WWE Smackdown 7/5/2024

WWE Smackdown 7/5/2024

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/06/wwe-smackdown-6282024.html

We see Orton, Cody and Owens arrive.

Jey Uso comes out. He says Money in the Bank is tomorrow night. He says to say yeet if you want to see him be Mr. MITB. LA Knight comes out.

LA says Jey may be the favorite to win but last year, LA was the favorite to win. He said he got his respect but said he will show him none at all tomorrow. He says he will hear all of Toronto saying, "Yeah". They then say "Yeah" and "Yeet".

Carmelo Hayes comes out. He says he hate to be that guy but is that guy. He says Toronto doesn't want to hear all that. He said last time he saw LA, his nose was all up in Logan Paul's Prime and asks him to tell him what the new flavor tastes like. Chad Gable comes out. He says he's been living in his own personal hell for the last three weeks. He said his family left him, he got his in the head and The Wyatt Sicks are after him for reasons he doesn't understand.

Andrade then comes out. He said they all talk about their MITB dreams but dreams don't win matches. Drew McIntyre comes out. The crowd chants for CM Punk and he says he expects better from The Commonwealth. He said Punk's not here but his family is with him (pointing to the friendship bracelet).

He calls Andrade "El Idiot". He says he feels bad for Chad. He says Melo isn't him, he's looking up at him. He says LA will need the words "Noooo" tomorrow. He asks how Jey got across the border. Jey jumps Drew and Jey superkicks Melo when LA moves. Chad germans LA then Andrade facekicks Chad. Jey throws Andrade out then Drew nails Jey.   

Jey takes shots from Jey and LA then is double clotheslined over the top.

Thoughts: It was your usual way to get the various people in this to interact. There was nothing wrong with it.

Jackie Redmond interviews Bayley. Bay says MITB is one of the most brutal and rewarding matches. Chelsea Green interrupts. She says Bay's advice is as irrelevant as she is. She said she wouldn't be champ if she wasn't illegally ejected from their match. She says when she is "Cha-Ching Chelsea" she will know when she is coming for her. Piper Niven attacks Bay from behind and pushes her into a box. Green says she will have an MITB contract and be the WWE Women's champ next time she sees her.

Bayley comes out of Nick Aldis' office and talks to Naomi. She says it's her vs Piper tonight. Naomi says she has her back.

The Street Profits vs Pretty Deadly

Ford takes down Elton three times with the waistlock. Kit shoulders over Ford then shoulders him. Ford hiptosses both PD members. Kit takes a double hiptoss for 2. Elton euros and pounds on Dawkins. Dawkins hits punches on Elton then flying back elbows him. Dawkins corner splashes Elton. Kit pulls Dawkins' head over the top rope and Elton boots Dawkins in the face.

We go to break and return. Elton has Dawkins in a chinlock. Dawkins sunset flips him for 2. Elton lariats him. Elton misses a splash. Kit gets in. Dawkins hits punches then they collide heads.

Ford and Elton get in. Ford clubs on Elton then lariats him. Ford flapjacks Kit. Ford hits kicks on Elton and backdrops him. Ford standing moonsaults him for 2. Kit gets on Elton's shoulders and thye superplex Ford. Dawkins top rope swantons Kit since he's the legal man and gets a 2 count. Kit rolls up Dawkins. Dawkins pounces Kit into Elton. Ford tope con hilos PD outside. Kit takes a sky high then Ford top rope splashes Kit to win.

Thoughts: It was a good tag as expected. They only had one small botch here but it was what you would want otherwise. Dawkins threw good punches and Ford did his usual flying and fire-ups.

Waller and Theory talk in the back. Theory wants to make sure they are on the same page. Waller says they are the undefeated tag champs and that shows they are on the same page. Theory said he thought about what Gargano said. Waller says he's in Theory's head. He said Theory won no titles with him and worked out who he was without him. Waller said they are desperate to get the titles and are trying to turn them on each other. Waller says let's show them who they are.

Indi Hartwell and Candice LeRae vs Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair

We join this in progress. Jade pop up drops and superkicks Indi. CL steps up on Jade's back and sentons her. CL pounds on Jade. Indi drops CL onto Jade. CL and Jade facekick each other at the same time and fall down.

BB shoulders over and dropkicks CL. BB suplexes her then hits a corner spear. BB hits corner punches on CL then spinebusters Indi. CL is caught off the 2nd rope then is alley ooped onto Indi. Jade handspring moonsaults CL. CL rolls up BB for 2. Jade pump kicks CL. BB hits a KOD on Indi while Jade hits a Jade end on CL. BB and Jade win.

Thoughts: It wasn't that good and Bianca and Jade won as expected.

Bianca and Jade are interviewed after. Bianca said they are here to finish what they started and that's getting the tag titles back. Jade thanks them for keeping it warm for them. Jade says it's inevitable and they are coming back for their tag titles.

Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton and Kevin Owens come out. Cody says WWE and Toronto are just a good fit. He said they heard enough from Bloodline. He says they want a fight and they are ready for a fight. Orton says if it's up to him, the fight ends with an RKO.

KO said he got a call on Monday saying his mom was rushed to the hospital and that's where he's been for the last few days. He said he could have stayed home tonight but it would have been a problem for his mom. He said his mom told him to leave it all in the ring and she'd be mad if he wasn't here. He said he wants to beat Bloodline's @sses wors than ever before.

Thoughts: I wasn't a fan of this one. I didn't think this really helped put tomorrow's match over or really did it much justice at all.

We get a video package on the tag titles, showing lots of old champs. We got a rare Demolition namedrop and some clips of them vs The Hart Foundation.

Piper Niven vs Bayley

Bay hits shots on Piper to start. Piper black hole slams her. Piper hits a senton for 2. Bay jawbreakers her then bulldogs her using the ropes. Bay gets spun and goes into the post headfirst while laying on the mat.

We go to break and return. Bay diving cutters her off the 2nd rope and over the middle rope. Zoey Stark and Lyra are watching in the seats as Bay topes Piper. Tiffany Stratton comes down the aisle. Piper and Bay trade shots. Bay neckbreakers her. Naomi and Chelsea Green argue outside and fight. Naomi hits forearms and high kicks her. Green is thrown into the rails. Iyo Sky nails Naomi and sends her int othe steps. Zoey and Lyra fight then Tiff top rope moonsaults onto a bunch of girls outside. Piper misses a vader bomb on Bay then takes a roseplant. Bay pins Piper.

Thoughts: It wasn't anything special and the match was just secondary to all of the shenanigans outside.

Nia Jax bodyblocks Bay after and legdrops her. Michin then hits Nia with a kendo stick.

DIY said they walked out of this arena tag champs years ago. Gargano said he returned here 2 years ago. They say tonight isn't about the past, it's about capturing lightning in the bottle for the second time and becoming champs.

WWE Tag Titles - A-Town Down Under (c) vs DIY

Waller nails Johnny and they all hockey fight. Waller and Theory are lariated over the top together then take plancha's. We go to break and return.

Theory misses an elbow drop on Ciampa. Theory takes a neckbreaker then a slingshot splash from JG for 2. JG hits corner punches. JG takes a backbreaker + top rope elbow drop from Waller. Theory hits mounted punches on JG. Theory misses a charge on JG and goes into the rails. JG does a twisting canadian destroyer on Waller outside. Theory lariats JG on the floor.

JG step up enzugiri's Theory. Theory hits oblivion on JG and we go to break again. We return and JG superkicks Waller in the head for 2. JG slingshots in and gets a knee from Waller. Waller nails Theory on accident and JG rolls up Waller. Waller misses a corner splash then takes a shatter machine for 2.

Theory rolls in and dropkicks Ciampa then Waller does the flipping unprettier to Ciampa. Ciampa powerbomb backbreakers Waller and Waller takes meet in the middle for 2. JG topes Theory outside and Waller rolls him up for 2. JG la mistica drops Waller into a border city stretch. Theory stops the tap out, gets put in a hold by Ciampa and Waller taps out. DIY wins.

Thoughts: The two commercial breaks really sliced this one up and I feel like we didn't see enough of it to really judge. The work looked good and the crowd liked it so it probably was better than what we saw. I thought there was a lot more to the Waller/Theory storyline if they had let it play out and I can't see DIY being much more than transitional champs.

DIY gets fireworks for their win.

We see Solo Sikoa with The Tribal Chief necklace. He says that makes him The Tribal Chief. He says Roman Reigns wasn't man enough to defend their title and legacy at Mania. He says therefore, Roman shall not call himself Tribal Chief. He says he's The Tribal Chief now and will take the title back from Cody Rhodes. He says if Roman wants it back, he can try to take it. He says he's coming for Cody and says he will acknowledge him.

Thoughts: If you just started watching SD today, it maybe sounded good. If you didn't, it shouldn't have. Solo lost to practically everyone prior to Mania and was not protected at all. It's really hard to buy him caring about wins and losses when he took so many losses.

Overall thoughts: The PPV's tomorrow and because it, the stars weren't really wrestling on the show and that brought it down some. It was the SD B-Team out there and not WWE's best work. We also didn't get much follow-up on the big Paul Heyman angle from last night and Solo justifying himself as The Tribal Chief really shouldn't work for anyone who has been watching for a while. I wouldn't recommend this.