Overview

• Drew McIntyre opened the Aug. 15 live SmackDown to explain why he Claymore’d Cody Rhodes through the announce table and justify the brutal assault on the Undisputed Champion.
• General Manager Nick Aldis reshaped Friday’s card by placing Sami Zayn in a trios main event alongside Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu against members of the MFT faction.
• The Street Profits defeated DIY and Alexa Bliss pinned Piper Niven in tag and singles matches that furthered ongoing faction rivalries.
• McIntyre’s on-air promo and Aldis’s booking decisions highlighted WWE’s use of television storytelling to escalate stakes for the Aug. 31 Clash in Paris pay-per-view.
• Cody Rhodes was advertised to appear later in the show, keeping his condition and reaction to McIntyre’s actions as a focal point of the build to Paris.