WWE SMACKDOWN Results SPOILERS: August 28, 2026 - Owens vs Gunther vs Balor & More

Friday's episode of WWE SmackDown (August 28, 2026) was taped in advance on Monday, August 24 following Raw at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The episode will air at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network.

This post contains spoilers from the taping, including reported match results, promo segments, backstage developments and other noteworthy material. WWE could always edit the episode or add material that was not performed in front of the live audience before the show airs.

Here are your spoilers and results for WWE SmackDown - August 28, 2026:

• Kevin Owens opened SmackDown by addressing the fallout from his WWE Championship match against CM Punk. Punk came out to interrupt, but the argument continued to grow as Gunther and Finn Balor each joined the situation. Nick Aldis ultimately arranged a Triple Threat Match between Owens, Gunther and Balor for the main event, with the winner set to become the next challenger for Punk's title.
• Chelsea Green and Tiffany Stratton were paired together again against Irresistible Forces, with Green's orbital injury being worked into the story before and during the match.
• Irresistible Forces (Nia Jax and Lash Legend) defeated Chelsea Green and Tiffany Stratton by pinfall. Medical personnel attempted to take Green backstage during the match, but Chelsea returned so Tiffany would not have to finish the bout alone. Nia Jax was reportedly responsible for the winning pin.
• Danhausen had a backstage meeting with SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis before Gunther barged into their conversation.
• Women's United States Championship Match: Jacy Jayne (c) defeated Paige by pinfall to retain the title. The bigger development came after the bell when Nikki Bella returned and attacked Paige.
• Finn Balor had another speaking segment involving Cody Rhodes as Balor continued to circle the WWE Championship picture.
• Trick Williams and Lil Yachty appeared for a promo segment with United States champion Baron Corbin ahead of Yachty attempting to survive five minutes against Corbin at Sunday Night's Main Event in order to earn Trick another championship opportunity.
• Cody Rhodes later had a heated face-to-face with Randy Orton. With Cody unable to simply attack his Sunday Night's Main Event opponent, Orton deliberately tried to get under his skin and reportedly brought Brandi Rhodes and Cody's mother into his insults.
• Tatum Paxley continued hanging around Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair, with the two accompanying her for her scheduled match against Michin.
• Rey Fenix had an interview segment that brought Ricky Saints into the picture.
• Tatum Paxley defeated Michin by pinfall. Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair accompanied Paxley for the victory.
• Blake Monroe attempted to conduct a backstage interview following her attack on Giulia last week, but this time Giulia turned the tables and jumped Monroe during the interview.
• Damian Priest and R-Truth had a backstage segment involving The War Raiders as the WWE Tag Team Championship picture continued to develop.
• Nick Aldis also met backstage with Irresistible Forces, The Miz and Kit Wilson. Coming out of the assorted developments, The Miz and Kit Wilson vs Kyoki and Shinsuke Nakamura was announced for next week's episode.
• Kevin Owens and Randy Orton reportedly had another interaction later in the night.
• Undisputed WWE Championship No. 1 Contender's Triple Threat Match: Kevin Owens vs Gunther vs Finn Balor ended due to Sami Zayn's interference. Zayn ruined the match before Punk could find out who his next challenger would be. CM Punk ran down to get involved in the chaos, but Sami managed to lay out Punk along with the three competitors and held up the WWE Championship as SmackDown came to an end.

Author's POV & Reactions:

Whenever an episode is taped in advance, I toss out my reactions to the spoilers as opposed to the predictions, for obvious reasons.

This sounds like a pretty standard episode to me. Nothing stands out as particularly interesting or odd, outside of a few elements. For instance, is Chelsea Green cleared enough to actually compete, or is this match she has just really a 2-on-1? Will the Kevin Owens and Randy Orton interaction pick up where that feud left off? Why does every main event now have to end without an ending on SmackDown?

I do like having so many people in the title hunt that I don't know 100% where this is heading, so I enjoy that aspect, but I also feel like this is an episode where things happen but nothing really happens, if you catch my drift. I guess we'll see when it airs.

What are your thoughts on these spoilers for Friday Night SmackDown? Drop your reactions in the comments below and spark a discussion!