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It was a rough night for WWE fans tuning in to SmackDown Live from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Somehow, the two-hour show felt longer than the previous night's three hours of Raw across a mostly uneventful show. Fortunately, missteps have been rare lately for WWE TV and there's plenty of time to continue the build toward Clash of Champions on Sunday, Sept. 15.

Let's have a look now at everything that went down on this week's edition of SmackDown, starting with Randy Orton and New Day anchoring the strongest segments of the show.

A bad night for New Day

Kofi Kingston was fired up after getting one over on Randy Orton last week on SmackDown. And with their rematch officially set for Clash of Champions, Kingston said he was ready to continue his search to prove he belongs at the top of the card.

"When you mess with my family, I do not play around," Kingston said. "So now, the match is set, we're going to run it back. Clash of Champions, Randy Orton versus Kofi Kingston for the WWE title. I get to prove to him he was wrong about me all those years ago when he said I wasn't ready. I was ready then, and more importantly, I am ready now."

Orton eventually appeared on the Tron to cut off Kingston, repeatedly calling him "stupid" before showing a letter he claimed was slid under his hotel room door. "Dear Mr. Orton, Stop hurting Kofi Kingston," Orton read from the letter. "Kofi is not stupid. Kofi is a good man, but you are a mean man, Mr. Orton. So mean that you make my hero Kofi Kingston cry at night. Do you want to know how I know this? Because Kofi Kingston is not just my hero, Kofi Kingston is my daddy."

Orton then said he realized he is staying in the same hotel as Kingston's family and would be paying the boy a visit, leading Kingston to run backstage to engage in a pull-apart brawl with "The Viper." Orton ended the brawl by hitting a hanging DDT from a table to the floor, leaving the room again repeatedly calling Kinston "stupid" as officials called for trainers to attend to the WWE champ.

Randy Orton def. Big E via pinfall after an RKO. Big E was lined up for the Orton match and seemed poised to take the victory before The Revival got involved. After foiling their efforts initially, Big E was struck by The Revival and fell victim to the RKO. Orton landed another RKO after the bell, this time assisted by his new running buddies.

The best Randy Orton is an evil Randy Orton. As Orton has realized Kofi's family is his weakness -- as well as his strength -- he has engaged in some classic mind games. WWE seems dead set on this being the WWE title feud for the foreseeable future and seems like a lock for an eventually Hell in a Cell match, so building the hatred between the men is necessary. And it's being done well. The match between Orton and Big E was solid enough and continued the story of Orton and The Revival being too underhanded for New Day to handle. Grade: B

Roman Reigns finally has his proof

As Reigns entered the building, he was asked about Daniel Bryan's demand for an apology after "proving" Erick Rowan was not involved in the pre-SummerSlam attacks on "The Big Dog." Reigns refused to talk, saying he felt it'd be better to talk in the ring. Later, Bryan said he and Rowan would not leave the arena until they heard Reigns say he was sorry.

At the end of the show, as Bryan was still demanding an apology, Reigns showed a video where Rowan could be seen tipping over the backstage equipment and walking away. Bryan snapped, slapping Rowan repeatedly while yelling that he "hates liars." Bryan took a microphone to the ring insisting he'd been lied to and insisting someone else must have put Rowan up to it. As he stepped into the ring, Reigns drilled him with a spear and walked off.

For the second straight week, there was little time left in the show when they got around to this story. The whole situation felt rushed and having Reigns mysteriously produce an extended shot from a camera angle we've seen repeatedly feels like a letdown. This whole storyline feels directionless at this point, like they're swinging wildly and hoping for a home run moment to really kick things off. But this just felt like unintentional comedy and not in any sort of positive way. Grade: D

What else happened on SmackDown?

  • King of the Ring, Round 1 -- Ali def. Buddy Murphy via pinfall after a 450 Splash. No interference or involvement from Bryan, Rowan or anyone else, just a clean loss for Murphy a week after going over Bryan clean. The result was surprising if not confusing given the recent spotlight-stealing performances from Murphy.
  • The Miz called out Sami Zayn after Zayn and Shinsuke Nakamura attacked him after forming a new alliance last week. Miz attempted to get his hands on Zayn as the Canuck was taunting him. This led to Nakamura attacking from behind and eventually laying Miz out with a Kinshasa for the second week in a row.
  • Bayley def. Lacey Evans via pinfall following an elbow drop. Ember Moon confronted Bayley backstage, saying she wants a shot at the champ again but has her back in the feud with Charlotte Flair. The two were interrupted by Lacey Evans, who claimed to be the "face" of the SmackDown women's division before saying she would beat the champ when they faced off later. During the match between Bayley and Evans, Charlotte Flair made her way out but did not get involved as Bayley eventually worked her way to victory.
  • 24/7 Championship -- Drake Maverick def. Elias (c) to win the title. Kevin Owens attacked Elias after learning Shane McMahon was not in the building. After laying out Elias with a Stunner, Owens left the ring. R-Truth tried to sneak in and pin Elias to win the 24/7 belt but was interrupted by Maverick who scored the pin to become champ.
  • King of the Ring, Round 1 -- Chad Gable def. Shelton Benjamin via pinfall following a roll-up. Decent action in a short match and Gable's King of the Ring underdog story marches to the quarterfinals.