Overview
- Last week in Mexico City Sami Zayn regained the Undisputed WWE Championship in a finish that involved interference from Kevin Owens, Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae.
- Zayn appeared on SmackDown in Corpus Christi on Sept. 18 to celebrate his win and to face immediate questions about rematches and promised title shots.
- On the same SmackDown episode GM Nick Aldis used his booking power to set up immediate title matches, including a booked Zayn vs. Owens confrontation that raised the chance of another quick title change.
- WWE is running Money in the Bank qualifying matches across Raw and SmackDown with a women’s qualifier listed for Sept. 18 as Tatum Paxley vs. Jade Cargill vs. Jacy Jayne.
- The combination of a tainted title change, many named contenders — including CM Punk, Randy Orton, GUNTHER, Finn Balor and Cody Rhodes — and the Oct. 10 MITB deadline has created a compressed, volatile championship picture that will shape weekly booking and rematch decisions.