WWE SmackDown Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights From Aug. 21

We might be getting another edition of Saturday Night's Main Event in a couple of weeks, but all eyes were on SmackDown this week due to the big main event.

After making his surprise return at SummerSlam, Kevin Owens earned a shot at the WWE Championship held by CM Punk, and he chose Toronto to host the match.

After several months of video packages and backstage segments, Blake Monroe's in-ring debut on the main roster was hyped for this week, too.

We also saw Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes continue their story as they prepare to do battle at SNME on Sept. 6.

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

Sami Zayn was shown yelling at Nick Aldis backstage about how it should be him with the WWE title in the main event. He blamed Aldis for allowing Owens and Gunther into his No. 1 Contender's match.

Randy Orton walked by, and then Cody Rhodes appeared in the ring with a mic and called him out for a fight. Aldis left to go talk Cody down, but The Viper followed.

Aldis said he is sick of these two putting officials in danger, so if either of them attacks the other before their SNME match, they will never get another shot at the WWE title. Orton said he will be Mr. Professional, but he also ripped into Rhodes for being too cowardly to finish him when he had the chance.

With these two having already gotten physical in this feud, this segment was a good way to keep the story going without needing to rely on another fight. Aldis adding the stipulation that they can't touch each other made perfect sense, especially with these two.

This segment didn't overstay its welcome and did a good job building tension for their eventual match in two weeks. They didn't add anything to their story, but they used what was already there well.

Calling Rhodes "The American Daydream" was pretty clever.

It was nice to see Aldis being more assertive and people actually listening to him for once.

Rhodes used one of Paul Heyman's lines during the exchange.

Last time in action: MFTs defeated Damian Priest and R-Truth (SD, August 14)

Damian Priest and R-Truth were given a rematch against Tama and Talla Tonga for the tag titles in the opening match. The War Raiders were shown watching from backstage.

The MFTs got an early advantage by attacking right after the bell, but it didn't take The Archer of Infamy long to gain the upper hand.

This was a pretty physical encounter with some good moments. They didn't burn the house down, but they made the match feel hard-fought. All four men put forth a good effort and had the crowd chanting and cheering.

No longer having to be muscle for Solo Sikoa has given Tama and Talla a little freedom, but adding Haku is the icing on the cake. Anyone familiar with him knows he is considered one of the most legit tough guys to ever work in WWE, so his presence adds something to the presentation.

Truth came close to winning to regain the titles, but Talla and Tama were able to overcome it and pick up the win to retain their belts.

Result: The MFTs defeated Truth and Priest

Having Haku back on television is great. He adds some legitimacy to the Tongans.

Truth is keeping the jorts alive now that John Cena has retired.

Truth is 54 and still doing slingshot crossbodies out of the ring. He seems to age slower than most humans.

Last time in action: Blake Monroe lost to Tatum Paxley (NXT, April 21), Giulia lost to Michin (Main Event, August 14)

The long-awaited SmackDown in-ring debut for Blake Monroe finally took place this week when she faced her former STARDOM contemporary, Giulia. Or at least that was what we thought was going to happen.

As The Beautiful Madness was making her entrance, Monroe attacked her from behind. The ref couldn't get her to stop the attack so he could ring the bell, and he eventually told her to just leave.

So after four months of waiting, Monroe's first SmackDown match still didn't happen. At this point, it feels like WWE management is messing with her because this is the most haphazard way to introduce someone we have seen in years.

We can't justify this in any way. There is no upside to how Monroe is being booked whatsoever. She clearly wants to wrestle, and she is good at it, but most of the WWE Universe probably has no idea about that because we never get to see it.

Orton told Punk backstage that he is coming for his 15th championship.

Trick Williams and Lil Yachty came to the ring after the break for a promo segment. He said it was good to have Yachty back by his side, but he is still missing his U.S. title.

He called out Baron Corbin for a title shot, and The Nomad wasted no time coming out to issue a response on a fancy red motorcycle. Trick dared him to put the title on the line, but Corbin didn't seem to be in a hurry to face him.

After he refused to defend the belt, Yachty nailed him from behind with the kendo stick he carries everywhere. Once he was outside the ring, Corbin said he would give Williams one more shot at Sunday Night's Main Event, but only if he gets a five-minute match against Yachty next week.

This segment wasn't exactly exciting, but the prospect of getting a match with Yachty and Corbin is kind of interesting. It won't be a good match, but it might be funny.

The way the announcer introduced Lil Yachty was funny.

Calling someone who shaves their head "Cue ball" might be one of the least original insults Williams has ever dished out. He's better than that.

Last time in action: Lash Legend lost the Ladder match (SummerSlam) , Stratton lost to Jacy Jayne (SD, August 14)

Tiffany Stratton was dealing with injured ribs, but she still came out to take on Lash Legend for their scheduled match. Earlier in the show, she had a confrontation with Fatal Influence backstage.

As soon as the match started, Legend was all over Stratton's ribs. She knew about the injury because she helped cause it last week, and she focused all of her offense on making the injury worse.

The former U.S. champion started to make a comeback after the commercial break as she hit a series of her signature moves, but it wasn't enough. Once Legend regained her footing, she was able to score the win.

She and Nia Jax continued to attack her after the bell, but Green ran down with a kendo stick to help her friend. There was some decent physicality in this bout, but it only scratched the surface of what these two can do together.

It looks like Paige might be aligning with Tiffy and Chelsea Green after their backstage segment.

Legend barely managed to catch Stratton during the suicide dive, and the fact that she didn't drop her was a sign of her strength. That is a tough spot, and Tiffy fell a little earlier than she expected, but Lash kept her up.

The fact that Green was able to run in those high heel boots was impressive.

CM Punk vs. Kevin Owens (WWE Championship)

Last time in action: Punk defeated Cody Rhodes (SummerSlam), Kevin Owens won the Fatal 4-Way (SummerSlam)

This week's main event saw Kevin Owens challenge CM Punk for the WWE Championship in his home country of Canada. He looked hyped as he made his way to the ring, and he even let out a battle cry.

The ref and ring announcer had to get between them because Punk and Owens were so eager to start the fight. The bell rang with more than 20 minutes left in the show, so we knew they would get some good time to work.

The Prize Fighter looked like he was getting 20 years of frustration out of his system as he took it to the champion in the opening minutes.

It doesn't feel like an exaggeration to say this was the most anticipated match on SmackDown in quite some time, and both guys clearly came into this looking to make it memorable. They made their animosity believable, and both men brought a lot of energy into the ring.

This was a strong performance from two guys who have never had a singles match together in any promotion. They may not like each other, but their styles complemented each other perfectly.

KO would have won with a Stunner if the ref hadn't been knocked out of the ring a moment earlier. Sami Zayn showed up and tried to help Owens by attacking Punk and putting the ref back in the ring, but it wasn't enough.

When Owens refused to use the belt as a weapon, Zayn used it on him, which allowed Punk to hit the GTS for the win. This immediately set up a feud between Zayn and Owens, which we all knew was coming eventually.

A dirty finish is never the ideal outcome, but the way this was done protected KO and helped drive the story forward, so it was one time when it was the right call.

Owens might be a natural heel, but it's so hard to dislike the guy. He's so good at what he does that he makes you want to cheer for him no matter what.

Wade Barrett being happy about Punk helping to put the table back together was funny.

The table spot looked great. Owens landed perfectly square so that the table basically exploded beneath them.

Using a Sharpshooter in Canada is the easiest way to get a pop.

Friday's SmackDown had peaks and valleys, so depending on what you personally like, this might have been a really good or really bad episode.

Most of the action was solid, and it felt like everyone who performed put in a good effort, but the show definitely fell short in a few spots.

Not having Monroe actually have her debut match was extremely disappointing after four months of backstage attacks and video packages.

However, the main event was definitely the biggest highlight. Punk and Owens did a great job, and the story being set up with them and Zayn has put some energy into the title picture.