Drew McIntyre Attacks CM Punk on WWE Smackdown

CM Punk opened the show and did not waste time checking off everyone’s CM Punk Chicago promo bingo card. He sang his own song, reminisced on his most memorable Chi-Town matches (Taking the belt off Cena at MITB), and reminded the crowd that they needed to remind him that he has ‘never embarrassed Chicago.’

CM Punk brought up his ‘hometown hero’ moments as a direct comparison to Drew McIntyre’s inability to capture gold in front of his countrymen in Scotland. McIntyre’s impromptu decision to ‘quit’ the WWE on RAW in a brief but effective segment that would eventually follow Drew’s way out of the arena (great use of symbolism in that segment) where RAW GM and Triple H pleaded with him not to ‘take his ball and go home.’ CM Punk harped on how easy it was to do exactly what he set out to do: “make McIntyre’s life a living hell.”

“I set out to KILL his career, and I planned on burying his career six feet under,” Punk admitted to his hometown fans on Smackdown. “I just didn’t think it would be that easy.” It is hard to tell what Punk is truly after because he is being painted as the same toxic figure that he was portrayed as in AEW, and that is great wrestling storytelling as it blurs the lines properly, but it first, and perhaps only, serves McIntyre in his attempt to raise his performance levels even further than he already has these past 18 months. The program has been great and has achieved so much with subtle segments and easy-to-follow storytelling. Punk’s directionless character motives are of no matter as it relates to how and where they take this.

Paul Heyman made his way out, and it feels like he is on another level right now; it is almost as if he is the character, but truthfully, he is just that good. There are plenty of guys who can flip the switch on and off at any moment, but then there are elites like Paul Heyman who can turn it off, turn it on, and pause it when the feed fades to black only to ‘play’ seven days later when the lights go bright again—and he does it without ever skipping that beat in between.

The two hugged after Punk admitted to being a little upset that Paul hijacked his segment and got the crowd to chant, ‘We want Roman.’ Punk acknowledged that Heyman didn’t look so good and that teed up Paul to deliver the promo of the month. You could hear the fear in Paul’s quivering voice when he said with ‘love and respect,’ “Please, get the hell out of here right now.” This warning came after Paul admitted that Solo, listening to local sports radio earlier in the day, heard that Chicago was “Punk’s town.” This does not fly with the new (lowercase) ‘head of the table,’ as Solo wants every town to be theirs.

Solo’s music hit with extra security surrounding the ring preemptively before the night started (with Paul giving an excellently timed rub for the new Wyatt Fam that allowed for context). The issue with this is finding a way to retain Punk’s SD appearance, which does not give it validity from the jump. Solo’s threats ignited the crowd, and no one was thinking about what made sense, especially after Punk got the mic back into Heyman’s face.

Paul framed his warning to Punk as a favor to him, and Punk clarified by asking, “Paul, what’s the favor you wanted to ask of me if I do you this favor?” That is when Heyman delivered the most brilliant line in the “New Bloodline” program that began after Mania: “Take me with you,” Paul said with a beaten-down, puppy-eyed look of fear and defeat. Punk did not heed the warning, and instead, he called the “New Bloodline” a bunch of “fake Usos” and referred to Solo as a phony cosplay Tribal Chief as Paul trembled in fear in the corner.

Just as Solo and co. made it to the apron, Cody Rhodes popped into the ring from the stands with baseball bats in hand for him and CM Punk. The segment ended quickly after Cody challenged Solo to a singles match in the main event (what was the main event? How do they feel getting bumped? Again, these things matter). Returning from the break, RKO approached Cody to ask if he was ‘sure’ he wanted to face Solo alone in the main event with everything going on in tonight’s show. Cody admitted he knew Solo would have a plan, but he assured KO he also had a plan.

McIntyre Makes It Count

As DIY argued with the soon-to-be split-up SmackDown tag champs, a bang was heard at the gate. When it was opened from the inside, the camera stayed set in its shot of the gate as it slowly revealed Drew McIntyre standing over a bloody CM Punk. How he got to Punk was unclear, but it was easy to see this was always part of McIntyre’s plan.

McIntyre allowed Punk’s guard to go down, opposite to the gate coming up (that kind of contrast is what separates great storytelling from epic), and that allowed McIntyre to catch an exposed Punk so that he could ‘return the favor’ in his nemesis hometown.

Cody vs Solo (Main Event)

Before the match, Paul spoke to Solo as Cody waited in the ring. Paul said he did what Solo asked of him earlier in the evening—delivering a message to the Tongas to take out RKO—and then confronted Solo with the fact that he was ‘breaking commandments.’ Paul recounted the moments after WrestleMania, specifically after Roman Reigns lost on night two and before getting on his jet, and he said that Roman agreed with him that Punk is off limits. Punk and Paul’s relationship is well-documented, and he also said Roman made Cody ‘off limits’ as well and that Solo was only meant to keep Cody in check for when Roman returns.

Solo responded by claiming Roman was not coming back, which sparked a look of horror and loss on Paul’s face. That exchange backstage was as long as the match, almost, as the Tongas came out to interfere in a match that started fast because it was going to end quickly. To be fair, there was not much time left on the clock with as jam-packed as this show was. Orton and KO came out to even the odds, and Solo was left pleading with Cody and RKO, which was all a setup. Cody had a plan, but he also knew Solo had a plan—he just had no idea WHO that plan was.

Just as the faces had things under control, the debut of Jacob Fatu prompted a “h**y s**t” chant from the crowd. Fatu ran through the faces, and even with Cody attempting to stand his ground, the surge of adrenaline combined with his violent tendencies made Fatu an unstoppable force. The faces have been outnumbered; if only there were another “Head of the Table” to come to the rescue. Fatu sent the feed to black only after he dove from the ring and onto Cody through the commentary table. The credits came up, and the New Bloodline was fully realized.

Money In The Bank Qualifiers

Bianca Belair vs Michin vs Chelsea Green (Women’s MITB Qualifier)

The match was fun, or at least more than expected, but getting into matches where the booking is so straightforward is difficult. The fans were hot and busted out a deserved “this is awesome” chant. The match was clear that Belair would win until it wasn’t. Chelsea came in to secure the pin on Michin after she was hit with Belair’s KOD—Belair was thrown out of the ring by Chelsea. It was great booking from a match perspective and from a pure entertainment aspect, but Chelsea feels like a wasted spot in MITB as it is still unclear how much faith WWE has in her or doesn’t have.

Randy Orton vs Tama Tonga vs Carmelo Hayes (Men’s MITB Qualifier)

This match had a lot of potential with the diversity of workers and Hayes’s ability to put on a show with anyone. Hayes and Tonga worked against Orton early on, which was smart considering the experience discrepancy between Orton and the two superstars who debuted only this year for WWE. Orton and Tonga worked well together, and their moves seemed to have a natural chemistry.

Tonga Loa came out to help out Tonga’s odds, but KO was standing by to neutralize. The distraction was good enough for Hayes to steal the victory with a roll-up pin over Orton—easily the biggest win in his early career. With Hayes, you could argue that he presents the same issue in the MITB as Chelsea, but unlike her, Hayes’s style is made for a multi-man ladder match.

Kevin Owens vs Andrade vs Grayson Waller (Men’s MITB Qualifier)

Surprisingly, all three men were able to get their moments, but Andrade indeed unleashed some of the most memorable spots of the match. The match is probably best represented by the KO powerbomb onto Andrade, who simultaneously hit Waller with a suplex from the top turnbuckle.

KO hit a Swanton Bomb and then a Stunner on Andrade, but he only had that momentum for a bit as Waller threw him out in an attempt to take the momentum for himself. This was the same thing both Chelsea and Hayes successfully attempted, but this time, Waller was stopped in his tracks by Andrade, who picked up the victory by pinning the co-tag team champ.

Extras, Tidbits & In-Ring Action

Oh yeah, LA Knight and Logan Paul are in a program, sort of, and Knight continued to make a feud work when only one person shows up to work. Escobar came out for some reason, and Knight made quick work of him. Then, just as you thought this would result in another lame segment, Paul made a surprising entrance and attacked Knight. It is really cool to see Paul show up without needing a huge spot or a spotlight-stealing segment planned.

Next week on SD, Paul, Knight, and Escobar will compete in a triple threat match MITB qualifier, and while that could be the best match of the night, how do you explain the qualifiers working out so coincidently (this matters, too)?