as his excuse too. Aldis said that Gargano had a title shot a couple weeks ago already and said that C.M. Punk deserved a rematch, but he wasn\u2019t there tonight. Cue Kevin Owens.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-505627002\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Owens bristled his way down to the ring and told Aldis that he deserved one. LeRae interrupted him and said that Gargano was next in line. Owens gave Gargano a stunner and then started asking for his title shot again. Aldis said he wouldn\u2019t reward bad behavior. Owens said Aldis must be high and ran down all of \u201cthat idiot\u201d Zayn\u2019s recent bad behavior, including costing Owens the WWE title in Toronto. Aldis agreed with all the points, including Owens calling Zayn an arrogant jackass. Zayn grabbed Aldis by the collar and said he wouldn\u2019t be treated the way he was treated last time he won the title. Aldis told Zayn to get his hands off him. Aldis said that Zayn made the decision easy for him and made a championship match between Zayn and Kevin Owens for tonight. Aldis capped it off by saying that while Zayn\u2019s last title reign was nine days, let\u2019s see if this one can get past seven (days). Zayn was mortified in the ring, while Owens was smirking. Zayn ran after Aldis to try and change his mind. As they chatted on the ramp, Randy Orton made his entrance to deafening cheers for the opening contest of the evening. He stopped by Zayn and smiled at him while touching the belt. He also nodded at Owens on his way down to the ring. [c]<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>(Corbridge\u2019s Analysis: A hot opening segment that furthered multiples storylines including Zayn vs. Gargano, Zayn vs. Aldis, and Zayn vs. Owens. Zayn deserves a raise. I\u2019d love to see WWE build up all these contenders on RAW and Smackdown to make the Royal Rumble full of \u201crealistic\u201d possible winners.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; Rey Fenix was out next followed by the United States Champion Trick Williams, accompanied as always by the \u201cself-proclaimed best man to ever breathe\u201d Lil Yachty. The crowd and his entrance music recording chanted \u201cwhoop that trick.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>(1) RANDY ORTON vs. TRICK WILLIAMS vs. REY FENIX \u2013 Money in the Bank Triple Threat Qualifier match <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Orton started off by laying out Fenix with a forearm as soon as the bell rang. Trick knocked down Orton with a shoulder block. Fenix hit a dropkick on Trick. Orton ran at him but Fenix dodged, causing Orton to go shoulder first into the middle buckle. Fenix dropped down which caused Trick to tumble to ringside, then hit a splash onto him on the floor. Fenix with a \u00a0springboard moonsault on Trick leading to a two-count. Trick recovered quickly and launched Fenix into the heavens and let him crash back to the mat. Trick whooped some air tricks. He stomped on Fenix in the corner and clotheslined him to the floor into the waiting arms of Orton. Orton back suplexed Fenix onto the announce desk. Trick went outside and met the same desk fate. Yachty tried to disrupt things and ate the table for his troubles too. [c]<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">The crowd chanted for the heel Orton as he battled the babyface Trick on the top rope. Orton stood forever on the top preparing to superplex Trick because the spot called for Fenix to springboard up and give Orton a sunset flip powerbomb while Orton executed the superplex. So, it looked phony. Fenix hit a humongous frog splash and covered for a pretty good nearfall. All three men were down. Fenix was up first and battered his opponents with kicks while they were on their knees. Orton eventually got up and sent Fenix into the ropes, but he bounced off and dropped Orton with a kick to the jaw. Orton took down both men with clotheslines and his patented powerslams. Orton went for the draping DDT on Trick but Fenix ran the ropes and hit the Goodbye Amigo in a great spot. Trick pushed Fenix off the top rope to the floor and hit a weak looking spin kick on Orton. Trick hooked the leg for the one\u2026two\u2026Orton kicked out.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Trick did some Booker T mannerism long enough to eat a poisonrana from Fenix. Fenix hit a superkick on Trick and went for a springboard splash, but Orton was waiting for him with an RKO \u2026 you guessed it \u2026 <em>out of nowhere<\/em>. Orton gloated and Trick hit him with the Trick Shot. Trick covered Fenix for the one\u2026two\u2026three.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">WINNER: Trick Williams via pinfall in 10:00. Williams qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match.<\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1377062285\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">After the match, Trick celebrated in the ring with his buddy the Yachtmeister.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>(Corbridge\u2019s Analysis: That was good match with a couple good spots. I\u2019d knock it down for the transparently choreographed corner superplex spot. But the finish was appropriate too with the heel Orton losing because he was being cocky.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; Gargano was icing his face in the back. LeRae asked him what he expected to happen. She said she\u2019d told him he would end up disappointed. Zayn walked up and was super flustered about how they were trying to screw him out of his title again. Zayn apologized to Gargano for getting their wires crossed last week and said he does deserve a title shot. Zayn was basically pretending to cry as he told Gargano that he couldn\u2019t lost the title again after seven days. Zayn pointed out that Gargano wouldn\u2019t get a title shot again if Zayn lost the belt and wanted to make sure Gargano understood what he was saying. Gargano said that he understood and that they should talk later. Zayn said he appreciate both of them. LeRae looked non-plussed.<\/p>\n<p><em>(Corbridge\u2019s Analysis: Zayn is so slimy and it\u2019s terrific. I know it was obvious to anyone watching, but clearly Zayn was trying to get back on Gargano\u2019s good side so that he\u2019d help him in tonight\u2019s main event. It seems that eventually Gargano will have to make a choice because his wife doesn\u2019t seem to be buying what Zayn is selling.)<\/em><em><br \/>\n<\/em><br \/>\n<em>&#8211; The WWE Tag Team Champions Tama and Talla Tonga had a promo in the back. Haku was with them. Tama said that Shinsuke Nakamura should have left Kyoki in Japan because now whatever happens to him will be on him. \u00a0Nakamura and Kyoki, AKA Bakusai, also gave a promo. Kyoki said some things in Japanese. Nakamura said that the MFT were confused because they were not the hunters but the prey. \u00a0[c]<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>&#8211; In the women\u2019s locker room, Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss chatted about Bliss\u2019s match tonight while Tatum Paxley lit some candles. Flair blew out the candle and said they needed to focus on preparing Flair for her match. Bliss said she just needed to focus on her own. Paxley wanted to talk about getting the tag titles. Flair blew out another candle but then freaked out when Paxley said it was bad luck. <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>&#8211; Bakusai came out to their new mash-up entrance of Nakamura\u2019s music and \u2026 something else. There was pyro since Bakusai means explosion in Japanese. \u00a0The WWE Tag Team Champions Tama and Talla Tonga were led to the ring by their father Haku. Michael Cole mentioned Haku\u2019s previous tag team title reign with partner Andre the Giant as part of the Colossal Connection. <\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>(2) THE MFT (Tama Tonga &amp; Talla Tonga) w\/Haku vs. BAKUSAI (Shinsuke Nakamura &amp; Kyoki) <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kyoki started off against Tama but immediately went after Talla. He knocked him off the apron but Tama went out after him. He then hit a dropkick from the apron to the floor on both MFT grapplers. [c]<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Kyoki was still in the ring hitting running cross-bodies. Tama fought back with several chops that Kyoki no-sold. Tama tagged out right before getting caught with a hurricanrana. Talla caught Kyoki but he escaped and drove Talla into the ropes. Kyoki countered a chokeslam into a DDT, then ran around the ring like an idiot. He climbed to the top and dove off onto the MFT on the floor. Kyoki mugged and screamed for the camera. Nakamura tagged in and suplexed Kyoki onto Talla, then covered for a two-count. Talla missed a corner splash, leading to Nakamura hitting a flying knee off the second rope for a nearfall. Nakamura lined him up for the Kinshasa. Tama ran into the ring but Nakamura caught him and gave him a German suplex through the ropes. On the outside, Haku hit Nakamura with his walking stick. The referee immediately called for the bell.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">WINNER: Bakusai in 8:00 via disqualification.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">After the match, Kyoki tried to help his partner. Talla chokeslammed him on the apron. Back in the ring, Talla gave him a big boot while Tama chop blocked him. Cole said that the MFT made a statement.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>(Corbridge\u2019s Analysis: it\u2019s a fun feud, although Kyoki is being portrayed as a loose cannon. And not in the cool Brian Pillman way. Smackdown also needs more tag teams for this to matter more than just a personal feud. Too bad they released all of them.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; Cathy Kelley talked to Kevin Owens somewhere in the back. Owens said that this was the arena where he had his first ever WWE main roster match when he beat John Cena. He confidently said he\u2019d beat Sami Zayn tonight to become WWE Champion. Finn Balor walked up and sarcastically said it was nice to see the stars align for someone around here. When questioned, he noted that Zayn was his friend and Owens helped Zayn win last week, so it\u2019s no wonder he got the shot. Balor said he\u2019d do it the right way by winning the Money in the Bank ladder match.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>(Corbridge\u2019s Analysis: That may seem like a tiny throw away comment from Balor, but it is those types of things that get someone behind a babyface. It also means we have several wrestlers trying to earn their shots in different ways, which is refreshing.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; Cody Rhodes was shown sitting in a chair getting ready for a sit-down interview. [c]<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>[HOUR TWO]<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; Chelsea Green and Tiffany Stratton were talking to Nick Aldis in the back. Danhausen walked up on Aldis\u2019 cell phone. \u00a0Aldis tried to get it back from him. Nikki Bella met them around the corner and told Green to keep her name out of her mouth. Nikki said she was going after Green\u2019s belt and since she\u2019s an icon and a legend she would get it.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>(Corbridge\u2019s Analysis: There was no reason why anyone should have been filming any of that. Also, if you want a perfect example of why people criticize Stratton, go watch how she acted startled when Danhausen walked up. It made me laugh out loud. At her. Because she\u2019s terrible.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; Michael Cole had a sit-down interview with Cody Rhodes. First, he asked Cody if he wasn\u2019t able to \u201cpull the trigger\u201d when he had a chance to against someone he cared about in Orton. Cody said he wasn\u2019t wrong and didn\u2019t want to make excuses. Cole said he calls him QB1 and he\u2019s proud that Cody represents WWE but said that now there doesn\u2019t seem to be a team. They showed Cody celebrating at Wrestlemania 40 with all the babyfaces in the ring. Cole pointed out that all of the people in that ring have stabbed Cody in the back. Cody said that maybe he is na\u00efve because he thought with him as champion it might go differently.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cole said that Cody would be in the ring with Orton again and asked what he was going to do. Cody said he wasn\u2019t immune to the ongoing discussion about his morality, and asked what others knew that he didn\u2019t. Cody said he never compromised and that\u2019s what got him two Royal Rumble wins, two wins over Brock Lesnar, a win to end a four-year title reign etc.. Cody said that when the situation comes up he wouldn\u2019t make the same decision he made last time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; Cathy Kelley asked Jade Cargill in the back about her upcoming match. B-Fab and Michin interrupted and said that they should be in line for the tag titles. Jade agreed and said she was also going to win Money in the Bank. Her music played and she went to ringside for her qualifying match. [c]<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; An interesting graphic showed that tonight would be the first one-on-one championship match between Owens and Zayn.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; Jacy Jayne went to the ring along with Fatal Influence. Alexa Bliss came out last by herself.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>(3) ALEXA BLISS vs. JACY JAYNE vs. JADE CARGILL \u2013 Money in the Bank Triple Threat Qualifier match \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jayne slammed Bliss down by her hair while Jade watched. Jayne bailed to the floor and jawed with some fans while standing on the announce desk. Bliss went outside and yanked her face first down onto the table. Bliss returned to the ring and Jayne pulled her back down to the floor. Jayne crawled in the ring and tried to get Jade in a headlock but she was sent into the ropes and shoulder tackled. Jaye managed to hit a hurricanrana, then baited her into charging her so she could move and watched Jade tumble over the top to the floor. Jade went for a chokeslam but Jayne escaped. Jade caught her in a boss man slam and covered for a two-count. [c]<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jayne perched Bliss on the top buckle and climbed up for a superplex attempt. Jade snuck in between her legs and powerbombed them off and covered both women separately for two-counts. Jade hit splashes on each int the corner. Then she tried again but Jayne moved, sending Jade crashing into the buckle and then to the floor. Bliss built some momentum with strikes and a DDT on Jayne. Bliss dropkicked Jayne to the floor and hit a cannonball off the apron. Jade gave Bliss a big knee to the jaw and rolled her back in. Jayne sent Jade into the steel steps. Back in the ring, Jayne hit a running knee for a pretty good nearfall.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">After the women got to their feet, Jayne charged at Bliss who moved causing her to go face first into the bottom buckle. Bliss went to the top so Jayne bailed too ringside. Bliss hit a splash onto both women on the floor. She quickly rolled Jayne back inside and went for the Sister Abigail to the crowd\u2019s delight. She hit it and covered for the one\u2026two\u2026Jade stopped the referee from counting. Corey Graves pointed out that there is no disqualification in a triple threat match. Bliss clearly had the match won. Bliss unloaded on Jade and went for another Sister Abigail. Jade turned it into the Jaded and covered. Jayne ran in and hit a knee to the face and stole the pin on Bliss.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">WINNER: Jacy Jayne via pinfall in 12:00.\u00a0 Jayne qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>(Corbridge\u2019s Analysis: That was a better match than I expected it to be. It had a couple slow motion spots, but all three women worked hard. It was a nice touch that Jade was doing her typical lick her hand gesture that she usually uses when she pins someone before getting kneed in the face.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; Cathy Kelley talked to Giulia, who notably had no face paint or wild makeup on. She will have a Money in the Bank qualifier next week against Charlotte Flair and Lash Legend. Giulia started to talk but the Irresistible forces barged in. Giulia said she didn\u2019t like them. Lash said she\u2019d win the match. Giulia got in her face and said she\u2019d kick her teeth out.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; Trick Williams and Lil Yachty talked in some hallway about Trick winning a second title. They walked up on Sami Zayn stretching. Trick called him Gingerbread, to which Zayn said he should now be referred to as 2-time WWE Champion. Trick said he\u2019d \u201cqualify and win the Money in the Bank\u201d to take another title from Zayn. [c]<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>(Corbridge\u2019s Analysis: Trick said he would qualify, which made me think this was expected to air prior to him winning the match earlier tonight. Whoops. The continuity cops are here too. They told me that there was no reason why a cameraman should have been filming any of that .)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; Damain Priest was in a pre-tape. He was acting mean and saying it shouldn\u2019t have taken so long for him to turn on R-Truth. He said he should have looked in a mirror and told himself to change a long time ago. But since Truth wouldn\u2019t relent he had to do it. Priest said that Truth would call him a bad man.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8211; The challenger Kevin Owens entered for the main event. The Undisputed WWE Champion Sami Zayn made his way down to the ring with the title around his waist, hoping he wouldn\u2019t have another extremely short title reign. Ring announcer Mark Nash gave them the championship match introductions. Owens attacked Zayn from behind before the bell rang. Naturally, the deer-in-headlights referee called for the bell to ring and gave Owens the unfair advantage<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>(5) SAMI ZAYN (c) vs. KEVIN OWNS \u2013 Undisputed WWE Championship match <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Owens pummeled Zayn, causing him to retreat to the floor. Owens followed him out and dropped him with a clothesline and a senton. They went to a picture in picture break. [c]<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Owens was still in control after the break until Zayn dropped down from the apron to the floor and causing Owens\u2019s face to bounce off the ropes. Zayn beat on a prone Owens. Zayn whipped Owens very hard into the corner. Owens crashed into it and fell to the mat. Cole pointed out that it had been nearly 10 years since Owens held a world title. Zayn argued with the referee, then hit Owens with a double axehandle off the second rope. He covered for a two-count. Owens tried to rally with punches to Zayn while Zayn was seated on the top buckle. Zayn raked the eyes to escape.\u00a0 Owens with a superkick to Zayn and both men were down. Owens with an AA and a cover for a two-count. Owens went for the pop up powerbomb and a stunner, but Zayn avoided both and hit a blue thunder bomb for a two-count. [c]<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Both grapplers exchanged blows while on the top buckle. Owens won the exchange and hit a swanton bomb. The crowd was electric when Zayn kicked out at two again. Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae ran down to ringside. Gargano distracted the referee so LeRae could give Owens a tornado DDT from the second rope. Zayn saw it and readied for the Helluva kick. He hit and covered but Owens kicked out! Zayn went for another but Owens caught him with the pop up powerbomb followed by a stunner! Owens covered for the one..two\u2026Gargano put Zayn\u2019s foot on the rope! Owens saw it and went after Gargano. He threw him into the barricade and cleared off the announce desk.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">Owens set up Gargano for a powerbomb but Zayn attacked him. Owen gave Zayn a back suplex through the desk and then dragged him to the ring as the referee counted. As Owens rolled him into the ring, Gargano grabbed the title belt and ran into the ring. Owens gave Gargano a stunner. On the other side of the ring, LeRae argued with the referee. Suddenly, C.M. Punk jumped up onto the apron and drilled Owens with the title belt! Zayn gave Punk a Helluva kick through the ropes, sending Punk to the floor. The referee saw none of it. Zayn crawled and draped his arm over Owens as the referee counted to one\u2026two\u2026it was a nearfall. There was confusion on what happened. Zayn hit another Helluva kick and covered, this time for the definitive three count.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">WINNER: Sami Zayn via pinfall in 16:00. Sami Zayn retained the WWE Championship.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">After the match, Punk returned to the ring and beat down Zayn. He gave him a Go to Sleep to end the show.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>(Corbridge\u2019s Analysis: It was tremendous match with a confusing ending. Someone, whether it was the referee or Owens messed up somewhere. But Zayn retained and the main event picture is still a huge highlight of Smackdown right now.)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you enjoy colorful characters, comedy, personal rivalries, and ongoing stories that leave you wanting the next episode, check out <em>BadWill<\/em>. Episodes 1 and 2 of my workplace comedy comic are available now at <a href=\"https:\/\/badwillcomic.com\/\"><strong>BadWillComic.com<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And if you love workplace comedies, I\u2019ve got something fun coming in October: <em>BadWill Presents: The Workplace Comedy Character Championship<\/em>. I narrowed the field to 64 characters from across television history, but I\u2019m keeping the bracket secret until the matchups begin. Two head-to-head battles every day, and you decide who advances. Funniest, most iconic, best written, who you\u2019d rather work with, pure irrational loyalty, vote however you want.<\/p>\n<p>Follow me on social media to vote: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eric.corbridge\/\"><strong>Facebook<\/strong><\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ecorbridge22\/\"><strong>Instagram<\/strong><\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@eric.corbridge\"><strong>TikTok<\/strong><\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@EricCorbridge\"><strong>YouTube<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400\">\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-3748692682\"><div id=\"pwtor-2745526954\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>WWE SMACKDOWN REPORT SEPTEMBER 18, 2026 CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS AT HILLIARD CENTER AIRED LIVE ON USA NETWORK REPORT BY ERIC CORBRIDGE, PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor Attendance:\u00a0WrestleTix\u00a0reported as of <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2026\/09\/18\/wwe-smackdown-results-9-18-corbridges-report-on-sami-zayn-first-appearance-since-recapturing-wwe-title-cody-rhodes-interview-money-in-the-bank-qualifying-matches\/\" title=\"WWE SMACKDOWN RESULTS (9\/18): Corbridge\u2019s report on Sami Zayn first appearance since recapturing WWE title; Cody Rhodes interview, Money in the Bank qualifying matches\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":185189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,48,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-222537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tvshowsandevents","category-tv_wwesmackdown","category-tv_wwetvreports"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2024\/09\/Screenshot-2024-09-20-at-5.49.57\u202fPM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222537"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":222556,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222537\/revisions\/222556"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/185189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}