WWE SmackDown results, highlights (August 8): John Cena vs. Logan Paul set for Clash in Paris PLE

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In the wake of SummerSlam weekend, Friday's episode of SmackDown headed north to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and promised visits from both John Cena and Cody Rhodes. After the "Raw after SummerSlam" delivered the goods, it was up to the blue brand to keep momentum going. 

Welcome back John Cena!

However you may feel about the John Cena heel turn, it's hard to argue that the next four-plus months of Cena's retirement tour aren't better off because of the past four.

In Cena's promo he said that the audience at home could feel the energy of the Montreal crowd through our screens, and he was absolutely correct. Just like the 60,000 strong at MetLife Stadium on Sunday night, the Montreal crowd erupted when Cena's music opened the show. 

Here's the reality about the Cena turn. The initial shock was immense, but with it somehow came even larger expectations. For a generations of fans who lived through Hulk Hogan joining the nWo and Seth Rollins betraying The Shield, the belief was that Cena could come close to or exceed those as a bad guy. 

While that didn't happen — partially due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, as Paul Heyman alluded to during his visit on The Ariel Helwani Show — we did get a record-breaking 17th championship, fresh feuds with Randy Orton and CM Punk, arguably the best match of his career against Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam and now we get this final run, 11 more dates where we can appreciate Cena one more time.

Cena's show-opening promo turned into a tease of his looming program with Brock Lesnar and then he issued his usual open challenge to the locker room, which Logan Paul answered. Paul challenged Cena to a match at Clash in Paris at the end of the month and, before he gave his answer, Cena was attacked by Drew McIntyre. Rhodes made the save, and the main event for the night was set.

Ultimately, the main event served as a way to set up Rhodes' next challenger for the Undisputed WWE Championship, as after Paul delivered a low blow to Cena and the two fought to the back, McIntyre eviscerated Rhodes, culminating with a Claymore Kick through the announce table in a very unique spot. McIntyre vs. Rhodes will almost certainly happen at Clash in Paris.

🎉 🥳 Birthdays, buddies and beatdowns

Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss remain arguably the best thing in WWE right now. The Flair-Bliss birthday segment wasn't quite "This is Your Life" or "The Festival of Friendship," but it drew great pop and continued the momentum these two have been building since being paired together. 

Chelsea Green — wildly underrated — interrupted, insulted the Montreal Canadiens (she's a British Columbia native) and found herself in a singles match against Flair. These two had a good TV match that culminated in the...

🎂 Uncrowned Cake of the Night 🎂

As the match reached its closing stages, Green called for her Secret Her-Vice to put a sheet cake into the ring. Green lined up to deliver an Un-Pretty-Her to Flair onto the cake that was reversed and led to a Figure Eight leg lock and submission. The subtlety in Green filling her hands with cake and spreading it on her face, enough for Flair to get a taste in the submission hold, showed the brilliance and little things that help make good moments great.

New Bloodline in the hunt for the tag titles

The Motor City Machine Guns lost a tag match against JC Mateo and Talla Tonga. The match itself was solid — is there ever anything lower when MCMG is involved — and it injected a much-needed new threat into the tag-team division on SmackDown. An unreal TLC match at SummerSlam resulted in the Wyatt Sicks retaining, essentially making them untouchable as champions when it comes to the other teams involved in said match.

Solo Sikoa's MFT faction is one of the few that can match up from a numbers perspective with the Wyatt Sicks, so this feels like a good direction to go in, even if it has Tonga and Mateo jumping the line.

In the aftermath, Solo Sikoa cut a promo and earned himself a match with hometown hero Sami Zayn. Zayn picked up a big win, utilizing his knowledge of Sikoa and his faction's tactics to please the Montreal crowd. Zayn's usually on "Raw" and faces Rusev Monday night, so the result here shouldn't throw a wrench into the United States Championship picture.

🤔 Friday findings 🤔

1. The Wyatt Sicks cut a promo that was the usual levels of cryptic and creepy, but Nikki Cross had a line that stood out, saying their actions weren't for "fame" or "glory." With Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis standing there with the tag titles on their shoulders, it sends a different message. I'm not a fan of keeping championships off TV, but it would have made sense here.

2. Sticking with the tag division, it looks like "Miz is Money" is making a return. I love this for both Carmelo Hayes and The Miz, but it also illustrates the issue with having the Wyatt Sicks on top as a dominant, supernatural faction. The same problem presents with DIY and Street Profits, who will face one another next week. 

3. Aleister Black delivered one of his best promos since coming back to WWE on Friday. He should make a move up the card fast on SmackDown.

4. The R-Truth heel turn is officially over, thankfully.

👑 The path to WWE's next PLE is a lot clearer, at least at the top of the card. I'm still having a tough time with the Wyatt Sicks, but this was a good show. I give this show a Crown score of: 8/10. 👑