Clash in Paris is two days away, but today, the WWE Superstars are in Lyon, France – the site of last year’s Backlash – for tonight’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown.
As was already announced by general manager Nick Aldis earlier, Piper Niven was unavailable and could not make it to the LDLC Arena for the show. However, the Women’s Tag Team Championship match was still on with Chelsea Green filling in for her to team with Alba Fyre against Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss.
When the champions made their entrance, however, Green and Fyre made sure to attack, with the two teams brawling with one another. Fyre and Green targeted Flair’s leg as the show cut to commercials; by the time the show returned, Flair was carried off by officials, and the decision had been made to change the match into a singles match between Bliss and Green.
The bell rang and Bliss immediately pounded on Green to start, with Fyre trying to distract her early on. This led to Bliss diverting her focus and leaving the ring to follow Fyre and attack her, eventually getting back in the ring, where she continued to play aggressively with Green by kicking her down, but the Canadian would take control soon after with a big boot to Bliss, who then took out Fyre at ringside with a cannonball. Green would then strike Bliss with a focus on her face, slamming her face-first into the mat and throwing punches at her, continuing the assault by hitting a missile dropkick and slamming her into the announce table. Bliss would then start gaining momentum with a series of punches and clotheslines followed by a dropkick that failed to put Green away, with Fyre looking on nervously.
The match would end when Bliss cornered Green, who was caught upside-down on the turnbuckles, hitting a dropkick to her stomach. Once Bliss got on the top turnbuckle to perform Twisted Bliss, Fyre tried her best to stop her, but the redheaded Slaygent was fought off, with a laid-out Green using her knees to stop Twisted Bliss and reverse it into an Unprettier, but Bliss caught her in position and shifted her finisher to Sister Abigail; as Green maneuvered her way out of the move, Bliss rolled her up for the win.
With Bliss winning, Green and Fyre attacked her afterwards, but Charlotte, who was still limping a bit, came to her rescue, but Green hit the Unprettier on Bliss and Fyre hit the Gory facebuster on Flair. While The Green Regime may have been down one member this week, perhaps the numbers advantage isn’t necessary for them to become the next Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Michin finally got her chance to prove herself worthy of a Women’s United States Championship title shot against Giulia by facing her legal representative, Kiana James. The match ended quickly with Michin rolling up James for the count of 3, but James and Giulia beat her down afterwards, with The Beautiful Madness throwing Michin into the barricade and kicking her face-first into the steel steps.
The WWE Women’s Champion, Tiffany Stratton was seen admiring herself in a mirror backstage when the reflection of Jade Cargill appeared behind her, having walked in. The Storm says that she spoke to Nick Aldis and she is the number 1 contender to the Women’s Championship as Cargill got the win for their team in last week’s main event against Becky Lynch and Nia Jax. The Buff Barbie tells Cargill “you’re welcome”, because if it wasn’t for letting Cargill win last week, she wouldn’t be in this position. Cargill says to “cut it” and that Stratton is walking around like she’s some huge threat as she says she’ll “snap her into two”.
Stratton bites back and tells Cargill that she can keep talking about the finish of their SummerSlam match because they both know Stratton still would have won and last time she heard, she’s the one who’s been undefeated in 2025. Cargill thinks Stratton calling herself undefeated is cute, and she could teach her a thing or two about that. When she beats Stratton, that undefeated streak dies, and the fantasy that her and Stratton are on the same level will too. The segment ends with Stratton having a mad look on her face as she holds onto her championship.
Clash in Paris airs Sunday, August 31st at 8 p.m. locally in France. Below is a schedule for the show and its related events for viewers in the United States:
- Countdown: 12 p.m. Eastern Time / 9 a.m. Pacific Time on Peacock and WWE’s social media accounts
- Clash in Paris: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT on Peacock
- Post-Show: immediately following the main event
- Recap: will be available Sunday night.
Clash in Paris will also feature the following match:
- Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Nikki Bella
As always, make sure to share your thoughts on this week’s episode of SmackDown in the comments below.
