“WWE SmackDown” was in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on the final Friday of the month — July 31 — sending us into the SummerSlam weekend in Minneapolis. One more spot in Sunday’s Interim Women’s Championship match needed to be decided, while tag-team gold was also on the line — sort of.
It was a red-hot start to the show, so let’s get the goods right out of the way.
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👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑
A Finn Balor opening segment? Sign me up.
WWE initially appeared to toss together a mess of nothing by doing this, then Balor got on the mic, and we snowballed our way into one of my favorite openers in some time.
Balor took a nice trip down memory lane, expressing the emotions SummerSlam season brings him. He won the Universal Title a whole freaking decade ago at his first SummerSlam, only for him to vacate one day later, thanks to the injury he suffered during the win.
It’s difficult to imagine Balor actually falling into another world title reign, considering he’s never returned to that height since. But he can catapult off a Sami Zayn win in their No. 1 contender match this weekend.
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The segment would have been incomplete without Zayn, who cut a phenomenal, unfiltered promo. It was fueled by his hatred for the situation around Cody Rhodes and CM Punk, stating the injustices he felt, and wanting a triple-threat match, at worst. He cut deep into Punk with the corporate fraud and hypocrite statements, which are common criticisms throughout the community. You know, all the things Punk hated and spoke out against in the past, which was kind of only highlighted by the end of the show. (We’ll get to that.)
Zayn and Balor eventually focused more on each other, as Balor started to get annoyed by Zayn complaining to him about things that really weren’t related to him. Balor insisted it was his moment, not Zayn’s. He had it. And he lost, unlike Balor, who was forced to vacate. They then countered with some witty snaps, and Gunther made a surprise attack out of nowhere.
“The Ring General” was rightfully in a similar boat to Zayn, frustrated for being absent from the title picture — before he threatened to beat down Adam Pearce like he did Nick Aldis. The latter found his way into this by saving Zayn and Balor from the attacks, and, man, he just fits oh-so-well back in a physical role.
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You could just see the pure elation the man exuded when applying his finishing Texas Cloverleaf submission to Gunther — his first in three years. Just listen to the reaction for him, too.
Security intervened, and they had a separation close to the opener, but this was all so brilliant and leaves things open-ended with everyone involved. Aldis just feels like a refreshing force on the roster — if chosen to be treated that way. Thankfully, WWE gave him a fantastic vignette later on in the night that highlighted his career. Well deserved. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to be online yet. Let’s go with the heartwarming clip from his interview with Chris Van Vliet this week instead.
I can’t wait for that match, and this whole thing was simply great all around.
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The “Corbination” of Trick
OK, not my best work. But neither was this from either man.
Well, to an extent. This feud is weird. Baron Corbin is back and immediately going for the U.S. title, which practically puts him in a must-win position. But Williams very recently received a custom title.
We found out tonight that this type of feud is what Williams needs after his reign has already plateaued. Something to get him fired up, which Corbin, of all people, did.
Then there’s that lingering stench of Carmelo Hayes’ absence. He was directly affected by Corbin’s return to the point his match with Williams was ruined because of it. Yet he’s been a ghost ever since? That’s just all around bad.
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Williams did have an interesting tease with Punk, though, so maybe he actually will lose and move on to greener pastures. (Wishful thinking, I know.)
Friends no more
Punk and Rhodes kept it simple to close out the show. They wasted no time and got right into framing their rivalry thus far as a battle of mind games, questioning business over personal relationships.
It was about what you would expect, including the most bizarre stalled usages of each’s catchphrases. Like, literally, each started their promos only to find a point in the middle to say, “Isn’t it great to be alive on a Friday in Green Bay?” and “Green Bay, what do you wanna talk about?”
Why do they have to do this? It came off exactly like what Zayn mentioned: the complete and utter corporatization of the company’s biggest stars. Pointless. Distracting. You name it.
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Punk was eventually reminded of his line from recent years about being back in WWE to make money, not friends. While he wasn’t aiming to lose friends either, he will if it means keeping the title. The sides were both positioned very well, and Punk came off as somewhat more of a confident, heel-type.
To ignite the close, Punk dared Rhodes to throw the first punch when he laid down his title, and the former champ obliged. A big go-home brawl angle with little undertones mixed in atop the announce table. It was far from the most creative thing we’ve ever seen, but effective enough, teasing more boiling points in the two’s future together.
🪦 Burial of the Night
Here lies the corpse of Giulia on the main roster.
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There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Lash Legend being in the world title scene. In fact, she should be. Hopefully, she finally steers away from tag action with Nia Jax, which should have been avoided out the gate. Legend is very good, and a great singles talent. But so is Giulia, and she’s been a complete afterthought on the main roster.
Tonight, I expected her to pull this off, as most surely did after she ditched Kiana James to turn face. Instead, she lost clean in roughly, I want to say, three minutes. It was fast and a disgraceful burial of a loss for one of the most talented women on the roster.
I give Friday’s “SmackDown” a crown score of: 👑 6/10 👑
WWE SmackDown full card results and grades:
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Interim WWE Women’s Championship Ladder Match Qualifier: Lash Legend def. Giulia — 👑 1/5 👑
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AAA Cruiserweight Championship: Rey Fenix (c.) def. JD McDonagh — 👑 3.5/5 👑
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WWE Tag Team Championship: The War Raiders (Erik and Ivar) def. Damian Priest & R-Truth (c.) via DQ — 👑 1.5/5 👑
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Michin & B-Fab def. Tiffany Stratton and Chelsea Green — 👑 2.5/5 👑
Recap “SmackDown” with Uncrowned’s live blog:
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
They continue to brawl ringside until the show goes off air. That’s your final tablesetter for SummerSlam, folks.
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Drake Riggs
Rhodes starts to get annoyed by Punk saying “tomorrow.” “What do you want to do about it tonight?” Rhodes asks. Punk lays down the belt and takes off his jacket. He whispers, “Say when,” and squares up. Rhodes tosses his microphone and takes his jacket off. Punk begs him to take the first shot. Rhodes nearly refrains, then strikes, and they exchange blows until Rhodes runs the ropes to drop Punk and Clotheslines him over the ropes. Rhodes starts to attack Punk around the announce table. They just brawl without any security. They eventually arrive, separating the rivals. Punk gets back on the table, waiting for Rhodes to greet him.
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Drake Riggs
Punk says he’s gotta know who is better “for business purposes.” Then Rhodes hits his catchphrase. Like, what is this? It only further plays into the company man elements.
This isn’t business, says Rhodes. It’s personal to both of them, he says. Rhodes reminds Punk of his past comments about money over friends. Punk says he wasn’t planning to lose friends either. But if it’s friends or the title, he’ll stick with the title.
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Drake Riggs
Well, Punk interrupts Rhodes’ entrance, getting right into it. He says it doesn’t feel so good, does it? This is where they’re at, questioning the mind games thus far. Then Punk stupidly still hits his catchphrase. The promo has already started. What the hell is the point of that?
Punk says he wanted to hurt Rhodes’ feelings. But what was he supposed to do? Say sorry for hurting the babies and mediocre bums in the back’s feelings. He wants to ruffle feathers and piss people off, he says. For 10, he was gone, yet still had his name sending shivers down spines.
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Drake Riggs
Giulia gets off a heavy kick offense before locking on an octopus hold. Legend turns it into a slam and pin. Giulia rolls out for another submission before she lets go and lands an Arrividerci Knee! Legend kicks out. Giulia attempts a Suplex, but can’t get it. Giulia goes to a guillotine choke and gets tossed around for a Lash Extension and the clean loss. Wow. An absolute burial of Giulia.
👑 Crown score: 1/5 👑
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Drake Riggs
Lash Legend has suddenly become quite an afterthought after she and Nia Jax lost the tag titles. Hopefully, that begins to change, whether it’s with a win or a strong performance in defeat here. Giulia arguably needs the win much more, so let’s see how it unfolds in SmackDown’s main event match.
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
Danhausen arrives to take out Dom after he’s ejected, which distracts JD, of course. That allows Rey to hit some double kicks and the Mexican Musclebuster for the win.
👑 Crown score: 3.5/5 👑
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
Rey gets back into control with a springboard Frog Splash Cross-Body and low Suplex. JD counters with a running Spanish Fly, only for Rey to kick out.
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
Rey and JD lock up right out of the gate and get to strength tests and bridges before Rey hits a top-rope corkscrew arm drag. He bounces off the ropes, and JD halts the offense, missing a follow-up standing moonsault. Dominik Mysterio causes a distraction outside, giving JD some brief momentum. Rey ends up tossing JD out of the ring and teases a suicide dive to instead miss a Cross-Body that JD avoids and counters with a springboard Moonsault.
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Drake Riggs
Another title match is on deck. It’s Rey Fenix with an impromptu AAA Cruiserweight title match against JD.
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Drake Riggs
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Drake Riggs
Trick gets really fired up, prompting Corbin to ask if he wants to do it right now, which he does, of course. Corbin then calls him a dumb rookie who doesn’t understand. “Patience,” he throws back out. Corbin promised to take the title and walked off.
This feels like the right type of intensity that Trick needs in a rivalry. The problem is that this has been completely rushed and random without any connection whatsoever. And where the hell is Carmelo Hayes? He got completely screwed and pushed away in this whole thing.
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Drake Riggs
Trick says Corbin came back just to get in his business. He then called him a “big-a** Tommy Pickles,” which is genuinely hilarious. Trick wastes no time inviting Corbin out to the ring, and we get our first glimpse of Corbin’s new entrance.
Corbin says he learned a lot about patience while he was away. Trick believes he’s more important than he is, says Corbin. It will be his downfall. He promises to choke — or murder — Trick in their match. That’s always fun.
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Drake Riggs
After confronting CM Punk, Trick heads to the ring to address his SummerSlam opponent, Baron Corbin.
