Welcome to Wrestling Inc.’s live coverage of “WWE SmackDown” on September 18, 2026, coming to you live from the Hilliard Center Arena in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Two more men’s and women’s Money In The Bank 2026 entrants will be decided tonight as Randy Orton takes on AAA Cruiserweight Champion Ray Phoenix and United States Champion Trick Williams, while Jade Cargill takes on Alexa Bliss and United States Women’s Champion Jacey Tripler. Jevon Evans and Lola Weiss were victorious in the Triple Threat Qualifiers on Monday’s final episode of WWE Raw, joining World Tag Team Champion Bron Breaker and Sol Ruca as the final entrants in the 2026 Men’s and Women’s Money In The Bank matches, respectively.
WWE Tag Team Champions Tama Tonga and MFT’s Talla Tonga will be in action as they face Bakusai’s Shinsuke Nakamura and Kyoki in a non-title match. Most recently, MFT successfully retained his WWE Tag Team Championship against Damian Priest and R-Truth on the August 21 episode of WWE SmackDown, while Bakusai defeated The Miz and Kit Wilson in their first WWE Tag Team match on the September 4 edition of the show.
Also, Sami Zayn will return to tonight’s show after dethroning CM Punk as the WWE Undisputed Champion in the main event of last Friday’s episode of SmackDown, despite Kevin Owens thwarting Johnny Gargano and Candice Lera’s attempt to interfere in the match. Cody Rhodes will also sit down for an interview for the first time since he faced off against the aforementioned Orton at WWE Sunday’s Night’s Main Event on September 6th.
We’re Live The show kicks off with a clip from last Friday’s Undisputed WWE Championship match.
Michael Cole and Corey Graves then welcome the audience home.
We hear from Sami Zayn
Nick Aldis is standing in the ring and he says that sometimes in his job he just has to smile. He introduces Zayn and he walks out. He tells Aldis that he knows how much he hurt Aldis when he brought him up on what he did, but says he feels good calling himself the Undisputed WWE Championship. He says he’s a little surprised by the negative reaction from fans because when he said Sami’s justice was never about him, he meant it. He says that means justice for everyone, including the fans who boo him, then says that justice isn’t the only tenant of his belief system. He says he believes a lot in equality and tells Aldis that he expects the people who knock on Aldis’ door to treat everyone as equal.
Johnny Gargano’s music hits and he comes out with Candice Lera. Zayn thanks Gargano and Lera for joining him in the ring, but Gargano says there’s another reason he’s here. He reminds Zayn of the deal they made last week, where Zayn promised to give Gargano a shot at the Undisputed WWE Championship if he helped Zayn, but Zayn tries to dispute Gargano’s claims, saying he promised to take care of Gargano. Gargano responds by saying he’s first in line and challenges Zayn to a WWE Undisputed Championship match, but Aldis reveals that he thinks CM Punk is next in line for an Undisputed WWE Championship shot.
Kevin Owens’ music hits and he’s out. Owens takes Gargano out with the Stunner, but Aldis tells Owens that he doesn’t reward bad behavior. Owens says that Zayn has messed up a lot of SmackDown main events over the past few weeks, but Zayn tries to stop Owens from getting an Undisputed WWE Championship match and asks Aldis if he thinks he’s going to do what he did to try to have Punk challenge him for the title in his first reign. Aldis warns Zayn not to put his hands on him and says no one makes the matches but him, then says Zayn just made his decision for him and makes the Undisputed WWE Championship match between Zayn and Owens official tonight.
Zayn brawls with Aldis on the entrance ramp, but Randy Orton’s music hits and he’s out as he flashes the Undisputed WWE Championship belt past Zayn. Ray Phoenix and Trick Williams follow.
Trick Williams (w/ Lil Yachty) vs. Ray Phoenix vs. Randy Orton in the 2026 Men’s Money in the Bank Triple Threat Qualifying Match
The bell rings and Orton picks up Phoenix. He tags in Williams, but Phoenix kicks Williams and hits a dropkick on Orton. Williams sends Fenix into the mat chest first and flattens him with a shirt then clotheslines Fenix out of the ring. Orton sends Fenix crashing into the spine of the announce desk and does the same to Williams and Yachty as Yachty gets in his face.
During the commercial break, Williams sends Phoenix crashing head first into the mat’s spine during the commercial break. Orton blindsides Williams from behind and sends him crashing face first into the top turnbuckle, but Williams charges at Orton in the corner. Orton equalizes Williams with a back elbow, but Fenix pulls both Orton and Williams off the ropes. He delivers the Frog Splash to Orton from the middle rope after a break and goes for the pin, but Orton kicks out. Orton hits Phoenix and Williams before Phoenix hits a posionrana on Williams and levels him with a superkick.
Fenix looks to fly off the ropes but Orton catches him with an RKO. Williams levels Orton with a Trick Shot knee and pins him for the win.
Winner: Trick Williams
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