WWE SmackDown Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights Before Crown Jewel 2026

We're less than 24 hours from Crown Jewel, but WWE had one last stop to make for this week's SmackDown.

CM Punk and Kevin Owens met in a No Disqualification match this week, which was heightened by KO costing Punk the NXT title on Tuesday when he challenged Grayson Waller.

We also saw the women's tag titles on the line when B-Fab and Michin defended the belts against Lainey Reid and Fallon Henley.

Let's take a look at everything that happened on the final SmackDown before Crown Jewel.

Will You Ride or Die with the Last Real Good Guy

Sami Zayn showed up to talk about his upcoming match against Roman Reigns, but Jimmy Uso came out to confront him.

They drew from their history and referenced several moments to tell the story they were trying to tell, and it worked. This felt like a personal argument more than a wrestling promo.

Big Jim said Zayn used 946 attacking The Bloodline on Monday to his advantage, which means he is no longer family.

Moments later, 946 showed up and attacked Jimmy as Zayn watched from the apron without helping. He did not look happy to see Jim in that situation, but he did nothing to help.

This was a good segment. Using their real history helped make it feel deeper, and the image of Zayn walking away as Jimmy was assaulted was unexpected.

Last time in action: MFTs defeated Bakusai (SD, October 22)

Shinsuke Nakamura and Tama Tonga finally met for a singles match this week, and they wasted no time upping the intensity.

They skipped the lockup and grappling and went right to throwing punches and kicks. Neither man wanted to relent, even when the ref tried to separate them.

Talla Tonga interfered behind the ref's back with a big boot to Nakamura's face as the show cut to a break.

They had about 10 minutes to work, so while they weren't able to make this a marathon, they did manage to make it into an entertaining sprint. It was a pretty simple match overall, but it pushed their feud forward.

Even though Tama had Talla and Haku at ringside for help, he was unable to overcome the former NXT champion. Nakamura pulled off the victory, which might lead to a tag title rematch down the line.

Having Haku around again is fun, but WWE needs to find interesting ways to use him. He's an interesting guy who can add a lot.

It was nice to see Tama have a chance to return to his old style of intense offense after spending so long in tag matches having to hold back.

The way Tama rolls someone into a suplex looks cool.

An angry Gunther came to the ring to talk about what happened last Friday with Danhausen and Finn Bálor, who returned as The Demon.

He said every word he has ever said about Bálor is true, and that his career is hanging on by a thread. Gunther said Balor should just end his career tonight to get it over with.

The Ring General looked into the camera and addressed Finn directly. He said he used to respect Balor, and he wants him to come face him like a man without the makeup and theatrics. It took Bálor almost no time to show up.

After talking for a minute, Finn tried to attack Gunther. The Ring General almost took another Coup de Grace, but he thwarted it. Bálor avoided the powerbomb and climbed back up, but Gunther rolled out of the ring to avoid his finisher.

This was all very cut and dry. It was a simple and easy segment to continue the feud that started last week. Nothing special happened, but it's early in the story. They have plenty of time to ramp things up.

Having Punk continuously body-shame Owens in promos and interviews makes it hard to see him as a good guy in all of this.

Casual Gunther is less intimidating. He needs to get back to the suits and track suits.

Jacy Jayne getting Byron Saxton's name wrong is such a classic heel way to be a jerk, but she made it feel natural in her backstage segment.

Last time in action: Fatal Influence lost to Alexa Bliss and Tatum Paxley (SD, October 9), B-Fab and Michin defeated Bliss and Paxley (SD, October 23)

The women's tag titles were on the line this week when B-Fab and Michin defended the belts against former champions Henley and Reid.

This match only lasted about three and a half minutes. They tried to pack as much in as they could, but with so little time, it wasn't easy.

The length made it feel like a match from the Divas era, which is not a compliment. Henley and Michin definitely stood out as looking the best with their offense, but they barely had enough time to make an impact.

Paxley and Bliss attacked Jayne and Cargill from the crowd before going into the ring and causing the match to end prematurely. Bayley and Charlotte Flair also came out to join the fight.

Having so many people fighting at the end was kind of fun, but the actual match that was scheduled was a letdown.

Jayne and Jade Cargill not having more of a feud over the U.S. title feels like a missed opportunity to have two feuds in one with these groups.