Bengaluru, August 29: The final episode of Friday Night SmackDown before WWE Payback 2020 went down last night bringing all the last-minute hypes together including a contract signing session which was the main attraction of the night as the Universal Title match participants signed on the dotted line.

Also on the show, Big E appeared as the guest on Miz TV, while the former Intercontinental champion and the company's chairman also appeared on the show that aired from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.

Here are the results from SmackDown before Payback:

SmackDown was kicked off by Vince McMahon who offered the Payback title match contract to WWE Producer Adam Pearce so that he could get it signed by Strowman, Reigns and The Fiend before the night is over.

Jeff Hardy arrived at ThunderDome to address the audience but he could barely say something as AJ Styles interrupted his promo. AJ was livid as Hardy used his knee brace to cheat his way to the IC Title victory last week. Hardy had to take AJ down with a right hand to stop his rant and then issued an open challenge.



Shinsuke Nakamura accepted it and competed in the IC Title match in the SmackDown opening contest while AJ sat at ringside in the announce table. Hardy blocked a sleeper hold and executed the Twist of Fate followed by the Swanton Bomb off the top rope to retain his title. Sami Zayn made his return after the match to claim that he never lost the IC Title and then delivered a Helluva Kick to Hardy.





Matt Riddle called out King Corbin on SmackDown on several occasions, but the latter never showed up. However, he sent Shorty G to deliver a cheap shot. These two eventually competed in a match which Riddle won via the Bro Derek on G. Corbin then appeared in a backstage interview to inform that he will face Riddle at Payback in the weekend.





WWE Women's Tag Team Champions - Sasha Banks and SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley appeared on the show to point out how their bond has grown strong even after Banks lost the Raw Women's Title at SummerSlam. Their promo was interrupted by Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler as the duo claimed to take away the belts from them at Payback.



Bray Wyatt signed his Payback contract during a Firefly Funhouse segment whereas Braun Strowman wanted Drew Gulak in a fight on the show before he signed the deal. Pearce arranged the match in which Strowman hit a Chokeslam followed by a Running Powerslam to pick up a easy win. Strowman then put his signature on the paper before he left the scene.





Kalisto competed in a match against Cesaro on SmackDown to take control with a DDT and then went for the Salida Del Sol. Nakamura distracted him from the ring apron when the other Lucha House Party members ran down to bring chaos to the ringside area. Cesaro took advantage and pinned Kalisto for the win.



Alexa Bliss appeared in SmackDown for the first time after The Fiend’s attack to show some signs of a potential heel turn as she snapped against tag team partner Nikki Cross and then broke her favorite coffee mug.



Heavy Machinery and Big E competed against The Miz, John Morrison and Sheamus in a six-man tag team match instead of E appearing on Miz TV. Miz received a Uranage from E who in turn digested a kick from Morrison. Otis slammed Morrison and hit him with the Caterpillar. Miz dropped him with the Skull Crushing Finale before E caught him with the Big Ending to win the match.



Adam Pearce approached Roman Reigns, backstage for the contract signing, but the Big Dog refused to do so and wanted to make some changes. Paul Heyman was shown sitting by his side and has now been hired as the manager for Reigns. The shocking scene sent SmackDown off the air.