Chelsea Green Holds On To Her Championship For Now (August 14, 2026)

This article contains spoilers and results from WWE Friday Night SmackDown for August 14, 2026. You have been warned!Chelsea Green suffered a major injury last week, and we find out the status of her WWE Women’s Championship reign on tonight’s Friday Night SmackDown. Green will either have to vacate the championship or find a way to hold onto it until she loses it.

Cody Rhodes wants Randy Orton, but Sami Zayn protests more perceived slights towards him. Baron Corbin defends his United States Championship against Carmelo Hayes, and WWE Undisputed Champion CM Punk comes face to face again with Kevin Owens before their match next week in Toronto.

Here Are Your Results From WWE Friday Night SmackDown For August 14, 2026

• Gunther def. Matt Cardona via submission
• Baron Corbin def. Carmelo Hayes via pinfall to retain the United States Championship
• MFT def. R-Truth & Damian Priest and The War Raiders via pinfall to win the Tag Team Championships
• Jacy Jayne def. Tiffany Stratton via pinfall to win the Women’s United States Championship

Here Are Your Key Moments From WWE Friday Night SmackDown For August 14, 2026

• Nick Aldis comes to the ring to address the status of Chelsea Green and her broken orbital bone. Green comes to the ring and after some back and forth, Aldis tells her he’s stripping her of the Women’s Championship. She tells him that this is typical of what happens to her: always comic relief, never QB1. She says that, no matter what, that title belongs to her until someone takes it. Aldis stops her and tells her that while GM Aldis thinks this is the right thing to do, Aldis the person does not, and he gives her 30 days to get it sorted out. Gunther then comes to the ring and tells Green to go away so he can settle business with Aldis, who he says gave his moment away to Kevin Owens at SummerSlam. Aldis then tells Gunther that he put him in Owens’ match, and Green laughs at him. Gunther tells Green to shut up, to which she tells him that she’s the only champion in the ring. Gunther continues to berate Green until Matt Cardona comes to the ring and gets in between them. As Green and Cardona leave the ring, Gunther says that, of course he leaves with her, just like a dog follows its master. Cardona attacks Gunther and a match is set between them.
• Following Cardona’s match, Nia Jax and Lash Legend come to the ring and tell Green that Jax wants her title shot. She has a ticking clock and if she doesn’t give her what she wants, Jax tells her she has a history of breaking faces and she’ll do it again. Tiffany Stratton comes to the ring to break it up and ends up beaten down in the process.
• Cody Rhodes demands to get Randy Orton, and Nick Aldis tells him they can sort it out at Sunday Night’s Main Event. As Rhodes and Aldis discuss, Sami Zayn appears and tells him that he’s not surprised Rhodes gets whatever he wants when he wants it, and that no matter how hard he tries, he can’t get another championship opportunity. Rhodes tells Zayn that, although they had a previous friendship, it doesn’t mean that he can continue to complain and that he wants him, he can catch hands. Zayn reminds Rhodes that he is the only one who’s pinned him clean in the ring, and he’ll do it again. Rhodes sets the match for them tonight, and though Zayn complains that he can’t wrestle due to his hand, Aldis tells him that if he beats Rhodes tonight, he’ll be first in line to challenge whoever wins the match between Kevin Owens and CM Punk.
• Kevin Owens comes to the ring and before he can begin speaking, CM Punk arrives. The two sit on opposite ends of the ring from one another. Punk tells him that he doesn’t think he’s a liar, but Owens asks him why he won’t call him names to his face. Punk tells Owens to smarten the fans up about why they don’t like each other. Owens talks about their heat backstage in Ring of Honor. Owens says that of all the ways they could have done things, Punk screamed in his face in front of his peers. Punk says Owens has been holding it onto it for 20 years, but Owens says that’s not the only thing. Punk tells him to be specific about which friends of his hate him, but Owens says it’s not just those three, it’s so many people. Owens tells Punk that everything he does is performative and phony, and that the only reason he came back to WWE was because he screwed things up everywhere else he was. Owens reminds him that while he was gone, he not only won titles, but he main evented WrestleMania was Stone Cold Steve Austin. Punk says he’s happy for him but he says he would’ve gotten those opportunities if he was still there. Owens demands Punk tell him he’s a fat indie slob to his face, but Punk asks him if that’s what he thinks of himself. Punk says there’s a locker room full of people who want the championship, but Owens is there. Punk says he sees a tough guy in Owens, a smarter man than him, but he also sees a guy who avoids the work, and that makes him stupid. Punk says he sees wasted potential in Owens, and calls him a bum. Punk says that if Owens would’ve done half the work he did, he could’ve avoided Goldberg’s Spear and lost the Universal Championship. Owens says he thinks Punk hates himself in the mirror, and being like him wouldn’t have helped Punk avoid Roman Reigns’s Spear. Punk says he sees the same guy Owens was for 20 years, and Owens tells him he regretted not punching him back then. Punk tells him to do it, but Owens says he didn’t do it then because he would’ve ruined his career. Owens says next week, he’ll punch him in the face and beat him for the WWE Undisputed Championship.
• Before Sami Zayn and Cody Rhodes’ match can begin, Randy Orton appears and attacks Rhodes. The two brawl through the crowd as Zayn protests this interference. Rhodes finally gets the upper hand but before he can hit Orton with the steel chair on the stairs, the officials grab the chair and stop him.

Chelsea Green Keeping The WWE Women’s Championship Was The Right Call

There’s been plenty of feel-good moments so far this year in WWE, but few match the excitement and joy that fans felt when Chelsea Green won the WWE Women’s Championship at SummerSlam, and after a devastating injury almost knocked her out of action, we thought we were seeing the unfortunate end of her title run without one proper defense. The choice to allow Chelsea Green to maintain the WWE Women’s Championship for the next 30 days was the right decision, and will hopefully give us a proper run from her.

Much like Sami Zayn’s WWE Undisputed Championship win, Chelsea Green winning the championship felt like an overdue and well deserved win for a performer so beloved who’s done so much to elevate herself and those around her. Letting her keep it allows the build for her first defense to continue, and if Rhea Ripley wasn’t stripped of the championship, Chelsea Green shouldn’t be either.

CM Punk and Kevin Owens Went There, Sort Of, With Great Results

The best storylines in pro wrestling are based in reality, and this particular one is rather infamous and notable. Kevin Owens and CM Punk went there without fully going there in their segment on tonight’s Friday Night SmackDown, and it delivered another incredible segment between the two.

While not dropping the names of Ring of Honor and The Elite, smartened up wrestling fans knew what they were both referring to, and there’s no doubt their match next week will be phenomenal. Reality and business blurred tonight, giving us the best segment of a fantastic Friday night, offering some of the best wrestling programming of the past few weeks.