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The latest edition of Talking Smack on the WWE Network, which has now been discontinued as a weekly show post-Smackdown Live, featured the fallout from Battleground. The show was hosted by Renee Young and WWE Hall of Famer Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler.
Young and Lawler opened the show by expressing their shock following the return of The Great Khali to the WWE. Lawler was in disbelief and said that he did not expect the former World Heavyweight Champion to make an appearance.
Renee exclaimed that she was excited as a fan to see the return of Khali, who helped Jinder Mahal retain his WWE Championship against Randy Orton.
Kevin Owens
The duo was interrupted by the new United States Champion, Kevin Owens, who insinuated that he was responsible for the cancellation of Talking Smack as a weekly Smackdown Live recap show. Renee Young mentioned the referee bump in Owens' match against Styles, whom he defeated to win his third US title.
Kevin Owens defended himself by stating that the referee getting knocked down was just an unintended consequence of him trying to fight off AJ Styles.
Renee asked Owens whether he checked on the official following the bout to make sure if he was alright but Owens pointed to his US title and said that that was the only thing he cared about.
Jerry Lawler chimed in and credited Owens for not tapping out when AJ put him in the calf crusher with the referee still on the mat. Owens called himself 'The Elite' and claimed that he would never tap out to anybody, especially somebody like AJ Styles.
Renee referenced Owens' championship loss to the Phenomenal One at the Madison Square live event and Owens said that WWE couldn't put on a show at MSG without him.
Owens and Renee bickered back and forth regarding Owens' presence and demeanour on the show. He then added that AJ Styles was undeserving of a rematch since he had beaten the former TNA man multiple times and dismissed the rematch clause as ‘irrelevant’.
Owens concluded by congratulating the United States of America for once again having him as their champion.
Natalya
After the hosts waxed lyrical about John Cena’s victory over Rusev in the Flag Match, Natalya joined the show.
Natalya said it felt good to get what she deserved and alluded to her win in the Fatal Five Way elimination match to become the new number one contender for the Smackdown Women’s Championship.
Renee brought up SummerSlam, where Smackdown Live Women’s Champion Naomi will defend her title against Natalya, who called herself ‘ the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be’.
Lawler asked whether the win felt even better for her knowing that it was Charlotte who she pinned last. 'The Queen of Harts' berated Charlotte and said she brought an end to the tea time between her and Becky Lynch, who everyone thought were the favourites heading into the match.
Lawler mentioned that Carmella had picked Natalya to win the Fatal Five-Way match and Natalya called her ‘a snake in the grass’. Natalya reiterated that she is the best and she proved that tonight by beating Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Tamina and Lana.
Natalya also ridiculed Naomi, claiming that the latter was not in her league and concluded by saying that she will steal the show at SummerSlam by winning the Smackdown Live Women’s championship.
Jinder Mahal
Jerry and Renee continued as they praised the Smackdown Live tag team championship bout between The Usos and The New Day before being joined by the WWE champion Jinder Mahal.
Renee congratulated the Modern Day Maharaja on his win in the Punjabi Prison match while Lawler opined that it was a great fight.
The three discussed the match between Mahal and Randy Orton inside the punishing structure and Jinder brought attention to the fact that he has now defeated Orton three times in a row. He also labelled himself as the smartest champion in the WWE, in addition to being the hardest working one.
He further anointed himself as the ‘greatest WWE champion of all time’. Lawler posed a question to Jinder with respect to India’s perception of his victory to which he replied that the entire country was celebrating with fireworks.
Renee said that the Singh Brothers continued to be a nuisance for Randy Orton and then the returning Khali proved to be the final nail in Orton’s coffin. Jinder replied by saying that he did nothing illegal in the match, stuck to his plan and did not break any rules.
Mahal added that while Orton’s time has passed, he himself has just entered the peak of his career. He also said that the Singh Brothers escaped without any major injuries. Renee asked the WWE champion about his future to which he answered in Punjabi, which loosely translated to ‘Jinder Mahal rules the WWE'.
