WWE SmackDown Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights Before Sunday Night's Main Event

This weekend brings with it Sunday Night's Main Event, but before we get there, we had this week's SmackDown as a go-home show.

Before they face Jade Cargill and The Baddies this weekend, Charlotte Flair teamed up with Tatum Paxley to take on Fatal Influence.

Nia Jax stepped up against Tiffany Stratton as she continued to lobby for a shot at Chelsea Green's title, Bakusai had their first match against Kit Wilson and The Miz, and CM Punk gave Johnny Gargano the kick in the pants he needed with a shot at the Undisputed WWE Championship.

Let's take a look at what happened on this week's show.

Fatal Influence vs. Charlotte Flair and Tatum Paxley

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Gunther tried to open the show with a promo, but he was quickly interrupted by Sami Zayn. Finn Balor joined, and so did Kevin Owens. This led to KO chasing Zayn out of the building while Balor sent Gunther out of the ring.

The first match of the night saw Flair and Paxley take on Fallon Henley and Lainey Reid in a non-title match.

This was a pretty energetic fight. It might not have had much structure, but it allowed Paxley to shine in her first real outing on the main roster. Her crossbody from the ring post to the floor was an especially memorable moment.

She ended up scoring the win for her team, which could put them in line for a tag title shot down the line. This wasn't bad, but it felt too short. Cargill and The Baddies attacked Flair, Bliss and Paxley after the match.

Result: Paxley and Flair defeated Henley and Reid

Grade: C+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Zayn being petty always makes him funny.
• Henley has gotten noticeably more physical in the ring over the past year. She really lays in her offense.
• Flair's forward handspring clothesline looks fancy, but it also looks totally ineffective. There is no way it would get more momentum than just running.

Nia Jax vs. Tiffany Stratton

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Chelsea Green had a segment where she told Nick Aldis that she will compete next week in a title match against Nia Jax, but this led to Jax and Lash Legend coming out. Tiffany Stratton made the save, which led Aldis to book her against Jax.

The Irresistible Force seemed to have the upper hand throughout most of the match. Stratton made a comeback, but Legend distracted her to help Nia score the win.

This was short, predictable and uneventful. The physicality was there, but that was about it. The commercial break felt like it took up more time than the match did.

Jax stole the protective mask from Green while she was celebrating. Green tried to get it back, but was unsuccessful.

Result: Jax defeated Stratton

Grade: C-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Tiffy's back handspring into a stunner would have looked cool, but Jax barely sold it.
• Chelsea Green is one of the only people who has ever made that weird face mask work as part of her character.

Kyoki and Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Kit Wilson and The Miz

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The man formerly known as Hiromu Takahashi made his official in-ring debut for WWE this week when Kyoki and Shinsuke Nakamura battled The Miz and Wilson.

WWE might not have done the best job making this debut feel like a big deal, but anyone who has paid attention to NJPW was looking forward to Kyoki's debut this week.

This was not designed to be a very competitive match. It wasn't totally one-sided, but it was clearly booked to make Kyoki and Shinsuke look like a dangerous duo.

This won't end up on any Best Of lists, but it was a good showcase to introduce the newcomer's style to unfamiliar fans. Kyoki picked up the win for his team with a reverse stunner.

Result: Kyoki and Nakamura defeated Miz and Wilson

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• WWE wanting to own the names of newer talent is one thing, but having someone as experienced as Takahashi change his name to come to WWE is dumb.
• It was nice to see that Takahashi brought at least one of his crazy jackets from Japan.
• The reverse stunner was not the best finisher, but it looked decent.

CM Punk vs. Johnny Gargano

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After months and months of lying backstage in a comatose state, Gargano was finally snapped out of his funk when Punk offered him a shot at the WWE title.

They made first contact with about 15 minutes left in the show, and we knew part of that would be a commercial break, so this was not going to be a long main event.

Even though a longer bout between these two would be welcome, this might be one of those times when something mid-length worked best. It allowed Gargano to have some nice moments to put up a good fight, but we all knew this was never going to end with him winning.

Sami Zayn tried to approach him backstage to hint that he was going to help Gargano, and if he was successful, he wanted the first title shot. When he got involved, it allowed LeRae to hit Punk with a hurricanrana from the apron.

From a purely technical standpoint, this was a solid match that reminded a lot of people just how good Johnny Wrestling is. Owens came out to dispatch Zayn, which brought out Gunther and Balor to join the fight at ringside.

Gargano almost won thanks to Zayn hitting Punk with the title, but the champion kicked out and hit the GTS to get the win and retain his title.

Result: Punk defeated Gargano

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• It's very clear WWE had no idea how they were going to end Gargano's story and decided to just do it this way out of nowhere. There was no plan in place.
• It was nice to see the old Gargano back and being cheered. Now it would be nice if WWE remembers Candice LeRae is a good wrestler, too.
• Gargano's counter of the GTS into a hurricanrana was great.
• The near-fall from Gargano was so close. Punk kicked out at the last possible moment.

The Final Word

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This week's SmackDown was largely forgettable, but the main event was definitely the biggest highlight.

Punk and Gargano had a fun match that ended in chaos, and after it was over, Punk offered Zayn a title shot for next week's show in Mexico City, so both WWE titles will be on the line.

Even though both of the matches were short, the women's division got a lot of attention this week.

On the plus side, it felt like WWE spent the right amount of time building up Sunday Night's Main Event without feeling like it dominated the show.

Grade: C