&#8211; United States Championship Match: Baron Corbin (c) vs. Carmelo Hayes
&#8211; Women&#8217;s United States Championship Match: Tiffany Stratton (c) vs. Jacy Jayne
&#8211; WWE Tag Team Championship Match: R-Truth and Damian Priest (c) vs. The MFTs (Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga) (with Haku) vs. AAA Tag Team Champions The War Raiders (Erik and Ivar)
&#8211; CM Punk and Kevin Owens will meet one week before their Undisputed WWE Championship match
&#8211; Cody Rhodes will look to get his hands on Randy Orton
&#8211; Paige will address Nikki Bella&#8217;s heel turn

Updated Card For Tomorrow’s SmackDown

WWE has big plans lined up for World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns over the next few months.
According to WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select, LA Knight is currently slated to challenge Reigns at the Money In The Bank PLE on October 10th.
Before that big match happens, Reigns will first defend his title against the winner of WWE&#8217;s current luchadores tournament on the September 14th edition of Monday Night RAW in Mexico City.
Penta is scheduled win the tournament, as company officials view him as the perfect star to draw massive crowds and make the most of the Mexican market.

Spoiler On Roman Reigns’ Next 2 Opponents

WWE has announced Undisputed WWE Champion CM Punk for several upcoming shows, including the WWE/AAA/NXT PLE &#8220;Worlds Collide&#8221; on September 26 in Chicago, which will go head-to-head with AEW&#8217;s All Out PPV.
Below are the dates Punk is advertised for:
8/14 – Boston, MA (SmackDown)
8/15 – Petersburg, VA (NXT Live)
8/20 – London, ON (Summer Tour)
8/21 – Toronto, ON (SmackDown)
8/22 – Edmonton, AB (Summer Tour)
8/23 – Calgary, AB (Summer Tour)
8/24 – Ottawa, ON (RAW)
8/28 – Cleveland, OH (SmackDown)
8/29 – Savannah, GA (Summer Tour)
8/30 – North Charleston, SC (Summer Tour)
9/6 – Atlanta, GA (Sunday Night&#8217;s Main Event)
9/9 – Guadalajara, MX (Summer Tour)
9/10 – Monterrey, MX (Summer Tour)
9/11 – Mexico City, MX (SmackDown)
9/18 – Corpus Christi, TX (SmackDown)
9/25 – Indianapolis, IN (SmackDown)
9/26 – Chicago, IL (WWE/AAA/NXT Worlds Collide)
10/2 – Denver, CO (SmackDown)
10/9 – Lafayette, LA (SmackDown)
10/16 – Sacramento, CA (SmackDown)
10/23 – Ontario, CA (SmackDown)
10/30 – Charleston, WV (SmackDown)

WWE Confirms CM Punk For Worlds Collide (Going Head-To-Head With AEW All Out)

Nikki Cross said The Wyatt Sicks remained active creatively throughout the group’s run, but the direction of the act was often out of the members’ hands.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Cross reflected on the faction’s time together after its June 2024 debut and the group’s release in April 2026. Bo Dallas formed the act in memory of Bray Wyatt, and Cross portrayed Abby the Witch.
When asked when the group’s momentum began to fade, Cross said outside factors played a major role.
“We debuted in June, and we were an act, we were active for around two years, and there was a lot in those two years that was beyond our control.”
Cross said the group still had positive experiences, including working with The MFTs, Solo (Sikoa), and Karrion Kross and Scarlett. She also said the members consistently tried to develop the act behind the scenes.
“There was just a lot of things that went on in the last two years that was kind of beyond our control. So I do what I always do. I do my best. I do my job and I do my best. And we would pitch different ideas, and we were always very active with our characters.
We believed in The Wyatt Sicks. We believed in Bray. We believe in what we could all do as individuals, so we were always very active with our characters and pitching different ideas and working different stories. What could we go in this direction, this direction? So there was a lot of stuff over the last two years. It was just beyond our control.”
Cross also discussed being chosen for the group, saying she was honored, but tried not to get carried away in case plans changed.
“I was so blown away. I was honored. But it also made sense to me because no matter what, I know I can do any character that they ask of me.”
She also remembered the group’s debut night, when the members gathered backstage with Jason and Mandy Baker, who helped create the costumes and masks and had previously worked closely with Bray Wyatt.
“We came to the back that night, and we stood in a circle. Jason was there too. Jason worked incredibly closely with Bray. We always called it The Wyatt Sicks, and the sixth person for us at that time, for me, the sixth person was Bray. So it really felt like the six of us. Jason and Mandy were there, and we just got to toast and say to Bray and to Brodie.”
Bray Wyatt died in August 2023. Brodie Lee (Luke Harper), a former member of the original Wyatt Family, died in December 2020.

Wyatt Sicks Faced Creative Issues Beyond Their Control

JBL said he does not agree with WWE releasing Unreal on Netflix, despite praising the show as entertaining television.
Speaking on &#8220;Something To Wrestle&#8221; after AJ Styles recently criticized the series on his podcast, JBL said his issue is not whether fans have earned access to backstage material. He said the bigger problem is that the show reveals too much and weakens the stars.
“So the show apparently is really good from an entertainment perspective. I mean, really good. So, as far as that, look, they’ve hit a home run. As far as the content, I like AJ, and I don’t want to disagree with AJ, but I think I disagree with the fans deserve it or not. I don’t think fans should get it, and the reason is because I think it spoils things and it spoils your stars.”
JBL said wrestling works best when fans see performers as larger than life rather than as ordinary people. He argued that exposing how the product is put together can hurt business.
“And in wrestling, if you start pulling the curtain back and everybody’s oh, they’re just one of us. One of us don’t draw money. Brock Lesnar draws money. AJ Styles draws money. I think when you’re doing this, it hurts the business. You want guys to be stars. You don’t want guys to realize, hey, the whole thing is manipulated.”
He added that he is not dismissing everything modern WWE is doing, noting that the company is clearly succeeding, but said he still disagrees with Unreal being made.
“But I disagree with the Unreal. I don’t think the content out there is something that should be out there just because it’s good content as far as entertainment.”
To explain his point, JBL compared wrestling to magic, saying people may know how an illusion works but still do not want the trick explained to them.

“It spoils your stars” – JBL On WWE Unreal

Nikki Cross, who held the WWE 24/7 Championship 11 times, was the final person to hold the title before the company retired it. During an appearance on Chris Van Vliet&#8217;s Insight podcast, Cross recalled the segment where she was supposed to throw the belt into a trash can.
Cross explained that a pre-taped rehearsal of the spot went as planned, but technical issues forced the production to go live. While remaining fully in character and staring at the ceiling, she threw the title and missed the receptacle entirely.
“Yeah, I missed it. So we did a take right before it, and it was perfect, nailed it, landed inside the trash can. A rehearsal, but we taped it. We had to go live, but I don’t know what it was. I think there was an audio issue. There was something that meant we couldn’t use that tape. So we had to go live.
Then in the moment, I was so into the character. I was looking at the ceiling. I was envisioning emptiness and nothingness. I was so focused on being in the daze. I was just so into it that I just threw it. I just threw it, and it missed the trash can. I just kept going with it. Because in those scenarios, there is nothing you can do. You cannot, unless you’re actually a superhero like Doctor Strange, you can’t change time. I didn’t have a time stone on me, so I couldn’t change time.
So I was like, I know I’ve missed this, do not, whatever you do, break character&#8230; the cardinal sin. I truly believe everything happens for a reason. So I honestly think the reason I missed that was to leave the door open down the line for someone else to be the 24/7 Champion. It was a funny moment. It was still the idea of that character was just about the chaos and the championship. In that moment, her focus was the chaos, so she didn’t really mind what happened with the championship. That’s how I can twist it in my head. But also, I do think that everything happens for a reason, and at the end of the day, maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.
We’ve had a moment in wrestling history where there’s been a title thrown in a trash can, so this is the new moment. The title being almost in the trash can for almost a superhero. So to me, we’ve left the door open for someone else to be the 24/7 Champion. Because what I do want to say about the 24/7 Championship is, you know, people like R-Truth, (Akira) Tozawa, Dana Brooke, Tamina, Reggie&#8230; we had the 24/7 wedding. I had the Blue Fascinator. People worked really hard on making the 24/7 Championship the most entertaining thing it could be on TV.”
When asked about the decision to end the championship, Cross stated:
“I think they wanted to move away from that championship. So this was their way of doing it.”

“Do not break character” – Nikki Cross On Botching The Final 24/7 Title Segment

Cody Rhodes and Santino Marella shared the story of a terrifying bus crash they survived alongside Sheamus early in their WWE careers. Speaking on Rhodes&#8217; &#8220;What Do You Wanna Talk About?&#8221; podcast, the two detailed how a travel suggestion from Triple H nearly ended in disaster.
Following Triple H&#8217;s advice to share travel costs, Rhodes, Marella, and Sheamus rented a large camper-style bus to travel between shows. While traveling to Madison, Wisconsin during the winter, their driver fell asleep at the wheel and clipped a highway road sign, totaling the vehicle.
Rhodes and Marella recalled the panic of the crash, with both fearing the vehicle was going to plunge off a bridge. When the bus finally ground to a halt, Rhodes found the front lounge destroyed and the driver slumped over the wheel with blood on the windshield. While Rhodes initially feared the driver was dead, the driver suddenly sat up and poured water over his head to clear glass from his eyes. Meanwhile, Marella, who suffered from a vision condition called keratoconus, was frantically searching the floor for his lost contact lens.
Despite the wreckage, the trio still had to make their scheduled WWE show. A roadside assistance worker took them to a rest stop, where they hailed an old-school yellow cab to complete the trip. To make matters worse, when they finally arrived in Wisconsin at sunrise, they discovered Sheamus had accidentally booked their hotel room for the previous night.
Instead of pursuing legal action over the accident, Rhodes accepted an offer from the rental company for a free bus ride the following weekend. Rhodes admitted that despite continuing to travel by bus, the terrifying experience left him with a lasting fear of bus rides to this day.

Updated Card For Tomorrow’s SmackDown

Spoiler On Roman Reigns’ Next 2 Opponents

WWE Confirms CM Punk For Worlds Collide (Going Head-To-Head With AEW All Out)

Wyatt Sicks Faced Creative Issues Beyond Their Control

“It spoils your stars” – JBL On WWE Unreal

“Do not break character” – Nikki Cross On Botching The Final 24/7 Title Segment

Cody Rhodes Recalls Being In A Terrifying Bus Crash With Sheamus & Santino Marella