WWE Smackdown 8/7/2026

WWE Smackdown 8/7/2026

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/wwe-smackdown-7312026.html

We are in Philadelphia, PA. Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett are on commentary. 

We get a graphic for Dory Funk Jr., who passed away this week.

We see various wrestlers arrive. 

Cody Rhodes comes out to talk. He asks for Randy Orton to come out and says they should fight now. Cody then asks the crowd what they want to talk about. He talks about his 2026 so far. He says he didn't know Orton would RKO him at Summerslam.

CM Punk comes out. Punk asks Cody if he wants to ask him anything. Cody asks Punk if he knew Orton would get involved. Punk says he didn't know and says he's p!ssed about it. Punk says they can find Orton together, 2 Man Power Trip style, and beat him up. Cody says he guarantees he will find Orton and kick his @ss himself. Cody then leaves to let Punk talk. Punk tells Cody to say when about their unfinished business.

Kevin Owens then comes out. Cody holds his hands open and kind of gives him the mic. KO takes it. KO gets in the ring. Him and Punk have words. Nick Aldis (with a black eye) then gets on the apron. KO says him and Punk are pros and says not to worry about it. Punk asks if KO is here to claim his title shot. KO says he does want to wrestle and that's all he wanted to do for the last 17 months. He says he didn't want to leave but was forced to. He says he proved people wrong his entire career and now he's here.

KO says Punk is proving him right. He says people told him to give Punk a second chance. He says he never bought it. He says he knows who Punk is and Punk is proving it. KO says he's offering Punk shots when KO is the #1 contender. He says Punk thinks he's better than everyone and says it proves Punk is still the same arrogant sociopath. 

Punk says some people love his arrogance. Punk says his title proves he's the best in the world. He says if anyone benefited from his arrogance, it's KO. Punk says this place called him "skinny fat" and asks if he thinks this place was waiting fro KO. KO says he hasn't been champ for 10 years. He says he never guessed something would happen to make this even better. He says now, he doesn't just get to win the title, but he gets to humble Punk and beat him for it. Punk says it's goo to have impossible dreams. 

Punk says he needs to show gratitude as KO wouldn't be here without him. Punk says he knows he's the best in the world and so do the fans. Punk says to look at KO. KO says he should be grateful and should thank him. He says he should also thank him for showing him what not to do and how not to treat people. KO says he must be so lonely on his own pedestal. He says seeing what he has become, made him not turn into a miserable piece of sh!t like him. Officials get in the ring and KO shoves Punk. 

Charlotte Flair is interviewed. Flair says her and Jade have been having issues for 3 years. She says she's not fighting for the top spot, she's fighting for Alexa Bliss. She says Jade has her attention and she's going to kick her @ss in her spotlight. Flair then challenges her to come fight her alone tonight.

Trick Wiliams talks in the back. He says he's getting his rematch vs Baron Corbin. Trick says Baron only got his title as he hit him in the head with it. Trick says they both know Baron can't beat him. He says he will beat Baron down tonight. He says Philly will whoop that trick and he will whoop that @ss. 

WWE United States Title - Baron Corbin (c) vs Trick Williams

Baron rides out on a motorcycle. 

BC takes him down and knees him in the gut. Trick flying lariats him. Trick chops him against the rails then sends him into the post. Trick chops him against the post and sends him into and over the rails. Trick flying crossbodies him over the timekeeper's rail. 

We go to our first break and return. BC boots him in the gut and lariats him down. BC hits punches on Trick. Trick hits leg lariats and flapjacks BC. Trick backhands him and stomps him in the corner. Trick cradle shocks him for 2. Trick spinning facekicks him. 

BC spinning backdrops him for 2. They trade shots on their knees. Trick jumping neckbreakers him. Trick lariats him over the top rope. BC rams Trick's back into the post and hits forearms there. 

BC and the ref tug of war over the US Title. Trick uranage's BC for 2. Trick flying pumping knees him for 2 when BC has his hand on the ropes. Baron goes out and hits Trick in the head with the title. Baron then pins him.

Thoughts: I was really surprised to see Trick losing again here. They are really testing him by doing that. It was acceptable overall but not much else.

Nick Aldis talks to Sami Zayn. Sami congratulates him on his Summerslam match. He says he cried when Nick's kid hugged him in the ring. Sami asks if Nick will congratulate him about Summerslam. Sami then goes off about Nick screwing him. He says it's hard to believe Nick didn't add Kevin Owens to the match to screw him. Kevin Owens walks in. Kevin tells Nick he wants his title match in Toronto. Nick says he will make some calls.

Sami says welcome back and says no one is happier he's back. KO doesn't think he's sincere. Sami says KO's return screwed him 100% and came at his expense. KO agrees. Sami asks if he can apologize. KO says he's sorry it affected him but says Sami would do the same. KO says he won in his last match and beat Sami in a #1 contender's match. 

Sami says he wants to see him be champ more than CM Punk. He tells him to let him know if he wants him to do anything to make it happen. KO says he will do it on his own. Sami says it's fine and says don't think Sami won't chase what he wants because it's what KO wants.

Baron Corbin is in the back. Cathy Kelly says he got 2 upsets over Trick. Baron asks if she's kidding and asks if he's the underdog. He asks her to explain how he's the underdog. He says he hopes everyone who doubted him feels stupid now. He says he said he would take the title and he did. He says Trick will never get his hands on the title again. He says no one in the locker room can step to him. Carmelo Hayes then appears and attacks him. He says he talked to Nick Aldis and they are fighting for the US Title next week.

Chelsea Green comes out and has a celebration party set up in the ring. Green says she loves the fans for sticking with her and pledging their allegiance. Green says they are huge part of why she walked out of Summerslam as the new Women's champ. She thanks Tiffany Stratton too and brings her out. 

Green says she's sorry for what happened at Summerslam but says their friendship is stronger than that. Green says she wants to make a toast to strong female friendship. 

Fatal Influence interrupt. Jacy says she would have been champ and in the ladder match if it wasn't for Tiff. Reid says they would have all been draped in gold. Fallon says Green thinks she deserves the title. Jacy says Tiff has given her no choice but to take the thing she likes the most. She says she wants to take the US Title off of her and she will be "Tiffy No Titles". Tiff says she will give her a title match if they get a tag title match right now. Fatal Influence thinks it over and says they accept. Jacy tells Nick to bring a ref out now.

WWE Women's Tag Titles - Fatal Influence (Lainey Reid and Fallon Henley) (c) vs Tiffany Stratton and Chelsea Green

LR pulls Green down of the lock up. Green slides out. Green and LR miss moves inside. Green sliding flatliners LR. Green double flying knees LR. Tiff corner splashes LR. LR codebreakers Tiff but Tiff no sells it, backflips and basement dropkicks her.

Fallon hits Tiff in the corner then house call kicks her. Tiff handspring stunners Fallon. Tiff and Green hit stereo hip attacks on the 2nd rope. They then hit stereo topes outside.

We go to PiP break and return. Green germans LR. Tiff hits lariats on LR and spinning back elbows her. Tiff cartwheels into a spinebuster on LR. Tiff top rope swantons LR. Fallon is pulled over the top to the floor.

LR enzugiri's Green from the apron. Green throws her off the top. Green cutters Fallon. Jacy spinning forearms Green over the bottom rope and Tiff takes a baseball slide. Green takes the fatal flaw (a coriolis) and Green is pinned.

Thoughts: It was acceptable. Nothing too great, but no one botched and it went about as well as it was going to. There was no real reason to suspect Green and Tiff were winning here.

Nia Jax and Lash Legend attack Tiff and Green after. 

Damian Priest is interviewed. He complains about The MFT's. The War Raiders come in. Erik says they've been chasing them for a title shot. Ivar says they will be double champs. R-Truth comes in and says they aren't scared of luchadores or The Legion of Doom. Truth says he talked to Aldis and they will face The War Raiders and The MFT's next week. Priest asks if Nick mentioned the AAA Tag Titles and Truth says no. Priest says, "how convenient".

We get a video on Brock Lesnar's career.

Randy Orton comes out to talk. Cody Rhodes comes out before Orton even gets a word out. Cody heads in the ring and Orton slides out. Cody asks what he's waiting for and tells him to get in the ring right now. Officials come out and get between them. Cody says he knows Orton doesn't mention to anyone and says Orton owes him an explanation. 

Orton says he doesn't owe him anything. He says Cody asked for the best version of himself. He says he gave him it and Cody beat him. He says his voices told him to kick him in the face as hard as he could. He says the worst version of Orton can get him title #15. He says he won't take it from Cody as he will do everything he can to make sure Cody is never a champ again.

Cody says what about the worst version of himself? He says he doesn't need to be the good guy anymore. He says Orton used to be the legend killer but he's the last legend in the WWE. He asks who will kill him?

Sami Zayn complains to Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano in the back. Sami says he's jealous of Kevin Owens as he gets to tell Punk what a fraud he is. CM Punk comes in. Punk asks if they are still doing this. Punk says Sami has a big mouth when he's not around. He says he knows Owens is jealous, but he can say it to his face. Sami says he's a fraud and his days are numbered. Sami says he'd break his face if his hand wasn't broken. 

Punk says he would have in Chicago but he lost. He says Sami is in the back of the link. Punk says he'd give LeRae or Gargano a shot before him. Sami asks Gargano how he will let him to talk to them about that.

Jade Cargill, Michin and B-Fab talk in the back. Cathy tries to interview them. Fab says they don't care about what Charlotte has to say. Mich says Flair is jealous of Jade. Jade it's business as usual and she will end this by kicking some @ss.

Nikki Bella does a video. She says she tried hard to be supportive and made an unselfish move. She says she revitalized Paige's career and she repaid her by losing the tag titles. Nikki says Brie deserved better. She says Paige failed them. She says Brie is hurt because of Paige. She says she will make sure the rest of Paige's career will be pure misery.

Shinsuke Nakamura does a video. He says The MFT's think they evolved and needs to remember who they are. Nakamura says they need to remember who he is - the king of strong style and Shinsuke Nakamura. He says he's back and this time, he will not be alone. He says he's starting a war and is no longer a one man army. He says he and someone else will make it clear who are warriors and just pawns. He says they are running out of time.

Charlotte Flair vs Jade Cargill

They lock up and back each other up in the corner. Flair monkey flips her and rolls her out of the ring. Jade shoulders her over. Jade poses, Flair kips up and poses. Flair clips her from behind and shoulders her over. Flair headscissors rolls her on the mat. They go outside with it and Flair's head is banged off the commentary table. Flair is thrown over the rail.

We go to PiP break and return. Jade misses a back elbow in the corner and takes a german. Flair upkicks her. They trade forearms. Flair chops her and lariats her down. Flair goes for a forward handspring and is pump kicked by Jade. Flair boots her from the apron. Flair top rope crossbodies her but Jade rolls through for 2. They bridge up together. Jade knees her in the gut and superkicks her.

Jade spinning sitout rack bombs her for 2. Flair goes for a handstand hurricanrana in the corner. Jade catches her and 2nd rope sitout powerbombs her for 2. They slap each other. Jade misses a pump kick and is clipped in the leg. Flair boots her in the face. Flair figure eight's her. 

Michin and B-Fab interfere and Flair loses the hold. Alexa Bliss comes out with her arm in a brace. She then shows her doll Lily. Bliss makes the lights go out. Tatum Paxley then appears on the top rope and crossbodies Mich and Fab outside. Tatum hugs Alexa. Jade and Flair botch a powerbomb escape. Flair hits a sister abigail on her then hits like a bad diving natural selection off the top to win.

Thoughts: We haven't seen Tatum around NXT for a few weeks. It's good for her to finally get called up. The match had some highs and lows here and got a little sloppier towards the end. It was a borderline alright match at times but then got worse. I'm curious how they handle Tatum/Bliss/Flair as group.

Overall thoughts: We had a lot going on here on this one non-wrestling wise and a lot of average matches in the ring that brought this down some. We also had an ad-free first 30 minutes. I'm not sure that there was a match of the night here. They did do a nice job of setting things up for future weeks though and had lots of stars interacting. I'd give it a 5 out of 10 as the wrestling could have been a bit better here. It was average. 

WWE Smackdown 7/31/2026

WWE Smackdown 7/31/2026

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/wwe-smackdown-7242026.html

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/08/wwe-smackdown-872026.html 

We are in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Wade Barrett and Joe Tessitore are on commentary. 

We see various wrestlers arrive.

Finn Balor comes out to talk. Finn says he can't help but think about Summerslam 2016 where he went from the highs of winning the title then the lows of having to relinquish the title. He says he's been scratching and clawing since. He says we are close to getting back where we were.

Sami Zayn interrupts. Sami says he has some things to get off his chest. He says Summerslam should be a triple threat with him vs Cody and Punk. He says he'd love to see Cody as the WWE champ again as he already beat him to become champ and could do it again.

He says he'd like to see CM Punk retain also. He says Punk is now Corporate Poster Boy #2. He says he'd like to take the title back from the man who stole it to begin with. Sami says he respects Finn. Finn says he should have respect and balls and say what he has to say to his face.

Sami comes down. Sami says everyone knows how great Finn is. He says Finn should have been a WWE champ 2-3 times by now. He says Finn needs to understand the moment belongs to Sami. Sami says Finn had his time and it's Sami time. Sami says the title is about justice for Sami. 

Finn says what about justice for Finn? Finn says he has spent the last 10 years trying to get back to this moment. Sami says if it took him 10 years and he didn't' come close, maybe he should take the hint. Finn says it took Sami 10 years to get a smell of the title. Finn says he had to relinquish the title but Sami just lost. 

Sami says if he was anyone else, he'd drop him right now. He says he won't though as he's a good guy. Sami says he will walk away and see him at Summerslam. Gunther then runs in and sends Finn into Sami. Gun lariats Finn and short arm lariats Sami. Gun says they are both a joke. Gun says he's the #1 contender. 

Adam Pearce comes out with security and asks him what he's doing. Gun asks him what he has to do to get what's his. He asks if he needs to beat up Adam too. Finn then runs at Gun and forearms him from behind. Sami then hits Gun and Finn hits Sami. Finn is sent into the rails. Nick Aldis then comes out and punches Gun. Gun's head is banged off the rails. Gun takes a texas cloverleaf from Nick and security breaks it up. Gun facekicks Nick down and Nick is pulled away.

Thoughts: The Sami and Finn argument made both look weak here but them tying Gunther and Aldis in wasn't bad.

Tiffany Stratton and Chelsea Green vs Michin and B-Fab

Fab forearms and knees Tiff in the gut. Fab spin kicks her in the corner. Tiff dropkicks her from behind. Tiff trips both opponents into the 2nd rope then Tiff and Green hit hip attacks and meteora's on them. Green low sliding flatliners both opponents.

We go to break and return. Fab slaps Green. Green hits shots to the gut and jawbreakers her. Green step up enzugiri's her. Tiff comes in and hits lariats on Mich. Tiff spinning back elbows her. Tiff cartwheel alabama slams Mich. Tiff top rope swantons her for 2. 

Tiff codebreakers Fab off the steps outside. Jade then sends Tiff into the post. Green is up top and headbutts Mich down. Green top rope dropkicks Mich. Mich superkicks Green and Green takes a double team drop on her chest/face and is pinned.

Thoughts: It was short and not too much of note. Tiff and Green were too smiley here as faces for me. The heels didn't really impress here.

Charlotte Flair comes out in some goofy looking jacket with shoulderpads. Green and Tiff pull out Mich and Fab and fight them outside. Flair comes in and trades shots with Jade. Flair facekicks her. 

Dominik Mysterio and JD McDonaugh talk to Fraxiom and Rey Fenix. JD says they are looking for Danhausen. Rey says they haven't seen him. Dom says Rey has been hiding in Mexico. Rey says she's ready to fight. Dom says Rey's AAA Cruiserweight Title will look good on JD. Rey challenges JD to a match and JD says he will talk to Pearce to make it official.

Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga do a promo. Tama says they forgot who they are and why they are here. Talla says they were too busy fighting Solo's battles. Talla says they will put their family first. Haku walks in with a stick and says not to forget who they are. Haku says they are The Sons of Haku. He says to go and make them fear once again.

WWE Tag Titles vs AAA Tag Titles - Damian Priest and R-Truth vs The War Raiders (Ivar and Erik)

DP hits punches on Erik and Erik clubs him. DP pounds on him in the corner. Erik takes a russian legsweep + flying forearm combo. Truth corner splashes Erik and Erik knocks Truth out of the ring from behind. Erik running knees Truth in the face. DP tries to jump on his opponents but is caught and rammed into the rails. Ivar crossbodies Truth and DP against the rails.

We go to PiP break and return. DP hurricanrana's Ivar off the top. DP ear claps Erik and drops him with a forearm. DP is popped up into a powerslam for 2. The Raiders pound on Truth in the corner and push the ref away. DP clubs The Raiders and pushes the ref down. The ref then throws the match out.

Thoughts: I'm glad it ended the way it did as I didn't want to see the AAA Tag Titles get merged or be stuck on the main roster. We only got so much of this before it ended and we didn't get a clean finish here. 

The fight continues outside after. Erik is sent into the podium and knocks it over. Erik is sent over the rail and Ivar hits Truth with the podium. The four fight in the crowd. Truth jumps off a rail onto everyone. DP lariats The Raiders over the rail and into ringside. Talla and Tama Tonga then attack both teams. Truth is thrown into the post and Talla pounds on DP. Tama hidden blades Erik in the ring. Talla chokeslams DP. Haku then comes out and poses with Talla and Tama.

 We see clips from a house show last night with Cody hitting a back elbow on Punk. 

CM Punk is interviewed by Cathy Kelly. Punk says him and Cody don't have to be friends and says they were running from the match for a while. Punk says he will still be champ at the end of Summerslam. 

Trick Williams interrupts. He says sooner or later he's coming for the champ. Punk says Trick's a little greedy and he's upset he lost the match. He says he needs new challenges. He says he will whoop that trick when he gets to the top of the mountain.

Nick Aldis does a video. He says it's been an honor be the SD GM, but his first dream was to be a wrestler. He says he won and defended titles against hall of famers, icons and legends. He says he was committed to being the best GM he could be and left the wrestler part behind. He says that was fine until Gunther pushed him too far. He says his choice was to face him like a man.

Trick Williams comes out to talk. He says Baron Corbin came back to SD to hate on him. He says Baron makes him sick and tells him to come out. 

Baron Corbin comes out with a different theme than he had in NXT. Baron says Trick loves hearing the sound of his own voice. Baron says he learned lessons while he was away about patience. He says WWE strapped the rocket to his back Trick came and he doesn't know about patient. He says Trick wants everything and that will be his downfall. Baron says it will feel like he's in quicksand at Summerslam. He says when the panic sets in, he will cut off the oxygen to his brain.

Trick says they both know he won't do nothin'. Trick asks what this is about. Trick says the only thing he is collecting is a lemon pepper stepper up his @ss. Baron asks if he wants to fight right now but says it won't happen. Baron says he's a dumb rookie that doesn't understand and he doesn't care what he wants. Baron says that's a lesson of patience right there. Baron says he's taking the title on Sunday and there's nothing Trick can do about it. Trick says no title will be taken and it'll be 35,000 chanting "Whoop That Trick".

We get a video on Brock vs Oba at HIAC.

AAA Cruiserweight Title - Rey Fenix (c) vs JD McDonaugh

JD takes him down and Rey bridges. Rey monkey flips him and chops him. Rey does rope tricks and corkscrew diving armdrags JD. Rey sunset flips him. JD misses a standing moonsault and slides out to avoid a kick. 

JD foot chokes Rey. Rey springboard dropkicks him off the apron. Rey misses a slingshot plancha and JD asai moonsaults him ouside. We go to PiP break and return. 

Rey fights out of a hold and JD forearms him. Rey superkicks him out of the corner then springboard crossbodies him. Rey hits a high angle death valley driver for 2. Rey clubs on JD and spin kicks him in the face. Rey handspring cutters him. JD standing spanish flies him for 2. 

Rey tiger feints and superkicks JD. Rey goes up top and Dom Mysterio gets on the apron. JD crotches Rey up top. The ref ejects Dom. Dom goes to leave then Danhausen comes out. Dan goes to curse him and is forearmed down. The Minihausen's then jump Dom. Dom runs to the back. Rey rope walk kicks JD. Rey flying double knees him in the corner. Rey hits a mexican muscle buster and pins him.

Thoughts: Rey mostly did kicks here and some of those could have been better. I don't think it to got be as good as it could have due to the break and the stuff with Danhausen. It was acceptable though.

We get a Roman vs Seth video.

Ladder Match Qualifier - Giulia vs Lash Legend

G = Giulia

G hits kicks to the lead. G does a flying octopus and Lash bangs her head off the ropes. Lash then air raid crashes her off of it. G does a rings of saturn on the mat. G running knees her for 2. G guillotines her in the air. Lash breaks it and hits the lash extension to pin her.

Thoughts: Lash won quick here in a big surprise. It was competitive just not very long. This doesn't bode well for Giulia as Lash isn't high on the totem pole.

Cody Rhodes comes out. CM Punk interrupts Cody's entrance as he poses and heads to the ring. Punk says it doesn't feel great and is like Cody putting an elbow in his face. Cody says he knows Punk and sees through him sometimes. He says Punk had to know that they were already on this path towards each other. He complains about the title shot falling in Punk's lap.

Punk says he knew he would ruffle some feathers. He says he got asked to show up for Chicago for a title shot and he will take it. He says he hopes it p!sses people off. Punk says it's about the title. He says he's not his friend and won't be his friend tomorrow. He says he needs to know who the best wrestler is between them for business purposes.

Cody then grabs the mic and does his, "What do you want to talk about?". Cody says Punk's "business purposes" line is double talk. He says Punk's title isn't business, it's personal. Cody says the title means you are the best in the world and call the shots. Cody says Punk was the one who said it's not about friends but money. Punk says he didn't come to make friends or lose them. He says if it comes down to losing friends or the title, tomorrow won't be Cody's night. 

Cody says Punk made it clear what he wants to do tomorrow night at Summerslam. He says he should ask him what he wants to do about it tonight. Punk takes his jacket off and does a fighting pose. Cody throws his jacket into the crowd and they stare down. Cody throws the first punch and they hockey fight. Cody running lariats him. Cody lariats Punk over the top and bangs his head off the commentary table.  Officials come to break the fight up and they fight on top of the commentary table. They then fight against the rails and trade punches as the show ends. 

Overall thoughts: A whole lot of people weren't wrestling on this one, likely because Summerslam is tomorrow. I liked the beginning of the show and was okay with the end of it, but the rest of it didn't do much for me. The women's tag didn't impress. The tag title match went to a no contest but Haku returned. Rey vs JD was acceptable. Lash Legend squashed Giulia and here was no big main to close the show. I'd give this a 5 out of 10 as it was average overall.

WWE Smackdown 7/24/2026

WWE Smackdown 7/24/2026

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/wwe-smackdown-7172026.html

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/wwe-smackdown-7312026.html 

We are in Oakland, CA. Wade Barrett and Joe Tessitore are on commentary. 

Nick Aldis and Adam Pearce are in the ring. Adam says he's here to make the Aldis/Gunther match official at Summerslam. Adam brings Gunther out. 

Adam tells Nick that he can't compete as a WWE superstar as a GM. He says the second he puts his name on the contract, he loses his GM abilities. Adam says he will then take those responsibilities. He says Nick has to agree that WWE bears no responsibilities as to what happens to him vs Gunther. Nick says he knows what he's signing and says he never wanted any of this. Nick says every man has his breaking point and Gunther found his. Nick then signs the contract. 

Gunther says this match will be the greatest moment of Nick's career. Gun says all of this is beneath him and says he's only sitting here and Nick doesn't know how to do his job. He says Nick is jealous of him. He says Nick is a former NWA champ but he never really made it. Gun says Nick dreamed for being a WWE superstar and it never happened. Gun says he walked through the door and had it all.  

Gun says Nick should be honest and tell himself he's not good enough. Gun says he will fulfill's Nick's dream and turn him into a legend. He says he can join a list of legends like Cena, Goldberg and AJ that were stupid enough to face him. He says he will end his career before it starts.

Nick says Gun says the same things every time. Nick says Gun keeps saying it as Gun is trying to get him to believe it. Nick says when he hit him, Gun thought he didn't want any of this. Nick says Gun is in a situation he can't get out of and has put his career in jeopardy. Nick says he hasn't had a match in 3 years and has nothing to lose. He says when he beats him, Gun goes from the career killer to a man who got made a b!tch from his boss. Gun goes to grab him,. Nick hits him with the mic and they fight. Gun kicks Nick low and powerbombs him through a table. 

Sami Zayn interrupts Cathy Kelly in the back. He says he did what they said he couldn't do and won the WWE Title at NoC. He says the powers that be didn't want him as champ as he had to defend his title in days on a show he wasn't on. He says everyone is happy but him. Sami tells Adam Pearce to fix the situation. Sami says Nick deserves to be in medical as he screwed him at SNME. Adam says things didn't go his way. Sami says to make it right and make the Summerslam main event a triple threat. Adam says there's a fatal four way tonight and says the winner can face Sami to get a title shot. Sami complains about that. Adam tells him to take it or leave it. He says he'll take it, but no shenanigans.

Lainey Reid talks on the mic before her match. She says SNME was supposed to be the most important night of her career but Brie and Paige will remember it all their careers. Jacy and Fallon chime in. Jacy says she doesn't have gold because of Paige and Brie Bella. Jacy says Tiffany Stratton's US Title will be hers in time. She says Lainey will humiliate Brie Bella and put her out of misery once and for all.

Lainey Reid vs Brie Bella

LR misses a shot and Brie drops her with a forearm. Brie flying lariats LR off the steps and bangs her head off the commentary table. Brie rolls up LR for 2. Brie knees her in the face and boots her in the gut. Brie's head is banged off the buckles and the middle buckle is kicked her in face. LR bottom rope springboard cutters Brie. 

We go to break and return. Brie hits kicks on LR then running knees her for 2. Brie bulldogs LR. Brie is up top and gets kicked. LR blocks a sunset flip for 2. Brie reverse it and pins her.

Thoughts: It was short and not much of note. The heels interfered a bit and Brie ended up getting the pin.

The heels beat up the faces after. Nikki Bella comes out and spears Jacy down. Nikki TKO's Jacy. Jacy's buddies pull her out. Nikki says Jacy's crew thought they could sneak up from the minor leagues, steal from her sister and get away with it. Nikki says her, Brie and Paige will face Fatal Influence in a trios match at Summerslam.

Finn Balor is interviewed. Finn says he is thinking about Summerslam 2016 when he had the best and worst night of his career. He says it's 2026 and he's trying to scratch his way back to glory. Gunther walks in. He says he's next in line and will take what's his no matter who is in line.  

They talk about WWE Radio, which will have radio version of live events.

Royce Keys is in the back. Solo Sikoa comes in and says he knows he's locked up. Solo talks about them as a team and talks about what he has going on at Summerslam. Keys says not to worry about Bloodline and says he can be #1 contender tonight. LA Knight comes in and says you always gotta worry about Bloodline. Hells him to keep his eyes in the back of the head. Keys says he will take everything he wants. Solo says they are on the same team. Solo hypes up himself and the other two and says he's got Keys' back tonight. LA is confused and tells Keys to handle business. 

Tiffany Stratton and Chelsea Green talk. Green wants them to go to Summerslam together and says maybe she wins the title this time. Tiff says she wants to be Tiffy 2 Titles. Blake Monroe comes in. She says she likes Tiff and says to worry less about Chelsea and more about her US Title. She says the higher Tiffy climbs, the more people look up at what she has. 

Ladder Match Qualifier - Chelsea Green vs Kiana James

KJ knees her in the gut. KJ goes over her and gets slapped. Green dropkicks her off the apron. Green goes for a dive and is forearmed. KJ knees her in the gut outside. Green is laid on the rail and she is superkicked. 

Green hits forearms. KJ blocks a sunset flip. Green low flatliners KJ then Japanese armdrags her twice. Green russian legsweeps her. Green flying leg lariats her. KJ superkicks her and falcon arrows her for 2. 

KJ codebreakers her. Green hits an unprettier and pins her.

Thoughts: I'm not surprised Green won but I don't like Kiana losing here. The match was average and just didn't get much time to be anything special. Green's Japanese armdrags were nice. 

R-Truth and Damian Priest talk in the back. Truth says DP is getting ready for the tag title match, right? DP says he's getting ready for the four-way. Truth says he used DP's credit card to buy hot dogs on July 4th. Cody Rhodes comes in and says maybe him and Punk come for the tag titles. Truth says they are both confused. Cody tells DP that he will face him. DP says him and the boys are tired of the same people being on top of this brand. DP says he will be #1 contender and says the champ will get dropped, whoever it is. Cody says as someone who used to be one of the boys, he likes his attitude and tells him good luck. 

Cody Rhodes comes out to talk. He brings out CM Punk. Cody has 2 mics, tries to give Punk one and drops it. He says it's an accident. Punk takes off his jacket and gets in Cody's face. Punk grabs a mic from a tech instead. They talk about paranoia and Cody says both things that happened are due to accidents. Punk says he didn't want the title to come between them but it has. 

Cody says he respect him but he doesn't like him. Cody says everyone wants Punk to be the one over him. Cody says he doesn't sweat anyone on the roster but Punk. Cody says he has to beat him for the story to have a proper ending. Punk says he casts a large shadow that Cody get out from. Punk says he watched Cody from the outside in and Cody showed him there was a way back to WWE. He says they have been chasing each other and it ends at Summerslam. He says Cody is lying to himself. He says Cody is done and needs to make himself the victim and need to make everyone else his enemy. Punk says he's Cody's only friend. He says he told him he won't stab him in the back but will stab him in the front at Summerslam. Punk says he will break his heart. 

Cody says he will bring it to Punk and says he will whip Punk @ss at Summerslam as a gift. Punk says he has a gift and it's an @ss whipping in the name of a loss. Punk says he's the best in the ring and on the mic and says no one, not even Dusty's kid can ouch him.

Punk goes to leave and Cody says he wants Punk to hear Cody's music, just as he will at Summerslam when he wins. Cody then has his music played. 

Charlotte Flair is interviewed. She says she doesn't regret her actions last week. She says she was thinking only about protecting Bliss. She says Jade will learn that she can come after her but won't come after Bliss. She says Jade will learn that payback is a ...

Ladder Match Qualifier - Nia Jax vs Charlotte Flair

Nia knees her in the gut and hits corner spears. Char boots her out of the corner and 2nd rope diving headscissors her. Char hits corner spears. Char top rope crossbodies her for 2. Nia sitout powerbombs her for 2. We go to break and return.

Char walks on Nia. Nia trips her on the ropes. Nia 2nd rope legdrops Char for 2. Char powerbombs her while she's on the buckles for 2. Char goes up top and Jade Cargille comes out with her crew. Char is distracted and Nia throws her out.

Char fights off Jade's crew outside and gets the edge on them. Char pulls Nia's throat over the top rope. Jade gets on the apron and Char forearms her. Nia misses a corner splash and Char facekicks her. Jade forearms Char down and Char wins by DQ.

Thoughts: Nia's match gets screwed up again here, this time by Jade. It was an average match. Char's offense didn't look good as she missed some shots and her offense just wasn't super impactful.

Jade hits a jade end of Charlotte after. Nia gets mad and messes up the announcers table. 

#1 Contender's Match Qualifier - Damian Priest vs Finn Balor vs Royce Keys vs Trick Williams

Keys corner splashes Finn and throws him. Keys side slams DP. Keys fallaway slams Trick. We go to PiP break and return. Keys takes a final cut from Finn. DP facekicks Finn then lifting flatliners Trick. DP flying back elbows Keys. Trick jumping neckbreakers DP then flapjacks Finn.

Trick stomps Finn in the corner. DP spin kicks Trick in the head and ear claps him. Trick backhands him. Finn pulls Trick and Keys out. Finn tope con hilos all 3 opponents outside. Solo Sikoa comes out. We go to PiP break and return.

Trick yanks Keys into a uranage for 2. Solo helps gets Keys' leg on the ropes. The Uso's come out and fight Solo. Solo gets double teamed. LA Knight comes out and beats up The Uso's with Solo. DP high kicks Trick then rope walks and dives onto everyone outside. Finn slingblades Trick then shotgun dropkicks him. Trick spinning facekicks Finn for 2. 

LA, Solo and The Uso's go to the back. DP lariats Trick and superkicks Finn. DP hits a south of heaven on Trick. DP is sent shoulder first into the post. Keys spinebusters DP and Jacob Fatu attacks Keys. Keys is sent into the steps and pose. Fatu hip attacks Keys into the rail.

Finn slingblades DP then john woo's him. Finn top rope double stomps DP and pins him. 

Thoughts: The match wasn't pushed that seriously here. We had 10 minutes left in the show or so and this had 2 breaks and then 2 different sets of run-in's. This was not a fraction of what it should have been and was a real waste of these guys. Finn kind of won by the process of elimination here as he's the only one with nothing else going on. This was nothing. 

Overall thoughts: While I prefer Smackdown at 2 hours, this is one of the downfalls of it. Everything got a lot less time than it should and both the tag division and the undercard were mostly non-existent here. Nothing impressed me all that much here and I thought it was a boring show for the most part. I'm not even sure if there was a match of the night on this one. I'd give it a 4 out of 10 as nothing was that good and the main was all about anything but the match. This was below average. 

WWE Smackdown 7/17/2026

WWE Smackdown 7/17/2026

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/wwe-smackdown-7102026.html

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/wwe-smackdown-7242026.html 

We are in Albany, NY. Wade Barrett and Joe Tessitore are on commentary. 

Gunther comes out. He says he prides himself with being an outstanding professional but he has been mistreated since he came to SD. He says Nick Aldis might be jealous as he's the greatest wrestler in WWE. Gun says he should be champ and the fans know it. He says Aldis is the only one preventing him from being champ. He says Aldis made this personal. He says him being put in this position is unacceptable and he won't stand for it.

Adam Pearce comes out. He says Gun should thank Nick Aldis for saving his job. He talks about Gun attacking Cody and Aldis. He says Gun would be fired if it's up to him. He says Aldis is making sure his match at SNME is going on as planned. Adam says there's a stipulation and says Sami and Gunther are added to the WWE Title match at Summerslam if they win. Gun is happy.

Cody Rhodes comes out. He runs to the ring and beats up on Gun. He sends Gun out. Cody asks where the logic is with Gun. He says he kicked his head into the car door and doesn't expect to get hit on sight. Cody says Gun won't make it to SNME. Cody says they are both ready and challenges Gun tonight. Cody says he needs Adam to say okay. Adam tells him the match is official.

Thoughts: I can understand Sami maybe getting another crack at the title, but Gunther? Absolutely not. He has lost so many times.

Adam Pearce does a video. He says Rhea Ripley has been recovering from an injury. He says she will not be able to compete at Summerslam. Adam says they will crown an interim Women's champ through a ladder match at Summerslam. Adam says there will be qualifiers for it. Adam says we will find out who the real WWE Women's champ is when Rhea return.

We see various wrestlers arrive and hang out.

Finn Balor vs Talla Tonga

TT offers a high test of strength. TT misses a shot and Finn hits him in the corner. Finn chops him and hits leg kicks. TT shoulders him over. TT stomps him and sends him chest first into the buckles. TT sits on his neck on the ropes. Finn hits punches. 

TT is pulled over the top. Finn's head is banged off the buckles and TT lariats him from the apron. We go to break and return. 

TT corner lariats Finn. TT blocks an up and over and powerslams Finn for 2. Finn hits leg kicks and punches. Finn dropkicks him in the knee. Finn final cuts him for 2. TT samoan drops Finn.

TT goes for a chokeslam and is ddt'd. TT hits a big boot for 2. TT headbutts Finn. Tama Tonga gets in the ring and Finn pulls the ropes up and down on Talla's crotch. Finn slingblades Tama on the floor. Finn john woo's TT. Finn top rope double stomps TT twice and pins him.

Thoughts: I didn't love the interference at the end but it wasn't bad otherwise. They did what they were supposed to. I don't love Talla losing to such a smaller guy though.

CM Punk asks Adam Pearce about Gunther and Sami having a chance to make Summerslam a 4-way. Adam says he doesn't like it but that's the decision. They talk about Cody. Adam says Cody wants his receipt and he can get it tonight. Punk says he will talk to Cody.

Punk then runs into Damian Priest. DP says they are good but says he will be waiting for him if he's still champ after SS. Punk says he and Cody might come after DP's tag title. 

R-Truth pops up behind Priest and asks what he talked about with Punk. DP asks if he was here the whole time.

Jade Cargill does a video. She is happy about having a clear shot at the time. She says the women and her aren't cut from the same cloth. She says she will take her title her. Nia Jax says she feels no pressure and the other girls should instead. Nia says everyone will call her the new champ.

Jacy says Fatal Influence shook the table when they arrived but the girls are getting too comfortable. She says she will put Tiffany out of her misery and win the title at SS. Tiffany Stratton says she will beat Jacy and Minnesota will have a front row seat to history.

Women's Ladder Match Qualifier - Tiffany Stratton vs Jacy Jayne

Fatal Influence all jump Tiff before the match. Brie Bella and Paige come out to help Tiff. The other 4 fight to the back and Tiff and JJ fight.

The bell rings. JJ's head is banged off the buckles. Tiff chops her. JJ is tripped into the ropes then Tiff hip attacks her on the ropes. Tiff basement dropkicks her for 2. We go to break and return.

JJ gets a 2 count on Tiff. JJ clubs on her and they crossbody each other at the same time. They trade shots. JJ hits kicks and a step up enzugiri. Tiff hits lariats on her and spinning back elbows her. Tiff alabama slams her. Tiff is crotched up top.

JJ bridging twisting suplexes her for 2. Tiff handspring stunners her. Tiff finlay rolls her then hits a prettiest moonsault ever to win.

Thoughts: It was acceptable. I didn't like the pre-match interference because if you can do that, you can win the match before the bell. Tiff won as expected as Summerslam will be in her home.

We get a Baron Corbin video. He says he sees people running around who think they are tough. He says their reality is about to come crashing down. He says he's the real deal. He says Trick Williams is the first name on a long list and Carmelo Hayes was just collateral damage. He tells Trick to smile why he can and enjoy what he has as he is coming for it all.

Trick Williams is interviewed. He says Baron dialed 1-800-WHOOP@SS. He says Baron is a bald headed b!tch. He says Baron is mad as he has a title on it with more hair than Baron has on his head. Carmelo Hayes comes in. He says Trick found a loophole to not defend against him. He says he sees Trick's hesitation. He says they both know Trick isn't better than him. Trick asks how long Melo has been on SD and says he has done nothing. Trick says Melo needs to take notes and pull out his notebook then write down, "I will mind my business while grown men talk".

Women's Ladder Match Qualifier - Nia Jax vs Jade Cargill

Jade misses a pump kick and Nia samoan drops her. Nia leg drops her. Nia misses a 2nd rope leg drop and Jade spinebusters her. Charlotte Flair comes out and beats up Jade's buddies outside. Flair facekicks Jade and gets Nia DQ'd.

Thoughts: Wow, this was stupid. Flair hates Jade so much that she just got her a title shot.

Flair tries to pillmanize Jade's arm after but Jade's buddies save her. Nia is upset and corner splashes Flair from behind. Jade then hits a jade end on Flair.

Gunther is interviewed. He says he will beat rationale into Cody. Candice LeRae wheels Johnny Gargano in. LeRae says Sami is Gun's partner tomorrow and says if they win, they go to Summerslam. LaRae tells him not to do anything stupid as he needs his win tomorrow. Gun says to tell Sami to show up, shut up and don't get in the way. Blake Monroe then attacks LaRae from behind, sending her into production boxes. She says she's Blake Monroe and the new girl. She says she will see her around. She then says Johnny Gargano needs a haircut.

Lash Legend and Nia Jax talk to Adam Pearce in the back. Lash says they expect consequences and Nia says Flair ruined her match. Adam says Nia will have another chance to win her way into the ladder match against Charlotte Flair next week. Nia says finally Adam is doing something.

Fraxiom (Axiom and Nathan Frazer) vs The War Raiders (Ivar and Erik)

Erik waistlock takedowns NF. NF goes up and over then rolls up Erik for 2. Erik forearms him over. Ivar corne pslashes NF and Erik corner forearms NF. Ivar hits elbows on NF in the corner. 

NF takes a knee to the gut from Erik. NF enzugiri's Erik then ddt's him. NF's tope is caught outside. Ax tope rope moonsaults his opponents outside. We go to PiP break and return.

Erik flying knees NF. Ivar spinning slams Ax. Ivar butt drops NF out of the corner. Ax is put on NF and Ivar misses a top rope moonsault on both. Ax PK's Ivar. NF springboard 450's Ivar for 2. Ax is caught coming off the top by Ivar and Ivar spinning heel kicks him. Erik rams Ivar's butt into Ax. Erik uranage's Ax for 2. 

Ax dropkicks Ivar. NF misses a tope on Ivar and goes into the commentary table. Ax topes Ivar. NF tope con hilos Erik. Ivar facekicks Ax. Ivar takes a double superplex. NF pheonix splashes Ivar. Erik and Ax trade shots. Erik knees Ax in the back of the head. NF is popped up into a powerslam from Ivar. Ax takes a double powerbomb and is pinned.

Thoughts: It looked good on paper and I liked what we got here.  The little guys flew and the big guys threw them around. Fraxiom didn't get to do too much here and they kept it moving. The Raiders are AAA tag champs and thankfully they won here.

We see clips of LA Knight, Solo Sikoa and Royce Keys talking from Fanatics Fest. La Knight makes fun of The Uso's and Fatu. We also see clips of Tom Brady slapping Logan Paul there.

CM Punk talks to Cody Rhodes in the back. Punk asks if facing Gunther is a good idea and Cody says it's not. Punk says he will watch Cody's back tonight. 

Jackie Redmond goes into Danhausen's lair. Dan asks who JD McDonaugh is. Dan is not worried about getting outnumbered. He says he has a secret weapon and shows a toy cat in a cage. Jackie says it's a toy and he says it's not. Dan says you don't cross paths with a cat as you are cursed. Dan's pc then shoots sparks out and they both run.

Cody Rhodes vs Gunther

Cody attacks Gun as he comes out. Gun is sent into the rails. Gun's head is banged off the steps. Gun is sent into the rails and Cody pounds on him more. Gun's head is banged off the commentary table. Cody drop down punches Gun then hits mounted shots. 

Cody goes to springboard and Gun pushes him out. We go to break and return. Gun knees Cody in the gut and chops him down. Cody hits a cody cutter on Gun. Cody running forearms Gun and powerslams him. 

Cody tries a disaster kick on Gun. Cody does a cody cutter on Gun. Gun chops Cody and kicks him in the leg. Cody's leg is banged off the post. CM Punk comes out. Gun and Cody flying lariat each other. We go to PiP break and return.

Gun powerbombs Cody for 2 then half crabs him. Cody boots Gun away. Gun misses a corner facekick and is kicked in the leg. Cody dragon screws him. Cody figure fours him. Sami Zayn comes out and beats up Punk. Sami throws Punk over the commentary table. Cody topes Sami outside. Sami sends Cody into the post and this goes to a no contest.

Thoughts: I liked what we got, but we didn't get all that much of it. They were definitely rushing through things and keeping things moving. No one lost here so nobody comes off bad from this.

Punk jumps off the commentary table onto Gun. Cody punches Sami on the commentary table. All 4 men fight. Officials come to break it up and the show ends up with everyone fighting. The brawl was nice here and added something to the SNME match.

Overall thoughts: The wrestling wasn't bad here but the show didn't do it for me as a whole. There was a lot of outside interference all night long here. Them throwing in Sami and Gun possibly getting Summerslam title shots last minute isn't exactly right I doubt they will end up getting added to the match. The main didn't get a lot of time and didn't have an actual finish. I mostly did like Finn/Talla and I liked The War Raiders vs Fraxiom. I'd give this a higher 5 out of 10 as it was acceptable overall but could have been better.

WWE Smackdown 7/10/2026

WWE Smackdown 7/10/2026

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/wwe-smackdown-732026.html

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/wwe-smackdown-7172026.html 

We are in Oklahoma City, OK. Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett are on commentary.

Nick Aldis is in the ring and welcomes us to the show. He says he feels justified for his physical altercation and he has been reinstated as Smackdown GM. He brings out CM Punk.

CM Punk has a black eye. He says he always wonders what he will say and says "I missed you" to the crowd. He says he's been negotiating with management, NBC and USA to get on Smackdown. He says those negotiations were expedited when he was told the champ needed a challenger. 

He says he will be wrestling on Smackdown and defending the belt any chance he gets. He tells everyone that if you think you have what it takes to face the best in the world, come wrestle him. He says he heard what Sami Zayn said on social media. He says he will give Sami a rematch if he wants. He brings up Gunther as a challenger. 

Cody Rhodes comes out. Cody asks how his eye feels. Punk does his "what do you wanna talk about?" line. Cody says the last time they stood in the ring, his eye was black and Punk mentioned championship opportunities falling out of the sky. Cody says there's those then championship matches that have been building for years in him vs Punk.

Punk says maybe they have both been avoiding this. Punk says he thought it would be in the main event of Mania and doesn't think they can keep away from each other for that long. Cody said he remembers telling Punk "just say when". Punk then says, "When?". Cody then says, "Summerslam". They shake hands. Nick Aldis says it's official and announces the match.

Cathy Kelly talks to Jade Cargill and friends. Jade says she's ready to go and will make Charlotte's life a living hell. Mich says you would think Charlotte would know better. Fab says Charlotte gets a front row seat to Jade snapping Bliss in half. Jade says she will put on a show and she's not responsible for what happens to Alexa.

Finn Balor vs Tama Tonga

Talla Tonga is with Tama.

Finn takes down TT and pounds on him. Finn punches him in the corner. TT flying back elbows him. Finn basement dropkicks him then lariats him over the top rope. Talla trips up Finn. TT nails Finn from behind. TT neckbreakers him. TT low sliding lariats him for 2. We go to PiP break and return.

Finn hits punches. Finn flying headscissors him into a russian legsweep. Finn flying forearms him. TT blocks an up and over and Finn final cuts him off of it for 2. Finn stomps him. TT spinning backdrops him for 2. 

TT corner splashes him. Finn running slingblades him and john woo's him. Finn goes up top and Talla gets on the apron. Finn misses a top rope double stomp and TT lariats him from behind. TT hits a spinning pedigree for 2.  

Finn cradles him for 2 then back body drops him over the top. Finn  tope con hilos TT and Talla outside. Finn john woo's him again. Finn top rope double stomps him and pins him.

Thoughts: It was alright and it was athletic as expected. Finn winning clean kind of ends that whole feud though and I'm not sure where either guy really goes from here.

Carmelo Hayes is interviewed. He says all he has done is prove and all he does is deserve. He says he comes up short sometimes but he's only human. Melo says he doesn't miss and says it's not a catchphrase but a lifestyle. He says it's his moment to prove to Trick that he is "him".

R-Truth talks to Fraxiom. He has lost a bet on the World Cup and pays up. The War Raiders comes up to Truth and tells him to talk to Aldis. Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu walk in. Uso says he's looking for Solo. Truth says Solo is babysitting. Fatu asks Truth if he has seen Royce Keys. Damian Priest comes in. He says him and Truth have seen Keys and he's here. Truth asks Priest why he did that. Priest says Keys is not their problem.

Finn cradles him for 2 then back body drops him over the top. Finn  tope con hilos TT and Talla outside. Finn john woo's him again. Finn top rope double stomps him and pins him.

Thoughts: It was alright and it was athletic as expected. Finn winning clean kind of ends that whole feud though and I'm not sure where either guy really goes from here.

Carmelo Hayes is interviewed. He says all he has done is prove and all he does is deserve. He says he comes up short sometimes but he's only human. Melo says he doesn't miss and says it's not a catchphrase but a lifestyle. He says it's his moment to prove to Trick that he is "him".

R-Truth talks to Fraxiom. He has lost a bet on the World Cup and pays up. The War Raiders comes up to Truth and tells him to talk to Aldis. Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu walk in. Uso says he's looking for Solo. Truth says Solo is babysitting. Fatu asks Truth if he has seen Royce Keys. Damian Priest comes in. He says him and Truth have seen Keys and he's here. Truth asks Priest why he did that. Priest says Keys is not their problem.

Nick Aldis is on the phone with Sami Zayn. He says he knows Sami is on a mental health break. Nick says he has the authority to make Punk vs Cody. Gunther comes in and smacks the desk. Gun says Nick made a big mistake and he's here to give him a chance to fix this. He says Nick knows he should be in the ring with a champion. Gun says he will give him until the end of the night to fix this. Nick says he will take it under consideration.

Jimmy Uso and Jacob Fatu are in the ring. Jimmy tells Solo Sikoa to come out. Royce Keys comes out instead. Jimmy says he doesn't look like Solo. Keys says last week Jimmy mentioned his name and mentioned his name again this week. 

He says Jimmy's family business is affecting everyone and starting to affect him. Jimmy says it's all about OTC business tonight. Keys says it's the OTC who isn't here. Fatu says Keys can say anything else about anyone but don't go there and bring up the OTC. Keys says it doesn't go like that.

Jimmy tells Keys he's not part of this family. Keys says blood doesn't make you family, loyalty does. Keys says Uso's family has brother vs brother and cousin vs cousin. Keys says he wishes he could call and text his family as he has no family. He says Fatu has been his brother for 14 years and he refuses to let him fall. 

Jimmy says Keys will cross a line he can't come back from. Keys says he didn't come here to fight. He says it looks like there's a line right there and he just crossed. Jimmy threatens a beating and says "we". Fatu says there's no "we" here and says it's on Jimmy. Fatu says he's out. Jimmy then tells Keys he crossed the line. He asks Nick Aldis to come out and make this office.

Jimmy tries to hit Keys, gets caught and is lariated. Keys lariats him over the top. We go to break and return.

Royce Keys vs Jimmy Uso

Uso side headlocks him and Keys shoulders him over. Keys hits punches in the corner. Keys lariats him over. Keys suplexes him. Keys misses a charge outside and goes into the steps. Uso top rope crossbodies him then chinlocks him. Uso spinning enzugiri's him and Keys crossbodies him.

Keys is sent out and Uso topes him. Keys is thrown over the commentary table. We go to break and return. Keys yanks him into a powerslam. Keys slams him on the commentary table. Keys is sent into the post. Solo Sikoa comes out and gets behind Uso. He hits him and goes for the samoan spike. Jacob Fatu comes out. Fatu and Solo fight. Fatu does the tongan death grip to him an d throws him over the rails. Keys is distracted and Uso spears him. Uso pins him.

Thoughts: It didn't get much at all and was nothing special. The big development was the outside shenanigans here with Fatu and Solo. I didn't like Keys losing here, but he's rapidly losing stock and I think he's going to be counting the lights a lot more in the future.

Fatu and Solo get in the ring after. Fatu stomps on Solo in the ring. Keys stops Fatu and they argue. Fatu superkicks him and sentons him and gets a pop for it. 

Fatu puts a chair on Solo's head but doesn't hip attack him. Fatu tells him he better listen to him and says next time, he won't stop. Apparently, Fatu asks him to speak with bloodline on Raw.

We see Sami Zayn flipping out after losing his title on Raw. He complains about Punk coming back and getting a title shot. 

CM Punk is interviewed. Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae interrupt. LeRae says Sami is annoying but didn't give up on Johnny. He says Sami was the voice of the voiceless and here was hope with him as champ. She says they stole that from them. Punk tells them to stop what they are doing and get back in the ring. He says this isn't working.

CM Punk and Finn Balor talk. Finn says he was hoping he'd run into him and says welcome to Smackdown. 

Fatal Influence do a video. They say it was satisfying to see Lainey beat up Brie Bella last week. They says they will be the center of attention in MSG next week and says it may be the most night of their careers. They say Paige and Brie should be worried as their time is up and they know it. Jacy says they will fall under their influence.

Jade Carill vs Alexa Bliss

Jade shoulders her. AB jumps on her back with a sleeper and Jade throws her over. AB clips her from behind and meteora's her in the back of the neck on the ropes for 2. Jade backbreakers her. 

We go to break and return. Jade misses a pump kick and AB hits her from behind. AB hits punches and dropkicks her. AB headhunters her for 2. AB slaps her. AB's crossbody is caught. AB high kicks her. B-Fab trips Bliss and Flair pulls Jade's throat over the top rope. AB gets a 2 count on Jade. Flair fights with Mich and Fab outside and is sent into the post. Jade pump kicks AB and hits jade end on her to win.

Thoughts: Similar to the last match, it was short with a bunch of shenanigans. This was little of note.

Jade gets a chair after, Flair goes after her and Flair fights off Jade's crew. Jade pulls AB's arm back with the chair and bangs it off the mat. They focus on AB's arm and make it seem like it's bent the wrong way.

Trick Williams and Lil Yachty talk in the back. Yacthy gives him a legacy title.  The title has white fur on it. Trick loves it. Yachty says he needs Trick to give Melo a diamond butt whooping to Melo.

Bliss is helped out in the back and thinks her arm is broken. They go into the trainer's room.

Trick Williams vs Carmelo Hayes

Trick throws him down backwards off the lock up then throws him in the corner. Trick shoulders Melo over. Trick stomps him in the corner. Ricky Saints is watching on TV in the back. Trick hits chops and Melo dropkicks him. Melo springboard twisting lariats Trick. 

Trick flapjacks Melo then backhands him down. We go to break and return. Trick pop-up uppercuts Melo. Melo la mistica drops him for 2. Trick hits leg lariats. Trick uranage's him for 2. 

Melo flips out of an AA. Melo boots him out of the corner and 2nd rope diving ddt's him for 2. Trick jumping neckbreakers him for 2.  Melo frogsplashes him for 2. Melo rolls him up for 2 and Trick gets a pin attempt in. Melo superkicks him. Melo misses a top rope splash and Trick spinning facekicks him for 2. 

Melo knocks Trick off the apron. Melo pushes Trick into Yachty outside. Melo hits a first 48. Melo goes up top and Baron Corbin grabs Melo. Baron pulls Melo down for the DQ then beats up Trick.

Thoughts: I'm getting a little tired of Melo/Trick. There was a lot of spinning around and flipping here and I just thought it was average. Baron Corbin returning is totally out of left field, though we all knew he was returning to WWE as there were rumors and he had just left MLW in storyline.

Baron pounds on Trick after and sends him into the post. Baron hits end of days on Melo and Trick. Baron then holds the title up. 

Gunther comes out to talk. He calls out Nick Aldis. Nick comes out.  Nick says he will give him what he wants. He says he will give him Cody and Punk at MSG. He says it'll be Cody Rhodes and CM Punk vs Gunther and Sami Zayn. Gunther tells him to fix his mistake. Nick says the only mistake he needs to fix is not thinking he would be a pain in the butt if he signed him. Gunther hits him from behind and hits elbows on him. Gunther lariats him down. Officials then come out to stop this. Gunther facekicks Nick down then grounded chokes him. Gunther lets go then puts it back on. He then puts it on a third time.

Cody Rhodes comes out and the show ends.

Overall thoughts: I didn't really think this was a good show at all. Punk/Cody being set up is an interesting match but like they said, that's a Mania match and they should wait to do it at Mania.  Other than that, it wasn't that interesting of a show. Obviously Aldis is a wrestler, but he's just a GM in the WWE Universe and Gunther fighting a GM is a far way away from Cena and Goldberg. Baron Corbin is back and I do think WWE could use him in the midcard right now. We had a bunch of midcard matches otherwise that didn't get the time to be anything special and lots of Bloodline stuff that I personally don't care too much about. I'm definitely concerned about Summerslam as I do not think they have the creative or talent right now for a 2 day supershow. As for Smackdown being 2 hours again, I think we saw the pros and cons of it here. The show was much more compact and not as much time was wasted, but the matches were all shorter and a lot of the lower ranked wrestlers didn't appear. I'd give this show a 5 out of 10 as a lot of the stuff they are doing made sense, but I didn't find it to be that interesting. It was average.

WWE Smackdown 7/3/2026

WWE Smackdown 7/3/2026

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/06/wwe-smackdown-6262026.html

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/wwe-smackdown-7102026.html 

Note - The show is back to being 2 hours after being 3 hours for half the year.

We are in Atlantic City, NJ. Michael Cole and Corey Graves are on commentary.

Sami Zayn comes out. He says the reactions he got for winning the title has touched him. He says the whole thing is funny though as he's been booed for the last 6 months. Sami says he could be petty and tell everyone to kiss his @ss but he won't because he's a good guy. Sami says he won the title because he never changed. 

He says this is a celebration tonight and says we are celebrating him tonight. He says he forever goes down as one of the all-time greats and will be known forever as Sami Zayn, Wrestlemania Main Eventer, Grand Slam Champion and WWE Champion. He says no amount of hate can take it from him.

Cody Rhodes comes out. Sami asks Cody, "what do you wanna talk about?". Cody says Sami was the first to celebrate with him when he won the title. Cody says he wanted to be the first to tell him congratulations. Cody offers a handshake and they shake hands. Cody goes to leave and Sami asks if that's it. 

Sami tells Cody to just be himself and drop the American Nightmare and Golden Boy. Sami says he has something Cody once has and he knows Cody wants it and is addicted to it. Sami asks him to say why he's really out here.

Jey Uso comes out. Jey and Cody shake hands and bump chests. Jey says he's proud of Sami. He says he earned it and deserved it. He says Sami knows why he's here and it's Bloodline business. Jey says this is Sami's warning shot. He says he needs to bring the gold back to the family. 

Cody asks what year is this? Cody says Jey's been champ since then and asks when Jey reverted to running errands for Roman. Cody says him and Sami were talking about his rematch. Sami says, "oh were we?". Sami says no one was happier for Jey than him. Sami says Cody had his chance and it's his time to be WWE champ. He says Cody told him, "as long as I have this, you never will". He says Jey says the WWE Title needed to come back to the family but Sami says it has returned to the family. Sami says no one is touching this and tells both of them to stay away from him.

Sami goes to leave and Adam Pearce comes out. Adam says he's the acting GM with Nick being out due to his altercation with Gunther. Adam says his first order of business is to find Sami a challenger. Sami says he should have a say as to his opponent at Summerslam. Adam says, who said anything about Summerslam? Adam says Nick might do that, but he's here and we do it his way. Adam says Sami will defend his title on Raw. Adam says we will have a #1 contender when Cody faces Jey tonight.

Thoughts: It was a great segment. I loved seeing Sami spit Cody's words back at him and him saying the title is still with Bloodline essentially was interesting. Adam playing hardball with Sami also added to this. This was very soap opera-esque and it worked out well.

Cathy Kelly interviews Charlotte Flair. Flair says Jade got what she deserved when she interfered in her match. She says she will keep teaching lessons to Jade until she gets the picture. Alexa Bliss walks in. She says she didn't know Flair would be at Night of Champions. She says she wish she had told her. Flair says it wasn't personal and says she saw Bliss with Tiffany. Tiffany Stratton walks in. She says she never needed Flair's help, but thanks. Chelsea Green comes in and says Jade should be worried about "us". Flair tells Tiff she's welcome and says she will see them out there. Green says not before they see her out there in an awkward voice.

Charlotte Flair, Chelsea Green & Tiffany Stratton vs. B-Fab, Jade Cargill & Michin

Jade and Tiff argue then lock up. Jade pushes her down. Tiff is popped up and dropkicks Jade. Tiff hip attacks Mich on the ropes then cartwheels onto her. Mich sunset flips her for 2. Mich throws her down backwards. Tiff takes a double suplex for 2. 

Tiff superkicks Fab. Flair top rope crossbodies Fab. Flair kicks Fab in the corner then does a fallaway slam on her. Flair chops Fab. Flair cannonballs Mich off the apron then Jade lariats Flair on the floor. We go to break and return. 

Flair takes kicks from the heels. Jade fallaway slams Flair then dances. Jade misses a corner splash. Flair forearms Fab then they double clothesline each other down. 

Green hot tags in. She hits Japanese armdrags on Mich. Green step up enzugiri's her then low sliding rolls her. Green flying leg lariats her for 2. Flair superkicks Jade and is pump kicked down. Mich rolls up Green for 2. Green slaps Mich. Green top rope diving headscissors Mich. 

Green rolls up Jade off a jade end attempt. Green htis Fab on the apron and is hit with a jade end. Jade pins Green.

Thoughts: It was fine. Jade's team kind of had to win here to get Jade some kind of win to move forward and Green was a good choice to take the fall. 

We see clips of the Aldis/Gunther situation. we are told Aldis is on leave and Adam Pearce is running the show for the time being.

Adam Pearce is on the phone with Nick Aldis. Sami Zayn comes up to Adam. He says he doesn't belong on Raw as a SD star. Adam says Sami can show the world he can be a great Undisputed champ. Adam says congratulations and he will see him Monday. Sami talks more but Adam leaves.

Sami goes to hit a water bottle and does. He then spots Candice LeRae and Johnny Gargano. Sami tells Johnny he did it and shows him the title. Sami says he doesn't know if he could have done this without him. He says Johnny is his rock. Sami says you gotta stay true to yourself to win titles. Sami then asks LeRae to take a photo of him and Johnny. 

AAA World Cruiserweight Title Match - Rey Fenix (c) vs. El Hijo del Vikingo

Vikingo was out and injured so he couldn't be on NXT this week, but he's here as this was taped a day prior.

Vik rolls up Rey for 2. Vik corkscrew headscissors him. Vik spin kicks him in the gut and pele kicks him. Rey superkicks him out of the corner and double jump crossbodies him for 2. Rey handspring cutters Vik for 2. Rey slides out, Vik traps him in the ring skirt and clubs on him. Vik dropkicks him there. Vik seated moonsaults him outside then poses on the commentary table.

We go to break and return. Vik misses a corner splash. Rey rope walk kicks Vik. Rey top rope splashes him for 2. Vik enzugiri's Rey in the corner. Vik corner meteora's Rey. Vik top rope inverted 450 hurricanrana's him for 2.  Vik 2nd rope diving poisonrana's Rey for 2. 

Vik misses a springboard 450. Rey flying double knees him in the corner. Rey mexican muscle busters him and pins him.

Thoughts: It was what I expected - an indy no-sell fest where they just do cool stuff until it ends and that's what happened. That 2nd rope poisonrana should have totally ended this. I'm just glad it didn't go too long as it would have gotten worse.

Cathy Kelly interviews Giulia about Blake Monroe. Giulia says she doesn't back down from any fight. she says she put Kiana behind her. She says she will fight Blake anytime and anywhere. Kiana James comes in. She says it would be like Giulia to bite the hand that feeds her. She says she got lucky. Blake then grabs Giulia and throws her into a box. She says she's Blake Monroe and it's good to see her. She then bangs her face off the floor. Kiana says not to forget who is in control here to Giulia and Blake bangs Kiana's head off the same box.

Jimmy Uso, Fatu and Royce Keys talk. Keys says Roman tells Jacob who his partners are now. Jimmy says Roman sent them on a mission to find Solo. Jimmy asks if he knows where he is. Keys says blood doesn't make you family, but loyalty does. Keys says he's been Fatu's Day 1 for the last 14 years and says he's Fatu's family. Jimmy says, "not no more" and says, "right Jacob?". Fatu shrugs, says nothing and goes with Jimmy.

Trick Williams and Lil' Yacthy come out. Carmelo Hayes comes out before anything is said. Melo says they need to run it back if Trick is bout it, bout it. Melo says everything Trick does is larger than life and says he's unstoppable. He says that's because he hasn't decided to stop him yet. Melo says he made the championship a championship and Trick made it an accessory. He says he will get him a discount code on WWE Shop if he needs an accessory. Melo says Trick has the workhorse and match of the night title. He says Trick walks around like he has had too much to eat.

Melo tells Trick to prove him wrong and put the title against someone who knows him better than anyone. Melo says he doesn't buy that Trick will be one of the greatest champs of all time. He says Trick has 2 left feet and a mouth full of marbles when he faces him. Yachty stands up for Trick and says he's not the same guy he was in NXT. He says Trick has been nothing short of greatness on the main roster. 

Yachty asks the crowd if Melo should get a match. The crowd seems to approve. Yachty says Melo has a match next week but it's not for the title. He says Melo had a chance, blew it and failed and they won't give up titles. 

Trick says with the history they had, he knows Melo like the back of his hand. Trick then backhands him down and says to mind your business while grown folks are talking. Trick goes to walk out and Melo tope con hilos him. 

Danhausen is in his lair with Miz and Kit acting weird. Matt Cardona comes in. Dan says he has a match with "the guy with the head who follows around Dominik Mysterio". Dan says he will wrestle that guy at MSG. Matt says to let him know if he needs back up. Dan says he has a guy in NYC who has given him back up. Dan tells Matt to twist a dial to try out a new experiment. It smokes and its and Miz start shaking. Dan says Judgment Day must have sabotaged them. Miz and Kit make sounds like they are being electrocuted.

Brie Bella vs Lainey Reid

BB thesz presses her and hits mounted punches. LR hits a hard punch to the face. BB flying lariats her then tornado ddt's her for 2. LR backdrops her. LR misses an elbow drop. Brie sends LR shoulder first into the buckles. BB takes a corner spear and a step up enzugiri. 

BB top rope dropkicks LR. BB kicks LR while she's on her knees. BB throws down LR by the hair and puts a crossface on her. Fallon tries to push the rope closer to LR. Paige stops her but then Fallon drops her with a shot. Brie then sends Fallon into the rails. LR running knees Brie and pins her.

Thoughts: The match wasn't much as expected. Brie still can't do her own offense that great after all of this. Brie was dumb for letting the crossface go when she had Fallon trapped.

R-Truth and Nathan Frazer are having a hot dog eating contest. Truth says the US beat England and chants USA. NF says he feels sick. Axiom referees this. The War Raiders come in. They ask if they are taking their offer or just shoving food in their faces. Ivar takes Truth's hot dog and eats it. Truth then challenges them to a hot dog eating contest for tag titles. DP accepts a title vs title match but says it's happening on SD. Truth says Ivar will lose his mask and luchador status. Erik asks Ivar why he ate the hot dog and Ivar says he doesn't know. 

Finn Balor and Cody Rhodes talk in the back. Cody welcomes him to SD. Finn says he came to SD to face him. He says he hoped it would be for the title and tells him to go get it back. 

Tama Tonga comes up to Finn. He says he went to the elders for guidance on what to do next. Talla Tonga then grabs Finn, throws him into a box and chokes him. Tama says he's closing the books on everything in his past and Finn is next.

Undisputed WWE Title #1 Contendership Match - Cody Rhodes vs. Jey Uso

They lock up and let go. Jey snapmares him and they stare down. Cody knees him in the gut and clubs his back. Cody punches him in the head. Cody is sent out and Jey topes him. We go to break and return. 

They each hit punches. Cody drop down punches him. Jey enzugiri's him. Cody hits a cody cutter for 2. Jey samoan drops Cody. Cody throws Jey over the commentary table. Cody is swept on the table. Jey hits him on the table.

Jey goes for a dive and Cody forearms him. Cody throws him over the rail and plancha's him off the rail. Jey and Cody double lariat each other down. We go to break and return again. They fight on the buckles and Cody is knocked down. Jey top rope splashes Cody for 2. Jey runs into a Cody kick. Cody walks up the buckles and cody cutters him for 2. 

Cody springboards and is superkicked in mid-air. Jey spears him for 2. Cody hits a spear then hits cross rhodes for 2. Cody top rope splashes but Jey gets his knees up. Jey cradles him for 2. 

Jey and Cody trade shots on their knees. Cody hits punches. Jey sleepers him. Jey backrolls him. Jey misses a lariat and Cody hits cross rhodes. Cody pins him.

Thoughts: I think they got told they needed to go home near the end as it ended a bit suddenly for the pace they were at. The match was fine. The two have worked together and know what to do against each other. Cody was definitely the favorite to win and pulled it off. Him vs Sami should be interesting.

Overall thoughts: It was a better show at 2 hours. They didn't waste as much time and the segments got to the point better. The opening segment was good. The women's trios match was acceptable. I hated Fenix/Vikingo. Brie/Reid wasn't that good and the main was an alright bout. I also found the R-Truth segment funny. I'd give this a 6 out of 10 and thought it was an okay show overall.

WWE Smackdown 6/26/2026

WWE Smackdown 6/26/2026

Last week' show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/06/wwe-smackdown-6192026.html

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/wwe-smackdown-732026.html 

We are in London, England. Michael Cole and Corey Graves are on commentary.

We see various wrestlers arrive and hang out.

Trick Williams and Lil' Yachty come out. Trick says he thought the people of London missed him last week. Trick says he got married in Jamaica last week and shows his ring. Trick says he's thinking of Lash Legend. He says he will whoop Ricky Saints' @ss at Night of Champions. 

Ricky Saints comes out. He says Trick isn't good at making life decisions. Trick says he slapped him once and will slap him down to London Bridge if he continues. Ricky says Trick is talking out of his head and is talking crazy. 

Ricky says Trick shouldn't be overlooking him. He says Trick is looking at the new US champ. Trick says he should focus on who his dentist will be when he kicks his teeth down his throat. Yachty speaks up and Ricky punches him. Ricky slides out. Trick turns his back and Ricky hits him with the mic from behind. 

Alexa Bliss is interviewed. She says Charlotte Flair feels physical and emotional pain. Bliss says she will get revenge on Jade's crew even if she has to team up with Tiffany Stratton. Tiff says she only cares about beating Jade. Bliss says Tiff helped her before and she's here to return the favor. Tiff says after they win, Flair and Bliss can do whatever they want as long as she is left out of it. 

Alexa Bliss & Tiffany Stratton vs. B-Fab & Michin

Tiff side headlocks Mich then side headlock takeovers her. Tiff hip attacks Mich on the ropes and basement dropkicks her for 2. Bliss comes in and throws Mich down. She hits forearms and a basement dropkick. Bliss headhunters her.

Mich jawbreakers Bliss. Bliss basement dropkicks Mich. Bliss diving tornado ddt's Mich on the floor. Fab spinning high kicks Bliss on the floor. We go to PiP break and return.

Mich misses a corner charge. Bliss upkicks Mich. Tiff hits lariats on Fab and spinning back elbows her. Tiff cartwheel alabama slams Fab for 2. Fab hits forearms on Tiff. Tiff handspring stunners her for 2. 

Tiff top rope swantons Fab for 2. Bliss pounds on Mich outside. Bliss is thrown into and over the rails. Tiff finlay rolls Fab. Jade trips Tiff on the ropes. Fab hits a twisting facebuster that I haven't seen before and wins.

Thoughts: Fab's new finisher didn't look that good. This was average. Tiff busted out a new handspring stunner here I think.

Chelsea Green comes out and hits Fab with a kendo stick. She then loses the stick when she gets in. Green evades Jade and Mich. Tiff is smiling and hugs Green. Green then hugs Bliss. Green's hand is raised.

Solo Sikoa talks to Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga. Solo asks if they saw what happened to Jimmy and says Roman won't like it. Tama says they saw and are tired of getting dragged into Solo's war. Tama says Solo's obsession with Roman is tearing the group apart. Tama says they told him to stay back and they didn't listen. Tama says they now have no gold and now Solo is helping LA Knight. Talla says they got word from the elders and says him and Tama are out. Solo says they can't leave and Tama says they just did. Solo says he brought them here and they can't just leave. He says nobody leaves him.

Thoughts: I'm interested to see where things go. They fired the other MFT's. I think Tama does have enough talent to be like a US Title level guy but I think Talla and Solo need to be part of a group.

Jade in the back says she wants a match with Chelsea Green tonight to Nick Aldis. Nick says he can do it.

AAA World Cruiserweight Title Match - Rey Fenix (c) vs. Nathan Frazer

Rey spin kicks NF. NF flips off the top over him. They evade each other, headflip up together and stand off. NF does headflips and flatliners Rey into the buckles. Rey superkicks NF out of the corner and double jump crossbodies him for 2. 

Rey dropkicks NF out. Rey top rope plancha's NF outside. NF spinning enzugiri's NF. NF tope con hilos Rey outside. We go to PiP break and return. Rey back elbows and chops NF. Rey handspring cutters NF. Rey death valley drivers NF for 2. 

Rey is up on the buckles. NF enzugiri's him. NF superplexes him. NF holds on and Rey cradles him for 2. They kip up together and high kick each other at the same time. They trade shots. NF pumping knees Rey. Rey swing kicks him. NF hits a botched 2nd rope flipping russian legsweep for 2. 

NF misses a top rope phoenix splash and is superkicked. Rey sits up top and NF enzugiri's him down. NF goes for a tope and goes face first into the commentary table. Rey top rope frogsplashes NF for 2. NF boots him out of the corner. Rey mexican muscle busters NF and pins him.

Thoughts: I didn't like it. It went 100MPH, no one sold anything and none of the moves mattered. It was random and Rey won as expected.

R-Truth and Damian Priest are interviewed by Byron. Bryon asks what's next. Truth says the clubhouse. DP says they want to move on. The War Raiders come in. Ivar says they should have an AAA Tag Title vs SD Tag Title match. Truth talks in an accent and says these lucha dogs want to talk to them. Truth talks to Little Jimmy and calls themselves Judgment Day. The War Raiders tell Truth he's not in Judgment Day. Truth argues. Priest shuts up Truth and says he will let them know when and where.

LA Knight arrives in a car and is interviewed. LA says he's going out to get some answers.

We get a video on KOTR.

LA Knight comes out to talk. LA says Jimmy Uso caught 3 the hard way and got what he deserved. He says he got an unexpected assist from Solo Sikoa and asks Solo to come out.

Solo Sikoa comes out. Solo says he's not here to fight him. He says everyone in his family has left him. LA says he doesn't feel bad for him. He says Solo is now wide open to go back into The Bloodline. LA says he doesn't know why he did what he did.

Solo says he hates the family and The Bloodline. He says he hates Fatu, The Uso's and Roman. Solo says one thing they have in common is that they don't like Bloodline. LA says Solo should hate Roman and so should Jimmy, Jey and Jacob. LA says Roman did more to them than Solo and they are under him again.

LA thinks he will join him again and asks why this is different. Solo says he has nothing to lose and no family. Solo says it's just him now. He says the enemy of his enemy can be friends. Solo says they can work together, be partners and take out Bloodline. 

LA says he's heard "it's just me uce, day one" before. He says he' skeptical but he hates Bloodline and is outnumbered. He says he doesn't need Solo watching his back and says he lives and dies doing things his way. He says thanks but no thanks.

Byron Saxton interviews Sami Zayn. Sami says he's been hearing about his ref job all week. He says he got pushed to his limit and retaliated. He says nobody gets it but Johnny Gargano. He says it doesn't matter. Sami says the universe is giving him a chance to redeem himself after he behaved well after losing The Royal Rumble. He implies that the universe will let him become WWE champ for redeeming himself.

Paige vs. Jacy Jayne

Jacy superkicks Paige for 2. Jacy boots her in the corner and foot chokes her. Paige snapmares her and reounds her backwards off the ropes. Paige bangs Jacy's head off the buckles. Paige boots her in the corner. Paige ties her legs up and chinlocks her. Paige cannonballs Lainey Reid and Fallon Henley outside when Jacy moves. Jacy PK's her from the apron.

We go to break and return. Paige jawbreakers Jacy then they double clothesline each other. They trade forearms. Paige lariats and germans her. Paige fisherman suplexes her then hits a lightning spiral for 2. Jacy cradles her for 2. Jacy flying knees her for 2. 

Jacy backslides her for 2. Brie hits Fallon and Lainey sends Brie into the post. Jacy backrolls Paige then Paige rolls her up and pin her.

Thoughts: The finish was messed up a little. It was a little less than average and nothing too special as expected.

We go to Dnhausen's lair. Kit Wilson and The Miz are still out of it. Matt Cardona walks in. Matt says he hasn't felt right since he got shocked last week and asks Dan what happened. Miz and Kit disappears and Dan looks for him. Los Garza come in and ask Matt where Dan is. Matt tells them to find him themselves. 

Finn Balor talks to Tama Tonga and Talla Tonga in the back. He says Tama is now reminding him of the Tama he used to run with. Tama says it was a long time ago. He says Shinsuke is in his past too and we saw how that went.

Danhausen comes out with The Miz and Kit Wilson, who are acting like zombies. Dan talks on the mic. Dan does MizTV's intro and says welcome to Danhausen. He calls Miz and Kit "The Legion of Danhausen". Miz says he feels awesome about Dan replacing him. Kit says lost causes destroying Dan's experiments is toxic.

Los Garza rush down and beat up Miz and Kit before throwing them out. They turn to Dan, who backs off. Matt Cardona then comes out. Nick Aldis comes out and says this needs to end sooner than later and says he booked a tag match for right now.

Danhausen & Matt Cardona vs. Los Garza (Angel & Berto)

We go to break and return. Matt corner lariats Berto and 2nd rope dropkicks him. Matt broski boot's Berto.Matt facekicks Berto. Angel knocks Mat off the apron. 

Angel headbutts Matt and Matt is double booted in the corner. Matt is double kicked by the heels. Matt is sent into the rails. Kit is double lariated over the rail. Matt flapjacks Angel. Dan atomic drops Berto. He lariats him and overhead throws Angel. Dan hits running corner lariats on the heels.

Dan germans Berto for 2. Angel says Dan owes him money and will pay. Miz blocks Angel outside. Kit grabs the chair from Angel. Dan rolls up Berto for 2. Berto spinning enzugiri's him. Berto goes up top and the ring post shoots sparks. Dan hits a reverse ddt on Berto and pins him.

Thoughts: The less said about this the better. Matt looked like he took a bath in tomato juice here as he was red like a crab from a bad tan. This was almost all goofy shenanigans.

Gunther is interviewed. Gun says if anyone needs redemption, it's him as he got screwed out being champ twice while Sami Zayn didn't. Byron says he doesn't have a good record vs Cody. Gun says Cody screwed him twice. Gun says he will say how things will go different tonight.

Jade Cargill vs Chelsea Green

Green ducks a lock up and slaps Jade. Jade throws her down backwards and lariats her. Green pulls Jade over the top. Jade catches Green's crossbody and Jade fallaway slams her on the floor.

We go to break and return. Jade chokeslams Green for 2. Jade hits mounted shots on her. Green gets a 2 count on her and hits forearms. Jade throws her in the corner and misses a charge. Green hits forearms.

Green top rope dropkicks her for 2. Green superkicks her then Jade pump kicks her. Jade hits a jade end and wins.

Thoughts: Green wrestled here like she was a rookie and knew nothing about wrestling. I didn't like that and it made things very awkward. Green lost as expected and it wasn't much of note.

Jade beats up on Green after then Bliss and Tiff come out to save her. Michin and B-Fab come out and the faces fight them. The heels get the edge, triple team Tiff and Jade hits a jade end on Tiff.

Byron interviews Solo Sikoa. He says it feels like Solo is truly alone. Royce Keys comes in. Solo asks if Keys will help him like he helped him. Keys just says good luck.

We get a Bron Breakker vs Seth Rollins video. He says Seth made a career on screwing everyone and Bron says he used deception on Seth. Seth says he brought him into his vision and it's time to right the wrongs. Seth says sometimes the easiest way to get out of a situation is to run through it. Bron says the dog always makes it out in the end.

Trick Williams and Lil Yachty are interviewed. Yachty says they were looking past him but he has earned himself a tricky situation. Trick says he's tired of pretending Ricky is on the same level. He says Ricky has done everything to get in the ring with him and now he's got him. He says he's better than him in every way and says there's nothing Ricky can do at NoC.

Giulia vs Kiana James

KJ running facekicks her and pounds on her. G's head is banged off the buckles and she takes corner spears. G dropkicks her. G's head is banged off the apron. G kicks her in the back. G basement dropkicks her then headbutts her. KJ drops her face first on the steps.

We go to PiP break and return. They trade forearms. G forearms her then KJ superkicks her. KJ misses a standing moonsault. G facekicks her then shoulders her over twice. G flying headscissors her. G suplexes her for 2.  

KJ throws her off the top. KJ falcon arrows her for 2. G rolls her up for 2. KJ powerbombs her for 2. G sunset bombs her off the buckles. G running knees her then northern lights bombs her for the win.

Thoughts: I don't agree with Giulia winning here. She's just not exciting enough as a face and she doesn't really have the fire for it. I don't know how much longer this Giulia experiment has to go on because it's not working. If Kiana gets away from this feud, even if she loses, she will be better off. This was just so-so.

Blake Monroe debuts on SD after and attacks Giulia. She drops her with a gotch style piledriver.

Cody Rhodes comes out. Sami Zayn comes out before he can say anything. Sami thanks all of his ride or die fans. Sami says he regret how some things went down last week. He says he was provoked but he's a good guy, the last real good guy. He says he regrets getting physically involved and says it was a mistake. Cody asks if it was a mistake. 

Sami says this is not how he wanted things to go with Cody. Cody says enough and says this is how Sami wanted it. Cody says things are really looking up for Sami when he's supposed to be a guy who doesn't get many breaks. He says Sami isn't a victim, he's exhausting. He says he doesn't get how he can be best friends with Kevin Owens. He says Owens would have came out and stabbed him in the front and not the back. He says Owens also has been WWE champ.

Sami says to keep Owens' name out of his mouth. Sami says Cody is only champ because of him and should be thanking him. He says the reason Cody won't be WWE champ at NoC is because of him. 

Gunther comes out and asks what the drama is about. He says he doesn't care and wants the title. Gun says he would be champ if Sami didn't screw him. Gun says Sami is wrong though as Sami won't leave with the title, and he will. Jey Uso comes out. He wants to run it back and Gun says not on his time. 

Jey says he will punch his ticket to Summerslam when he wins KOTR. He gives out warning shots to Cody and Sami. Jey says he will tap him out like a little b!tch again. They all end up fighting. The lights go out and Oba Femi comes out. 

Cody gets distracted and Jey superkicks Cody. Oba stares down Jey. Gunther rainmakers Jey. Sami hits Gunther with a title. Cody hits a cross rhodes on Sami. Cody holds his title up at Oba.

Overall thoughts: Storyline wise, the show was good. They've got a lot going on with Sami/Cody/Gunther, LA and maybe Solo vs Bloodline, Danhausen turning Miz/Kit into zombies and Tiff/Chelsea doing their thing. I can't say I'm that into it though. Wrestling wise, the show was below average. We had a lot of women's matches and those were only so good and wrestling wise, I didn't love a single thing here. I also thought there was way too much talking here and I got tired of seeing Byron Saxton after his 3rd appearance. Smackdown moves back to 2 hours next week and I'm excited for that. The show just drags at 3 hours and there's too many commercials. They also just don't have the starpower. I'd blame that on a mix of relying on older talent, NXT Black and Gold focusing on indy wrestling over producing stars, AEW's existence and WWE making some bad choices on picking future stars (Priest, Solo, Balor, Giulia, Jade and others). I'd give this a 5 out of 10 and would say it was okay overall.