Smackdown Review – 07/17/2020

Hello! Welcome back to this weeks Smackdown review. Tonight’s show coming to us from the WWE performance center is the go home show for The Horror Show: Extreme Rules. Though the PPV is this Sunday, we’re getting a championship match tonight as AJ Styles defends his intercontinental championship against Matt Riddle. Plus, Bray Wyatt returns with a brand new FireFly FunHouse episode and Alexa Bliss will host a moment of bliss with a special mystery guest. All that and more, so, let’s get into it!

Live from the WWE Performance Center

⁃ We first see AJ Styles, Matt Riddle, Daniel Bryan, Alexa Bliss, Miz/Morrison, Brau, Cesaro, Nakamura & New Day all hyping up their respective matches in a weird screen cut back and forth with music that can only be comparable to the avengers. Michael Cole says there’s a main event feel here tonight, and we head to the first match.

Big E w/ Kofi Kingston vs. Cesaro w/ Shinsuke Nakamura
Big E was all over Cesaro from the start. As the match begins we find out that the winner will pick the stipulation for their tag title match this Sunday. Nakamura and Kofi are in their respective partners corners, cheering them on. Cesaro started to battle back but his fight was short lived as Big E took control. He splashed Cesaro hard in the ring, and went for it one more time, but this time he splashed onto Cesaro on the apron. Big E and Kofi were fired up as we head into break. As we return, Cesaro is in control. He hits a springboard uppercut on the big man but can’t keep him down. Cesaro then tries for a big swing, transitioned into a Boston crab, then into a cross face, but Big E wouldn’t tap, meanwhile on the outside, Nakamura attacked Kofi. Due to this, it caused the ref and Big E to be distracted, Nakamura kicked Big E in the head, followed by a neutralizer. Cesaro gets the win.
After the match, Cesaro and Nakamura beat down Big E and try to introduce a table. But Kofi goes after them and sends Cesaro and Nakamura running.
My Thoughts
Good match to kick off the show. Good callback to the table and with Cesaro winning, he gets to pick the stipulation, which he didn’t yet, but i assume he will pick a tables match. I like that. Good stuff.

⁃ Baron Corbin is backstage, he’s trash talking Matt Riddle and believes his success is a fluke and he won’t be the new champion tonight.

⁃ Backstage, Cesaro and Nakamura say they’ll get what they deserve this Sunday. Cesaro says that he really enjoyed smashing New Day through a table last week, and he would love to repeat it. This Sunday it’ll be a tables match. Love it.

Moment of Bliss
Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross are here for “Moment of Bliss.” Alexa says she has some predictions. She predicts the lakers will win the NBA championship this year, Matt Riddle will win the intercontinental champion, and Braun Strowman will win on Sunday. She says her last prediction is that her guest will blow the roof off this place on Sunday. Nikki interrupts and says that she is thankful she is the guest and that she will blow the roof off and will win this Sunday, Alexa stops her and says she isn’t the guest. Suddenly, Sasha and Bayley interrupt. Bayley says Nikki better get used to being disappointed because she won’t win Sunday. Sasha says after Sunday she will go back to living in Alexa’s shadows. Bayley says her prediction is that this Sunday she will beat Nikki, Sasha will beat Asuka and they’ll hold all the gold. Alexa cuts her off and says that her mystery guest is here. Asuka makes her way to the ring. Sasha and Bayley quickly attack Nikki and Alexa, but Asuka runs down and sends them running. Alexa grabs a mic and says this needs to be settled in the ring.

⁃ Riddle was training with Gulak backstage, Daniel Bryan says he thinks he will win tonight’s.

Asuka & Nikki Cross vs Bayley & Sasha Banks.
Cross and Bayley kick off the match, the wild Nikki Cross is all over Bayley, but a distraction from Sasha gets Bayley in control early, then Sasha is tagged in. Sasha is in control of Nikki, and every time Cross tried to fight back, Bayley and Sasha would use dirty tactics to stay in control. Bayley was tagged in, but Cross got away from her and made the tag. Asuka and in on fire taking out Sasha and Bayley. Nikki Cross gets involved and they take out Bayley & Sasha, then celebrate on the announcers table. Cross and Asuka are on fire as we head to commercial break. We come back to see Sasha and Asuka as the legal competitors, Sasha was in the drivers seat here and remained that way until she tagged in Bayley. Once Bayley came in, Asuka started firing back with shots and made a tag to Cross. Bayley tagged in Sasha, they both came in on fire but Nikki got the best of the hot tag. Suddenly things started to break down, all competitors got involved, Asuka ended up taking Sasha out on the outside. Bayley took out Asuka, but Nikki caught her from behind. Nikki went for a tornado DDT, but Bayley reverses it and gets a roll-up with her feet on the ropes and beats Nikki Cross.
My Thoughts
Decent match here. My same complaint every week. It’s always a variation of BlissCross vs BossHug, this time with a Raw superstar in Asuka added. Just wish we could get other Smackdown women. Oh well, hoping this ends on Sunday.

⁃ Miz and Morrison are backstage, Morrison tells Miz how scared he is to compete against Braun tonight. Miz says he has his back.

Firefly Funhouse
Bray Wyatt is here with his firefly funhouse. This time, he is at the swamp, the same place where his match will take place this Sunday. Bray says that Braun was nothing but a lost sheep looking for a home, and he found it. Bray says he gave Braun a purpose and created a monster, but he left. Or so he thought. Bray says the swamp is a place where all the horrors of the world feel right at home, and once you enter, you can never truly leave. Bray says he knows the truth, that the monster he created is just scratching, waiting to come home. He says he can see that the monster is still in him and he isn’t capable of being on his own. He must control him. And that means destroying the monster that he has become. Bray will see Braun this Sunday.

John Morrison vs Braun Strowman
Braun grabs a mic before the match and says that this Sunday he has to destroy Bray before Bray destroys him. He stomps down to the ring and smashes Morrison into the corner twice, and hits a nasty clothesline, before stomping him face into the mat, Braun is on fire. He picks Morrison up and slams him down, then puts him in a standing chokehold, followed by the running power slam for the win, Braun just ran through John.
Braun grabs a mic and says in two days, he’s coming home. Morrison was helped to the back by medical staff.
My Thoughts
Quick, easy, destructive. That’s what I like to see from Braun. This Sunday should be interesting to say the least.

Lacey Evans vs. Naomi
Naomi in control early, but Lacey turned things around quick and hit a cool springboard elbow drop. But, when she tried for a high risk move again, it cost her. Naomi with the knees up and she is back in control. Naomi is all fired up and has Lacey reeling. Suddenly, Lacey and Naomi get tied up on the apron, and Lacey tied Naomi’s hair on the rope. As Naomi tried to untangle her hair, Lacey was catching her breath. As Naomi finally gets her hair untied, she turns around into the women’s right. Lacey gets the win.
My Thoughts
A quick match here. Not bad, just very quick. Cool to see other women on the show like I wanted. Not much to say, though.

⁃ Jeff Hardy is getting interviewed backstage. He says he is stepping into the bar fight next week to finally get face his demons and he is ready to beat Sheamus. Suddenly, Sheamus attacks him from behind. He says he will see him next week.

⁃ Bayley and Sasha are interviewed backstage. Bayley says no one has more momentum than her, and she will beat Nikki this Sunday. Plus, Sasha will decimate Asuka too. Sasha says it’s their destiny to hold all the gold.

⁃ Nikki and Alexa are backstage in a different location. Nikki questions if she will blow her opportunity on Sunday. She says she lost tonight, and Bayley keeps getting the best of her. Her confidence is shaken. Alexa says she will defeat Bayley. Suddenly, Sasha and Bayley walk by, and Nikki attacks Bayley from behind. Alexa has to drag her away.

AJ Styles vs Matt Riddle (Intercontinental Championship Match)
AJ with a quick start, trying to get the upper hand on Riddle early, but it backfired, and Riddle started to take the fight to the champion. After being knocked out of the ring, AJ started to get frustrated and started banging on the announcers table. Riddle suddenly gets out of the ring and with a nasty kick to the head, knocks the champion down to send us to commercial. We come back to see Matt still in control, working over the limbs of AJ Styles, keeping him grounded. After a few more minutes of being beaten down, AJ started to fight back. As he did, he continuously targeted the legs of Riddle, possibly wearing him down for the calf crusher later on. Riddle slowly started to battle back and one mistake by AJ led Riddle into the drivers seat. Riddle got a hot comeback, hitting Styles with everything he had including kicks, elbows, knees and even the bro-to-sleep followed by a powerbomb, but it wouldn’t keep the champion down. It’s all Riddle now, until he went for the floating bro, but AJ moved out of the way. Styles followed up with a sick brain buster, but he couldn’t finish Matt off. A frustrated AJ Styles tried to finish it one more time, but Riddle quickly got the upper hand and suddenly, he locked AJ into the Bromission, but AJ rolled him over, Riddle’s shoulders were on the mat, and AJ wins. Styles retains the championship.
After the match, both men shake hands, but Corbin attacks Riddle and leaves him laying out in the ring to end the show.
My Thoughts
Great back and forth battle here. I didn’t expect a clean finish, but we got one, which is good. I enjoyed this, and it seems like they’re going with the Riddle/Corbin direction, so I’m curious to see who’s the next challenger for AJ.

Overall Thoughts
Solid go-home show tonight. I think they nailed all their points to hype up the matches for Sunday. Braun and Bray both on the show, the tables stipulation for the tag team titles match, both Raw and Smackdown women’s titles were hyped up, so overall good. My only complaint is my usual complaint. Finally tonight we got Naomi vs Lacey, but it was very short. Still wondering where Sonya, Mandy & Otis are, so, just a lack of talent use is really the issue here. Hopefully that continues to get better; tonight was a small step in the right direction. All we know for next week is Hardy vs Sheamus bar fight, and the fallout of extreme rules. So, thanks for reading and I’ll see you all next week!